C4K Summary for February

C4K #1
Muamua's Blog
     My assignment was on Muamua, a year 5 student in Miss. K's room 13 at Point England school in New Zealand. The students have just returned from their holidays, and are getting geared up for a new year. Her most recent post was about her holiday, and how she was able to visit family nearby. I told her that I was glad she had a nice holiday, and was ready for the new year.

C4K #2
Tessa Time
     Tessa is a student in Mr. Avery's 6th grade class at Dennett Elementary, in Plympton, Massachussetts. Dennett is a very small school with only 230 students total, which makes it even better that they are engaging in the use of technology in the classroom. Tessa's blog post was about her love for turtles, which wasn't hard for me to figure out by looking at her blog. I told her what type of turtle was my favorite, along with leaving her a link to a very interesting site that she could find information as well as play games, view photo's, and download items.

C4K #3                                    
Olivia
     Olivia is a 5th grade student of Ms. Eppele, located in British Columbia, Canada. Olivia keeps her blog up to date with her class assignments, etc... I was impressed with the amount of content in her posts. The particular post that I commented on was a very nice story that Olivia had written herself.

C4K #4
Aycan and Hulya
     Aycan and Hulya are 6th grade students at Ferry Lane Primary School, located in Tottenham, London. The most recent post was from July, 2011, so I was a little curious as to what happened to them. The post that I commented on for them was about their teacher leaving, and not wanting to move to another classroom. I told them that I thought everything would be fine, and they shouldn't worry. I hope to hear back from them to see what has went on over the past few months.

Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? By Scott McLeod
     I have to say that I loved the sarcasm that Dr. McLeod is expressing in this post. He has hit the nail on the head! Yes, it is important that we protect our children; that is our job as parents. However, we must also teach them to succeed in the future! If they are not learning the value of technology today, will they survive tomorrow?   
     Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky.  He also is the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens). He has received numerous national awards for his technology leadership work, including recognitions from the cable industry, Phi Delta Kappa, the National School Boards Association, and the Center for Digital Education. In Spring 2011 he was a Visiting Canterbury Fellow at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Dr. McLeod blogs regularly about technology leadership issues at Dangerously Irrelevant, Mind Dump, and Education Recoded and occasionally at The Huffington Post. He also just completed his first book, What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media.
Go to A Bio on Scott McLeod for links to all of his blogs, Facebook, etc...


The iSchool Initiative
     Travis Allen points out the cut-backs being made by public schools, and that there are teachers being let go due to these cut-backs. Right now, if we took away the cost of paper, pencils, books, expensive copy machines, etc.. the schools would be saving about $600 per student. The iSchool would cost about $150 per student. I would have to agree with Travis. With my husband being a teacher, and myself planning to be a teacher, cut-backs and teachers being fired are the last thing I want to hear about happening. 
     The iSchool is a great way to not only bring technology into the classroom, but eliminate some of the cut-backs. Teachers salaries have already been cut several times over the past few years; they are already underpaid! Why is it that the people that we depend on to teach our children are not important enough to pay a decent salary?


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 
     Woah!! That was absolutely amazing! 185 people that have never met in person made something so beautiful using the internet, that is putting technology to work! 


Teaching in the 21st Century
     I think Kevin Roberts means that teachers are still going to play a large role in education and technology. Sure we can incorporate the use of technology into education, but if children are not taught to use it properly, is it really helping them? Roberts says that we need to make sure that they can put it to work. I do have some concern in the extent to which technology will take over. As a future educator, my question is, will we still be needed? I believe if we stay ahead and continue to learn ourselves, we will always be needed. No one is ever done learning, therefore no one is ever done teaching/coaching.


Reading Rockets
     This website has tons of valuable resources that help teachers, especially first year teachers. While going through this site I decided that I wanted to focus on the resources for first year teachers. I think that for me, and my fellow classmates, this is important; considering we will all be teachers within the next two years.
     Reading 101 is one that I could see being a great help. This page also has a resource page with additional links that would be helpful. Survival Guide for New Teachers is another link I see helping me through my first year of teaching. It gives advice on everything from working with veteran teachers, to working with parents and your principal. All things that we must know how to do. What To Expect Your First Year Teaching also has great advice on handling certain situations. To be honest, I could list all of the resources on this site. I must agree with Anthony that this website is wonderful. If you want to be a teacher, or if you are a teacher, you must visit this site.  

Individual Project #9a

Timetoast Timeline

Blog Post #4

Judy Sharf Podcast Collection
If you have to do a podcast, this site is where you need to go. She gives a detailed description on podcasting, and also gives some example podcast. Most importantly, you must give yourself plenty of time, although it seems simple, a podcast is very time consuming. Start early!


The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
Podcasting in the classroom is a great idea. It exposes the children to project based learning, promotes creativity, allows parents to hear what is going on in the classroom, along with many other positive advantages. I think the children enjoy podcasting; they feel like they are really doing something and it keeps them interested. I like how Mr. Dale collaborated with fellow teachers to help with his podcast on the book. Using different voices is something we can do in our own podcast.

First Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audio Book
It is amazing that this group of first graders created something so great. This read-along audio book was a great way for the children to explore with their own voices, wanting them to be just right. I think the free online converter, 2EPUB, and the dictionary part would be very useful.

My Sentence Video

C4T #1

 Cool Cat Teacher Blog

     My C4T was on Mrs. Davis. She is a teacher at Westwood High School in Georgia, and has won many awards for her blog. For my first comment, Mrs. Davis' post contained several links for lesson plans, and other helpful tools for teachers. There were two in particular that I felt I could relate to at this time. One was on 100 days of school, and the other was The Chinese New Year. The two of my children that are in elementary school just celebrated both of these things at their school. As a parent, it is interesting to see where teachers get ideas for their lesson plans.
     For my second comment, she posted about Mardi Gras. Again, she had links to lesson plans and information about Mardi Gras. She thought it would be neat for the kids to learn the history behind it. I told her where I was from, and that we celebrated Mardi Gras as well. I also told her that I was a member of Krew De La Dauphine, of Dauphin Island. I agreed that teaching the history of Mardi Gras was a great idea. I think that it is something the kids would have fun learning about!

Project #5 Google Presentation

Blog Post #3

Technology in Special Education

     This video was extremely moving to me; it honestly touched my heart. Some of these students are not able to communicate verbally with their teacher, so trying to use methods such as pointing out letters to spell a word can be time consuming. Having a computer enables these students to type out what they want to say in half the time that it takes to point letters out. Other students were having trouble turning assignments in on time, but being able to use a computer they are right on track.
     Technology in a Special Education classroom is not only beneficial for the students, but also for the teacher. Having computers speeds up the time it takes for the students to complete an assignment, or even just ask the teacher a question. This enables the teacher to spend more time teaching, and helping them understand what he/she is teaching. The students can also be more involved and will be more interested in what they are learning about. I believe it is just as important, if not more, to use technology in Special Education as it is to use it in a regular classroom.

How the iPad works with Academics for Autism

     The Dexteria app is designed to to improve fine motor skills, and was voted top 10 Tried and True classroom apps by teachers with apps. It allows the students to practice finger sequencing and isolation, fine motor manipulation and control, and will improve finger control and stroke sequencing. The students will be able to perform these tasks after warming their hands and fingers up by using this app. The best part of it, they are still having fun doing it! 


  
 
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
     This media counter is absolutely outrageous; the numbers are climbing by the second! Being able to connect with the entire world through technology is a wonderful thing. Also, to know that we are expanding the way we learn, and spreading that knowledge to everyone we can is unreal; I can not begin to imagine what we will be able to do in the future. We have already come so far in every aspect of our lives due to the rapid and overwhelming growth of technology.
     I have to admit that the more information I find, the more apprehensive I become. I am really beginning to wonder if technology is going to totally take over the world. Will there be no need for teachers one day? This does scare me! I love what we can do with all of these gadgets these days, but I want to teach. I want to have a job when I finish college. I don't think it will happen soon, but I do believe it will happen. It is definitely something for us as future educators to think about.


Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
     This video sends out a powerful message. From a student's point of view: We go to class to listen to a teacher lecture about something that, at the time, has no meaning to us. They write on a chalkboard, or read word for word from a power-point, these facts that we must know for a test. There is nothing there to grab our attention! Everything outside of the classroom is so fast paced, so to sit in a desk is just plain boring. I'm not saying that education it isn't important; I know how important having an education is. I am saying that we are not being educated for the way the world is now, or the way it is going to be in years to come.
     I am sure that it is disturbing as a teacher or professor to see this type of thing. Of course they want their students to learn, that is why they do what they do. But the fact still remains that technology is the last resource to enter the classroom. If the educators are not adapted to the technology, how can they use it to teach? Also, if the schools do not provide the resources, how can the students learn the importance of technology in the classroom? This is exactly why I think other programs should adapt to style of EDM 310.

Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know? The Dr. Strange Version
     I was totally blown away by some of the numbers presented in this video. Why, with all of the advanced technology, is the United States lagging behind other countries? In one minute there are 1,097,220 You Tube videos watched, 1,393,519 Google searches, and 11,453,577 text messages sent. It is not that we do not have the capability, it is in fact that we have not been using the technology to educate!
      "The top ten jobs ten years from now do not exist yet, and will use technologies not invented yet." If this is the case, it is our job to continue exploring technology and coaching our students. We must provide a independent learning environment. By doing this, students will experience hands-on education that will enable them to retain information sufficiently.
 
Mr. Winkle Wakes
     Mr. Winkle awoke from his 100 year sleep to find that the world he lived in had changed. There were tall buildings and hospitals, both filled with these machines that were making all sorts of noises; he was overwhelmed, but also amazed. The only place that seemed normal to Mr. Winkle was the school. It was just like he had remembered it, no machines just rows of desks. So, if everyone else had adapted to this new found world of technology, why hadn't the school?
     The places visited by Mr. Winkle, such as the office building and the hospital are places where future graduates will work. Wouldn't it be a good idea if the technology that they will be required to use was incorporated into their learning experience in the classroom? I do! This is our future, and the future of our children.

The Importance of Creativity
     One of Sir Ken Robinson's very first statements is that creativity is as important as literacy; I wasn't completely sold on the idea at first. Why? Because we have been raised based on this hierarchy of education where the focus is ones academic ability, and creativity falls into the bottom slot. He hit the nail on the head! If there is a right and wrong way to do everything, then there is no room for creativity. We are so afraid to make mistakes and it is, in fact, exactly what is hindering the level of creativity in our society today.
     Instead of quickly throwing a label on children, we should try a different approach to what we call "behavioral problems." Is it a behavioral problem? Or is it just a lack of options in the classroom? I think we should try giving these children more opportunities to explore their imagination and push the importance of creativity and literacy combined.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning  

     This video gives a perfect explanation of the term burp-back education. Students are taught to memorize facts for standardized testing, only to forget most, if not all, of it after the test is over. Kids know how to work game systems, smartphones, computers, etc..., at a young age so why shouldn't we enhance their education with this technology? I firmly believe that it is critical to the success of our children's future to rid the classroom of burp-back education. I, for one, can not only learn better, but retain the information that I learned if I am given the opportunity.
     If we can put a video game in front of a child, and give them a task to master, they will be learning and not really know that they are learning. That is the beauty of it! They would have the opportunity to explore a third world country, and never leave the classroom. They would be able to go virtually any where in the world!  
     
Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
     Mrs. Davis is showing her students how to do exactly what we are doing in EDM 310; be an independent learner. She makes several excellent points: You don't have to know it to teach it. We should always be learning. Another point is that every child is not going to succeed with just a pencil and a piece of paper. This relates to the burp-back learning that I referred to above. Instead of sitting there writing down everything the teacher is saying so you can memorize it later for a test, put a computer in front of them. Let them learn! She also introduces new words often. Words that the students are not familiar with, that way they have to look them up to know the meaning. She says this keeps them thinking.

     I was actually assigned to Mrs. Davis' blog, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, for my C4T activity. She is an amazing woman who is emphasizing the importance of having a learning environment. She has connected her school in rural Georgia to the entire world through technology.