C4K Summary for September

Week 4

     I was assigned a wonderful student's blog post titled "Equality For All".  I commended the student for being so young and standing up for a strong belief for marriage equality.  That subject is not taken well in today's world, much less living in the south.  I supported her by saying my friends and I believe in equality for all people.  In her post she used a close friend at her old school who blurred the lines of fashion as her way of saying "People should not be treated differently for who they are but how they treat others.  This I believe; in equality for all".  I told her that gave it a more personal touch than just another person ranting about equality.  I summed my comment up by saying she caught my attention and held it, which is a sign of a good writer or blogger.  I left a comment asking if she likes to write or act (her voice recording had a lot of personality) and I hope to hear back from her!

Week 5
     This week I was assigned to Billon's blog!  His topic on "Being Teacher and Principal For A Day" made me smile!  Reading about all the sports and games he wanted to play with his students all day made me reminisce about the days when I wished I could change school too.  It hit me when writing a comment that in a few years I will be the teacher. I will be the one in charge.  I will be the one to make a change for these students.  I asked him if he would teach me some of the games he listed I had never heard of.  I also warned him Redrover Crossover was my favorite, and I was pretty good so watch out!  He asked his readers what they would do if they could be teacher for a day so I responded by telling him I would like to use movies to help my students learn.  I asked if he would like that as a student, hopefully he approves!

Week 6
     I had the pleasure of visiting Simon's blog this week!  Simon told us about what they did in class on Tuesday, September 17.  The kids are learning the story about Esther but have stopped for the day on a sad note.  Simon told how into the story he was but was worried what was to come.  I shared with Simon that my favorite biblical story was Esther and that the story ended well.

Week 7
     I got to visit Ashley's blog this week, and her post was very inciteful!  Ashley's blog post was titled Do Birds Get Shocked When They Sit On Wires?.  I commended her on teaching me something!  I must admit I too have wondered why birds do not get shocked while resting on electrical wires.  Ashley told us that birds do not get shocked because they are not good heat conductors.  I thanked her for teaching me something!

"

Project #8: Book Trailer

Blog Assignment #6

What questions do we ask?  How do we ask?

     Questions play a huge part in a student's learning.  It expands their vocabulary, develops critical thinking skills, and challenges their thought processes.  As a teacher we are responsible for making sure we help our student develop by challenging them.  One way to do that is to ask thought provoking questions in your classroom.  I read an article, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, and it got me thinking on how I can evolve my questions to better challenge my students.

     As a history teacher there will be a plethora of topics my classes can discuss, but it's up to me to help lead and further the discussion.  One way is to make sure I ask open-ended questions.  If I ask a yes or no answer it will stop right there; I need to make sure I word my questions in a way that leads them to expound with their answer.  If I prepare my questions ahead of time that should take care of any unnecessary stumbling across words, which in turn could confuse your students.  By continuously asking questions to their answers I hope to bring more students into the discussion.  With history being heavily opinionated, I feel there is no reason that I can't keep a discussion brewing for a while.

     After reading various different articles I have come up with another way to use questions in my classroom.  I will issue a question in class that the students must go home and use Padlet, Google Documents, or another source of my choosing to answer.  I'll require there to be statements to back up their answers.  This way they learn to use the internet as a resource instead of having me give them all the answers, and by taking it home they have more time to think on the question.  The next day i'll discuss the few interesting ones, and if there is a correct answer I will give it and use it to continue to the next lesson.  Also, in the same manner, I will use any good questions asked by the students themselves.  If a student brings up a good question that has potential for a good discussion I might assign it as bonus points to be turned in via the internet.  That way the student will get their answer and my lesson plans won't be thrown off too much.  I realize teachers schedules change constantly, but in a history class if I made a discussion of every single question asked, we wouldn't cover all of the material.  I will change up the ways in which I handle questions asked in my classroom.

Blog Assignment #5

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...


My Passion Is...

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Assignment #4

        Podcasts are an excellent way of getting your students more excited about learning.  In Langwitches blog post, 1st Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audiobook, they talk about partnering with a fellow 1st grade teacher to help students prepare their own audiobook.  They created a script for the students to read off of and one teacher took three at a time to record, while the other teacher read the rest of the chapters of Dinosaurs Before Dark to the remaining students.  Once the audiobook was completed, they printed off the script so their students could follow along with their voices on the podcast.  They said the students were eager to get their voices just right by changing up their speed, emotions, and inflection.  Then in the article, Flat Stanley Podcast, another group of students in the same school was influenced by the previous class.  They sent Flat Stanley's all around the world and received notes and pictures back.  The children then chose a place they would've wanted to been mailed to and wrote a short script describing the adventure.  When they recorded the podcast they were to use their voice to help describe the smell of the place they went, what it felt like to be mailed, and the sounds they heard.  I noticed that by using this technology the children seemed to be more eager to read, write, do research, and learn about new places just so they could record it.  As a high school history teacher my kids won't be reading children's book, but it might spark in them to do a vocal reenactment of a part of one of the wars in history or a famous speech they liked.

     

     After reading Benefit of Podcasting in the Classroom, I started thinking of ways I could gain from podcasting as a teacher.  I already said things my students can do, but ways I might can use it I had never thought of.  On days in advance that I know I will be absent from classes I can podcast the students notes and leave a little quiz for the substitute to hand out.  That way we aren't behind on our syllabus and can keep to a schedule that will allow for more projects (less lecturing).

  

C4T #1

Comment #1:
 

     I had the pleasure of visiting Eric Langhorst's teaching blog and his first post, titled Work Flow- Getting Traditional with Google Scan Feature, got my brain spinning with ideas. First off, in the post, he talks about being torn between wanting to keep a digital copy of his notes when he goes off to seminars and conventions and enjoying the ease of a simple notepad and pen to write freely and draw his tables and charts with no complications.  A notepad fits easily into his pocket and doesn't create the awkward complication of carrying around a laptop or iPad tablet.  He was able to merge the two when he found a SCAN app located in Google Drive that allows you to take a snapshot, "SCAN", a document and it can be cropped and changed to black and white or color setting and it is uploaded to your Google Drive documents.  It can also have a title and is searchable amongst your other items.

     I commented to him that I had been up and down on whether to purchase an iPad because I already own a laptop and smartphone.  I told him by reading this article he helped solidify my decision to purchase one before starting my teaching position.  It's more portable and knowing I can make a scan of anything I may not put on the tablet just gives me all the more reason to go do a little shopping for a certain purchase!

Comment #2:

     
     Mr. Langhorst has not gotten the chance to write a newer blog from the above post so I ventured further down and found the next post, Connecting the Story- Honoring Elmer D Lauck,Vietnam Veteran.  As a history buff I very much enjoyed this post!  He was talking about a trip he took to Washington DC and their tour around the Vietnam Memorial (i've been, it's breathtaking).  Eric Langhorst said he personally did not have a relatives name on the wall but a lady that was travelling with their group said her first cousin's name was on the wall.  Using a phone app they have, they were able to locate the name.  He asked Leann more about her cousin and found out he was buried where his wife's family lives, and he also was going to be flying back there after the trip.  Once he arrived in Wyoming he was able to locate the grave.  He took some pictures for Leann and her family and left a red carnation and flag in remembrance.

    I commented on the fact of how neat it was to see a personal connection with a name on the wall.  I have visited Washington DC and seeing these memorials are always really moving, but it doesn't hit you in a way that it would if you knew someone personally who was listed on that wall.  I commended him on how he helped connect her after the trip with pictures of the grave site and by placing a flower and a flag to honour him.    

Blog Assignment #3

   

After watching What is Peer Editing? and Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes, and also reviewing Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial, I have come to realize I may be taking the easy route with my comments.  My first comment I made on a students blog had light criticism, which I thought was the assignment, and then I noticed no one else was giving anything other than comments.  Let's face it, no one wants to be the "Mean Margaret" and makes things awkward.  I feel like these materials contained things I already knew, but had since forgotten.  Teachers start slamming peer editing into your brain in middle school and I think by the time you have gotten out of high school most students have slacked off here and there.  I am one of them!  This was a reminder to not be afraid of giving positive criticism to help others and also to look for grammatical errors.  I'll be honest, I haven't been looking for those!
     After this revelation I went back and reviewed my group member's blogs, and although I couldn't find anything wrong with them this time I'm sure i'll be more aware of things from now on.  If the criticism isn't too harsh I have no problem with throwing it in with a few compliments publicly, however, if something comes to my attention that might be better said privately I have no issues with that.  My job as a teacher isn't to embarrass a student, I am there to educate!  I feel a student will be more responsive and open to you if you have their trust, and you won't get that by calling them out in front of their friends.

Blog Assignment #2

Erin Crane, Lance Wilkinson, Wesley Etheridge: Professor Dance-a-lot

The video on Professor Dance-a-lot reflects the sentiment of “burp-back education”. Professor Dance-a-lot merely showed the students how to do something by lecture, when it would have been much more effective to have them engage themselves. The students didn’t really learn how to dance, because they never had to try. The point of the video is that in the future of the education we want to engage the students, not merely lecture at them. In this way teachers and students will both become more effective learners and leaders.

Erin Crane: Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts

Edutopia, an educational sources website, has a video detailing Vickie Davis’ unique way of using media tools to connect her students to learning.  Vickie is an innovative teacher in Camilla, Georgia that has taken it upon herself to use games, blogs, wikis, and virtual worlds to ignite a want in her students.  Mrs. Davis herself has won an award for best teacher blog in the world.  She has traveled around the country talking about the techniques she is using but her passion remains in the classroom with her students.  As a “teacherpreneur” she has taught her students new software, to learn how to learn, how to use the Wiki, and how to collaborate with other students more effectively.

Mrs. Davis has collaborated with Julie Lindsey, a teacher in Qatar, to form a global collaborative project they named Digi Teen.  Students all over the globe have come together studying digital citizenship by researching and posting their finding through two digital portals!  Along with Digi Teen the two teachers have also founded another project.  Flat Classroom Project is a project that lets students experience trends in information technology by writing reports with other students and creating videos.  She has even travelled with some of her students to the Middle East for a conference for the Flat Classroom Project.  Vickie Davis made a statement at the end of the video that stuck with me.  She said, “I believe this whole idea of turning school upside down and empowering students to share with one another.  If you can empower them you are just going to have a better classroom.”

Wesley Etheridge: Teaching in the 21st Century

Kevin Roberts made it clear that teachers in the 21st century will have to stop simply providing content, dates, facts, and formula’s. Teachers are no longer the source of information; instead we are the filter between the students and information they have access to learn on their own. Roberts nailed this point by listing all the things students can use to learn on their own. Resources such as blogs, Google, cell phones, Twitter, Wikipedia, and YouTube are available to the majority of students in America.

What does it mean to be a filter? Kevin Roberts asks the question, “How do we teach students to handle their resources?” Being a filter means that we show our students how to use the resources made available to them. Teachers in the 21st century must show students how to validate, synthesize, leverage, communicate, and collaborate information. Roberts poses another important question, with all of this information available should our curriculum be focused on facts and content, or skills? If students can learn facts on their own, it’s clear we should focus on the skills needed.

I honestly don’t disagree with anything Kevin Roberts stated. I think he’s correct, and I think it means we need to focus on engaging students rather than entertaining students. Engaging students begins with the teacher. As teachers we need make sure we’re doing anything it takes to keep our students engaged at all times. Rather it be through collaborating with fellow students or utilizing questions that challenge students to solve problems online, the focus needs to be on engaging students. If Roberts is correct the challenge for me will be to take risks. Instead of making assumptions that my students won’t be successful learning facts on their own, I want to try different methods and see what happens.

Lance Wilkinson: The Networked Student

The educational theory and practice known as Connectivism puts emphasis on networking and interactive learning rather than on traditional educational mediums , lecture and readings. The Networked Student video (created by Wendy Drexler) also puts emphasis on the role of technology in the future of the educational field. The Thesis of the video claims that Connectivism is the way of the future for education. Furthermore, the video reassesses the role of the teacher as a guide for the learning process.

The example student in the video was shown to have taken very well to Connectivism. The student networked with other students studying his subject of interest, subscribed to Podcasts to watch classes around the world, and started blogging to discuss subjectively his area of interests with other students, as well as muse on his subject in his personal blog. It is argued in the video that this is the way of the future for education. The student only went to class three days a week and didn’t even have a book!

Connectivism will definitely be a major aspect of the educational field in the future. What a wonderful resource the internet and technology are! However, putting too much emphasis on networking can either take away or dramatically add to the academic discipline being studied. The video assumes every student will do what is necessary to be a self-learner and take the time and effort to network. In the school system today, some students refuse to even do short reading assignments. Therefore it is impossible to assume every student will actively participate in Connectivism. However, this should not dissuade anyone from the value of Connectivism. I believe the ideal is to continue our push towards Connectivism without completely throwing off lecture and readings. In this way students will both learn from valuable resources (books, academic articles, journals), and network what they’ve learned online; making Connectivism even more valuable. Students could refer each other to academic sources and books that they’ve read and discuss themes or ideas from these reading assignments.

The video asked: “In the future, why even have a teacher?”. The video argues that the teachers role is to be a guide for networking. This is a crucial element of our educational system because networking is such a major part of our modern society. I believe the teachers role is to actively participate in the learning process by lecturing and assigning relevant readings, but also to encourage networking and Connectivism. In this way our future students will be competent, educated, networking individuals.