C4K for October

Bruno's Blog Post Summary
Bruno wrote his blog post about a silent challenge that he did on the book "Out of my Mind". He did this challenge because the main character in the book could not talk. The point of this silent challenge was to see what it is like not to be able to talk. Bruno said that having no voice would be a lonely life.Bruno also related this silent challenge to his cousin that has Cerebral Palsy and how his cousin could not talk very well.

I Response..
I started out introducing myself to Bruno. I told Bruno what my name was, where I went to school, and why I was writing him. I told him that this was an interesting project and could he remember the questions that he asked during his silent read. I explained that I had never been in a situation where I was not able to talk but I knew it would be an challenging task. Last, I thanked Bruno for sharing his post.

Greg's Blog Post Summary
Greg's teacher prompted the students to write at least five sentences. The teacher wants to hear the students thoughts and ideas.The teacher then assigned three questions for the students to answer from a story that they had read in class.The first question was did the character of the story have a dream.Greg thought that the character did not have a dream but the character wanted other things out of life. The next question was concerning the teacher. the last question that the teacher prompted was about an event in the story being important.

I Response..
I started out introducing myself to Greg. I told him who I was, where I was from, and why I was writing him. I then asked him a question of my own. That question was, "have you ever has a dream?" I informed Greg that I was interested in what his dreams might be. Last, I told Greg that I was so glad that I was able to read his blog post.

Tyler's Blog Post Summary
This blog post was about Tyler wanting a Facebook. He was trying to convenience his mom that it would be a good thing for him to have. He even promised his mom that he would be better if he could have a Facebook.

I Response..
First I introduced myself to Tyler. I told Tyler who I was, where I was from, and why I was writing him. I then told him that Facebook is a great social network that keeps people connected but like anything else it can be neglected. Using Facebook takes maturity. Then I explained to Tyler that maybe explaining the purpose of wanting it to his mom will help his case.

Rave's Blog Post Summary
Rave's post was a summary of a book that she had read while in school. the name of that book was "Docking Day". Rave did a great job on this post and told the most important parts of the story.

My Response..
I first introduced myself to Rave. I told rave who I was, where I was from, and why I was writing on her post. I then told Rave how good she did on her post. I had a clear understanding of the story after Rave posted her summary. I told Rave that I loved the art work on her blog. Her blog showed personality. Last, I thanked her for sharing her post.

bhujit's Blog Post Summary
bhujit's blog post was about how Americans would rather watch reality t.v. than a political debate. bhujit felt very strongly about people being involved in the politics hat are going on in the U.S. bhujit feels that to become a better citizen and be productive then paying attention is important. This post was super impressive. bhujit stated her opinion but then backed her opinion up with facts.

My Response..
I first introduced myself. Then I told her where I was from and why I was writing her. I then went on to explain how impressed I was with her post. I openly admitted to being a person that would rather watch reality t.v. but that old habit will come to a stop. I explained that I am striving to become a better citizen. This blog post opened my eyes to what I need to do to become better. I then thanked her for sharing.

Project #12 Part A: Smartboard Activity

Blog Post #10

What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch?

When I first read this question and started the video I was worried that I might fall asleep while watching this video. After the video started and Randy started talking I knew there was no way I could find this video not interesting. I felt so sad for Randy when he started telling his medical problems but after listening for awhile I felt happy for him. Randy has taken a serious situation and made the best out of it. I found his story to be inspirational. Randy's brain tumor was not the only thing he was determined to overcome. Randy has lived his life achieving dreams and even when there was let downs Randy enjoyed the experience.

I have learned by listening to this lecture that there is always going to be thing that stand in my way but I have to overcome them. As future a educator, I can learn to teach my students that nothing is impossible. No dream is too big or too small. When things do not turn out the way that we expect them too then we still had a wonderful experience. We should live everyday looking at the good and not the bad. As a  future educator, I now know to teach like it is my last day. I should make each  lecture or each lesson worth listening too.

Project #14 Project Based Learning Part #2

Name: Measurements

Subject: Math

Duration: 3 Days

Grade: Kindergarten

Teacher: Ms. Williams

Blog Post #9

By Group: Gainesborough

Members: Shanda Thornton, Chastity Westry, and Victoria P. Williams

We can learn a lot of new techniques and different concepts of teaching through these videos. These teachers teach us new and different ways to run our classroom using some 21st Century competencies. There is a lot to be learned through these videos.

Brian talks about the different activities that are done throughout his classroom and how he does them. He knows that students disconnect easily and for many different reasons. We were  really impressed that Brian does not stereotype his classroom. He has a classroom full of lower class children and he brings his best to the classroom. He wants them to have the best learning experience and he tries his best to provide that. He introduces these children to blogging along with other class projects. Brian offers his students real life problems through these projects and that is what will prepare the students for the real world. Also, he had speakers that tied into what they were learning to come in and speak with his class. This resource could provide the students with information that won’t be found on the internet. We learned that if we involve, connect, engage, empower, and motivate students they will be more interested in learning. The projects Brian produced for his students will make them lifelong learners and thinkers. Active learning is a great way to create a learning atmosphere. He teaches his students to think outside of the box. An example was when he told the students to tell the story as if they were the balloon, this gets the students involved in a thinking process. The blogging helps the students to interact with students all over the world and show their reflections. The comments allows students to converse back and forth, this tool teaches them a lot about connecting and collaborating with other people. The comments left on the students posts from readers encourages them to keep learning and improve their work. Brian also established goals implemented in the classroom, the students created goals for themselves, school, community, and the whole world. They also received feedback from other students from all over the world which made the students more globally aware.

Second, we learned about a method called blended learning.Paul uses the blended learning system for his classroom. Blended learning is when you take classroom learning and mix it with online and module work. Paul basically described it with these three resources: online, mobile, and classroom. There are five “E’s” that tie into the process of blended learning, which can be helpful to learn science.The learning cycles are: engage, exploring, explaining, expanding, and evaluating. So when you mix blended learning with the learning systems, you then will have a blended learning system. Brian wants his class to ask questions and predict what will happen next. Next, the class should then be evaluated. He also talked about the power of the questioning and the power of learning. He always starts with a question that hooks the students, once you have the students hooked, they are ready and excited to learn and answer the questions.  Learning cycles are very useful to get students involved in the thinking process. Also, if the students follow all of the steps to this process on their own they are more likely to take more knowledge with them to the next level. To remember the steps of the cycles, he develops acronyms. Paul’s blended learning cycle consisted of six parts, “QUIVERS” : Questions- start with a good driving question, Investigate/Inquiry- inquire about the driving question and investigate the answer or the reasons, Video- watch a video about the driving topic, Elaborate- elaborate on the topic, Review- review all of the information collected, and Summary- take a summary quiz to make sure the students understand the topic.

In the last video, he gets his students to talk about the puzzles in small groups in order to capture the heart of the unit. In the groups they connect with the ideas and decide what it is all about. The challenge on the whole topic in general is to figure out a phrase that  headlines and captures the heart of what the unit is about, The students conversed and one girl stated, “how can we sum up everything with one phrase?” How the students interpreted the unit and connected it with what they already know to the puzzles and challenging of the stories. Later on they headline it again and see how much the headline and their interpretations of the unit have changed since the first time they discussed it.

C4T Post- #2

Lisa's Post #1

Lisa Thurman is an  innovative learning technologies at The School for Global Education and Innovation at Kean University in New Jersey.  She  work with educators to improve teaching and learning using technology.  Lisa also helps with the UA conferences but only about 50% of people that are suppose to be in attendance come to the conference. Lisa's biggest concern has been the waste of people's time, money, and food. She has decided to bring it to attention now that  the attendance rate has continued to drop. Lisa wants a solution for this problem. Should she establish unwritten rules or should she stop having these conferences all together?

My Response...

I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I have never heard of these conventions nor have I ever attended one but I feel that something must be done about the wastefulness. It is not only the wastefulness of the food but also the money and the time of the people involved. My suggestion is to charge a fee. The fee might make people commit more to coming.

Lisa's Post #2

Lisa has been working a with a group to learn more about the common core standards. through this process Lisa has established common core communities of practice. These communities will work on improvements and work on a workplace for teachers. this workplace will allow many teachers more opportunities. Lisa feels that these communities will enhance learning. To launch this new stuff, there will be a conference for NJ teachers in NJ. 

My Response...

Hi, my name is Victoria Williams and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently taking EDM 310 and I have been assigned to visit your blog post. I think that it is really impressive how much you want to help teachers. Creating an virtual workplace will create more opportunities for educators.

Blog Post #8

Scholastics

By: Victoria Williams

After reading my assignment for post eight, I knew exactly where I could find learning and communicating tools. I referred back to my PLN, Symabloo. This site has tons of useful tools that I am in the process of locating and preparing. I will use these tools in my future classroom.

I found this tool on Symabloo and it is called Scholastic. The Scholastic site has tons of great learning resources that I will need for my second grade classroom. To use this site you  need to create an account as either a teacher, parent, first administrator, or librarian. Some of the resources listed on the homepage are as follows: Resource and Tools, Strategies & Idea , Student Activities, Book & Authors, and a shop for teachers to buy products. I chose to use this site because of all the resources that it has to offer me.

The Resource and Tools tab contains lots of useful tools that I will use in my future classroom. The most useful thing for me was the hands on lesson plans. The lesson plans are designed for certain grade levels and contain a project overview, objective, lesson plan for the unit, culminating activities, duraliation for the project, and the subjects being covered. I would use this site mostly to gather creative lesson plan ideas but there are also other useful resources offered through this site. There are Common Core instructional material and programs. The Everything you Need link is perfect for looking up activities for the whole month. The Tools tab has a variety of technology tools to make things for the classroom such as: graphic organizers, rubric makers, flash card maker and a spelling wizard.  This site also offers printables, planning calendar, and daily starters. I would recommend this site to any teacher.

Flocabulary

http://www.flocabulary.com/

by: Shanda Thornton

I looked over a few different learning sites, and found a few different ones, but Flocabulary just kept jumping out at me. Flocabulary is partnered with Learning.com and Pearson and currently working on new content for common core ELA. It is $63/year, but I believe would be well worth that price! I just signed up for the free trial, so that I could explore more of the products this site has to offer. Flocabulary has an online library of songs, videos, and activities for grades k-12. Teachers use Flocabulary to supplement their instruction andengage their students.The word up projects teaches interdisciplinary tier 2 words to boost reading skills across the curriculum. It engages, standard aligned content for students of all ages. It offers videos, exercises, games, and quizzes that provide a comprehensive resource for direct vocabulary instruction. it has hip hop songs, videos, and lessons for every subject! It offers products for Language Arts, Math, The Week in Rap, Social Studies, Science. It also has an award-winning vocabulary program and features a weekly current events video. Flocabulary presents academic content in a highly-engaging, contemporary format. It says that the site lets the topic speak for itself, providing students with both visual and aural exposure. And videos aren’t only for introducing new topics; use them to review and provide ongoing enrichment as well. You can play and pause the video while discussing the lyrics, which are visible below the video and also available as a printable PDF. Click on key lyrics to bring up an infobox, which takes the topic further and provides opportunity for a more in-depth discussion. As a class, in groups, or individually, students can hone in on specific details and review key points from the song in a flashcard format. The founders have diverse backgrounds but with a common goal of increasing student motivation and achievement. I would absolutely use this site in my classroom! I love music and I always could learn stuff better if I could turn it into a song! I think most kids are like that, and with this site they get songs and interactive games to help them learn and remember about lessons of any subject!

Check it out! It’s this generations version of schoolhouse rock!

i>Clicker

http://www1.iclicker.com/

By. Chastity Westry

A 21st Century learning and communicating tool I will use with my students is the iClicker. The iClicker is an audience response system that enables participants and presenters to interact dynamically through question and answer polling in various group settings. It reduces the burden of technical difficulties and maximizes the benefit of learning with the technology.The iClicker remote has basic features that can be easily operated by any grade level. The remote has a simple six button design, easy for students to power up and make their decisions. Next, they are small, lightweight, and portable with a durable design built to last.  This tool allows teachers and students to make real-time decisions about academic progress. I will use this tool along with powerpoint or other presentation programs with my students. Since I will be working with Kindergarteners,we will be using this to play matching games on a LCD screen for learning the alphabet and numbers. This learning and communicating tool can be accessed through an iPad, iClicker remote, computers, or any device with internet access. Two benefits that I expect from this tool is making learning more informative and enjoyable. I chose this particular tool because I think it will be very effective in the learning process in the classroom. The iClicker tool will develop better collaboration and communication skills upon my students. Also, when using this tool and pairing students into groups, it can create competition and encourage the students to want to do better in their work. I believe that the iClicker will keep the students engaged and encourage them to learn more. The iClicker is an essential presentation tool that increases engagement and understanding. This tool will keep your students learning experience front and center. Today, as a Junior at the University of South Alabama, I am currently using the iClicker in my lecture classes and I am sure it will be a great effective learning tool for my future classroom.

Project #9- Podcast

My group and I had a fun time creating this Podcast. We were a little nervous at first but we were able to over come that. This book was a great educational resource for upcoming teachers.

Blog Post #7

Project Based Learning Pt. 1 & Pt. 2

These videos were of an interview with Anthony Capps , a 3rd grade teacher. This teacher practices project based learning at Gulf Shores Elementary School. I found this video so interesting because Anthony shared real stories of project based learning in action. I enjoyed hearing these examples and how they worked out for his classroom. Anthony uses project learning to keep his class interested and meeting state requirements. Some examples of project based learning in action would be writing a letter, making a video and peer editing. It is amazing to me how much a 3rd grader can do. After watching this video I understand the importance of pushing students. This video goes to show how much potential an elementary student can have. I have learned some good examples of project based learning and the importance of practicing project based learning. I know now why teachers find this so important and I understand how much work goes into preparing project based learning.

By: Victoria Williams

icurio

This was another interview with Anthony Capps. In this video Anthony talks about the importance of using icurio. Anthony uses icurio in his 3rd grade class as a safe search engine for his students. icurio search engine can search video and audio that meet Alabama Career Ready Standards. Students and teachers can use icurio to stay organized by storing items to icurio. Anthony allow his students to use icurio themselves to learn how to become  virtual organize. This is a great educational resource for any educator wanting to further students knowledge beyond text.

By: Victoria Williams

Discovery Education

Anthony Capps is a 3rd grade teacher from Gulf Shores Elementary School. He uses Discovery Education in his classroom to enhance learning. This 3rd grade class is able to enrich their research experience using Discovery Ed. These children go beyond a picture and bring to life the subject being taught. Anthony also uses Discovery Education to bring text to life within in his classroom. Discovery Education is being used to be an educational resource for students and teachers.

By: Victoria Williams

Addition thought about Lessons

In this last video Anthony Capps talks about how to prepare a successful lesson. When creating a lesson it should be four layers thick. First, you should think about the year that your teaching. Does your lesson cover all the content standards? It takes planning to prepare successfully.  Next, make sure that you can unfold the unit in a way that everything stays connected. After breaking your unit up, then try break your unit down by the week. Everything can’t be done in a day. Last, look at things on a daily basis. In conclusion, to successfully prepare a lesson then you must meet all four layers and look from the outside in.

By:Victoria Williams

Project #2- PLN

I started using Symbaloo for my personal learning network. This network is a great resource because it makes everything so accessible. I have my networks color coordinated for easy access for myself.  I have personal resources along with educational resources. One of my favorite educational site is the scholastic source. It has bilingual stories for children to listen to and educational games. I know this will be useful resource when I am in my classroom.

Project #13

This lesson plan addresses 3rd grade Common Core standard 3 for math and 6 for Writing. This plan is designed for a 3rd grade classroom and will last a week. The button, when clicked, will take you to the lesson plan.

Project Overview

 This lesson plan comes with a project calendar that provides instruction for each day. The button, when clicked, will take you to the project calendar.

Project Calendar