Thursday, February 27, 2014

C4K Summary for February

My C4K #1 was a student from Ireland named Jack. In his blog post he talked about his fun filled day with his friend Conor. They play Black Ops 2 and watched Despicable Me 2 while eating popcorn and jellies. He was sad when his friend Conor had to go home but their mothers said Jack could come over to Conor's house the weekend of Valentine's day so they were both very excited. Jack is a great writer and seems very smart and fun to be around.

My C4K #2 was a sixth grade student named Luke. His blog post was titled "Three goals I have set for myself are...". Luke's three goals were "get another million dollars, retire at the age of 28, and have a life time of whoppers from BK". He seems to be the kind of dreamer that every adult wishes they could be forever. I told him that if he achieved his three goals, he would be set for life. Being retired at 28, with money and a life time supply of burgers seems like a pretty great life.

Image of three children on a laptop in the classroom
My C4K #3 was a classmate of Jack from my C4K #1. His blog post was titled "Mystery Match hmmmmmmmm!" He plays football (soccer) and he has a match this weekend but the coaches did not tell them who they were going to be playing. Liam said he hoped they were going to play a team called Cromlin because they have only played them once. He loves playing football and that is not an easy sport at all. I told him good luck on his match this weekend and the best of luck in the future.

My C4K #4 was a high school student from Baldwin County named Hillard and his post was titled "Belief". Hillard believes that we as Americans should be allowed to carry guns because they have many purposes. You can protect your family if you are robbed in your home and you can also go hunting with it. I agree that we should be allowed, with the correct permits, to own guns because if the Government took away everything that was "dangerous", we would not have much left because even cars would be gone.

Project #13

2030: A Day In The Life of Tomorrow's Kids book cover


For this project, we 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 sources below:

Project Calendar

Project Overview

Project Checklist

Project Rubric

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Blog Post #6

A personal learning network (PLN) is exactly what it sounds like. According to a blog that I found called Once a Teacher... explained a PLN as "the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online." Each person's personal learning network will be different from another but that is what makes it personal. Your PLN consists of blogs, twitter accounts, and any other way you can connect with other educators around the world. If your personal learning network is used correctly, you will benefit from it tremendously.

Personal learning networks can help you as a teacher in many ways. It can help you find an answer to a question you are not sure about. It can help you learn things to pass on to your students. The list could go on forever telling the many ways a PLN would benefit you as a teacher. A personal learning network is formed by first choosing how you will keep track of everything you are going to have in your PLN. After reading all of the links Dr. Strange gave us, I would use Symbaloo because it seems to be the easiest to navigate and use on a daily basis. All of my PLN connections could be organized on one single page and all you have to do is click on the one you are wanting to go to.

Image of animated people all connected through PLN's
I would begin my personal learning network (PLN) by following different educators on Twitter. I could have daily updates on their thoughts about things but I could also message them on Twitter if I had any questions and vice versa. I would also use different educators blogs and YouTube for valuable information I might need. By starting with just a few tools in my PLN I have a place to start from and work my way up. Each time I find something that would be beneficial for me as a teacher and my class, I can add it to my personal learning network so I can go back to it whenever I need to. After reading more about personal learning networks (PLN), I think every teacher should have one because nobody knows everything and as constant learners ourselves, even the smallest piece of new information can help you and your students in the classroom.

Project #8: Book Trailer

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Blog Post #5

After watching the seven videos between Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange, I feel much more confident in my understanding of project-based learning and the use of technology in the classroom. The first two videos I watched were called Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher and Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher. In these two videos Anthony and Dr. Strange discussed project-based learning in the classroom and how the students, teachers, parents, and faculty feel about the use of PBL in the classroom. PBL is where the students put what they have learned to use in some kind of project instead of the students just memorizing the information and taking a test on the material. According to Anthony, the students love using PBL in the classroom because they are so much more engaged than the would be in a classroom with out PBL. They are given the opportunity to be creative in their learning process and it makes learning so much more memorable and fun.

iCurio is a great tool to use in the classroom for all ages. It is a safe search engine for the students to do their research on while in the process of completing a project. The internet is a great thing but so many people use it in a negative way. If we want our students to be able to use the internet and excel in their learning process, iCurio is the best way to allow them to do exactly that. I know I will use iCurio in my classroom one day because it is a safe search engine but it still gives your students so many options and resources. I had never heard of Discovery Education until seeing this video and it seems like a great tool to use in the classroom. Similar to iCurio, it allows the students to have other resources and videos explaining topics or learning about certain topics more in depth that they may not have had time to do in the classroom. Anthony gave the great example of the students using Discovery Education to look up different kinds of plants and it gives them not only pictures of the plants and facts but it also gives them videos of other teachers talking about the plants.

Image of a stack of books connected to a computer mouse
The Anthony-Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1 was a great video giving us tips on how to be a successful teacher. So many teachers think of what they do as just a job that pays the bills but to be a successful teacher "you have to love to learn", according to Anthony and Dr. Strange. I agree because if you do not love to learn than why did you go to school to become a teacher to begin with? Being a teacher is a constant learning process. You never stop learning because you are teaching the students but they are also teaching you things even if you do not realize it at the time.

The last one I found to be very informational was called Don't Teach Tech- Use It. I have always thought using technology in the classroom was a great way to engage the students and help them excel but I have never really thought about the process of being able to use the technology in my classroom. Anthony says that he does not spend much time, if any at all, actually teaching his students how to use certain parts of technology used in their classroom. He gives them the basic explanation of how it works and then he makes them figure it and use their brains and knowledge to learn how to use those technology tools. After watching this video, I will most definitely use this concept in my classroom because I want my students to learn to be independent and well rounded.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...



My Passion Is...



Sunday, February 9, 2014

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #4

The question being asked is "What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?" Growing up I was one of those students that hated to ask questions or have to answer questions out loud during class because I was afraid of saying the wrong thing. I think that is a major reason most students do not ask questions when they have them or want to answer questions during class. Many teachers prepare lesson plans, tests, projects, and each thing that will be done through out the day but not very often do they prepare questions to ask the students during certain lessons that will be taught. After reading a few sources, I have found that the questions being asked to the students during the lesson can majorly enhance the lesson being taught and also help the students think more about the topic besides the facts that are being given to them.

One of the sources I read was called The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom. The part of this source I liked was near the end that talked about how to approach a question and the strategy behind it. The strategy is to ask a question and allow a few seconds for all of the students to think of an answer. Then randomly call on a student to answer the question. If the student answered correctly but maybe did not give enough information, ask another question to only that child that will help them elaborate or clarify their initial response. It will make the student use his/her higher-level thinking but it will also help the other students by making them think of an initial response before a name is called. I also think open-ended questions are much more effective than close-ended questions because it makes the students create their own personal response and not choose an answer from a pre-made list (yes, no, etc).

Another source I found helpful was the YouTube video called Questioning Styles and Strategies. This video shows a teacher asking questions in his classroom about a book the students have been reading. He asks a question and then tells them to write down their answer in their learning logs. He gives them a few seconds to get their answers written and then calls randomly on a student to read their answer to the question. He also asks his students to elaborate on their answer if they are on the right track but have not said enough information. He asked one child to stand up and show what one of the animals might look like in that world they were talking about. This technique is called physical representation and it allows the student to not only tell his/her answer but to show the class as well.

Animated children raising their hands in class
The way questions are asked in the classroom is a major part of the learning process for students. It allows them to use higher-level thinking and lets them sometimes even express themselves through their answer. Some teachers take the easy way out and ask close-ended questions or questions such as "Does everybody understand?" and neither of these help motivate or help the students to learn. The students want to be involved but they sometimes do not know how to get involved. By having questions already prepared and allowing each student to answer the question before the answer is said out loud helps make the student feel a bit more knowledgable and involved in their learning process.

C4T #1 Summary

I was assigned to Mrs. Henrietta Miller's blog called Classroom Chronicles where I commented on two different blog post's. I commented on "A New Beginning" and "Our Class Essential Agreement".

C4T #1 comment #1

Mrs. Miller's first post I commented on was called "A New Beginning". The post was about how she was starting back to school soon and she realized she had not been preparing for the new semester like she should have. As any teacher would, she was beginning to panic a little. She then read a few articles that made her realize that it is ok and to take her time. Mrs. Miller talked about balancing your work life and school life which can be difficult sometimes. I responded by saying we over work ourselves in many aspects of our lives. As a perfectionist, stressing over simple things can make a day very overwhelming so I have had to teach myself to take everything in my life one step at a time. If I do not, I get very overwhelmed and it is not a pretty sight. I also said when I become a teacher I want to do my best to have a balanced life between school and my personal life. I want my students to be constantly learning and excelling as much as possible but I also want to have a personal life at the same time.

Image of the quote: Don't stress, do your best, forget the rest
C4T #1 comment #2

Mrs. Miller's second post I commented on was called "Our Class Essential Agreement". The post was about how she sets certain rules or standards in her classroom. She places certain questions around the room for the students to answer on a sticky note and the students place their ideas by each question. As a class they talk about what everyone's ideas are and then are broken up into small groups to talk about a one certain question that was asked. They agree on ten statements and then each student chooses one of the statements and modifies the statement to fit them personally. They are then put into new small groups creating the classroom standards that make up their "Class Essential Agreement". At any time the agreement can be changed or modified but it is posted on the wall in the classroom for the class to go by through out the year. I responded by saying it was a great idea. Mrs. Miller gave the students a base to start from and allowed them to mold and change the standards they will go by through out the year. It gives the students a sense of community and allows them to have a role in how the classroom is ran. I will use this in my classroom one day because I think by allowing the students to have a role in how they learn and how things are run in the classroom, it makes them want to learn more.

Image of the word Inspire