Project #15

For this lesson, I created a project called Know Your State. This lesson plan addresses the Alabama English and Language Arts State Standards for third grade. This project will be completed in a two week time frame giving the students about one week to work on their presentation and one week to present.The students will split into groups of four and assigned a state to research using iCurio. They will use Prezi to create their presentations of their group assigned state. The second week the students will present their presentations to the class, showing all of the interesting facts they found while conducting their research with their group.

Here are the sources below:

Project Calendar

Project Overview

Project Checklist

Project Rubric

Blog Post #10

In Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk video called Bring on the Learning Revolution, he says, "Human resources like natural resources; they're often buried deep. You have to go looking for them, they're not just lying around on the surface." This quote stuck out the most to me because I feel like this is how many people think about education. They think that as long as they go to class or do what the teacher tells them, they deserve to be successful. I think we are teaching our kids this idea of education and it has to stop. They have to want to learn because if they do not want to learn then what are they in school for?

Sir Ken Robinson said that we make poor use of our talents and so many people go through their entire lives without knowing what talents they have. I think as a teacher, that is our duty. It is our responsibility to help children find their talents so they can grow into successful adults in the community. If everyone walked around living lives that they did not love, what is the point of the whole process? Sir Ken Robinson taught me that we have to start a "revolution" in education and customize each child's learning process to fit their talents or to help them grow in any way we can.

SMARTboard Project #12 Part A

Blog Post #9

"It's not going away, it's here to stay" is what Mrs. Cassidy said about technology in the video Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1. I think she is absolutely right. We have the choice to use or not use technology in our classrooms but as fast as our world is progressing, especially in technology, I think we would be hindering our students by not using technology in the classroom. Mrs. Cassidy had a great approach to technology. When I think about using it in my classroom I think, "where do I start?" That is the thing that so many people get overwhelmed by and it should not be that way. There is no certain place to start, no right or wrong answer. You choose a place to begin using technology in the classroom that best fits you and your students and build from there.

After watching, Little Kids... Big Potential, it really made me realize the use of technology has no age limit. Mrs. Cassidy's students blog weekly and they are first graders. I have had a blog for only a couple of months and I have gained so much knowledge from using it. Imagine your students using blogs weekly. They would gain so much more knowledge then from a book and they can also share what they have learned with the world. When I have a classroom, I want my students to have blogs because it enhances their reading and writing skills, their communication skills, and of course their use of technology. The use of blogs has so many positive aspects that I want to give my students the best education and learning experience possible.

Project #14: Project Based Learning Plan #2

For this lesson, I created a project called Poem Cartoons. This lesson plan addresses the Alabama English and Language Arts State Standards for third grade. This project is to be completed in a two week time frame giving the students about a week and a half to create and three days to present. The students will be split into groups of four and each group will be give a poem by Shel Silverstein. They will read, discuss, and brainstorm ideas in their groups of how they want their cartoon to look. Using Creaza, they will create a cartoon or comic strip illustrating their groups poem. At the end of the week each group will read their poem and present their groups cartoon to the class. This project will allow the students to be as creative and open-minded as they want because there is no right or wrong answer.

Here are the sources below:

Project Calendar

Project Overview

Project Checklist

Project Rubric

Blog Post #8

When the prompt for this post said we could not use any of the sites that we have discussed or used in this class I thought I would never find anymore sites. After one simple online search I was very wrong. I found so many new learning tools that it was difficult to even choose a few to talk about. There are so many great online tools to incorporate into my classroom and I cannot wait to put them to use in my classroom one day.

The first one I found is called ePals. ePals is a website that allows students to engage with other students all over the world. They can find students learning the same concept as them and they can interact with each other about that concept. The two separate classrooms can even work on one project together from two different countries through ePals. Teachers can use ePals to find other educators lesson plans or classroom curriculums to enhance their own personal teaching practices. Parents and students can access ePals at home to find poems, games, and children's stories of any kind to continue their learning process outside of the classroom. Through part of ePals called "Clubhouse", students can safely connect and interact with other students. I will use every aspect of ePals in my classroom because it does not offer just one certain tool. You can use it inside and outside the classroom, for lesson plans or games to add to a lesson, and it can be used by teachers, parents, and students. My favorite part of ePals is that the students can interact and work together with another student or class from across the world. I want to give my students as many new learning opportunities as possible and by using ePals, it would give them so many new outlooks and resources on topics they are learning.

The second one I found is called Popplet. Popplet is a website that allows you and your students to collaborate, brainstorm together, and create mind-maps to assist in the learning process. I have always been a visual learner so I think Popplet would be great to use in my classroom. I like to teach visually as much as possible because I was a visual learner. I want to help in any way I can to enhance the students knowledge and understanding.

The final I found was called Socrative. Socrative is a website that allows students to engage in games and exercises of all kinds on any type of device they have. Teachers can also see each students progress and track grades which would be a major asset in a teacher's assessments. I would use this in my classroom because we could do some as a group inside the classroom but they could also use it at home. It is simple to use and can be personalized for each student.

C4T #2 Summary

I was assigned to Dr. Wesley Fryer's blog called Moving at the Speed of Creativity where I commented on two different blog post's. I commented on "Educational Vouchers are a bad idea for Oklahoma students and families (HB 3398)" and "Free Browser-based Screencasting with Screencast-O-Matic".

C4T #2 comment #1

Dr. Fryer's first post I commented on was called "Educational Vouchers are a bad idea for Oklahoma students and families (HB 3398)". The post was about a new House Bill 3398 being proposed in Oklahoma about the students schooling. If the bill was passed it would allow homeless children the opportunity to go to private school on the money from the Oklahoma Education Saving Account. Dr. Fryer does not agree with the bill and did not want it to be passed because he thinks it will hurt more than help. He said it "would have a devastating impact on the finances of our already financially strapped public schools." I responded by saying that I agreed the bill should not be passed. They are trying to use money that is not there to begin with so it becomes a vicious cycle within the school system. I think they should start at the core which is the schools themselves. If we helped the schools and the teachers, then both public and private school students would have an equal learning opportunity.

C4T #2 comment #2

Dr. Fryer's second blog post I commented on was called "Free Browser-based Screencasting with Screencast-O-Matic". The post was a video showing how to combine two PDF documents into one by using a software program called PDFMate PDF converter free. He demonstrated the step by step process to combine two PDF files into one PDF document and then upload it to a website. I commented that after watching his video I realized how simple the process actually is because I have been in that position before and could not figure out how to combine the files. I thanked him for taking time out to make the video and for showing us how easy the process actually is with the correct software program.

Project #9: Video Book Commentary

Blog Post #7

"Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I've always believed that if you took one tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out." Randy Pausch said this in his last lecture before he died in 2008 called Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. I had not heard of him until I watched his video and wow, his message was powerful. It is true that most people and I am one of those people sometimes, go through life complaining about anything and everything. We never seem content and appreciative of what we have and the opportunities that come our way. In today's society it is always "I want more" and that is such a bad attitude to have towards the life you were given. As teachers, we must make sure our students are grateful for the opportunities they are being given in the classroom because it will show them that they can always be worse off than they are now. They are blessed to even be given the opportunity to receive an education at all.

Another statement that Randy Pausch said in his video was "It's not how hard you hit. It's how hard you get hit...and keep moving forward." I think that is the toughest balancing act as a teacher to do with your students. It's like a mother of a toddler. She wants to keep him in a protective bubble so he will not get hurt but that is not reality or how the toddler will every learn. As a teacher, you have to watch your students fail and become discouraged by there failure but then you have to be the hero that helps them stand back up and try again. Without the help to get up and keep moving forward, they might never get back up or try again.

The last statement that stuck out to me from Randy Pausch's video was "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." This statement is very important to me because my dad has always said something like that to me and they are both very true. Not one person in this world can truly control the obstacles in there lives so you have to improvise and use what knowledge you do have about the problem at hand and deal with it head on. As teachers and constant learners, we have to continuously deal with problems or modify something because it is not going to work out like you had planned. We have to teach our students this as well because if we just teach them the facts and never give them obstacles to face, they will come to an obstacle one day and they will not be prepared and isn't a teachers job to get your students prepared for the real world? That is how I see my job as a teacher and I think it is one of the most important parts of teaching. If your students leave your classroom unprepared, how are they supposed to keep progressing in life to one day become a successful part of our society? I hope one day my students will be able to say that I make an impact on them and helped them progress in life because that is what teaching is all about.