Blog Post # 5

If I Build A School

Krissy Venosdale teaches gifted education teacher in Missouri. She strives to give her students a creative outlet. She loves science and all technology. She is passionate about no bulling and makes her classroom rules to make kids respect each other.

 Mrs. Venosdale talked about her dream of building a school in her post. She has dreams of making school fun, and not loaded down with state testing.She wants to add as much creativity as she can into a school day. She wants the school to be painted bright and feel welcoming. She doesn't believe in a set curriculum, but instead learning how to think deeply about what was being taught. I must say I love the idea about the fish tank! Who couldn't sit and watch fish and just think?  I think her dreams are fantastic, and also I also envision a classroom of kids who got excited about being at school because it was fun to learn.

If I was building a school I would make the school earth friendly. I would teach the importance of recycling and reusing. The high cost of building a school good for the environment and good for saving energy would be worth it from the amount saved in the end. As I said in a past post I would love for my school to have a garden. Where the student can learn to care for it, which will teach responsibility.

The food can be donated to local food banks, be donated to the school cafeteria, or the school could have a farmers market and the money be put back into the school. Children should be taught to give back to good causes. Classes now are full of children mentally "checking out" because it's not interesting to them or not taught in a way that makes the lesson fun. I want my students to know that they being meaning to the school. Kids do not learn the same thing, at the same time, or even on the same level as each other.

 I would break kids up into classes according to the way they learn, whether it be hands-on, lecturing, or visual learning. There will be a variety ways to make grades, not just sit down testing. There will be fun group projects that makes kids excited. Teachers will be there to guide the students rather than dictate. My school will be viewed as a community.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

This video of the virtual choir gave me chills! This video took at bunch of people singing from their homes and put them together and matched their voices to make the choir. I really enjoyed it, and music like this draws me in every time. All the different people and just the kind of echoing of their voices reminds me of angels. I've never seen anything like this, and once again I can't believe it's even possible. What's next? I would watch more videos like this.

Teaching 21st Century

This video makes me realize that we don't need to be taught only facts anymore. I have never realized of thought about the fact that we can learn everything on our own using the resources we use everyday. This makes me wonder if some teachers are wasting time in the classroom, or possibly could reach some students better if they would open their eyes to other ways to teach. The thought that a struggling student could learn in ways that the teacher isn't willing to teach is mind boggling. Students now should be taught how to go about finding information and answers using their resources. Making the child search teaches them how to use the media and also how to find new facts as they search. Hopefully soon more classrooms will implement the use of technology so that the students will thrive.

Flipping the Classroom

Flipping the classroom is a concept that makes more time in the classroom actually learning and discussing lessons. The children are to watch their math lesson at home and come in ready to work. I love this and will use this method if possible. So much time is used teaching lessons and very little time is used for teachers and students interacting with strategies. I believe that once they use this method on all subjects it could be monumental in the way classrooms and schools are ran. I would use this by each night doing a different subject, or two short subject per night in order to get ready for the next day. I believe this will be a huge time saver.

C4T #1

Lee Kolbert, from A Geeky Mom is wild about technology. In January she share about the upcoming Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC). This conference was open to any K-12 educator to provide them them with up to date technology strategies. They have valuable speakers at this conference to discuss the brain and how it learns. For the first time at the 2013 conference they will be highlighting schools that have excelled in technology and are striving. An exhibit will will be avalible for teachers to browse new tools for technology.
 My response: I introduced myself and told her that the conference sounded like something I would love to be a part of one day. I think it's a great motivator for teachers to get out and learn new things for their own classroom. I told her I was excited to follow her blog and to see how she liked being at the conference.

Lee, on her 2nd post explained the ways social media would be involved with the FETC. There are a variety of ways you can keep up with what's going on if you are not able to attend. Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and YouTube are some of the ways to stay in touch. Also, a mobile app will be available to keep up with schedules and maps.
 My response: I told her that it was wonderful that this type of service was available for people that were not able to attend this kind of conference. Social media is such a huge part of most people's lives that they would sure reach a multitude of people. The app is also a great concept, and idea to use for maps and schedules for when certain situation arise. I thanked her for giving this information out to the public.