Blog Post # 8

Richard E. Miller of Rutgers University explains through his videos how the way we learn and the way we are taught are changing rapidly. He talks about going from the typical reading/writing concepts to a listening/watching way of learning. My husband has a hard time realizing that learning through technology is replacing the regular textbook and pen/paper way. He says what I'm sure many others do, "I did just fine listening to lectures and writing."  He automatically thinks of video games and mindless internet searches as using technology. But I'm bound to show him the awesomeness of the internet.

I showed him the part in Richards video about how the same book that sitting unused on the library shelf is getting shared in every way possible on the internet. I had never myself thought about the infinite ways of sharing things online. Collaborative work is something I have high hopes for in my classroom. Sometimes the wrong people get in a group together, but once the right ones work together magic happens. I think working together with your peers is one of the best ways to learn.

I like his idea of pushing ideas into our culture. I feel so many people have no idea what's out there. Many teachers feel they are too old to learn all these new ways to teach. They have it set in their mind that there is only one way to do it. So sometimes pushing is what we have to do, so that others can see the new way to teach the children. I feel we are giving them a gift in preparing them because the world is changing so rapidly.

Carly's Post
In Carly's post she shows how imperative it is that we dig deeper in our quest for knowledge. Sometimes all we need to do is dig deep and the answers fall in place. This goes in hand with figuring out what your philosophy shall be. In Carly's assignment the students were to put together a YouTube playlist with all the aspects of what you want for your future classroom, and your future students. Getting a student to think about this, and actually do it can lead to some fantastic ideas about what that student truly wants for her classroom. This is a creative way to use multimedia to write out your views and beliefs on what you want out of being a teacher.

The Chipper Series
The video was the classic "I want the easy way out" scenario.  It featured Chipper, a college student who didn't like how her teacher was teaching so she drops out of school. Only to go out in the world and fail with many jobs. She even tried to start her own school and allow her own students the easy way out by letting them come to school only when they wanted. In the end, Chipper came back to the University and got her masters after realizing she had to work hard to accomplish her goals. These types of videos are a great way to get the message out about hard work. I hope to make some videos like these with the special project group I'm involved with. Students sometimes want things handed to them without them doing anything. I believe with the right tools and mentors any student can accomplish anything.

EDM310 is Different
This video was so funny to me! They were so dramatic and great. They acted out scenes where they were so upset about the amount of work they had and they didn't quite understand how to use the resources. But in the end they learned how to use the sites and it made their lives much easier. I agree that this class was overwhelming at first, because everything was so new to me. But you always have to push through, and stay ahead and it will be fine. Don't procrastinate! I need to learn how to not do that myself, it's a tough habit to break.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
Something about this video excited me so much! Maybe it because I will be a part of the giant change that is taking place before our eyes. I am so excited and ready because this practically history taking place. To think of how much education will grow yearly is mind blowing. I love knowing that I can interact with teachers from around the globe, and learn new ways to reach my students. I love to believe that one day soon we can let students flourish according to their own strengths and not allow them to get behind because they are not "good enough" for a particular lesson. I can't wait to be a teacher.

Web 2.0.12 Scavenger Hunt
For our new social media site to find, I chose Edmodo. And I'd like to personally thank you for getting me hooked on yet another site! I have looked at this before but never dug around and wow is it amazing! This site makes it beyond easy to find information to related topics all while being able to share and talk to other teachers. It even shows you the other teachers teaching that topic at the moment. This site has a planner on it to plan out lessons, and add new stuff that you find in the site. Also, you can upload from google right from the site. This is wonderful for collaborating with teacher and sharing viable resources. I will actually show this to my 3rd grader for any future homework help, and it will be added to our Symbaloo.

PhotoPeach

This is a great site to use if you have a class blog. This site allows you to set up slide shows for the students to view, and also provides quizzes for the children to do. I posted about virtual field trips a few posts back and this would totally work for that idea. You can search just about anything on here to add to a blog or you can easily make one yourself. I will be using this for sure. I love new sites like this.

C4T Post 1 & 2

Post #1
I got Mrs. Ripp's blog this month, and I really liked her personality. She made me think about a lot! In the first post I commented on she was having a moment where she feels like she failed a student. She felt she didn't motivate this particular student enough when she had the chance. She began wondering when and if teachers should apologize to the students they can't seem to reach.
My comment to her was an introduction first. I asked her a question about how exactly do you control a classroom with out using rewards as motivators. I don't want my class to expect that. She gave a great link to more of her posts to read.


Post #2
Mrs.Ripp had an incident with a student where they didn't see eye to eye. But she said she deserved it. The issue was she admitting in the post that she wanted to be "right"  and she wouldn't back down. The student later sent her an email explaining why he was also stubborn about being right.
And she felt like this was a "gift" that he gave her in a sense of him finally opening up to her. This gave her a chance to redeem herself and become a better teacher because of the situation.
My response was I told her it was a wake up call to the fact sometimes things like this CAN happen. I told her these types of moments of feeling like a failure and then getting uplifted again is what make us good teachers.

Project # 8

Blog post #7

Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture

Even though I stumbled upon this video in the first week of class and found myself being very emotional watching it, the second time wasn't much better. Stories like his always makes me think about how I would act given his situation. It's amazing to me that he is so positive after learning he has only 3 months to live. Randy Pausch is motivational speaker and a awesome educator. His ideas, and the things he has accomplished speaks volumes about the type person he was.

One of his main focuses is making your childhood dreams come true. Not many people get the chance to or have the drive to make those dreams come to life. He says that road blocks are not there to keep us out, but there to make us work harder. I can relate to this in that I feel I have had many road blocks keeping from finishing school due to other responsibilities. I feel it's extremely important to push the people you care about to keep going and not give up. It's something that I will always strive to do with my future student to help them succeed.

Randy Pausch had many talents that he used in his life. He was an athlete who loved football, worked at Disney, and was a professor. He always used his talents and interests in things that were worthwhile. Randy gives us the advise to always be motivating, and have fun no matter the situation. Always to show dedication to your work and never give up no matter how many times you are told no.

This advise applies to everyone, but in his case it was to his children for after he is gone. This advise also applies to me as this is the advise I want to teach my students. I want to show a desire to learn no matter how many times they are put down.  To always be honest and simply be the best they can.  Randy Pausch is such an inspiration to me, and I can see why so many people cared for him.

C4K Summary for February

My first C4K is IBMurray05 and he is a 9th grade student in Mr. Cometti's class. The students were to post about their academic goals for the school year. In my response I praised him on his dedication to his studies.I let him know his ideas of doing a small amount of homework each night to help in procrastination inspired me. I told him to continue to do well and I shared the video on time management by Randy Paush.

In my second C4K I commented on Alyssa's blog, a second grader from Ontario, Canada. Alyssa is in Mrs. Balestrin's class and her post was on a sport she enjoyed playing called ringette. I had never heard of it so I asked her if it was similar to hockey. I explained to her it didn't get all that cold here like it does there. I told her it was great she liked to play sports, and that it kept her healthy and strong.

 My third C4K was with year two students in Mrs. Jenny's class. These students are from Auckland, New Zealand. They are just starting their school year so I wished them good luck! The two students I commented on was Kelly and Lucy. My comment included my well wishes for the new year, and I wished them good luck with learning how to blog.

In my final C4K I had a 10th grader named Lauren in Mrs. Martin's class. Lauren had to interview a classmate using video. I asked her how she liked blogging in school, and if she enjoyed interviewing her friend. I told her about my class and how we are learning to blog and  learning many more aspects of technology to incorporate in our classrooms one day.