Final Reflection

Blog Post 5 Part 2

My PLN has grown since I first created it. I use Pinterest a lot for ideas about future lesson plans and activities to do with students. I also use Twitter to follow some of the teachers that we have talked about in class and also other classmates. You can access so much information and people through Twitter. I liked some of the teacher's blogs that I was assigned for C4T that I added their blogs to my PLN. I plan to continue to utilize my PLN and add more to it as my career progresses. I am very thankful to have learned about Symbaloo.

C4Ta #4

Summary of Teacher’s Blog #1-

Angela Maiers spoke at #TEPSA15 in Austin. She shared her presentation, Mattering is the Agenda. This is about how important it is to make students feel like they matter. They should feel like they have a voice and a choice when it comes to their education.

Comment on Teacher’s Blog #1-

Hi, my name is Brittany Slay and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I loved your presentation! It was very inspiring and I had never heard of Choose2Matter before. I think that making your students feel like they matter is of utmost importance. That alone will help make them more confident in themselves and want to give everything that they do their all. Please visit my personal blog to see what I have been doing in my class, Brittany Slay.

Summary of Teacher’s Blog #2-

In this post Angela Maiers discusses her classroom mantra, “Sorry about the laughter, volume, chaos, and mess, but we’re learning here.” She says that we are teaching in an unprecedented time. Never before have we had the power to connect, share, and learn with amazing educators using social media to harness personalized professional development and growth. In this spirit of collaboration, this is where my first introduction to genius hour happened. She created this form called Genius Hour, which gives her students voice and choice. The premise of genius hour is that students create an overarching question that requires them to research and synthesize new learning from multiple sources. Here is a link to the Genius Hour form.

Comment on Teacher’s Blog #2-

I think this is such a great idea. The fact that students can have a say in their learning is crucial. I feel that they learn so much more and actually retain information when they are researching in their own way. I think the Genius Hour form is an awesome way to have the students do their research. I would love to create something like that to use in my future classroom.

Blog Post #14

Teaching Our Children Can Be A Profession by Joel Klein is an article that discusses some problems in the teaching profession and some possible solutions.

1. Pick from the best. 
• Joel's solution: Joel says that this kind of change would require several things, beginning with better academic training for prospective teachers. Next, we need a new approach to recruiting teachers. Finally, we must change how we reward teachers. 
• My response: I would have to say that I agree with his solutions. I think it is essential that there be a teaching program that meets all of the necessary training and prospectives for teachers. I think the recruiting standards need to be raised. Joel says, "For decades, we've let virtually anyone with a college degree become a teacher." This is sad, yet true. I agree with him when he says, "we should recruit from the top third of our graduates." He also says that teachers should be rewarded differently. I think he is right about this, because rewarding a teacher based on seniority just doesn't seem fair. Some new teachers may perform exceptionally better than a teacher that has been there for 10 years and should be recognized/rewarded for it.
2. Seniority Distraction. 
• Joel's solution: He says that job security and seniority dictate the way our schools operate. He points out that in most states it is almost impossible to remove an incompetent teacher and teachers are paid the same regardless of performance. Professionalizing teaching means that excellence would be the guiding hallmark. Albert Shanker recommended doing several things to create a profession, including attracting our best students, developing a demanding "knowledge base" along with a "formal set of ... peer relationships." Shanker also called for a "national teacher examination" that tests mastery of pedagogy and content knowledge, akin to the entry exams now required for lawyers and doctors. In addition, Shanker would require a "supervised internship of from one to three years" to evaluate the performance of prospective teachers. 
• My response: I do think that the seniority deal is a problem. I think that if a teacher is no longer competent then he/she should be removed. It is a disservice to the students to keep such a teacher just because he/she has been teaching longer. Think about what it would be like if other professions (doctors, lawyers, etc.) focused so much on seniority, scary right? Making excellence the guiding light for teaching would only better our schools. I really think that Albert Shanker has some very good recommendations that would definitely help professionalize teaching. 
3. Radical Change:
• Joel's solution: Shanker also proposed that teachers establish their own board to police the profession, establishing standards and providing mechanisms for removing incompetent teachers. Teachers would also be subjected to merit-based career ladders and would be promoted based on specialty exams. Shanker goes on to say that there would be fewer teachers who would be aided by college graduates serving as teaching assistants. Lastly, teachers would abandon their support for mandatory assignment of kids to neighborhood schools in favor of "the greatest possible choice among public schools." 
• My response: I think that teachers should be able to raise issues to the board and them actually listen and look into whatever their issue may be. The idea of a merit-based job ladder is so smart! Shanker mentions that teachers would be promoted based on specialty exams, I agree and disagree on this. I think it would be great to be promoted based on your knowledge of what it is you are doing, but also, I think that a teacher's performance in the classroom should be rewarded (maybe based on her class' scores). I do agree with abandoning mandatory assignment of kids to neighborhood schools. I think that if, for some reason, a child has to live in a certain area due to certain circumstances, then they/their parents should still be allowed to choose the school they want to go to. Forcing kids to go to a certain school just because of where they live just doesn't make sense; if their parents are willing to drive a few extra miles to take get their child a better education, then they should be allowed to do so without having to move.

Joel Klein and Albert Shanker make many good points and bring many issues to light that people tend to ignore, or just don't try to fix. I found this to be a very interesting and intriguing read. I hope to one day see these problems be resolved and see the good that comes of this transformation. 

Blog Post #13

Read about "The Leader in Me" and watch The Leader in Me- How schools can develop leaders one child at a time.

Discuss what you have learned about "Leader in Me" and how you feel about it.

I did my observation hours last semester at Elberta Elementary School. I found out that they were a "Leader in Me" school, which was something I had never heard of. I now love "The Leader in Me" and the 7 habits. The 7 habits are:

1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think win-win
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the saw

"The Leader in Me" teaches 21st century leadership and life skills to students and creates a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader. This program believes that every child is capable and every child is a leader. I think this is a great concept to have in a school. Children should feel powerful and capable when they are at school. There are four main concepts that make "Leader in Me" work so well,  and they are: It embodies a different paradigm; It works from the inside out; It uses a common language—The 7 Habits; The implementation is ubiquitous. 

I personally hope to get a job teaching at a "Leader in Me" school. Having seen first hand how well it works, I think it is a great approach to teaching 21st century leadership and life skills. Teachers incorporate the 7 Habits throughout the day in any way that they can. The students in the class that I observed actually came up to the teacher and said "We synergized today when we...", so they understand the habits and strive to use them in their lives.

Project #12 B

Blog Post #12

Project #10: Interview Movie

C4Ta #3

Summary of Teacher's Blog #1-
Wesley Fryer was interviewed by Chris Davis about using media to document classroom learning. Afterward, he asked Chris if he’d be willing to do an interview with him about the podcasting project. Wesley says that it is rare to find other educators as passionate about podcasting. Chris is conducting a series of audio interviews this year for his “Journeys in Podcasting” project, which he is continuing at their school in Bogotá, Colombia.. Chris says that the idea is to find activities, projects, or whatever is going on at their campus and document it, do some research, and then start video casting with professionals beyond. He says that each podcast becomes its own form of research and they try new techniques with each one. Wesley then asks what lessons Chris has learned about the technicality of the podcasts thus far. Chris says that they you have to have a theme or map, a path that you’re chasing after. He then says that every time they record something they put a post it on the wall and analyze that recording.

Comment on Teacher’s Blog #1-
My name is Brittany Slay and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I think podcasting sounds very interesting. Chris’ “Journeys in Podcasting” project seems like it is going to bring a new outlook on using media in the classroom to document learning. I also think it is so neat that they are able to reach teachers and educators around the globe with this idea. This shows how powerful technology can be. Feel free to look at our EDM310 Class Blog and my personal one as well, Brittany Slay, also here is a link to my twitter account, @brittany_vines.

Summary of Teacher’s Blog #2-
This post was about how much he loves sharing videos about space with his students. He shares a few videos that he has found recently that he plans on sharing with his class. One of the videos he shares is actually very interesting, Wanderers. He says that he added these to his STEM curriculum "Curiosity Links" page. I had never heard of this so I thought I would share with you all. It is just a list of links that he finds interesting and wants to save and share later in class to spark and encourage student curiosity.

Comment on Teacher’s Blog #2-
I think these videos are great! I think space is very interesting as well, and there are a lot of fun projects to do with students about space. I will definitely keep these videos in mind when I have students of my own some day.

Blog Post #11: What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

We can learn so much about teaching and learning from just watching or listening to other teachers/people talk about or do things. We just need to sit back and listen and ask questions whenever we need to. These teachers in the following videos are very talented teachers and I really learned a lot by watching these videos.

The video Back to the Future by Mr. Brian Crosby, is about his fourth grade class in Sparks, Nevada and their balloon project. He states in the video that, "it's hard to know what could be when you don't know what is." I think this is so true! How can you expect children to know about what they are capable of unless you show them what they already are capable of? He goes on to tell us that in his classroom every student has their own computer, which ultimately allows them to think outside of the box. They can achieve so much more by using technology and other tools besides just pen, paper, and textbooks. He has created a hot air balloon project that touches on not only science, but social studies and language arts as well. His class got to send a hot air balloon up along with their "high hopes" cards and then monitor its travel and eventually its descent. I think this is so cool! Not only did they get to learn about the balloons, but they got to actually launch one and monitor it! Then, instead of a test on the information that they learned, they got to create a blog post on their own blogs about it and watch as hundreds of people read what they had to say. This is such a fun project idea and they stayed so engaged in it the whole time.

Mr. Paul Andersen is a high school AP Biology teacher in Bozeman, Montana. His video Blended Learning Cycle discusses how this cycle blends together online, mobile, and classroom learning with the learning cycle. He has a very clever acronym that he uses, "QUIVERS". The "Qu" stands for question, and this is like the hook that gets the student's interested in what they are about to learn about. "I" is for investigation/inquiry, this is when the students experiment or start asking questions about what they are learning. "V" stands for videos, which he finds through podcasts and lets his students watch when they reach this point in the learning cycle. "E" is for elaboration, and this is the point when students will get out their texts and read about what they are learning or look at diagrams. "R" is review, and this is when Mr. Andersen pulls either one student or a small group of students to the side to review with them and see if they understand enough to move on to the "S". The "S" is summary quiz, which is when the students will take a quiz on the information that they have learned thus far. Mr. Andersen says something towards the end of his video that I strongly agree with, "You haven't really learned something until you can explain it to someone."

The video Making Thinking Visible by Mark Church is discussing how small groups are useful for the students. He focuses on how to make your students better thinkers. He says that one way of doing this is to let them see things from different points of view. They cannot always be led to only look at things from their own personal views or only hear their own opinions on things. It is very important for them to broaden their minds and learn not only from their mistakes or successes, but also those of others.

Sam Pane teaches his students how to be Super Digital Citizen's. His video is all about being safe on the internet, which is incredibly important. The students get to create a character ,or they can use their own picture, in a comic book app and then they have to make a comment that shows safety, responsibility, and that is respectful. This is such a great project that really shows the students what is appropriate, but in a way that is fun and engaging at the same time.

Project Based Learning by Dean Shareski teaches us how to use project based learning (PBL) in lesson plans. Students are more engaged when PBL is used. They also have a deeper understanding of the subject they are learning.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program is a video about how project based learning really is a great way to teach children. The teachers and parents in this video tell how much they really love using PBL and how wonderful it has been for their students or children. The children in the video look excited and like they are enjoying learning and are not afraid to get up and be a leader. I loved this video, it really helped my views of PBL to grow in a positive way.

Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs has compiled a ton of valuable resources together for teachers and parents to use with their children or for themselves on her website Curriculum 21. I am so thankful that she has done this, because I have found some great apps and websites that I cannot wait to use in a classroom! Here are six that I liked the best:

1. Visuwords: Visuwords is an online graphical dictionary. Through this website you can look up words and their definitions, create diagrams, and best of all it does not require a membership! I would love to use this for my students whenever we are reviewing our vocabulary words or spelling words or maybe even just to look up a word we don't know the meaning of. I absolutely love this!
   
2. Shadow Puppet: This app is an easy way to save and share your student's work that is on their iPads. You can also create videos and presentations with this app. This is very similar to Seesaw as well. I really think I would like something like this just so that I can easily organize my students work in one location. I can also easily share their work during parent-teacher meetings or situations like that and show errors or brag about that student.
   
3. Cookie: This website has great options when it comes to games. Also, it has stories, videos, arts & crafts, and a blog. I think I could use this as a springboard and maybe just use some of the offers from this website. Kids love to play games, and if there is a site that offers educational, helpful games then I am willing to give it a try. 
   
4. Zoomsci: This is a PBS kids website and it offers a lot of different science projects. I think this is a great resource for ideas on fun, different projects to do with students. I have already picked a couple that sound interesting and very educational. 
   
5. Sentence Builder App: This app helps students learn about words, sentences, pronunciation, grammar, and punctuation. The design for this app is very kid friendly and interactive. It has pictures and also allows you to record a reading of the sentences. I would love to use this on the smart board as a whole class. I could let students come up and add the "verb" or "noun" to our sentence. 
   
6. Picturebook App: This app lets you create and share your own illustrated stories. I think this would come in handy when we start learning about writing narratives or maybe for certain projects. I love that it lets the students get creative and personalize their projects or stories. 
   

Blog Post #10

Kathy Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Moose Jaw, Canada. She has such a fun approach to letting her students use different types of technology to do things. In the video Little Kids...Big Potential we see some of the different ways that she incorporates technology in the classroom. One of her students explains that they get to write blog posts and that they enjoy it because different people can see their work and comment on it. There are some rules for writing blog posts, of course you should never write anything mean or hurtful. The students can choose from a number of programs on their "page" depending on what they feel they need to practice more on. The kids seem to love the fact that they can talk to other students from around the world and also see what they are doing via Skype, wiki, and their class webpage/blog.

In Dr. Strange's Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1 she tells us some of the things she has set up for her students. She explains how she created a personal webpage for her class so that her first graders are not just searching the web aimlessly. Their page has certain apps/programs on it for the students to choose from to get more practice on something or to just review certain subjects. She has had her class blog for about five years. When asked about how the parents feel about their children blogging and making their work public, like an online portfolio, she says that they actually love getting to see their child's work and progress. I know that if i were a parent I would love getting to view my child's work online from my computer. This is so convenient and very practical for today's world. She is also asked how the students feel about the blogging and she says that they love the fact that their work is viewed publicly by people from all around the world. She has their blogs set where they can actually see how many "page reads" their blog/post has gotten. Kathy makes the statements, "technology is part of their world," and "we have to change, because the world has changed." I could not agree with her more! How are we supposed to help our students prepare for their future by still teaching them the way we were taught? The world is so different now. As a teacher, you are actually doing your students and yourself a disservice by not utilizing what technology is offered.

Part 2 of the interview starts off with talking about where to start with technology. Kathy says that you should start your network off with something that you are interested in. She and Dr. Strange talk about how they were both hesitant about using Twitter, but they eventually gave it a chance and learned to love it. I think this is very important! Just because you get frustrated with certain technologies because you don't know how to use them, or maybe don't see their purpose, dose not mean that you should just give up on it, give it time and feel it out. You never know who you might connect with or maybe even be able to help out one day, or better yet someone could help you and answer some of your questions.

In Part 3 Dr. Strange lets some EDM310 students ask questions for Kathy to answer. She reiterates some of the information she has already shared. She also discusses ways to use blogging in other areas of education, such as PE. One student asks about cheating being more of an issue through the use of blogs. Mrs. Cassidy says that collaboration is not cheating and it is okay to "piggyback" off of other teachers projects or lessons, but just present it in a different way.

I really like Mrs. Cassidy's technique with using a class blog and also using small, collaborative groups for some assignments. I think I could possibly run into parental concerns about the safety of their children being online and having their work so accessible. I would have certain rules in place, like Mrs. Cassidy does, and let the parents know that their child's last name is not on their blog and neither is their picture. I believe that by using some of Mrs. Cassidy's approaches I would end up with a class full of students that are engaged and excited to learn.