Don't Let Them Take The Pencils Home By: Tom Johnson
This post is highly interesting, and I think everyone should read this as a requirement for EDM 310 for now on. To be honest, the lady is very naive and negative thinking: you can learn through anything you do, just depends how you see it. So the kids goes home and plays hangman with the pencil and paper? They STILL learn skills from this such as spelling, creativity, and how to make an educated guess. By using a book to balance something they learn about physics and math...just depends on how you see it. This instructor, Gertrude, needs to have the realization that test scores are only a number and have nothing to do with how students actually learn. Tests are just scores that make a teacher and a school look good. I agree with Tom on his "parent pencil program to help the parents learn about skills their children are learning, and they can take charge of the courses." (http://pencilintegration.blogspot.com/2010/07/dont-let-them-take-pencils-home.html). There was one comment on there I especially liked about letting the students experiment with different things at home, if that's what helps them learn. Many educators do not focus on the solution, but just the problem...such as Gertrude, who focused on the problem of taking home pencils and the students not learning anything, instead of making a solution to problem, as Tom did. Give the students the freedom and flexibility of taking home the right resources to learn in their own way. In this post I noticed something about pen pals, and in my elementary days we used that and we learned about different cultures and what those kids did for fun and what they learned about. As Tom says in this post "anything to keep them interested. So what if they play Hang-Man, at least they are learning something." I believe the point to Mr. Johnson's post is that it doesn't matter what the child does at home with the right resources given to them, as long as they stay interested, learn something about what they are playing with, and can use this knowledge to apply it in school work.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
C4T #3
For this C4T I was assigned to comment on a teacher named Frank Noschese, a physics teacher at John Jay High School in New York. (http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/about/) He is a member of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the National Science Teacher's Association (NSTA), and the Science Teacher Association of New York State (STANYS). The post I commented on was actually a quote by a student "high schoolers are about the grades and never the learning factor. They just cram in everything right before the test and never think about what they are reading, but what grade they will get and how much they think will be on the test."
My comment was along these lines: I completely agree with your student Mr. Noschese. Many high school students believe their GPA and what grade they get matters the most, because they forget the information just a couple of days later. Understanding and actually learning do not, for the most part, cross a high school student's mind since it is all going to be tested on, and then on to the next lesson.
My comment was along these lines: I completely agree with your student Mr. Noschese. Many high school students believe their GPA and what grade they get matters the most, because they forget the information just a couple of days later. Understanding and actually learning do not, for the most part, cross a high school student's mind since it is all going to be tested on, and then on to the next lesson.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Blog Post Assignment #9
Joe McClung's Blog
The first post I have read is the 'What I have Learned' (2008-2009). Mr. McClung makes very good suggestions for all teachers when they first get out there. He says to "just be flexible when you make a lesson plan, and allow for any change...because that is inevitable". I completely agree after observing for a third grade class at the elementary school I chose for my EDF 315 class. The teacher I am observing always says "nothing is a sure fire plan when you actually teach what you have written down on your planner, because every time there is always a small change of plan or something else you have to back to several times". Another good point he makes is always stay positive no matter what, and always have a smile on your face when you mess up. The best thing he points out is to never set your expectations too high or else they will only be set up for failure. Essentially, these kids can only handle so much at a time: set simple goals for them to accomplish. If they fail our job is to keep them encouraged and make sure they keep trying until they get it right. Mr. McClung also tells us to keep our students trusting in us and make sure they know we care about them. The more they trust us and are willing to open up, the better they will flourish and succeed amazingly in their academics. Then there is is the new favorite subject for new teachers: TECHNOLOGY! I like the fact he says to not be afraid of the Mac, iPad, iPhone, or what have you. Embrace it! Learn it! Love it! Because guess what? That is the new way of teaching our students and helping them learn more than plain old textbook reading...and it is a lot more interesting. In this day and age, we cannot hold back and just stay in one way. We must have our options for methods in teaching wide open and always be ready and willing to try something new. I love this post and plan on following Mr. McClung on Twitter and keeping up to date with his tips and what other ideas he has.
The other post I chose to post about was What I Learned This Year (2010-2011), considering all the changes he has made in his teaching and time does tell all. Mr. McClung has now been at the school in Fayetteville, Arkansas for more than a year and the students look happy as can be...mainly because it the last day of school. But also because he has made the classroom about them and their thoughts. I believe he is very correct in making the students our bosses, since school is about them and letting them take some lead in what we are teaching them. As many people have said "who is a better teacher for you than yourself?"...and for many students this is true. They like to help themselves along with having teacher help. Never let the adults you work with run how you teach or affect you in any way that could hinder your classroom ways. Speaking of other teachers, he also mentions that some people may not be excited about new ideas or do not get as ecstatic as you do about new teaching techniques or the little things you love. But do not let this get in your way of having fun with it and being part of the thinking and learning and developing process. Be happy with whatever kind of teacher you become, and just ignore what goes on behind your back. As Mr. McClung put in his blog: "I sit with my students, I eat lunch with them, I play music too loud, and enjoy having a connection with my students as well". Do not just having a strict teaching relationship with your class, get to know the students and what kind of things they like and how they learn best: talk to them about what they want to talk about. One of the big things I thought was pretty important was to never get comfortable where you are in your teaching career; always mix things up, whether it be in your life outside of school or in the classroom. As soon to be teacher, I think Mr. Joe McClung is a very inspirational teacher and especially blogger...his advice can actually help true new teachers and give them a chance to relax. After all, we have to make this career fun for the kids right?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Blog Post Assignment #8
Robert Miller's: This Is How We Dream parts 1&2
Robert Miller is a professor at Rutgers University, with the Department of English and also a supporter of putting the arts and humanities with reading and writing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=PHvoBPjhsBA). He loves to work with books, and ended up writing one that ended up not being in print after a short time; like other books, it is now on amazon. He brings up a point about this by saying that our work space for reading and writing now is the internet, a desk, and anyplace we can find that has internet! There are some projects we can do and never step into a library.
In the very first few minutes of this show, he pulls up a visual and audio video of Martin Luther King, jr when he did his 'I have A Dream' speech. Like Mr. King, Dr. Miller has a dream that one day people will be able to share everything through multimedia and books. He talks about how writing things now involves a keyboard with a computer screen, composing text with images. He also talks about using iTunes U to listen to podcasts and get ideas from lectures by other people. All the restrictions we have using paper and pencil are put on ourselves by us. When we use different programs on a computer, or any kind of device, we have endless options.
As a future teacher, using multimedia in my lessons and writing with it will be a process I am always learning about. There are so many different ways to write in multimedia that we have today such as images, text, and video, that we will always be learning more about it as time goes on. When I do start to teach, my students will be taught how to do this be me, their other teachers, and through activities in the classroom that we will be doing daily. Also, the students now a days are raised in the age of electronics and all things internet. They may not understand it completely, but they will have an idea and will be curious to look further into writing with multimedia.
Carly Pugh's Blog Post #12
Creativity and genius, as Carly says in this blog post, is what it takes in this day and age to really be a good teacher and innovative educator. Even as we finish out our education and take EDM 310 with us through our careers, we will still be students because there will always be something new. I like how Carly has made her own playlist of useful podcasts and videos that can help us to keep creating using multimedia, but also help teach others in the process. Also, the daily activities, cool little rap by an English student, shows how students really need to be up to date so they can relate to the students....and not look uncool. Even having audio-books for the kids to listen to at home or for us to listen to, on subjects about anything and everything. Personally, I like the YouTube videos for kids because they can hear and see what they are going to be learning or get extra information on what they already know. Being creative in a classroom can really open up all sorts of doors for the teacher and the students, considering children like to be hands on and visual at the same time. We have to make things interesting and stir it up a bit to have students that really want to learn and make it fun for them.
The Chipper Series
This video was highly entertaining and very interesting, though I would prefer to not drop out of school. I would like to do videos on how it is to be a teacher in everyday life, maybe something on how kids act and behave in class. I think this video goes to prove why we need to stay in school, get an actual degree that will take us places, and keep striving for more in our lives. Chipper goes through so many careers and failures, but all she really had to do was to stay in school. Dr. Strange brings up a good point that "through all the things in life, we will always end up on our feet somehow" and that is very true. The best part of this video is that Chipper ends up back in school to get her Master's degree and get in further in her life.
EDM 310 For Dummies
I have been using these accounts, and mostly understand them. EDM 310 really is good for us as a class that is majoring in education of any kind. We will need this information, all these sharing and learning sites, and other modern devices in order to teach our kids and keep ourselves in loop with all things education. The best part of this particular video is when the girls go crazy and pretend to smash the key boards....because I felt that same way when this class started.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Blog Post #7
Randy Pausch's Last Speech
This post if about Mr. Pausch and his very last speech to an audience at Carnegie Mellon Hall. This particular speech was about achieving your childhood dreams and never letting that brick wall get in your way. He talks about how being in football really helped to understand that going through the fundamentals and learning something first, then doing it is the best way to do anything. Mr. Pausch talks about how his coach would get onto him and just bark down his back at practice, but it only made him want to do better no matter what. With his students, as with football, his motto is "experience is what you get, when you didn't get what you wanted".
I noticed throughout the entire speech, one of the things he said constantly was "strive to achieve your childhood dream". This is one thing many people either stop trying to do, or they never even bothered to think about it. If a person really tries to achieve their dreams, then they can enable the childhood dreams of others simply by telling their story. When he says "help with others, and you will have connections as long as you need them", I completely agree. Helping others with a project and collaborating and making friends can get you strong connections with others who can help you. If you have let yourself get out there and keep up with good karma, it will eventually come back around, you just have to be patient and wait for people. They will come to you when need be.
Mr. Pausch actually helped out with the Aladdin virtual ride in Disney, and the main point he makes about that is to have FUN!! Decide if you are going to be all serious about it, or if you are going to be a person who is excited about your passion and be ready for anything that may get put in your hands. With students, co-workers, or teachers be willing to experiment and work together. When you are wrong admit it and apologize. Never lie about anything you can't do, tell people how it is and be earnest about. This will get you places and people will want to work with you.
The best piece of advice that Randy Pausch gave was to never let the bar settle anywhere. Tell the students "hey, you did a good job...but, I know you can do even better". He says when he told his own students this after their first virtual world project, he was shocked what they cam back with again and again. Even though they blew his mind away the first time, every time after that was even better than the last. Mr. Pausch even mentions "they never complained, mainly because I told them not to, but they only kept working harder. And that is what makes your dreams come true". I truly enjoyed this video and really do believe in striving to achieve any dreams you may have. Be honest, hard working, never complain, help others and make connections, and most importantly...have FUN with what you do.
This post if about Mr. Pausch and his very last speech to an audience at Carnegie Mellon Hall. This particular speech was about achieving your childhood dreams and never letting that brick wall get in your way. He talks about how being in football really helped to understand that going through the fundamentals and learning something first, then doing it is the best way to do anything. Mr. Pausch talks about how his coach would get onto him and just bark down his back at practice, but it only made him want to do better no matter what. With his students, as with football, his motto is "experience is what you get, when you didn't get what you wanted".
I noticed throughout the entire speech, one of the things he said constantly was "strive to achieve your childhood dream". This is one thing many people either stop trying to do, or they never even bothered to think about it. If a person really tries to achieve their dreams, then they can enable the childhood dreams of others simply by telling their story. When he says "help with others, and you will have connections as long as you need them", I completely agree. Helping others with a project and collaborating and making friends can get you strong connections with others who can help you. If you have let yourself get out there and keep up with good karma, it will eventually come back around, you just have to be patient and wait for people. They will come to you when need be.
Mr. Pausch actually helped out with the Aladdin virtual ride in Disney, and the main point he makes about that is to have FUN!! Decide if you are going to be all serious about it, or if you are going to be a person who is excited about your passion and be ready for anything that may get put in your hands. With students, co-workers, or teachers be willing to experiment and work together. When you are wrong admit it and apologize. Never lie about anything you can't do, tell people how it is and be earnest about. This will get you places and people will want to work with you.
The best piece of advice that Randy Pausch gave was to never let the bar settle anywhere. Tell the students "hey, you did a good job...but, I know you can do even better". He says when he told his own students this after their first virtual world project, he was shocked what they cam back with again and again. Even though they blew his mind away the first time, every time after that was even better than the last. Mr. Pausch even mentions "they never complained, mainly because I told them not to, but they only kept working harder. And that is what makes your dreams come true". I truly enjoyed this video and really do believe in striving to achieve any dreams you may have. Be honest, hard working, never complain, help others and make connections, and most importantly...have FUN with what you do.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Personal Learning Network (PLN) Project #10
So far, on my PLN (Personal Learning Network) I have gotten a few sites for future use and they are very helpful sites. I have started using Evernote on my iPhone and it has proven to be very helpful with remembering dates and events. I am using Symbaloo as my Personal Learning Network guide where I can put anything I could possibly need regarding web sites. Actually, the video of the 7th graders PLN on YouTube we were assigned to watch in EDM 310 with Dr. Strange really inspired me to try out Symbaloo and start looking into the web sites it offered. So far it has given me really good option sites to get resources from, and even gives you examples of different web mixes (the different tiles you have). I really like this Personal Learning Network so far.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
C4K Summary Post
These C4K assignments have been very eye opening and I thoroughly enjoyed them! One of the students I was assigned lives in Texas and her name is Morgan. She is a 2nd grader in Mrs. Dahl's class and loves to read books. Her post that I commented on was typed very well, and she talked about a book she had been reading called 'Smarter Than Squirrels'. Morgan really liked this book, and though it was funny because the main characters were dogs and they got into a lot of trouble trying to find their owners. Eventually, the dogs found their owners by smelling a familiar scent of donuts. My comment on post was about how the book sounded like a very good book, and I also thought it would be funny for dogs to find their owners by smelling donuts. I also wrote that I hoped she kept up the good work on her blog, and for her to keep on reading!
Another C4K I was assigned to do was a video interview at St. Elmo Elementary School in St. Elmo, Alabama. two students, Cade and Elise were told to do a video interview with their new iPads. Elise was the interviewer and Cade answered the questions. This particular interview was about Cade's book report on a baseball player named Satchel Paige, and how baseball was different for whites and African Americans back when it first started to get popular. The interview was very smooth and I was really impressed by how natural the students were. Plus they didn't seem nervous at all, which is quite the opposite of what I expected.
My other assigned C4K assignment was to a student named Tracey that attend PT England School and is 8 years old. Her blog was quite different from others as she did most subjects on England and all kinds of different facts. One blog was about a sport called rugby and all kinds of interesting things about it. They actually have championships for rugby and different leagues and such. I posted a comment on the rugby post because it was very cool and something new. I wrote how I had heard of the sport, but never watched a championship on TV or really followed it much. However, I would like to know more about it and what her favorite parts about the sports are. I also wrote how England must be a lot of fun with all the sites and famous places.
Another C4K I was assigned to do was a video interview at St. Elmo Elementary School in St. Elmo, Alabama. two students, Cade and Elise were told to do a video interview with their new iPads. Elise was the interviewer and Cade answered the questions. This particular interview was about Cade's book report on a baseball player named Satchel Paige, and how baseball was different for whites and African Americans back when it first started to get popular. The interview was very smooth and I was really impressed by how natural the students were. Plus they didn't seem nervous at all, which is quite the opposite of what I expected.
My other assigned C4K assignment was to a student named Tracey that attend PT England School and is 8 years old. Her blog was quite different from others as she did most subjects on England and all kinds of different facts. One blog was about a sport called rugby and all kinds of interesting things about it. They actually have championships for rugby and different leagues and such. I posted a comment on the rugby post because it was very cool and something new. I wrote how I had heard of the sport, but never watched a championship on TV or really followed it much. However, I would like to know more about it and what her favorite parts about the sports are. I also wrote how England must be a lot of fun with all the sites and famous places.
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