Blog Assignment #5

iSchool Initiative
Travis Allen created the video, “iSchool Initiative,” when he was a seventeen year old high school student. Travis attended a financially troubled public school where teachers were being fired, and classes were getting larger. Because of this, he wanted to convert the use of pencils, paper, and books to iPod Touch devices in order to save money.

After Travis explains his plan in the video, he then goes on to give us supporting facts. He tells us about different applications that are beneficial to not only students, but teachers and parents as well. Two apps that really stood out to me were the calendar and notes. The calendar app, can let your teachers post due dates for assignments and tests. The notes app, lets you take notes and allows the teacher to send them to you. Travis definitely got my vote for switching to iPod Touches. It allows student and teachers to be more interactive, which can help students be the best they can be.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
"Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir," is absolutely amazing! It's so serene yet completely incredible. If someone ever tells me the internet is a waste of time again, I'll be sure to show them this video. Eric Whitacre's choir consists of one hundred and eight-five people that have never met. Even though they have never met they all harmoniously played Lux Aurumque. The choir sounds so beautiful, and I'm so delighted that I was able to hear it!

Teaching in the 21st Century
The video, "Teaching in the 21st Century," by Kevin Roberts (Dr. Strange Version), made me think about who the real educators are, teachers or the internet? The video points out that the internet is where everyone goes to find answers to their questions. I think teachers are vital for so many reasons. Teachers aren't just teachers, they're counselors, motivators, and role models. Teachers and technology are two things that need to go together. Teachers should always use the best technology available in the classroom.

Flipped Classroom

The videos "Why I Flipped My Classroom," "Dr. Lodge McCammon;s FIZZ-Flipping the Classroom," and "Flipping the Classroom-4th Grade STEM," are all about flipping the classroom to benefit the students. Flipping the classroom steers away from lecturing students day after day. It's an innovative way to keep students engaged in whats going on. It also helps students that don't catch on as quickly get extra practice, while helping students that catch on very quickly not get bored. Flipping the classroom is definitely something I'm interested in doing in my own classroom one day.

My Sentence Video

Project #3 C4T #1

C4T #1 Comment 1
I was assigned to Jerrod W. Kruse for my first C4T assignment. His blog is titled, Teaching as a Dynamic Activity. Mr. Kruse is a teacher, writer, editor, and researcher. It wasn’t hard to find a post on Mr. Kruse’s blog, because he posts fairly often. I chose the most recent post, as I was told to do, which was titled,“Technological Momentum.” Mr. Kruse based this post around a book he was reading by David Nye called, “Technology Matters.” This post discussed momentum in technology, and that once something is in place it is hard to change it. Mr. Kruse was trying to make us aware of this so we’re careful about what technologies we allow to develop momentum.

I left comment number one after Mr. Kruse’s post. I started off by introducing myself, and letting him know I was commenting on his blog per a school assignment. I went on to tell him I was a student at University of South Alabama, and that I was going to be summarizing our interactions in my own blog. I then told Mr. Kruse he could view my blog, my class blog, and my twitter and left him links to each. Mr. Kruse’s post was very interesting to me. The first thing I thought of while reading his post was PowerPoints. I told him that we have technology far greater than PowerPoints, but somewhere along the line it became the norm for educators to read straight off of them.

C4T #2 Comment 2
For comment number two on Teaching as a Dynamic Activity, I posted on "A Natural Solution.” This post was a more detailed continuation of a post he made earlier the same day. Mr. Kruse was reading a book by Rachel Carson titled, “Silent Spring.” “Silent Spring” is about the harmful affects of fertilizer and pesticides to the Earth. Mr. Kruse compared this book to what standardized testing, overly scripted curriculum, and forced technology are doing to students’ minds.

In my comment back to Mr. Kruse, I told him that I agreed with his premise, but I don't think that technology should be left out of the educational process. I believe that the most advanced technology available should be used. Although, I do agree that standardized testing and overly scripted curriculum are not benefiting students the way they are believed to be. I'm hoping to get a response back from Mr. Kruse, because I'm eager to hear what he thinks.

Blog Assignment #4

Langwitches, is such an inspiring blog! It's so amazing to see that such young children know how to podcast and blog. It's just incredible how our education is evolving from when I was in Elementary School.

1st Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audiobook

The first post I read was, 1st Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audiobook. I thought the concept of this post was a really neat idea. Ms. Tolisano used a book called, Dinosaurs Before Dark, from the series, The Magic Treehouse, and turned it into an ebook so student could read along. This is such a fun way for students to learn how to read. It's also extremely helpful for students to continue learning at home. By creating the ebook, it makes it easy for parents to download it onto an IPod, IPad, IPhone, or computer at home. Doing this makes the students excited to learn how to read. I think it helps them pay attention, and gives them a better understanding of what they're reading. It's a great tool to help them correlate the words they hear with the spelling. This is something I really want to do with my class one day.

Podcasting With First Grade

The second post of Mr. Tolisano’s that I read was called, ”Podcasting with First Grade.” In this podcast, the students were to “interview” the main character of the story, Vacation Under the Volcano, by Mary Pope Osbourne. The main characters of the story that the students were interviewing were Jack and Annie. The story was about their adventure to Pompeii. While reading the post, I was shocked at how comfortable the children seemed to be podcasting. I remember when I was in elementary school I was terrified to do the morning announcements. It was so cute how excited the children were to podcast. Ms. Tolisano had the students create the "script" based of the questions and answers they came up with. Then they got to play the role of either Jack or Annie. Ms. Tolisano said the students loved hearing their voices being recorded. I thought this was such a fun and creative way to get kids involved in learning, while still be educational.

Flat Stanley Podcast
Ms. Tolisano had her students read, "Flat Stanley," by Jim Brown. In the story, Stanley gets squished by a bulletin board. Since he is flat, Stanley can now go anywhere in the world through the mail. Ms. Tolisano had her students pretend that they flattened Stanley with a Smartboard. She then had her students make their own Flat Stanleys to send around the world. The students got to choose wherever they wanted, and then they would tell all about their adventure in a podcast. After the student chose a location, they had to rent a book from the library, and learn about that place. Just like the students in the above posts, they were extremely excited to hear their own voices. This is such a great learning tool that incorporates so many different skills.

Project #5 Presentation

Blog Assignment #3

Peer Editing

I never knew there were three steps involved in peer editing until I watched the video, "What is Peer Editing?" When editing a peer’s paper I always compliment it and correct it, but I never suggest things for them to make better. This is good step that I will definitely add while completing C4C #2, and all other comments in the future."Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial,” basically reiterated what “What is Peer Editing” said. Both videos were very informative, and they were a good refresher for what I need to do going forward.

"Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes,” was a very adorable video. Whatever William and Off Task Oliver were my favorite kids in the video, but all of them did an amazing job. The video was light and fun, while still being educational. Speedy Sandy reminded me of when I was a kid peer editing my fellow classmates paper. My teacher use to always tell me to “slow down!”

Technology in Special Education
Technology is vital for people with special needs. The video "Technology in Special Education," proves how important technology is for special needs people to communicate. Lacy Cook did an amazing job demonstrating how instrumental it is in their learning process. Special needs children face so many obstacles in their day to day lives. Having technology in the classroom not only helps them overcome some of their obstacles, but it also helps the teacher spread out his/her time.

In the video, the children were able to complete their work independently with the help of technology. The technology can help the children feel fulfilled by doing something on their own instead of always needing help. As we saw in the video, some special needs students can’t speak well, or some at all. Laptops can help students that can’t verbalize what they’re trying to say easier by giving them a way to type it. I know someone that can’t speak or move, because of Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). Her laptop types out what she wants to say through retina interaction.

Technology is an amazing thing that helps special needs children more than some people will ever know. It is also a very expensive thing, and I know funding plays a huge role in how much of it we can have in the classroom. When I’m a teacher I will do everything I can to have the best there is for my students.

How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism
"How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism" is a pretty incredible video. I guess I’ve always known iPads are amazing, but actually seeing it help teach a child with autism how to count and read is just remarkable. After I finished watching the video, I went to the website, "Apple.EducationApps.com" to pick out which app I would choose for my students. After searching through the app store I decided on, "Motion Math Zoom." The app is fun, colorful, easy to use, and educational. The main theme behind the app is teaching kids how to use numbers with animals.

I downloaded this app after I picked it to try it out. This app really is educational for children, and the best part about it is that it's free! Being free gives the parents of the kids more incentive to purchase it. The app has six free levels, and then you can purchase the full version to get twenty-four levels. Using educational apps in the classroom is such a wonderful idea, and I'm excited about the day that I can use them!

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis is the kind of teacher that every school needs. She show us that students can teach us in the video,“Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts”. She chooses to use technology in the classroom over pen and paper. I really like this because it keeps students interested. Using pen and paper, and doing the same repetitive thing every day is boring, and students are losing interest too fast. The technology Vicki Davis uses keeps her students interested, and connects them with other people around the world.

I think it’s really cool that her students are able to teach her about their assignments. In a way, Vicki Davis has the same idea as EDM310. She pushes her students to find information on their own instead of just giving it to them. I believe this method is far more affective than giving students answers that they will forget as soon as they walk out of the room.

Project #2 Wordle

Blog Assignment #2

Did You Know? 3.0-A John Strange 2012 Version
"Did You Know? 3.0-A John Strange 2012 Version" and "Did You Know 3.0 by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod" is a huge eye-opener to say the least. I think my mouth was dropped throughout the entire videos. I had no idea that India was so much further ahead than us academically. It’s crazy to think that more people in China may be speaking English than in the United States. This video has so many shocking facts, but I think the biggest one was that 1,097,220 videos are watched in one minute on YouTube. Just reading that it would be hard for me to believe, but knowing that my fiancé spends a good hour a day watching YouTube videos, I believe it.

Another thing that caught me by surprise are how many text messages are sent a minute. What caught me by surprise even more is how many text messages are sent from 7th-12th graders. I didn’t even get a cell phone until I was in 9th grade. Now, seeing an eight year old with an Iphone is common. It’s almost unbelievable to think about how far technology has come in the past few years. I can’t even imagine what technology is going to be like in a few more years!

Mr. Winkle Wakes

This video may be short, but it’s very powerful."Mr Winkle Wakes" shows how the whole world around us is becoming more technologically advanced, except for in the classroom. I believe the classroom should be one of the most technologically advanced places there is. It’s where children’s futures are shaped, so shouldn’t’ that be more important?

Obviously, funding plays a huge role in how technologically advanced a school is going to be, but that shouldn’t stop teachers from striving to keep students involved. It makes me wonder; even if schools did have the technology they should have, would the teachers use it? I remember when some of my teachers had an issue switching to a dry erase board from a chalkboard. I know that I will always be a teacher that will mold the curriculum I’m teaching around the most advanced technology available.

Sir Ken Robinson:The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson's video "The Importance of Creativity" was a very informative video while still being entertaining. He brought a lot to my attention that I wasn’t really aware of. Schools really don’t support creativity the way they should. Schools become to boggled down with keeping to a syllabus, and they don’t branch out to make the classroom a fun place. Art and drama classes should be added into a school’s curriculum, and be made just as important as English and Math.

One quote Robinson said that really stuck out to me was, “we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it.” When we’re young we have all the free time in the world to be creative. When we get older our day-to-day responsibilities become far more important than being artistic. I think if artistic classes were taken more seriously in the classroom, then children that were inattentive would be more attentive. They would have a greater desire to want to be there if they were doing something they enjoyed. Robinson said another quote that I liked. He said, “if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never be original.” Obviously, no one like to be wrong, but I think if kids weren’t scared to answer a question wrong in the classroom then they would have far more opportunities to be creative.

The Future of Glass
I can sum up "A Day Made of Glass 2" with one word, remarkable! It’s so hard to believe that technology could be that advanced. The whole time I was watching the video I couldn’t stop hoping that I would get to experience this kind of technology in my life. Then I watched "A Day Made of Glass 2: Unpacked: The Story Behind Corning’s Vision” and realized I might be able to. It’s crazy to think that the technology we see in movies about the future could be the technology we’re seeing soon. One thing that stuck out to me was advancement of technology in the hospital. I can’t even imagine how medically advanced we could become if we have technology like that!

technology they showed in the classrooms really blew my mind. Students will be excited to go to school when this is how they learn. The class activity table was, amazing, but the most intriguing thing about the video, A Day Made of Glass 2: Unpacked. The Story Behind Corning,” was the tablets. Each student had an individual tablet that connected to the teacher. I think Mr. Winkle Wakes would be so proud of the advancement of technology in the classroom. The video showed the classroom evolving with the world, and that’s all Mr. Winkle Wakes wanted! I was really happy when I watched, Project Glass: Live Demo at Google,” and found out that apple is becoming more highly developed with the glass technology. I hope I have some wearable computer glasses soon!