Blog Post #10

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture- Childhood Dreams

A Carnegie Mellon University alumnus, Randy Pausch, is not only known for his Last Lecture, but he is also known for the ETC program and Alice, a fun way to teach computer programing. Pausch found out in 2007 that he only had about 6 healthy months of life left. With this he presented his last lecture, on his childhood dreams, to approximately 500 people at Carnegie Mellon. It has now been viewed, and talked about by millions.
Randy Pausch makes many good points in his last lecture. He lets us know what can be achieved if you follow your dreams. He shows us how important it is to have dreams and push through everything that is thrown in your way in order to achieve them. He also shows us how important it is to facilitate the dream of others. As teachers this is the most important thing. We should push our students to become the best they can be and to learn everything they can learn so they can one day achieve their dreams. Many times we may doubt student’s abilities but I would hate to be a “brick wall” in a student’s life. We should always encourage them to do their best.
I think the most important thing I learned from Randy’s video s that dreams can be achieved no matter how big them may seem as long as we put our mind to them and do not allow anything to stop us from getting them. He achieved so many great things in his lifetime just by putting his mind to it and striving for the different things.
He also shows us that if we don’t achieve our dreams we can still learn lesson from the journey we took along the way. Although he was not able to play in the NFL he learned many great things from his coaches that he carried with him throughout his life. Randy Pausch shows us the importance of dreaming and he also shows us the importance of living life to the fullest. His use of his childhood dreams to gain so many great things in life is a great example of what we should be striving for as teachers. We should place goals to make our ways of teaching fun and interesting and promise to always push our students to dream.

Project #14

Website for lesson plan on measurement for K5.

Blog Post #9

In the first video we watched, Back to the Future, Brian Crosby is talking at a TED conference about his class structure, the students within his class, and the different projects he uses to teach them. Each project he does is one that sparks the interest of all his students and helps them to become more excited about learning. One thing he emphasizes is that no tests are given, but the student use different things like videos and blog post to gage their learning. The project he emphasizes the most is a weather balloon project his students did. He tells us how the students were involved in the project and how much they enjoyed it. He also tells us how after they did the project the students were asked to make a blog post that talked about their “high hopes” which became a world-wide sensation. It really shows us how PBL can be used to empower our kids to learn on their own and make them love to learn. We think that this video is a great representation of what PBL is and how when it is used correctly in the classroom how the kids can learn to collaborate, become motivated, connect with others and become empowered through using technology. Crosby makes a great point when he says that we can’t race kids through school but we must give them the opportunity to build skills from the world. We feel that if we can incorporate different projects like Mr. Crosby and allow the students, no matter what social status they hold, to have a chance to learn through PBL we will have a group of students who will be prepared for what their futures hold.

In Mr. Paul Anderson’s video, Blended Learning Cycle, we learn a lot about the Blended Learning Cycle. We think it is a great concept! There are six parts to the Blended Learning Cycle. You start with a good question and/or hook. You have to have something that will get the students attention right off the bat. Next, you want the students to investigate, experiment and use inquiry learning. You then have a video. For example you could use a video podcast to do a lot of the ‘direct instruction’. The fourth thing is elaboration. During this part, Anderson does diagrams and explains the physics of the example he is showing the students. Next he talks about the review portion. Anderson explains that he meets with the students individually or in small groups and asks them questions to check their understanding. They can’t go onto the next part, which is summary quiz, until he knows that they understand everything. So when they are done with the review, they go onto the summary quiz which will test them on their knowledge. If they don’t understand it they will have to go back to the beginning. We think the Blended Learning Cycle is a great tool that will be very helpful in the classroom. It’s a great approach for students to learn something, and to help the students who aren’t so engaged in learning become more engaged. We agreed that we could use it in the classroom when we are introducing a new topic to the students. It’s a great way to make sure the students actually understand what they are learning, and are not just going through the motions.

The third video that our group watched was called Making Thinking Visible. Mark Church, a sixth grade teacher, asked his students to make a headline regarding a video that they watched the day before. They were placed in small groups and were asked to sum up their thoughts about it into one headline on a strip of paper given to them by Mr. Church. Then, after a few weeks into the lesson, the students were asked to reevaluate their headline and see how it may have changed after learning more. We definitely saw where we could learn so much from Mr. Church. We learned how important it is to make learning visible to the children by ways like making a headline visible on paper. In addition, we learned how working in small groups really helps to develop ideas and learn from one another. Lastly, revisiting previous work after learning more about a topic can be very beneficial. It causes students to engage in critical thinking about how their ideas may have changed.

So our group learned so much from all three of these teachers. We learned many things that we could definitely use in a future classroom one day.
-Elizabeth Johnson, Calah Reynolds, and Rachel Hinton

C4T #2

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Blog Post #8-

Ted Talks Education- Rachel Hinton
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference and TEDGlobal -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize. On TED.com talks from TED confereces are available to all for free. These videos allow people all over the world to view the great ideas presented at these conferences and use them in anyway they can. You can narrow the videos down by searching the site to find what you are looking for. After typing in “education” I found many different playlist pertaining to education that has ideas to use for teachers in many different areas ranging from teaching in the liberal arts to what has went wrong and needs to be changed in our education systems today. TED.com is a great resource for teachers to use to broaden their horizens and gain knowlege through others around the world.

iCurio- Calah Reynolds
I am interested in teaching Kindergarten and the tool for communicating and learning in the 21st century that I picked is iCurio. We have learned quite a bit about iCurio this semester in EDM 310 and I have come to find that it is very useful. For Kindergarteners I think that it would be an easy tool for them to start off with.

iCurio is a place where students are free to explore the internet while still being limited on what they can see. You can use iCurio as a search engine and if you find content that is valuable to you, you can then save it in your storage. iCurio is a place that can teach students how to be organized on the internet at a young age. Students can save websites and online materials to their storage, then go through and organize and delete them as they please. On iCurio you can also form study groups online with students who are the same age as you and in the same class. I like it because it limits students to what they can see, so they don’t run into anything inappropriate. There are games for students to play on iCurio that can help them learn in a fun and simple way. You just simply type the subject you are learning about in the search bar. It then pulls up links to a bunch of different websites that they can choose from. There are a variety of different websites the student can pick from, it ranges from worksheets to games to everything in between! iCurio is a very useful learning tool that I think will come in handy in the future for my classroom.

Teaching Channel- Elizabeth Johnson
The Teaching Channel is an online website that offers videos, common core resources, and lesson plans for teachers. The possibilities are endless of the resources available to teachers on Teaching Channel. Teachers are able to browse through videos organized into different categories based on subject, grade level, or topic. Like I said, the resources are unlimited. One video that I watched was called ”Super Digital Citizen”. In this video, Sam Pane who is a fifth grade teacher at Focus Learning School is Omaha, Nebraska, describes his lesson on teaching students how to use the internet in the correct way. The students create superheroes on their personal laptops in order to describe scenarios of how to use the internet safely, respectfully, and responsibly. This is just one video of many on Teaching Channel that teachers can view and use in their classroom.

Project #9- Podcast

Blog Post #7

Project Based Learning: Parts 1 and 2
By: Rachel Hinton, Elizabeth Johnson, Calah Reynolds

Anthony Capps is a 3rd grade teacher in Baldwin County. We really enjoyed his videos about Project Based Learning. He really brought to light just how effective PBL can be in the classroom. It is really great to actually have someone give their different experiences with PBL and how they used it. He gave great examples of how he used it in his classroom. Through PBL, Anthony gave his students the chance to become involved in their state, community, and even half way around the world. Another things Anthony really stressed about PBL is the importance of self evaluations. A major thing we learned from these conversations is that if Project Based Learning can become the basis of learning in every classroom, then we will have a group of students that care about what is going on around them and are passionate about learning new things.

iCurio and Discovery Ed
By: Rachel Hinton, Elizabeth Johnson, Calah Reynolds
Anthony uses iCurio frequently in his classroom and let’s his students use it on their own so they can have the freedom to use the computer and search the web while still being limited to what they can see. He lets his students use iCurio like a search engine so they can save content that they find valuable in their storage. iCurio teaches virtual organization and allows students to start getting organized online at a young age. They can store websites and online materials in their storage and go through to organize and delete as they please. In addition, Anthony talks about the importance of another tool called Discovery Ed. He talks about how it is great to have visualization to couple with learning to support whatever text you’re learning about. It can be used to research further into what they are studying. It gives videos to gather more information about a topic. Students can use it for research, but Anthony also uses it to teach with as a teacher. Students tend to learn more when they can see and hear the information. So, Discovery Ed is an awesome tool for both students and teachers to use.

Use Technology- Don’t Teach It! – Rachel Hinton
In Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange’s conversation on technology in the classroom, Anthony gives some really great advice on how teachers should allow the students to actually use technology in order for them to learn it, not teach it to them. Anthony tells how if you allow students to experience the technology for themselves, without teaching it to them, they are more likely to take away from their mistakes and know what to do next time. He allows the students to experience different types of technology everyday so they can become familiar with different things that will help them in future projects. He also makes a really great point that many times the student may actually know how to use the technology better than you. With this being said, there may come a time when the student has a question that you cannot answer, this is okay, together you can find out. We can use our students to help us learn every day and technology is a great way to allow them to do that.
The Anthony-Strange List For Teachers Part 1- Elizabeth Johnson I really enjoyed this video, ”The Anthony-Strange List for Teachers Part 1” ! I learned so many helpful tips that I will be able to use not only now, but also as a future teacher. There were six tips that were discussed in this video.
1) Be a constant learner yourself. It is so important to be interested in learning yourself as a teacher. If you are not a learner, then you won’t be a successful teacher. You have to model learning for your students, and if you cannot do that, then how will your students ever be able to learn from you?

2) Teaching never ends. It is hard work, but it is rewarding. As a teacher, it is important to know that work is not separate from play. You can learn the craft of teaching in your free time. Yes, read books for entertainment. However, substitute them for research books to help you become a better teacher. Allow your work and love for teaching to come up in conversations. You cannot limit your work hours to an eight hour day. You will never be as effective as you can be. Allow work to be fun. The effort is rewarding.
3) Be flexible. The unexpected will happen. You never know when surprises will happen when you are a teacher. It is important to be creative and flexible. I loved the example in the video where the servers were down, so the students were painting on the floor. This is a prime example to always have a back-up plan. You cannot always plan for these things, but you can have a good attitude about it and be flexible.
4) Start with a goal. If you do not have a goal or expectation to reach, it is a sure thing that you probably won’t make it there. Start with the end in mind. Think of the expectations and results you want to accomplish. What do you want your children to learn or get from the lesson? You may not get there the way you planned, but you can still get there another way.
5) Engage 100% of your students, 100% of the time, in 100% of projects. It is important to make sure that what you are teaching is shareable. Is what I am teaching or how I am teaching motivating my students to learn? One question you can ask yourself is, “How can I get all of my students on board today?” This will change your entire outlook on teaching.
6)Reflect, revise, and share your work with an audience. Even as a teacher, we must constantly be reflecting on and revising our work and teaching strategies. Take critiques you get from your audience or students to revise your work and make it better. Students change, technology changes, curriculum changes, so it is important to constantly be reflecting and revising our work in order to be the most effective teacher we can be.
Additional Thought About Lessons- Calah Reynolds According to Anthony Capps in Additional Thought About Lessons, lessons are at least four layers thick.The first layer is how the lesson fits in with your year.

You should make sure your curriculum fits in with all the standards. The next layer would be the unit. You have to make sure your unit flows together and that everything is connected somehow.You can’t just give the students the work all at once, you have to give it to them in units and at the end of each unit they should be able to master what you have gone over. Next is the week and during the weekly schedule you need to make sure you can get everything done that you have planned. Last is the daily lesson. This is how you deliver it to your students. You should have something to keep their attention, something to keep them engaged, and something after the lesson to cover what you taught and make sure they understand it so you know where to pick up the next day. I think that those four components are really important to remember when making lesson plans. I also think it’s important to remember not to fall behind with your lessons because if you do it might mess up your whole unit and maybe even year.

Project #13- Project Based Learning Plan 1 (Collaborative)

Project #2- PLN: Progress Report 1

For my PLN I decided to use Symbaloo. I really like how this site is organized. It is very easy to use and access. I added different things that we use all the time in this class such as Google Drive and Blogger. I also added a link to the EDM blog and all of my C4T's that I have had so far. I really like this PLN because it is an easy way to keep up with, and access all the different websites for this class.