Blog Post #16: Final Reflection

Blog Post #5 Part B

Personal Learning Networks

At the beginning of this semester, I honestly had no idea what a personal learning network is but had always heard of people talking about networking. During the first part of this blog post and semester, we were assigned to use twitter and other social networking to make a personal learning network. While I believe those truly did help, the C4C and the C4T were the best tools for a beginning jump into the world of PLN's. Each week we were assigned a new teacher to comment on. With each new teacher, we asserted ourselves into the world of teacher's. As a future teacher I hope to take the knowledge learned from this class and expand my personal learning network through the avenues we have explored and new ones that I hope to find along the way in my actual school.

Blog Post #14

Teacher

In the article written by Joel Klein, he addresses the main part of education that if he would change if he could "wave a wand" to change. He points out that while this is a difficult question, he does have many things that should be changed. Firstly he points out the fact that teaching is not respected on the same level as being a lawyer or doctor in the professional world.

Some of the problems are that teachers need better training or education to be a teacher to the next generation. Klein addresses the problems by saying that teachers need to be better trained academically, school should only hire a top percentage of the graduates, teachers should have a national teacher examination, internship should be supervised from one to three years, and a merit based tier system should be evoked.

As a current student in Elementary education I believe that the level of training is not growing at the same pace as the level of work for the students. Joel Klein addresses this point by stating that almost anyone with a degree in education is allowed to teacher. With a better education of the teachers, the students would be better off all around because of the versatility of the teacher with better education versus the teacher with the lesser education that did not put as much effort into their own education. How can you expect a teacher who did not love to learn to want to teach students that may not have the drive to learn?

The selection process of teachers at a school should be based on the very best of the group. If a teacher applies and has a masters in education, but only made a 3.0 in both their masters and bachelors and had very little extra curricular activities such as volunteer work or tutoring, and a teacher that has a bachelors in education with a 4.0 and a great deal of the extra curricular activities. I feel that the second teacher should be the better choice because they put forth the effort, while it seems as if the first teacher just made it through.

The national teacher examination is a great way for the teachers to show schools who would be the best for the position. As a lawyer or doctor, you have to participate in one of these exams, that Albert Shanker proposed. Shanker also has another idea on a supervised internship that Klein explains. This internship lasts from one to three years and would help to narrow down the prospects of teachers.

A merit based tier system, instead of seniority or tenure, would be available for teachers to prove themselves by actually participating instead of just waiting out their time to avoid being fired. This would also help prevent teachers from using tenure as a way to keep their job when they are not the best fit for the students. 

After reading what Joel Klein has to say about means of improving the world of education and teaching, I truly agree completely. If schools and colleges were able to invoke the changes that he explains then education would grow to the level of being a doctor or lawyer. As many people fail to believe, education is not always an easy career. Teacher's are the ones that teach lawyers and doctors. Without teachers, how would people prevail to those professions? 

Project 16 Group Blog Post: Using Technology in the Classroom

Project 16 Group Blog Post

Using Technology in the Classroom

Using a Project-Based Approach to Learning in the Classroom

Source: Pix Good

Using technology in schools is very important.  Students today rely on technology to do a good percentage of their classwork.  In doing this, the classroom is taken beyond four walls.  Teachers can invite other classes from around the world into their own by simply Skyping.  Blogs are also a creative way to incorporate technology in school as well as in the home.  Teachers and students can blog about what they are learning and then parents, friends, and family can read all about it.  I think it is a good way to get parents more involved and active in what is going on in the classroom.

Using technology in the classroom engages students and teachers to expand their search for new ways to create and learn. By using the internet teachers and students are able to broaden their research beyond the books and people that surround them. This also opens up opportunities to project-based learning in the classroom.

Project-based learning in the classroom is a different approach to the normal lecture and reading type of learning. Project-based learning is a fun and interactive way for students to learn and complete assignments. Along the way, students are not just completing assignments, they are learning life skills. Students are allowed to explore and discover new information on a topic by using the internet, create projects, and learn how to apply resources all within project-based learning. Project-based learning allows students to take learning into their own hands.

Blog Post #13

What did I leave out?

Research and write about the ways that elementary education teachers use technology in a inclusive classroom to grasp the attention of both types of students. Find at least three resources and include links for the location of these sites. 

Using digital technologies to promote inclusive practices in education

This resource is a great way to better understand the history of inclusive education and the need for technology to help progress the idea of inclusive learning. In this five part document, the writers include an introduction to inclusive education, a framework to develop the situation, the policies, the policy drivers, and a few online resources. I really enjoyed reading this document because it was able to open my eyes to the bigger picture of an inclusive classroom and the different ways technology can help.

Inclusion in the 21st century classroom

This resource contains a video about the idea of using a virtual world/quests to lead a student with trouble learning in a normal lecture based class. The article also contains different ways that inclusion is good for certain students.

Tech Tools for Students with Learning Disabilities

This resource contains the different technologies used by inclusive classrooms. For talk to text, the article contains four companies that are used and phone numbers for the companies. I think this is a great link to have for ideas of what technologies an inclusive classroom uses along with the ideas behind the technology. 

Assistive Technology in Action

C4K for April

For this week I was asked to comment on Colby R.'s most recent blog post, which is titled Puns. This blog post is full of funny little puns. This is my comment on his post:

"Hey Colby,

I am a student at the University of the South Alabama in EDM 310. This is extremely funny and I love your puns. My favorite would have to be "is this hawkward?". I feel like I use puns more than I recognize but your blog is really making me wonder if I ever do. Thanks for the funny puns and keep up the good work and continue to blog!

Thanks,

Megan Shoultz"

Pun

For this week I was asked to comment on Charolette's most recent blog post, which is titled weet-bix. This video is about the triathlon from her area. This is my comment on her post:

"Hey Charlotte,

My name is Megan Shoultz and I am an Education student at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed your short video about the triathlon. I have never participated in one but congratulate you on your commitment to the cause! "

Triathlon

For this week I was asked to comment on Kaylie's blog post about senses. In this post she made a poem about her senses. Her topic was a bunny and the senses that she experiences on the topic of a bunny. Here is my comment on her post:

"Hey Kaylie!

I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM 310. I love your poem. When I was about eight years old I had two bunnies. I love the way you explain your experiences with a bunny. My only question is what you mean by you feel a physically smile?

Thanks! Keep up the good work!

Megan Shoultz"

Bunny

C4T #3 Dorothy Burt: Manaiakalani

Dorothy Burt's blog post Learn Create Share: Overview is about her six part series on Learn Create and Share. This post is an overview on the different steps and explains them in a whole.

Here is my comment on her post:

"Hey Dorothy Burt! 

I am an EDM 310 student from the University of South Alabama and after looking over your little series I really enjoyed the content and will implement the students into my own experiences in the future.  

Thank you!

Megan Shoultz"

Dorothy Burt's blog post Linear or Spiral: Learn Create Share Pedagogy is about her process of teaching the new teachers at her school how to embrace the technology active way of their school. This is my comment on her post:

"Hello! I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM 310. I really loved this explaination of the process that new teachers at your school under go to become used to the frame work that ya'll have constructed. My favorite part would have to be the share to learn process. I, personally, learn from sharing and helping others. 

Megan Shoultz"

Blog Post #12

Assistive technologies available to teachers….

Defined by the U.S. Department of Education, assistive technologies are any piece of equipment used to improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability.

50 Must-See Blogs for Special Education

There are several blog pages here that are well worth a visit!  Here is one that is very insightful:

Special 2 Me

This blog is an excellent resource for teachers of special needs/education students. It opens up about students, parents, and other conflict situations.  It also speaks about ideas and projects that might help you in your teaching.  It encourages you to hang in there and continue your work with a high held head and confidence.  This blog is great for those teachers with trouble students or difficult parents.

iPad Usage For the Blind

This is truly astounding! I think that it would be better for Siri to slow down the pace of her voice but other than that, this technology is truly astounding!  Blind readers could enjoy some of the same technology regular sighted students could with absolute ease.  This may be one of the most amazing gifts given to education.  Being able to allow someone of impairment the same tools to learn as a regular education students is helping bridge the gap between special education and general education students.  This tool give the blind more access to the world around them.

Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children

At the very end of this video, the young lady, I believe says, "Thank you for seeing".  That to me, as a non-signing and hearing-capable individual, says thank you for watching.  This video is very enlightening.  Giving hearing or vision impaired students to ability to learn on the same level as general education students is monumental!  Technology has come so far and now being able to interact with the hearing or sight impaired is going to open so many doors for them as well as teachers and educators.  This video should open your eyes and your minds to what is possible through technology and assistive technology.

This blog post was done in collaboratively with Erin Byrd.

Project # 14 Lesson Plan

Show below are my lesson plan and a few website that I feel would be great resources for the students to use with this lesson plan.

Primary Colors

ABCs of Art

Color Wheel Eyes

(ABCs of Art and the Color Wheel Eyes are both links provided to me while I take EDU 301 with Mrs. Vitulli)

mademistakes.com

Project #12 Smartboard

Blog Post # 10: What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

Mrs. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Moose Jaw, Canada. Little Kids...Big Potential is a short video about her students and what they think of the class. Her students like to write on their blogs more than their books because of the comments that they get on their posts. The students can see the changes in their writings and understand the right way to comment on a peers post. At school and at home the students can go onto different learning friendly sights that are educational through her webpage. Being so technologically advanced her students use Skype to interact with different classrooms and learn more about different cultures.

Interview with Cassidy Part 1, Interview with Cassidy Part 2, and Interview with Cassidy Part 3 are all parts of an interview with Kathy Cassidy and how she came to start about in her teaching style with computers. In this interview she explains that she started when computers were donated to her and 10 years from the day of the interview started her webpage. 5 years before the interview was the start of her blog and 2 years before the interview was the start of the video of her students using technology to better their education. The best part of the way Mrs. Cassidy explains her way to teaching with technology is the endeavor to keep the identity of the students safe, but while also allowing the students and parents to understand that they will always be using technology and the internet. The way that she uses her students blogs as a way to keep their work together is a way that I plan on using in my own classroom in the future. Also with her idea of the audience of the blogs being a great motivator to the students. In this first video "Little Kids...Big Potential", the kids state that they love to write on their blogs because of the views and comments. Mrs. Cassidy explains that the best way to get interested in technology is to find a way to express your own likes, such as Flickr if you are interested in photos or videos, or blogs if you love to write.

(Blog Picture)

C4K for March

For week 9, my assignment was to comment on Emily's blog post on her advice to new students at her high school. Emily is a sophomore at Joilet High School and her advice to freshman was very true in any case, not just at her specific school. Here is the comment that I left on her blog:


"Hello Emily. I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM 310. I really enjoyed your advice to future students at your high school. I went to two different high schools, both drastically different from the other. My first two years were at a high school that was enormous and my last two years were at a small little high school in the middle of the country. In your post I saw a few different punctuation and capitalization problems, but your flow and form was very easy to read. Your content was very helpful and I hope that your readers will take your advice and enjoy their new time at your high school."

For week 10, my assignment was to comment on Cristal's blog post on her experience while job shadowing. The job she shadows was in the cosmetology field, but her main concern is the wage that she would be making if she went after that job. Here is the comment that I left on her blog:

"Hey Cristal! I have never even thought of working in the field of cosmetology, but my dream is to be a teacher. Teachers do not make a great salary either, however if you love what you do then that is what matters. If you love cosmetology then chase your dreams! I have heard of countless people that take their dreams and make a great living, even in the field of cosmetology. Job shadowing is a great way to explore your options! Keep pursuing your dreams."

For week 11, my assignment was to comment on Jacob C's blog post on his pets. He has two snakes, a rainbow boa and a normal ball python. Here is the comment that I left on his blog:

"Hey Jacob!
I am an EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama. I loved reading about what type of snakes you have and can honestly say I have never heard of a rainbow boa. I actually touched a snake for the first time yesterday, but I still have a fear of them if they are not someones pet. How big are you snakes? I saw a eight foot snake that weighed 80+ pounds yesterday.

Megan"

Blog Post # 9: What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning?

Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning 

This article is very helpful for when you are just starting your PBL and are lost in the depth of a PBL. The seven steps (need to know, driving question, student voice and choice, 21st century skills, inquiry and innovation, feedback and revision, and a publically presented project) easily break down the process and lead towards a strong project that is easily explained and thought out.

Project-Based Learning for Teachers

This short video is a great way to explain what PBL is and how it helps a teacher to center his or her lessons around a driving question that leads to a complete ending that the students have to share with their peers. In this video there are many different sites used to help a teacher with their use of PBL.

Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration in Project Based Learning

This article discusses the importance of PBL and give ten resources for helpful tips on how to use PBL. Some of these sites were new to me and after looking over them I found them to be extremely helpful and will implement them in the future. 

What Motivates Students? 

In this short video, students explain what motivates them to do better. The answers range from the goal of having a family and a house and being able to support that lifestyle, going to college and be able to do what the student wants to do when they grow up, and being congratulated by teachers or other students for the hard work that paid off on a good test score. The second half of this video shows the students explaining the reward systems that they think work best for them. From stickers to pizza parties, motivation runs rich through these kids. 

Project Based Learning in PE

This blog post is about a high school that allows their students to plan and improve the physical fitness plans for the middle school students at the school. By following the The National Association for Sport and Physical Education standards not only are the high schoolers following the basic guidelines of physical fitness but are helping to mold the middle schoolers into a healthier lifestyle. This way to use PBL is a great idea to help all high schoolers promote physical fitness around the world. 

PBL

Project # 9: Motivating Students to Learn

Blog Post #8: What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

This week we were assigned to watch a lecture, given by Randy Pausch, that had the ability to make "the world stop and pay attention" as it was stated on Carnegie Mellon University. Starting the lecture out, Pausch tells that he had tumors in his liver and was told he only had three to six months left to live. At this point, I had to stop the video because my own experience with my mother having cancer and being given the same time frame to live and not making it to the sixth month mark. Bausch continues on about how he wants to promote "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" and talks about his own childhood dreams of being able to flip like the astronauts from his childhood in the 60s. 

One of the mainly points that Pausch mentions in the first part of the lecture is that your critics are the people that are telling you they care and want you to do better. As I listened to this part of his lecture about his football coaches, I remember all of my own critics. My parents were my first critics, who pushed my boundaries and my determination to be the best that I could be. My resources teacher, Mrs. Fox, who pushed me to catch back up to the other kids in my grade and inspired me to be a teacher. And lastly, my 12th grade english teacher, Mrs. Conerly, who pushed me to get out of my rut and take pride in my work. The similarity between all of my great teachers were the enthusiastic determination to excite their students and promote learning. These are points that Pausch mentions as the important parts of a "good" teacher. Throughout his lecture, Pausch describes his brick walls that are the different adversities that one must overcome to be the best that they can be.

C4T #2 - Diane Dahl

In Diane Dahl's blog on fotheloveofteaching.net, my task for this week was to comment on her most recent post, which is from September 1, 2014. Below is my comment on Diane's blog:

"Hey! I'm an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed your blog post and I agree that students and fellow teachers should be treated like that are at the top of the class. It promotes great feelings and gives encouragement for the students or teachers that may not feel on the top of everything!

Thank you!
Megan Shoultz"

Taken from Diane Dahl's blog post

On Diane's blog, I commented on her Math Monday post in which she explained that she gives her students time to explore their ways of addition at the start of the lesson. In her post, Diane included wonderful photos of her students various reasonings behind how they add. Below is my comment:

"Hey! I'm an EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama. I love the photos that you added of your students and their different ways to explain their techniques of adding. As a student I remember my own struggles with adding and love that you have given your students 15 minutes of personal time to explore the different options. I feel that this is a great way to open up your students minds to different options."

Project 13

Below you will find a link to our group file and there you will find our lesson plan, rubric, and calendar for Project 13:

Wildcats Drive

Project #8: Book Trailer

Blog Post #6

While watching the seven videos for this weeks blog post, I learned a great deal of new things about the idea of Project Based Learning. The seven videos are:

Project Based Learning: Part 1 and Part 2

In this video we are watching Dr. Strange talk to his old student, fellow EDM 310 Professional, and now good friend, Anthony Capp. Anthony Capp is a third grade teacher at Gulf Shores Elementary School. Anthony talks about the letters to Congressman that his student sent and received replies. This project instilled the idea that by actually acting with the subject the students will become involved and excited to learn. 

iCurio

I really enjoyed iCurio because it is a means of keeping your files and information organized. Anthony mentioned that it was a gateway to keeping your life as a teacher organized. iCurio also helps to allow students to search factual information without all of the junk that is around the internet.

Discovery Education

This website is a great way to get students to interact with the subject and be able to search though the site to find more about the subject. Anthony's class was using Discovery Education to research plants and to become more familiar with them. I would definitely use this website with my class.

The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1

In this video Dr. Strange and Anthony grouped together to give EDM 310 students helpful tips as they progress into the lives of a teacher. One of the key points that stood out to me as I was watching was when Dr. Strange said that we ourselves need to like to learn. Without liking to learn how can we expect our students to like to learn and put forth their full effort on a subject when we did not put forth the same effort. Another key aspect of being a teacher is to expect the unexpected and be able to improvise and be flexible. 

Don't Teach Tech - Use It 

In this video we observed Dr. Strange asked Anthony about technology, which prompted Anthony's response of using technology in the classroom through scaffolding. He suggests using one program one day and then allowing students to use another the next day. This would give the students a wide range of technology to be able to combine and use towards the end of the class. Students in Anthony's classroom can use iMovie, while I have no idea how to use it and have just downloaded it for the first time. 

Project #3: Project Based Learning

Blog Post #5: Personal Learning Networks

What is a PLN, or Personal Learning Network, and in what ways can it make our lives as teachers easier? A good definition of PLN as stated by Edublogs Teacher Challenges comes in three parts. The three parts are: The Personal, The Learning, and the Network. A PLN is a group of connections and personal relationships to school administrators, teachers, and other experts from around the world. This group is a way for the connections to share ideas and collaborations that help to expand your ways of teaching. Networking is the way that the PLN works to share those ideas to the people within your group and all over the globe with issues, enhancements to teaching and the evolving technologies. I created a Symbaloo which is a great site that combines many different websites that are like your face to people as they search your name. Keeping a good view of what people see about yourself is an important key in keeping your private life separate from your professional teaching career. Having a network is a great way to keep in touch with people you meet through out your career and with Symbaloo it would be easy to keep up with sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google +, ect.

Diagram of a PLN 

Blog Post #4: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

The question proposed for this weeks blog is "What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?" To answer this question I looked into the sources provided and chose three that I thought help shine light on the answer to the question. The three sources that I chose are: , Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom and Asking Questions to Improve Learning. 

Firstly, I found that the best way is to prepare your questions before you enter the classroom. As stated in Three Ways to Ask Better Question in the Classroom, Maryellen Weimer said "When you write out a question, you can make it clearer … not just the wording, but clearer conceptually.  Is it the question that needs to be asked? When is the best time to ask it? I can list more reasons why preparing questions is such a good idea, but I think if you try it, you’ll be persuaded." Before this statement Maryellen explained her own experience with going into a classroom unprepared to ask questions. She said she would asked a question and be met with silent because her students did not understand what she asked. In Maryellen's second point, she explains that a teacher must "play" with the questions and give the students time to think about what they think is the answer. A teacher needs to be able to give the students activities or information to produce the answer. Lastly, teachers need to keep good answers that her students give her and revise them for later use or examples. The job of a good teacher is to teach students the importance of questions and the process behind finding the answer.

Second, I found that in The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom the answer to understanding how to question your students one must first understand the goal behind asking a question. The goal is to help the students to understand the subject and gauge their understanding. The general questions that most teachers throw into the air to their students are just plain boring. The most effective way to gauge a students knowledge is to ask a question and if no one responses to call on someone and if they can not explain then to explain the answer yourself. 

Lastly, I found that Asking Questions to Improve Learning is a great source to understand the wrong way to ask questions in the classroom. A few of the main points presented by this article are to keep in mind your course goals, avoid leading type questions, do not ask to many questions at once, and ask clear and specific questions. A good teacher shows interest in everyones answers even if they are wrong and help to develop responses to encourage the students to think about the subject at large. A great way to open a discussion is to use opening questions and to get the students minds going. 

In summary, I believe that the answer to the question, What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?, is to keep your questions simple and clear and on the topic, keep your goals in mind, and to help get the students involved in the discussion whether they are right or wrong and to help them understand the right answer. A teacher needs to be ready for anything and be prepared when entering the classroom by writing down their opening questions.

(Students raising their hands in a classroom)

Project #15: Search Engines

Here is a list of 8 different search engines. I have tried each of them and included a link and description of what they do and how they would be a good search engine to use in the future.

#1: Wolframalpha
For this search engine I entered the word potato, which brought up the nutrition information and different options of words that could be searched to gather more information. Upon different other searches, I conclude that this search engine is a data based search engine. I would suggest using Wolframalpha to gather technical data.

#2: Bing
For this search engine I entered the word Iraq, which brought up many different news articles on the war in Iraq and other topics being discussed currently on Iraq. I would suggest sing this search engine for any type of information you might need.

#3 Yahoo
For this search engine I entered the words World War 2, which brought up many different documentaries and timelines from the war. For this search engine I would suggest looking up any thing that you might want to see. I found a good amount of information about current events and finances.

#4 Ask.com
For this search engine I entered the words Mardi Gras, which brought up a lot of shopping links. The thing that I found most interesting was on the right hand side of the site Ask.com shared the most common Q&As on the subject. I would suggest using this search engine when you have a specific question.

#5 Yippy
For this search engine I entered the word Obama, which brought up a lot of news reports about his meetings and policies he has been involved in. The nice thing about this site is on the left hand side of the site are many different topics under which the the searched word is mentioned. This is a great site to search a broad topic and narrow your search down.

#6 DuckDuckGo
For this search engine I entered the words internet tracking, which brought up many different internet monitoring protection softwares. I found this search engine to be helpful with cutting down the clutter like the other different search engines. The straight forward links would be very useful unless you were looking for news articles, which I saw very few.

#7 Dogpile
For this search engine I entered the words Australian shepherds, which brought up many of the same searches that one would find Yahoo and Bing. The one thing that Dogpile has that I have not seen on many of the other sites, which is a white pages tab.

#8 Ixquick
For this search engine I entered the words Gossip Girl, which brought up many different links to websites. The nice thing about this search engine is the fact that it sticks to the words searched and keeps every entry on topic.

C4K Summaries for February

Flawless by Chloe H. - Kidblog
My "kid" for this month is Chloe H. and she chose to write her blog on her favorite book "Flawless" by Sara Shepard. In Chloe's blog, she explained when the book was published and what the book was about without giving too many details to give away the whole story. She also states that this book is her favorite although it makes her mad at times and she gives the book five out of five stars! In my comment I told Chloe that I had never read the book and told her how well I thought she wrote her blog, because I saw almost no errors in her grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

My comment on Chloe's blog post:

"Hey Chloe!

I have not read the book Flawless, but from your description I can understand what goes on in the book. I like that you did not give too many details without giving away the whole book! Your grammar and spelling was really good! Keep up the good work! 
Megan"

Perfect by Chloe H. - Kidblog

The second post by my "kid" is on the book Perfect, which is the third book of the Pretty Little Liars series. In her summary I found that it was a straight and to the point description of the main events of the book. In my comment I mentioned how I have watched the PLL series before, but have not read the books. I also mentioned that it was great to see people reading and enjoying the series. 

My comment: 

"Hey Chloe!

I loved her blog on Perfect the third book in PLL. Your summary of the book leaves a lot of open spaces which is a smart idea when wanting other people to read the book. I started watching PLL with my friends when I lived in the dorms and really enjoyed it. Its great to see other people also enjoying the series as well as reading. 

Thanks!
Megan"

C4T Summary for Deb Frazier

C4T #1: Deb Frazier - When I Stopped to listen...

The first blog post of Deb's that I was assigned was very unorganized and seemed to have many different themes. Her main theme, that I could understand, was stopping to listen to your classroom. In her blog, Deb shared her experiences with stopping to listen to her classroom. From her students explaining their feelings after hearing a story to one boys determination to find the book he wanted to after combing through four bins of books. These experiences are very heartfelt and heartwarming, but the meaning seems lost to me as her grammar and punctuation errors cut the flow of the blog post.

C4T #2: Deb Frazier -Celebrate...

The second blog of Deb's that I was assigned to was a very organized post that carried a well thought out and worked through post. In this post, Deb's message was about a student teacher that she was mentoring while in her class. She talks about the advantages, having more than one pair of hands, and the disadvantages, not knowing when you are supposed to let the student teacher take a lead, and explains her thoughts on the good and bad of having a student teacher in your class. I love the way that she explains the way she told Mary Kay, the student teacher, to go from their instructions to actually getting the students to learn and interact with the lesson. While reading Deb's post I found very few grammatical errors and loved her ideas and experiences.

(Deb Frazier, Teacher in Central Ohio)

Blog Post #3: Peer Editing

The question of the week is "What is peer editing?" As stated on Colby College, "Peer editing can be a confidence builder to those writers who are insecure about their own writing". Peer editing can also be described as a way to check a peers work on the grounds of a positive learning environment. The main way to help a classmate or peer is to use compliments or suggestions. These suggestions can be over the types of word choice, organization, sentence structure, and the flow of the topic throughout the peers work. After watching What is Peer Editing? I learned that you are critiquing a peers work. This means that this person is your own age. So while critiquing it is important to keep in mind that not only do they make mistakes, but you do to. Why be mean when you know if someone was mean to you, you would be hurt also? When peer editing the main goal is to stay positive by using compliments and helpful criticism. Instead of saying that your peers work is horrible and being rude, you can say that they need to use better word usage and sentence structure. From my own experience with teachers and fellow classmates, people believe that to get better you need to be broken down. This is not the way that I see helpful. I have been broken down many times to believe that the only way to help someone is to build them up and be productive with your criticism. 

While looking over the slideshow, Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial, I learned that there are three steps to peer editing. The three steps are using compliments, making suggestions, and helping with corrections. By making a rubric to use when peer editing is a helpful way to stay on topic. Ask yourself if they used good word choice, added helpful details, used their organization skills to make it easy to read, and if they stayed on topic. Help your peer by checking for spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, run on and incomplete sentences, and punctuation mistakes. The video Writing Peer Review is a funny video on the right and wrongs of peer reviewing from the mean, loud, and just plain uncaring. The students show the different scenarios of how peer editing can go wrong in a classroom. I think this video will be a great way to show my class what not to do when peer editing and be more helpful to each other.

What Will Teaching in the 21st Century be Like? Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancealot
The central message of the video is that even though Mr. Dancealot may be able to teach someone how to dance if he does not let the students actually participate in the lesson they will never be able to learn. When the final test came and the teacher left the students to look at their notes and figure out how to dance without any instruction. This proved that the students had not learned how to dance from the class, because they did not get the chance to actually practice the moves with the teacher there to correct them. Just like with any sport or instrument, practice makes perfect and that is the same for dancing. I believe that to be able to understand something, you must be able to experience it for yourself, which the students were not able to do. I agree the author on the idea that without a structured plan, or syllabus, the class will not be productive.

Teaching in the 21st Century
Kevin Robert's short movie, Teaching in the 21st Century, focuses on the growth of technology in the lives of the students. The teacher's job is to be able to understand what the students are using to find their knowledge and show the students the ways to verify and use the information that is easily handed to them through Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter and various other websites that cater to the databasing of information, whether it be correct or fabricated. However, Mr. Robert is not saying that technology should not be allowed in the learning environment, but harnessed in order to be used as an advantage to the teachers. The job of a teacher has changed from the database to the filter of unwanted and unneeded information. A teacher is supposed to guide the student to learn and find the answers on their own. When I was in class my teachers always told us to learn what was in our books, which sometimes would not even apply to our future daily lives. Mr. Robert asked at the fairly beginning of the movie a question that should be asked to almost everyone, "Where do I get reliable news?". I think this is an amazing question, because students today are believing everything that they hear from peers, Facebook, and Twitter, when they should be taught how to look up the actual newspapers websites. Kevin Roberts approach to teaching is one that should be taught to everyone that will be teaching 21st century students.

Networked Student
"Why does a networked students even need a teacher?" This is the question asked at the end of the movie after you, as a viewer, watch the student start the class and expand his knowledge of the American Psyche through the different resources that he found through wikis and blogs. The reason he needed a teacher was because his teacher was the one who showed him how to set up his network, how to verify the websites reliability, and how to share his own knowledge with others on his own blog. Without his teacher, the student would have been lost in the sea of knowledge that is technology. This is also relevant to any type of teacher that helps to guide his or her students what to learn and what not to learn. Teachers are the building blocks of education, because without teachers to help guide the students, the students would never succeed.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
The idea of Davis' video is to show how technology can be used to connect students all over the world and that while technology is in some schools taboo, in Davis' classroom she encourages her students to use every bit of technology they have to better themselves. Her students have set up blogs, just like we are doing, to communicate with other students in different schools, such as the schools in the middle east. Davis' points out the fact that all students are curious and while she may have to explain some words or ideas to her students, she expects them all to Google what they do not know and learn more than what she has given them. Her students even taught Davis' how to terraform, which she states that she did not know how to do until her students had taught her. While she is a full time student, the fact that she has helped to set up two international programs to educate students in technology and more about the connectivity that it provides is completely astounding!

Who's Ahead In The Learning Race?
My answer would have to be third graders, because of the access they have to the Macs and iPads. Two days with a Mac and the third graders could already use iMovie and myself, as an undergraduate, have never even opened iMovie on my Macbook Pro. On my first class of EDM 310, I felt like I had accomplished something because I had a Mac and I can use it fairly well, but seeing those third graders use programs I did not even know existed make me embarrassed. However, when I was a third grader I remember going into the computer lab and doing my typing lessons and playing The Oregon Trail. That is the extent of technology from when I was in elementary school. Seeing students with the eagerness and drive to learn more about technology is very inspiring to me. I feel like I need to advance with technology as third grade students are so I will be better adapt to teaching in a technologically advanced school.

Flipping the Classroom
Before watching this video, I had no idea what the process of "flipping" a classroom could be. After watching more about the idea of giving students the lesson before teaching it to them the next day, I think that this would be useful, but also extremely time consuming. Using this idea would be productive if the lesson was extremely in-depth and would need extra time to have the students process the concept. While I do not think I will be using this idea in my classroom at all times, I can see the advantages of giving the students the lesson before hand if needed. 

Blog Post #1: What about EDM310?

I have heard good and bad things before starting this semester with EDM310 in my schedule. Most were more of warning than of bad statements about this class. One of my close friends warned me that if I did not have the time to commit to this class than I might want to wait to take the class. Some people told me that once the class was over with I would get the same feeling of accomplishment that they got from the class, which compelled me to continue on with the commitment of EDM310. That decision was not without fears of not being able to commit and use my time management to the maximum. The course load is so tremendous that a feeling of being overwhelmed is my main feeling in this first week.

EDM310 compared to my other classes while being in college is on a different level. The other classes I have taken so far in my career as a student do not compare to EDM310 in terms of course load, challenging, and overall excitement at learning all that I can learn from my professor, Dr. Lomax, the lab assistants, and my fellow classmates. The most difficult thing about this class that scares me down to the core is not being able to learn all that I can learn in this semester and taking the knowledge that I acquire onto my own teaching career. The way I plan on combatting this fear is to take notes, keep all the information that is given to me and plan to return back to the information when I feel like I have learned so much that I can not seem to remember anything.

A few questions I still have about EDM310 would have to be how to use a smart board, even though I know from a friend, who took this class last semester, that I would soon be a master at using a smart board and all of the programs that we learn about in class. When I was in elementary school, the most exciting part of the day was when we got to go to the board, which must be much more exciting for student in schools today when they are able to use such a technologically advanced piece of equipment.

Practice Blog Post #1

• Who am I?
• Junior at South
• Corpus to Jackson; Private to Public
• Southern Miss. to USA
• Cooper, NICU
• Why do I want to be an educator?
• My original plan
• Private to Public
• Second Grade
• My Passions
• My Family

Who am I? I, Megan Shoultz, am a Junior in the Elementary Education program at the University of South Alabama. Growing up in Mobile, Alabama, I attended Corpus Christi Catholic School, but got a public school experience when I transferred to Causey Middle School around 6th grade. My high school was Murphy High School, but I moved to Jackson, Alabama around my Junior year and attended Jackson High School. After I graduated from JHS in 2012, I attended the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for two semesters before transferring back to Mobile and the University of South Alabama. The main reason I moved back to Mobile and closer to my family is the birth of my little brother, Cooper Bentley Shoultz, who was premature and admitted into the NICU at USA Women's and Children's Hospital. Being closer to my family, who was staying at the Ronald McDonald House to be closer to Cooper, was a great incentive to the idea of coming back to Mobile. When I first started to attend South, my degree plan was on the path of Criminal Justice and had the dreams of becoming either a police officer or a lawyer.

While my original plan was to become an lawyer or something along those lines, my dream when I was a child was to be a teacher. And armed with the experiences form being both in private and public school systems, I have shaped my ideas on teaching and I hope to draw from both of the experiences to better teach the children of this generation. One of the main reasons, I want to be an educator because of my experiences as a student myself in second grade. I want to help children learn the way my teachers helped me. An educator is meant to guide and help students learn and grow throughout the school year. With the changes of the 21st century, teaching has had to evolve along with technology, which has lead to the growing use of computers and iPads in the classrooms of an elementary school. 

While studying to become a certified teacher at the University of South Alabama, I would like to be able to expand my knowledge of not only teaching methods that are used around Mobile or Alabama but throughout the world and the different types of strategies that would help a student excel. Along with my goal of becoming a teacher being one of my passions, I also hold an enormous part of my heart to my family and my boyfriend (pictured below).