Sunday, February 22, 2015
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.
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
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.
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| Diagram of a PLN |
Saturday, February 7, 2015
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.
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)
Thursday, February 5, 2015
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.
#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"
Thanks!
Megan"
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"
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.
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.
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)
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