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"