C4K Summary for March

C4K #6

I commented on a post titled "On Saturday by Jude", which was by a young boy named Jude who attends Bradford Schools. His post was about a saturday that he spent with his father. He said that they went to an exhibition on legos, but the only tickets they could buy for that day were for 4:20 pm. So, he told us everything that he and his father did to pass the time before they could go play with the legos. They went and bought him new school shoes, went and ate at a cafe, and even stopped to buy his mother flowers and chocolates for Mother's Day. Finally, it was 4:15 and they went inside the lego exhibition and built houses that were under construction, and had a blast!

I told him that a lego exhibition sounds like so much fun. When we were younger, my brother use to play with legos all the time and I always tried to play with him, but of course he hated that. I also told him that it was so sweet that he and his father bought his mother flowers and chocolates for Mother's Day because we all need to show our appreciation for our mothers.

C4T #3

Jabiz Raisdana - Intrepid Teacher
This "Intrepid Teacher" is a writer, musician, filmmaker, photographer, and everything else rolled into one. He loves exploring the internet and finding new and interesting things to share with his students, co-workers, and network friends. Raisdana also states that he is an intensive storyteller, and he has a story to tell and share with all of us, and we can start reading the story by following his trail that has been left all over the internet.

Post #1

In this post called, "Copy Wrong", Jabiz Raisdana expressed his frustrations with EMI and Youtube. His tenth grade class was assigned a project based on the the film The Wall by Pink Floyd. They were suppose to make a video for the project and either make up their own song or use songs from the video, and most of the students chose to use songs that were already provided because of the lack of time. However, when the students uploaded their videos to YouTube, the videos were blocked because the songs were copyrighted. Raisdana was frustrated because of this and sought to find a solution. His students were not trying to make money off of these videos or songs in no way; they were only using them for educational purposes.

I told Raisdana that I am studying to be a math teacher and that I found his post to be interesting because even though I am going to be teaching math, I still want my students to use technology. I am going to assign them projects that require the use of the internet. Reading his post and seeing everything he had to go through just to get the videos viewable on YouTube, has prepared me for some of the things I may encounter when I begin teaching. I thanked him for sharing his frustrations with us.

Post #2
"Give a Kid a Blog" is all about just what it sounds like. This week, Jabiz Raisdana discussed how he thought that children, grades K-10, should have blogs so that they can share their work and projects with the world, instead of just throwing them in the trash when they are done presenting them. He said that blogs would help students learn how to be just as independent online as they are off. Blogs would allow for students to present and talk to peers face-to-face, while also creating permanent portfolios of their online work. He says that these skills are what people mean when they talk about 21st century skills.

In my comment, I said that the EDM 310 class I am taking now is all about technology. We each have our own class blog where we write at least one blog post every week, along with projects and activities that we do and then post to our blog. I love the fact that what I do and produce is being shared, not just with my classmates, but the whole world. I said that it would be a good idea if all students would try blogging. That way, all of their projects that they work so hard on are not lost, but are around forever.

Project #14 Smartboard Instruction Part 1

Blog Assignment 8

This Is How We Dream by Richard Miller
Both of these videos, parts 1 and 2, by Richard Miller of Rutgers University are phenomenal! He describes how writing with multi-media can show how to change from a reading/writing culture to a listening/watching culture, and still have students contribute to what they are listening to and watching. Students can now write a whole research paper without ever even stepping foot into a library because they now have all the resources they need and many more right on their computers and the internet. They can find whatever information they need to support their thesis, and can also find websites to libraries not only in their town, but all over the word to help contribute to their paper. These library websites are capable of suppling books and articles on the web, so that students can find what they need easier and faster. Using multi-media, students would also be able to work on their assignments at any time, anywhere because one can access the internet from any computer that is available to them. Using the internet also allows for someones work to be shared to billions of people all around the world. Multimedia can be such a powerful tool!

I think that using multimedia to better enhance one's education is a great idea. I feel that so many of us students are already using so much multimedia today. I rely on my computer almost 100 percent to get my assignments done. When I do not have my computer with me, I almost feel helpless and I can barely get anything accomplished for my classes. The EDM310 class we are taking now, heavily revolves around the use of technology, so everything we do for this class requires a computer and the internet. Writing with multi-media is something that I think most people would welcome, with very few people having regrets.

I would like to think that I am prepared for multimedia because, like I said earlier, I already use technology so much that I think this would only help my success even more. I also think that my students will be able to use this, probably even better than I will. Students these days use the internet for almost everything they do, and tend to be so tech savvy. By the time I begin to teach, the children will be so use to using multimedia that it will just come natural to them. So, let's embrace multimedia and writing with multi-media!

Blog Post #12 by Carly Pugh
Carly's post for her blog post #12 is suppose to be about making an assignment that is so good and creative that Dr. Strange should have made them do it themselves, or that he will possibly have his students do in the future. Her assignment that she made up is for everyone to make their own YouTube playlist that will describe their philosophies as a teacher. The playlist with videos should include things like: describe the kind of teacher you would like to be, offer tips on classroom management, find topics related to your field of study, and much more. She asked that the students include at least five of the topics she listed and a minimum of ten videos. Then, everyone should explain how these things that they have chosen contribute to their teacher philosophy and how they can use these in their teaching environment.

I think that a YouTube playlist is a great idea. Having a playlist would allow us to put all of the videos that we think are interesting into one place for fast and convenient access. These videos and topics would be useful for us in the beginning of our careers to serve as guidance, but they can also help us at any time in our careers and can give us fun and creative ideas for activities and projects that we can do with our students. I will have a YouTube playlist very soon! :)

The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies

The Chipper Series is about one of Dr. Strange's past students, named Chipper, who dropped out of school because she didn't want to have to learn. She told Dr. Strange that she wanted him to teach her so that she didn't have to learn. After quitting school, she had numerous jobs that she eventually got fired from. She then decided to start her own school called Timeline Pilot School, where the students could take a course for however long or short they wanted to and could show up for the class when they wanted. Needless to say, this school didn't last very long before it was shut down. Chipper finally had a mental cleansing after this where she learned the value of education, and decided that she wanted to go back to school. This time, she was determined to go to school everyday, do all of her assignments, and not procrastinate. She was ready to get the most out of her education experience.

In the video, EDM310 for Dummies, students illustrate their frustrations for their class, EDM310. They were going crazy over the assignments and projects that were due because they didn't understand or know how to do any of them. Then, finally, they came across a book titled EDM310 for Dummies. This book had everything one needs to know about this course, from every blog post assignment and project to how to operate all of the websites that were required. After these students started reading this book and looking to it for guidance, they actually started to really enjoy the class and all of the projects.

Before I even started this course and a few weeks into it, I was terrified and overwhelmed with everything that was required for us to do. So, I can definitely relate to these two videos. However, as the weeks progressed and I started to get the hang of things, I began to like it. I know that this course will have such a tremendous impact on my teaching career and how I incorporate technology and run things in my classroom.

Thinking about a video that I would like to create or participate in, I think I would want to reflect on the things that we have learned thus far in this class. We could be in a classroom setting, where we are teaching and using our past assignments to educate our students. A project like this would illustrate just how useful this class can be to our future careers.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
This video is basically attacking schooling as we think of it today. There was a poll taken of 55 industry sectors that were ranked by their level of IT intensiveness and education came in last at number 55, below coal mining. In one way, this is mind-boggling, but in another, I can totally see this. Everything around us is adapting and welcoming technology except for schools, which should be one of the top places that uses technology frequently. The guys in this video say that the new 21st century set of literacies are not how well you remember information, but rather, do you know how to find information, problem-solve, how to validate info, synthesize, collaborate, and communicate.

The idea of education is dying, but the idea of learning is just beginning. This video is so powerful and points out so many fascinating arguments. Students need to be taught and trained in a way that will prepare them for their future jobs, not the next test they will be taking. Standardized tests do nothing to help a student train for the future, they only cram information into their heads until the test is taken and then everything is forgotten. This shouldn't be how education is. It is our job as future educators to realize what it is that students need to learn, and the use of technology will help us out tremendously.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0
Web 2.0 is just fascinating! There are so many tools available for teachers and students for free or of very little cost and the tools are so broad. These tools allow one to collaborate, edit, and share content online. This will definitely be a site that I visit frequently when I begin teaching.

(1)  Edmodo looks almost identical to Facebook. It is a place where a teacher can turn his or her classroom into a community. Teachers can communicate with their students and parents, post grades, post assignments and tests, make calendars with upcoming events, and produce polls that students can take. I love this site and will be using it for my classroom. I've already made an account. :)

(2)  PhotoPeach is a fun video tool that would be great for teachers and students to use. One can combine images, music, and text into a presentation. It is pretty simple and students can have a great presentation ready within minutes. Teachers can use this as a way to have collaborative group work because there is a quiz feature that allows multiple-choice questions to be on all or some of the slides in the slideshow. There are so many possibilities with PhotoPeach.

(3)  Poll Everywhere is a website where people can make polls and respond to them using their mobile devices. It makes it easy to gather live responses from just about anywhere: conferences, presentations, classrooms, radio, tv, and print. It can also help people raise money by letting them pledge via text. I found this site to be fun! I could find a lot of use out of polls in my math classes, by making questions into a poll and having my students use mobile devises to answer.

Here's my first poll that I made:

Try this audience polling system at Poll Everywhere

Project #11 Short Movie

Project #12 Book Trailer

Blog Assignment 7

The Networked Student

This video by Wendy Drexler describes the 21st century student. This student has a PLN (Personal Learning Network), which holds all of their favorite websites and blogs. The 21st century student uses Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, YouTube, and much more to learn and stay connected with the world around him or her. I think that having a PLN and using technology makes students more diverse and well-rounded and will benefit them in the future regardless of what career they may choose.

The video brings up the question, "why does the networked student even need a teacher?" For the networked student, the teacher is still a vital part of their academic success. The teacher is the one who shows them this world of PLN and how to navigate it. He or she shows them how to build the network and how to take advantage of the opportunities the network brings. The teacher offers them guidance, shows them how to communicate properly, and helps them organize the mountain of information they find. His or her goal for the students is that when they leave this class, they will maintaing their learning network and use it to navigate their future and help solve the world's problems.

I would like to say that I am ready for the networked student, but I really don't know if I am or not. I think that I am pretty up-to-date with technology and I know how to operate most of it. However, we know that our future students are going to understand technology and know things that we didn't even know existed. This means that we, teachers, have a big obstacle to tackle because we are going to have to make sure that we always stay VERY knowledgeable of the latest technology so that we can really benefit our students and be that navigator that they need us to be.

A 7th Grader's PLE (or PLN)

This 7th grader blew me away with her personal learning environment and how much she knew about it. I am just getting started with mine and still figuring everything out, but I hope to grasp it and find it as useful as she does. Like her, I also used Symbaloo to develop my PLN. Mine has a little bit of everything on it right now, ranging from education to shopping. I do plan on creating more networks as I grow and find more interesting and helpful sites. I know that my networks will never be complete and I will always be adding to them because I am always going to be learning and exploring new things.

Project #10 PLN Part 1

Developing my Personal Learning Network

In the development of my PLN, I chose to use Symbaloo. It was very organized and simple to get started. It even gave me suggestions on some possible webmixes that I may want to use. I did, actually, pick a good bit from the suggestions to add to my homepage. I am just so fascinated with PLN because I really had no idea that something as great and beneficial as this existed. 

For now, this is my only PLN so it has a little bit of everything on it. However, I plan to continue my journey and explore even more and eventually have many PLN's. When I begin to teach, I am going to share this with my students as well because I think that this is something that everyone can find use out of. Thanks Dr. Strange!

Project #9b 1901-1955 History of Mathematics Timetoast

C4T #2

Caren Carrillo
Caren Carrillo is a history teacher who tries to incorporate technology into her teachings. She maintains a blog, which she keeps pretty up-to-date, with educational posts and things that happen in classrooms.

Post #1
The post that I read was titled,"A Little Seasonal Classroom Humor". Caren found a chain of emails between a teacher and the teacher's students' parents regarding the Day of the Dead celebration that her and her students were going to participate in at school. She would send out an email about what they were going to do for the celebration and then a parent (or parents) would email her back complaining about it or saying that it went against their beliefs or something. These emails continued to go back and forth for a while until Mrs. Carrillo sent one last email saying that she will be unemployed as of the upcoming Monday, and that the Day of the Dead celebration will always be a remembrance to her.

This was a funny, but kind of embarrassing story. I mean, I felt a little ashamed for the teacher. In my comment, I said that times have changed, and teachers can't get away with as much as they use to could when it comes to teaching some things. I think that the teacher should have never decided to participate in this day knowing that her students have different beliefs. Reading this post definitely opened my eyes to the fact that I am really going to have to think about the activities I want to do with my students before I actually go along with them and inform their parents.

Post #2
In this post, Awkward Classroom Silence, Mrs. Carrillo discussed how she use to be so afraid of classroom silence with her students. She thought that maybe she wasn't explaining the material well enough so her students didn't know how to answer. Then, someone gave her some advise: "do not be afraid of silence." Most of the time when students are silent, they are just afraid to speak in fear of answering the question wrong. She said that students wait like they are sitting on the sidelines for someone else to answer.

This post helped me a lot because even though I am not a teacher yet,  I know that I will have to battle the "awkward silence" in my classroom. Many students already feel uncomfortable in a math class, but I want to ensure them that we want some wrong answers in order to help those who will never speak up. Chances are that another student will have the same question as the student who was brave enough to break the silence.

Blog Assignment 6

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University where he taught computer science and human-computer interaction. The video that I watched of his was "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". Sadly, Pausch died not long after this video was made due to complications from pancreatic cancer at the young age of 47. "The Last Lecture" was originally made for his children, but it has reached millions of more people. I thoroughly enjoyed all 1 hour and 16 minutes of it! Randy Pausch was an excellent speaker and did a phenomenal job of keeping his audience engaged. I have previously watched a little of this same video and his video on time management, and I still find both of them to be fascinating every time I watch them.

Even though Pausch filmed this video after he was told he had pancreatic cancer and only had a few months to live, one would have never known that from seeing how he acted and how much energy he had. He said that he was determined to have fun every day that he had left, and I think that is exactly what he did. He began the lecture by stressing how important it is for children to dream and to fulfill those dreams. So, he shared the dreams that he had as a child and how he accomplished them. For example, he wanted to experience zero gravity so, he was giving the opportunity to go to NASA and get in a machine that allowed you to experience 25-30 seconds of no gravity. This is just one example of the many dreams he had, but wanting to be a Disney Imagineer was his hardest and most sought after dream of them all.

Pausch had such an amazing outlook on life that anyone could ever wish to have. When I become an educator, I hope to have at least half of the perspective that he had on life. I want to show my students how important and crucial it is to dream and to never give up on their dreams. One of my favorite things from his lecture was when he was talking about the "brick wall". He said that brick walls aren't there to keep people out, but to remind them of just how much they want something. Brick walls are just obstacles that we each have to face and overcome in order to get what we really desire. If we hit a brick wall and give up, then we didn't really want that something in the first place. This was really good to me because I have never thought of brick walls that way before, but I will always remember this and remind my students of it every time they want to give up. Giving up will not be tolerated in my classroom.

Pausch gave great advise to students on how to achieve their personal goals and careers. Pausch taught a class for about ten years where his students had to each make their own virtual tour or world. They had about five projects each semester that he gave them two weeks per project to complete. He was so blown away after the first assignment that he didn't know what to tell them in order to make them strive to work harder on the next one. So, he decided to tell them that their projects were good, but he knew that they could do even better. That is exactly what his students needed to hear because every two weeks, they would make projects that were even beyond Randy Pausch's imagination. Even though I am going to be a math teacher, I want to assign fun and creative things to my students that will help and encourage them to learn more than I thought they ever could. I believe that every student has the capacity to learn no matter what background or disabilities they may have, and I will strive to use technology and fun ideas to help my students get the best education possible.

No matter who you are, this video will inspire anyone. It makes one want to dream big dreams with the confirmation that they WILL achieve them. As a teacher, I will use things from this lecture and from Pausch, in general, to educate my students. Everyone can find something interesting from "The Last Lecture" that will show them how to dream the impossible and make it a reality.