PLN Progress Report

On my PLN I'm still just trying to figure it out a little better and organize what exactly I plan to do. This is one project I'd like done right. There are a couple things I'd like to ask someone in lab about, and I plan to go there soon to do that.

Project #12 Book Trailer

Blog Post # 9

Mr. McClung's Year 4 of What He Learned This Year

First of all I like the whole idea of what he is doing. Mr. McClung summarizes what he has learned as a teacher on his blog at the end of every school year. This is a great way to self-reflect, and to also communicate with other teachers about teaching.

This post in-particular was done at the end of his 4th year of being a teacher. He says he struggled a lot during the year trying to define himself as a teacher. He was very worried of what his peers thought of him, which is something he never previously cared about. He then came to realize that he couldn't change himself for the benefit of his peers, and as long as his students are enjoying themselves and learning that's all that matters. I think this is a good example of why reflecting on himself as a teacher is a good idea. Maybe he wouldn't have been able to come to that conclusion had he not taken the time to think about it.

Mr. McClung also said that he was getting too comfortable as a teacher, and he wasn't being very creative with his lesson plans. He was depending on older lesson plans. In his words, "I was not teaching well." He was given the opportunity to teach a whole new subject. With that opportunity was the chance to start fresh with new ideas. He wants his students to enjoy coming to his class and if he does the same things over and over he will not achieve that goal. He made a good point here that teachers shouldn't get too comfortable when teaching. They should always be looking for new and exciting ideas to keep the students intrigued.

Mr. McClung's Year 1 of What He Learned This Year

Now, I'm going to summarize what Mr. McClung said about his 1st year of teaching. He says that he realized that you can't just teach the content without thinking of student comprehension. A lot of teachers get caught up worrying about their superiors they forget about their actual audience, the students. He says that in order to be effective you have to let your audience drive the instruction.

It is important to be flexible and go with the flow. Do not beat yourself up over a failed lesson plan. Things aren't going to always go as planned. Be willing to work through it and improvise. Communication is also a needed in order to have good relationships with your fellow co-workers and your students.

Do not overreact if students fail to meet your expectations. They sometimes do and sometimes don't it's our job to be there to help when they do not. Use technology to your advantage and do not be afraid of it. It is also important to listen to your students and to know them. The most important point of all, in my opinion, is to never stop learning. We as educators should grow and learn in order to be successful. I completely agree with this of course how could anyone not?

C4T Summary #2

For my second C4T I commented on the Classroom in the Cloud blog. My first post was in response to his post concerning leaving pictures and things of yourself on the internet that could potentially harm you. It could harm you in your future endeavors in anything you choose to do. I said I thought this was a big issue in today's world. People post inappropriate pictures and things all the time, do they think of the possible consequences?

I then commented on his post about kids cheating in the classroom and was homework helping them do it. Should teachers assign homework? I said I thought yes we need homework, but we need more in depth homework. Make sure the assignments have to come from the kid's heads, rather than just fill in the blank homework or something along those lines. I know it would be a lot harder to copy another person's work that way.

Blog Post # 8

This Is How We Dream

This is a video of Richard E. Miller talking about writing. He says now in this time of change it has never been more important to be involved in the changes in multimedia and literacy. We work now through our laptops. We do not use pencil and paper anymore. He made a point that things we get that are paper can be thrown away, but documents on the internet are always there. Also, documents on the internet can be shared with anyone.

Another change Mr. Miller spoke about was that it is now possible to collaborate through technology. We can compose things not only with text but also with images and videos. I think this is useful, because not only are we able to read information but we can see it for ourselves. Being able to see and hear information catches your attention more I think. The material you're working with doesn't have to be material from the past it can also be material of the present. For example, results from the current election as they come in.

We work in an environment where material changes before our eyes. We have great visual representation of the material we are learning. Mr. Miller says he sees things being composed through technology, and he believes they should be. People are already composing using the web itself. I can see the definite benefits of this. There is that part of me who loves words, pages, and just books in general. I think I always will love these things and can't completely agree with using nothing but technology. However, I do see that our students need to be taught using the things around them that are available.

Carly Pugh's Blog Post # 12

I really enjoyed Carly's blog post. I think she did an excellent job with connecting writing and multimedia. She also helped open my eyes a little more to this. She showed exactly how we can use multimedia in our writing. She mentioned that not everyone loves books and reading. I didn't think about that until it was pointed out. I love my books, but I know plenty of people who don't read. She showed me that providing images and videos can include more people. Maybe someone's attention will be sparked that wouldn't normally have been by only reading a book.

The Chipper Series

The Chipper video is Dr. Strange's way of trying to tell us not to procrastinate. Get your work in on time! Chipper thinks she should get credit for doing her work even if it's late. If we had a job that wouldn't be acceptable so how is it acceptable for our school work? Chipper wants him to teach her she doesn't want to learn. In my opinion he is teaching us, and we learn more by figuring things out ourselves. The resources are there to help us there shouldn't be any reason for us not to get our work done.

EDM310 For Dummies

This video basically tells us if we are frustrated and confused all we have to do is use the material available to us. Like I said above everything we need is there we just need to take the time to use it.

If I were to make a video or participate in one for my class these are good examples for me. If your students are having trouble with something particular YouTube videos are a great way to lay out the facts for them. If I were to do a video I'd research things on the topic and come up with a creative way to make it.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

Education ranked below coal mining, really? This video makes the point that kids these days are experiencing a whole world outside of the classroom that is banned from the classroom. This world is more stimulating for them so why not accept and use it to educations advantage. If we want to make education through technology more available to students we have to first start with the teachers. The jobs students will have do not go with standardize testing. They will need the ability to get along and work with others while brainstorming for themselves also.

There are many different and cool tools on Web 2.0 Tools. I have given examples of a couple ones below.

1.) I chose to create and Edmodo account. This tool reminds me of Facebook mostly, but it's a place for teachers, students, and even parents. You can gohere to visit my profile.

I would use this account to connect with my students and their parents. I would post all inn class assignments that were done, and also all the homework assignments that need to be done. If my students have projects they have due I would post constant updates reminding them about it. I could also give my students assignments using this account. So if a student is absent they wouldn't have to fall behind. Parents could easily contact me with anything they may need. Also, the students would have more access to me than just in the classroom.

3.) My Comix:

4.) Animoto is a place to turn your photos, video clips, and music into stunning video masterpieces, at least according to Animoto. You can personalize videos and put music with them. You can even make them in high definition. You can create videos for absolutely anything you want to. It's a great tool if you love creating videos.

5.) My Poll:

Blog Post #7

The Networked Student

This is a video of a project done by Wendy Drexler's high school students. The student in the video is in an online student who must build his own personal learning network. His teacher wants her students to research and learn for themselves from the internet. The students focus is the American psyche.

First, he starts off researching his topic using many resources. He was taught beforehand how to asses' information to know when it is credible. Google Scholar is the first resource he uses to find worthy articles on his topic. He then puts the things he finds on a social bookmarking sight. This sight is visited by many others doing the same thing. So, not only does he have access to his information, but he can see what others have found on the topic also. He finds blogs and shares his opinions with others on the issue. After the student has the information he needs he builds his own blog. This blog is his opinion on the American psyche, and anyone can comment and give their opinion.

So, if the student can do all of these things by himself why does he need a teacher? He needs a teacher, because the teacher is the one who gives him the skills to do this in the first place. She offers guidance and teaches him to communicate the right way. Also one of the most important things she teaches him how to know what research is good to use. Lastly, she also shows him how to organize all of the things he learns.

This video was a good example of how to teach in the 21st century. The project seemed that it could really teach kids instead of learning and forgetting. If you put that much time into a subject you have to learn something. I think this way of teaching can be very effective.

Welcome To My PLE

The personal learning environment is pretty neat. The student has everything she needs on one page at the click of a button. If she wants to do her science work she clicks on the link for it. She has a place to take notes and a place to put information she has found from the internet. She can email experts to see if her information is correct, and even go as far as to Skype with them.

I can see both sides of this argument. Learning this way can be very effective. However, there are those students who will only play. For example, on Facebook, Twitter, or a gaming sight. I think if kids are going to be allowed to learn this way they can't have access to those things. There has to be a way to block them without blocking important information.

Project #8 Podcast

C4K Post # 1

I commented on five different kids post in September. We were only supposed to comment on three, but I was a little confused the first time of which kid to comment on. So I left a comment for all four kids.

The first one I commented on was Jacob and Olivia's letters. They wrote to someone in Africa, and they both wondered what it was like there. I told them how neat it was that they get to write to someone so far away and how I always wanted to do something like that. Jacob mentioned that he had traveled to Canada. I told him that was one place I'd really like to visit. Olivia talked about her pets and reading. I told her how responsible she must be to take care of her pets, and that I also loved to read.

Next, I commented on Catherine and Gabby's letters. They also wrote to the same person in Africa. Catherine said she plays soccer and she has an aunt that lives in Africa. I told her it was cool her Aunt lived in Africa, and that all of my family lived in Mobile. Gabby said her mom tells her she glides like a dolphin while swimming. I told her I'd like to see her swim and she should swim on a team. I also commented on the things they wondered about Africa, and that I also wondered the same things they did.

Lastly, I commented on Hope's blog. She told stories on her blog. The one I read was one of a girl who lost her hair band at the beach. I told her how funny it was that she lost her hair band, because I do that all the time at the beach. I also told her how cool her blog was. It was very colorful.

Time Toast Timeline Project #9a

Blog Post # 6

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

To start off I want to say childhood dreams are important. We believe we can do so much when we are young, and the older we get the less we believe in ourselves. As a teacher I should recognize the dreams of students and push them to be the best they can be. You never know when you could inspire someone to pursue their dreams, and if they want it badly enough succeed.

Randy Pausch started a project where the students create virtual worlds, and it became huge on his college campus. When he first started this the students had five projects to do throughout the semester. When they turned in the first one they had done such a good job that he said he would have given them all A's for the semester. So instead of telling them that he told them to try harder and do better, and they kept excelling. The point here is that we shouldn't set a bar for our students. They always have room for improvement. When I'm a teacher that is the kind of teacher I want to be. One who pushes her students past their limits to reach their ultimate potential.

Randy also kept pushing himself. As an educator he not only believed in the student always going beyond, but he also believed it for himself. He and a friend created the Entertainment Technology Center, and when that wasn't enough he started Alice. Alice is a program anyone in the world can download and create things on. Randy went above and beyond with his ideas. That is what a teacher should be, someone who sees no limits to their own abilities either.

Randy Pausch is very inspiring. Someone who has been told he doesn't have much longer to live yet he can still give those speeches. He still has a smile on his face, and he doesn't want pity. He worked toward helping others until he couldn't anymore. He inspires me not only as a future teacher but as a person. We focus so much on our own issues. Then you see someone like him and it completely changes your view.