Blog Post 10

What Can We Learn From Mrs. Cassidy?

In the video "Little Kids, Big Potential", Mrs. Cassidy shows what goes on in her classroom through technology. The students are able to network and blend many lessons by working with the class computers. Daily, the students post what they have done in class through their blogs. The family members and also friends of the students, post comments on many posts that the students have. Mrs. Cassidy taught the students to write meaningful and nice comments to their peers as well. Through this, the students are able to construct wikis and learn meaningful information during their wiki project. Another fun project that the students' are able to do, is use Skype to chat with other students and teachers around the world. The student's of Mrs. Cassidy class seems to enjoy the creative way they are able to learn.

In the video "Cassidy 13 Part1", "technology is here to stay", is the quote that Mrs. Cassidy used the most. She explain that around ten years ago is when she started blending technology with her classroom curriculum. As years went on, she went from just having a webpage alone to having a class blog and using many other programs in her class. It's important to her that as an educator, we shouldn't limit students to what was taught many years ago. She believes that all teachers should be technologically literate and to have a diverse teaching base. Parents also have an advantage with students working on computers. Such as, the parents being able to keep track of what their child is doing and to also see how well they are improving their writing skills. The students love that they get to Skype with student's from Universities and know that someone is actually looking at what they have posted on blogs.

"Mrs. Cassidy Interview Part 2"

Mrs. Cassidy stress the importance of Personal Learning Networks in this video. Benefits of having social medias as an educator, such as: Twitter, and more.
 (1). Learning about other useful programs for the classroom
 (2). Getting answer to things you do not know
 (3). Meeting other educators around the world
 (4). Helping other upcoming educators
 (5) Getting tips on how to teach certain lessons in the classroom

"Mrs. Cassidy Interview Part3"

In this video, previous students from EDM 310 asked Mrs. Cassidy questions. One of the questions that was asked, "is how do Mrs. Cassidy keep the students safe from looking at materials other than for education. In her answer, she explained how she keeps the students safe by not letting them post their last name and as well as images of themselves. She also gives proper instructions of what the students should click on or go to, to do their lessons.


Everything that Mrs. Cassidy went over and how she teaches was useful information. I like how the students are able to set up wikis. Which will be a project that I will consider giving my students in my future class. By them being able to learn information on their own through their wiki projects is very useful. Blogging is another fun activity that I will give my students. They will be able to network with many other students and also their peers, which will be fun to them. Proper instructions, guidance, and getting the parents involved will make these activities have a positive outcome for the students and also myself as an educator.

C4K Post for October

Bella's Blog

What Kids Should Be Able To Decide

Bella talked about in her post about changing the time the students' have for lunch and also to switch classes. She explained, that the student's do not have enough time to switch class when they have to use the restroom or handle other personal issues.

My Comment

OCTOBER 10, 2014 AT 11:31 AM

Hello Bella, 

My name is Porscha Sellers and I attend the University of South Alabama. I thought your post was very interesting. I do think that you all should have some say and to how the school is operated. I do remember those days when I had to rush to my next class in order to make the bell. I agree, time should be extended for you guys because anything can happen. Maybe the students’ of the school should come up with a survey of some sort to reach out to the administrators of the school to let them know about the problems. I hope everything works out for you. If you will ever like to search through my blog, click on the link Porscha’s Blog

"Tessa's Blog"

All About Me

In Tessa's blog she described the characteristics about herself. She also talked about her hobbies and favorite animal. 

My Comment

Tessa,

My name is Porscha Sellers and I attend the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your "All About Me" post. My favorite animal is a dog as well. Which I have a little yorkie name Chloe that's four years old. Keep up the Good Work in your classes!!

"Chloe's blog"

Thank you Mikaila and Christopher 

In this post, Chloe thanked her two friends for drawing two beautiful pictures for her. The two pictures that they drew were a pink bunny and flower.

My Comment

Hello Chloe'

The drawings that your friends did for you were pretty, that was nice of them. It's very thoughtful of you to write your friends thanking them. Pink is a pretty color, my favorite color is red. Thanks for your post.

"Henry's Blog"

Art as Backgrounds

In this post, Henry posted two paintings of what life was like in the 1800's.

My Comment

Hello Henry,

My name is Porscha Sellers and I'm a student at the University of South Alabama. I was wondering if you drew the picture that is in the top left corner? If so, great drawing. Keep doing great in school. 

Project 12 Part A

Blog Post 9

What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning? 

As a student and a future educator, I found that Project Based Learning can be kind of tricky but great in many ways. PBL gives students a chance to tackle with many complex and open-ended questions, which gives a chance for the students to be creative. Students should not be refrained from in-depth work, which is what Project Based Learning is all about.

In the article Educational Leadership, it states that students must see the PBL activity personally meaningful and with an educational purpose, which will lead to a great project. Their are seven essentials to Project Based Learning, which are:

(1) A Need To Know
    - This first essential to project based learning is when the students are intrigued about what the teacher has brought to their attention. The teacher will come up with a creative way to get the students to want to know about the upcoming project they will work on.
(2) A Driving Question
    - The driving question is the focus point on starting the project and what to research. The question should not be closed ended. Closed-ended questions will lead to the students providing less information for the activity.
(3)Student Voice and Choice
  - This element is key for the students because they should come up with a project that is meaningful to them personally. This helps to keep the students intrigued and more involved with the activity.
(4) 21st Century Skills
  - Students should not be stuck in the old way of learning. This element helps the students to have more diversity in their project. The skills that go towards this are: communication, critical thinking, technology skills, and more.
(5) Inquiry and Innovation
  - In this stage, students come up with new driving questions and they also research more.
(6) Feedback and Revision
  - In this stage, the students look over the rubric that the teacher provided for the project to make sure they have what is needed. The teacher should critique the work and provide any necessary criticism.
(7) A Publicly Presented Product
  - This stage is when the students present their project to an audience that the teacher has provided for them.

The Youtube video, "Project Based Learning for Teachers," provides the viewer with important background information on project based learning. Teachers can meet required standards even with using Project Based Learning. This just gives the students a fun way to learn. PBL also entails those life skills that are needed, such as: communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and much more. It also gives the students an opportunity to work over an extended period time to learn meaningful information. Overall, PBL is beneficial to teachers and students.

The video, "What Motivates Students Today", shows clips of students sharing what motivates them to do better in school. As shown, great criticisms and also punishments help to strive the students on bettering what they lack in. Giving rewards is also another factor that helped the students be motivated. Overall, having a motivator will help students to actually try to achieve their goals.

In the video, Two students solve the case of the watery ketchup by designing a new cap, two seniors from North Liberty High School came up with ways to stop watery ketchup. The students brainstormed and drafted out many ideas to fix their problem. The two didn't limit themselves, they even went as far into drafting images on a software that was provided from their class. It took the students a year to come up with the project but they kept focused. The idea in the end actually worked.

Project Based Learning should be taught everywhere. It gives students to expand their ideas, creativity, and also knowledge. Nevertheless, it gives them those essentials towards life skills.

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning.

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning.

PART A

In the recent study in, Zogby Analytics shows how technology changed in time. As far as the difference in technology today, many people are able to do much more with it. I think that many people will comply that smartphones rule the world today. Smartphones has also went up in sells tremendously since the early 2000's, more than computers. With the new and approve apps that are available to smartphone users, it allows them to do many things as to not needing a camera and or computer.

With students' and teachers' having the use of technology such as: smartphones, iPads, and cameras makes them be more creative with lessons that are given.  I think that the students' are more technology friendly than the teachers. This will create teachers as being learners as well. Students' and teachers' can also network with many people through their smartphones. One of the many things that I use from my Smartphone, is emailing. I think by far, emailing from a phone is the most convenient tool that was created. Meanwhile their are many more resourceful tools to get the students going through education.

PART B

A smartphone can be used in many ways besides talking on it. Educationally, smartphones and also iPads have been blended in the curriculum throughout the school systems. Students' are able to do projects on an iPad while also researching materials as well. They can do many screenshots and take pictures on both resources to go into any lessons that are given. The students' can also create book trailers on an AR book they are reading. I think this project will help the students' retain the information better in order to pass their AR test. Their are many other activities and lessons that the teachers' can provide for the students' blending technology.

C4T #2 Post #2

Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

Friday, September 26, 2014

Zombies Inspire @evernote @postachio #writing #edtech

In this post, it explains what teachers' can use for new writing ideals to give their students'. In the links he provided, it gave different writing ideas that student's can use to be intrigued and get inspired. Next, he provided three steps to adapt writing ideas and lessons with technology. Which were: Explore the Writing Idea or Lesson, Connect and Collaborate, Media-Size It. 

In the comment that I provided; I stated that, this is very beneficial for teachers as well as students'. Coming up with interesting ideas to write about can be tricky. I also like the sites that were provided as far as helping with ideas that students' can use. 

Friday, October 3, 2014

Book Review: Deadly Odds (Updated 10/4/2014)

In this post, he talks about an email he received about a book called "Deadly Odds" by Allen Wyler. In the email to him, it explains how they are raising awareness for the book to be published in October and they sent him an Ebook copy of it. The book is about a young computer genius, whose hacking skills get him involved in a web international terrorism. This is book is considered to be very suspenseful. 

In the comment that I provided; I stated that the book seems to be very interesting and how I love suspenseful books. I can't wait to actually read a copy of it. 

Blog Post # 8

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

In watching the video, Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, I learned many powerful quotes about never giving up on my dreams and goals.

First off, Randy Pausch explained as a child he had many dreams, as many of us do. The main obstacle for him, is how will these dreams be achieved. Pausch explained, that if he couldn't make it one way, their was always a back up plan to get closer to his dreams. "Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things", an amazing quote that Pausch used. In explaining, many people can want something and want to achieve a goal but the wall is for people who doesn't put forth the effort in doing so.

Randy Pausch then went on to explain how we should give others a chance. We never really know someone true colors if we just give up on them and don't stick around. Which came to a story that stood out to me about Dennis, he was one of Pausch students' that had a negative reputation. Pausch kept his loyalty and never gave up on him when others had. Now Dennis is over one of the programs, ALICE and doing wonderful with it.

Towards the end, Pausch gave some great tips to go by. As far as getting people to help you: tell the truth, be earnest, apologize when you screw up, and to also focus on others, instead of yourself. Other tips to go by personally: when you get feedback listen to it instead of being defensive, show gratitude, don't complain, work hard, and be prepared.

This video is one of the best motivating videos I have watched by far. It also show's as for myself, I shouldn't have any excuses in achieving my dreams.

Group 2 Partnering

Project # 9 VIDEO BOOK COMMENTARY

Project 7 Part B As A Teacher

Project 13

Home

This is our lesson plan for a 1st grade class learning about the classifications of animals (vertebrae only). The class will be split into groups and will each be given a specific group to research throughout a week. After gathering pictures and facts each group will place their information into the class blog from which they will present their presentation.

Our Project Based Learning exercise deals with the different animal classifications. The students' will do their research on an iPad, using a kid friendly search engines. The students' will be broken up into five groups and they will each get a classification. This project will take a week to complete. On day five the students will work collectively with graphing and they will take a survey, telling what their favorite presentation was. 

Animal Classification Project Calender Rubric

Blog Post 7

HOW DO WE ALL BECOME LEARNERS?

To become a great educator, it's important to make sure the students' are being exposed to many learning materials and sources that they can use besides textbooks. It's a priority for me as a future educator to learn many networks and tools to make learning enjoyable for my student's. It's never good to limit students' to the basic method of learning. 

My Weaknesses:

As for my weakness, I don't have a broad knowledge of how to blend technology with teaching on an academic basis. I'm stuck in the old ways, which is only learning and researching materials from textbooks. I need to get more familiar with all the interesting sites and apps that the web has to offer for teachers and students. 

My Strengths: 

I'm always open to new information and comfortable with change. Being able to have these strengths will help me become a better educator. It's always important to have an open-mind and be able to be open to change, mainly because the teaching curriculums can change at any moment of time. 

In each of the videos that were provided I was able to learn different tools, apps, and websites that are great to use in the classrooms. In the video Michele Bennett video How to Make An Audio QRCOde, shows how to make a code for a URL, Image, Text, Etc by using the QRCode website. Teachers can read a book to students' which the students can listen and following along in the book. This is a great beginning tool to use for struggling readers' that needs help finding mistakes. Going into the video iPad Centers, shows how students' are able to record themselves on an iPad while reading one of their AR books. This strategy will help students' hear for mistakes they made. Also it is a great activity to do in order to see if students' can actually hear for their own mistakes. Listening skills will also be improved with this activity  

Poplet, is another great app that the students' use for project based learning. It helps the students' to stay organized and to also learn how to type. It's also helpful in being able to go back to the recent information that was once searched. Moving forward to the video, Alabama Virtual Library as a Kindergarten Center is a great kid friendly site. This site lets the students safely search for things that they want to know more information about. Their are many more project based learning activities talked about in the video, Build a Board in Discovery Education. "Build a board" is neat for the students' to use that helps them create a board for projects they have to do. Discovery Ed also allows the students to research information, images, and also videos. Surprisingly, it helps the student's stay organized and not lose the information they found previously. 

In Mrs. Tassin's 2nd grade class, the students' seem to really enjoy the project based learning activity. The students had to complete a board builder and present it to the class. It surprised me that the students weren't shy at all. I think that this activity really got the students out of their shell, because they were able to be creative. In the video, Using iMovie and the ABV in Kindergarten it talks about how the kindergartens are able to use iMovie and create book trailers about the books they had read. They add their names, captions, and other sort of materials as well to the iMovie. Following ABV "Alabama Virtual Library",  it's a free site that helps teach students' about basic research. Many sources are available to the students' such as the encyclopedia and library references.  In the video "We All Become Learners", talks about how students' can be teachers and vice versa. Padlet is one of the sites that is used for the project based learning and can also be used for PNL. What majority of the teachers do with Padlet, is use it to post questions in a meeting which the questions will be answered on a board they created from the padlet. With this process, everyone is learning something and what one doesn't know a peer that knows the information will help.