C4T #4 Summary

Peoplegogy

The teacher that I chose for C4T #4 is Dr. Will Deyamport III. In Dr.Deyamport's blog, Peoplegogy, he interviewed two Google certified teachers.



Post 1:

"Dr. Deyamport,
My name is Andrea Fust, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama, where I am a Secondary Education/Biology major. I am currently taking a course, EDM310, that explores technology use in the classroom. Before this class, I had never used a lot of the Google tools. I now regularly use Google Docs and Google Sites. I found this video very informative, because I did not know a lot about the Google Teacher Academy. However, I will be doing more research on GCT's, because it is something I am now interested in. I think teaching is all about inventing new ways to teach and keeping it fun. I agree that teaching and learning are all about improvement and exceeding in what we know. As teachers we can not teach how we were taught, and that's why I think technology and collaboration are great. Through technology I feel students become more engaged in the lesson, because it becomes more interesting. There are so many tools online that teachers can use to engage their students and make learning fun. Thank you for the very informative video!!
--Andrea Fust"

Post 2:

"Dr. Deyamport,
Since my last comment, I've stumbled across this article I wanted to share with you. Technology is a beautiful thing. I cannot wait to see what the future holds when these students are adults. Google Certified Teacher Takes Learning to a New Level
--Andrea Fust"

Blog Assignment #5 (Part B)

A Summary of my Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Throughout the course of EDM310 I have developed a PLN. Below I have explained some of the sites and tools that I use.

Symbaloo
Symbaloo is a bookmarking website. It can be used to save sites that are frequently used or that you need to return to. I use my Symbaloo as a central site for all of my classwork. Below is a screenshot of my Symbaloo account.

In the top-center of my account, I have my blog as well as my class blog. I also have a link to Khan Academy, a website I use to help myself further understand Chemistry. However, the site offers help for a wide range of subjects. (I highly recommend it.) To the right of my page, I have my social networking sites; Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail. These sites are great for networking with professionals as well as keeping up with friends. I also use these sites to read interesting articles and share the articles I've found with my followers. In the center of my page is the Google search bar. This feature allowed me to make Symbaloo my homepage. To the left of the page is where links to shopping pages can be found. Occasionally I'll stumble on Booking.com and plan a trip I wish I could afford to take. The remaining tiles I use to temporarily save web pages that I want to come back to. Alot of times I bookmark recipes that I want to cook later or sources I need to come back to for a class.

Google Circles

Google circles is another tool I use in my PLN. Google circles is a social network that allows you to follow users. Followers can then receive updates on that person. An example of an update would be receiving a notification that someone uploaded a new blog or video. Below is a screen shot of Dr. Will Deyamport III's page and the updates that I receive by following him.

Google circles gives me an update when Dr.Deyamport posts a new blog. It also shows me who he follows, and who follows him. That means I can go through that list and find more teachers and professionals to follow.

Social Networking
My Top 3:
•Facebook
•Twitter
•Gmail

As crazy as it sounds, a good bit of what I leisurely learn comes from Facebook. I follow different newspapers and news stations on my facebook account and they post articles from all over the world. (And from credible sources!) A great thing about facebook is that the articles that I find interesting, I can instantly share with my friends and followers. This semester I have shared two articles with my classmates that I found interesting. (I used twitter to share with classmates.) Below are just a few of my tweets to my fellow EDM310er's.

One of the articles I shared was about a bakery that opened in my hometown. When the interviewer asked the owner where she learned to bake, she told them she taught herself by watching Youtube videos. Someone made a career out of a skill she taught herself using technology, amazing.

There are many other sites and tools that can be used in developing a PLN, however these are the tools I use the most often and found the most useful. The image below lists more sites that can be used in developing a PLN.

Blog Assignment #14

Professionalizing Teaching

Problems and Solutions in Education:

•Need better Educators- Recruit from top third of graduates.
•Seniority- Reward teachers


How to fix these problems:

There are a few problems in the education system, and they need to be fixed. Today, it seems as though anyone with a college degree can become a teacher. Instead of just allowing anyone to take the role of molding the future, teachers should be recruited. However, teaching is not an "ideal" job for a lot of people nowadays. Teachers do not get the credit that they deserve, and are treated almost as glorified baby sitters. Teachers are one of the lowest paid careers with a college degree.(College.USAtoday) If teachers were held to a higher standard, more students who are at the top of their class would want to become one. (Not to say that NO one who graduates in the top 33% does not become a teacher.)

Another problem that the education system faces is the seniority rule. Often times if the school has to make cuts, it is the newest teacher fired versus the least productive. I understand that this could have to do with tenure, but there should be exceptions. I feel that teachers on tenure do not feel that their job is at risk and could become lazy. It is unfair that a newer, possibly more qualified teacher, would be let go over a teacher who does not do their job. Shanker recommended that teachers should be on a merit-based ladder, and promotions be based off of specialty exams. I actually feel that would be a more productive system. It would not allow teachers to get lazy, and it would promote life time learning. It would cause teachers to be the role models they should be for their class. Those steps will help professionalize teaching, and have people hold teachers at a higher standard.

C4K Summary for Month of November

C4K Summary
November

11/01/14

School: Oakville, Ontario Canada (Mrs.Horst)
Student's name: Marina
Student's Blog: Marina's Blog

Student's Post:

Student's were asked to break a dance down into elements.
"The dance elements for this dance are: Dance:I think this dance was AMAZING. Relationships: the relationship is great in the dance it really shows emotion.I also think they did a great job with the ball. Body: there positions in the dance were really good.Like when he was lifting the girl they were in a good position. Energy:they had a great pace when they were dancing it really went smoothly.Like when they were together they went slow and then they speeded up a little. Space:In this dance they had different levels like when they were on the ball it was low/medium.They went differnet directions while they were dancing they went left right then forward and back. Time"

My Post:

"Marina,
My name is Andrea, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post on “So You Think You Can Dance”. I use to be a dancer, so naturally I love that show! I like that you broke the dance down into different elements. Are there anymore elements that you can think of? Were they in synchronization the entire time? I also liked that you included pictures in your post. Also be careful with the words there, their, and they’re, and your usage of “like”."

11/06/14

School: Waverly Shell Rock Middle School
Student's name: Paige
Student's Blog:Paige's Blog

Student's Post:

"I chose a knock-off version of the Go-Go Gadget. I came up with the idea because I was hungry at the time. My favorite gadget was the toothbrush to brush that nasty breath. This is kind of like the army knives that twist and there are multiple things to use." My Post:

"Paige,
My name is Andrea and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed looking at your blog!! I loved inspector gadget, and I think this would have been a great tool for me to of had in school. I had braces, so I had to bring my toothbrush with me to school everyday. This tool would have been useful. I also liked your linoleum block carving of baby Spongebob. When I made one, I printed it on different color paper and made a collage. Keep up the great work!

11/23/14

School: Kingsland Middle School
Student's name: Angela
Student's Blog: Angela's Blog

Student's Post:

Students were asked to post a summary of the first quarter of school.
"Salutations everyone! This quarter was not tranquil at all. The quarter was inane because everybody was getting use to being at school.One of the worst things of the quarter is the repulsive studying, homework,(that we had almost every single day), and the educational parodies. I was stupefied at the amount of homework we had the first day of school. On the first day I expected I wouldn’t have one single assignment, but no we had assignments. One thing that I loathe about school is how cold it is. My forte is being cold at school (that’s not school related.) I am happy that there is a new quarter so we are use to school. I hope you liked my end of the first quarter blog."

My Post:

"Angela,
My name is Andrea, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your blog posts! You have a wonderful vocabulary, which made your posts very interesting to read. It sounds to me like your school is doing a good job preparing you for high school and college! It may be a lot of work now, but I promise it will all pay off in the long run! Keep working hard! "

Blog Assignment #13

What technology can you use in YOUR classroom?

Every classroom is different, and every teacher has his or her own way of teaching. This blog post assignment is allowing you to explore the internet and find tools that you as a teacher will use in your own classroom. Find tools that will fit your subject area and grade level, and explain how you will use them.

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Symbaloo-
Students can use symbaloo to mark a web page and save it for later. The bookmarks are kept as tiles that can be organized. This website is great for saving references or frequently visited pages.

Ipad/Apps:

Evernote Peek-
This is an app that allows students to make virtual flashcards to study. I felt this app would be very useful to use to study for tests. Students can also share their questions with other students. This could be used in replacement to a study guide.

Studious-
This is an app that I actually have myself to help me in school. This is an app where students can organize their classes and set reminders on their phones. Each class can be organized by a different color and symbol. It reminds the students when there is an upcoming test or homework assignment due.

Icell-
Icell is an interactive app where students can pull up images of a bacteria, animal, and plant cell. The students can then move the cell around to see it from different angles. The students can also zoom in to the cell, and see all the parts and how they function. I like this better than just printing out the image, because then students are prone to just memorize where certain parts are on that picture. This way students are actively exploring and learning.

Educreations-
Educreations is an app that makes the whiteboard interactive. It can record the screen and the teacher can then turn that into a file. Students then have a video lesson that they can take with them anywhere.

Project #12 (Part B)

Below is a video of my group, Group 2, explaining our lesson plan on a Smartboard.

Project #10

The teacher I planned on meeting with had to cancel last minute. She could not meet over skype either. The video will be posted as soon as we can meet!

Blog Assignment #12

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher?

When a student has a learning disability, it is the teacher's responsibility to make sure he or she still learns what they are required to know. Today many people with disabilities are breaking barriers through the use of technology. For some individuals with disabilities, assistive technology is a necessary tool that enables them to engage in or perform many tasks. Below is a Google slide presentation that my group, Group 2, put together explaining assistive technologies and some of the tools available to teachers.

C4T #3 Summary

My Journey as an Educator

By: Jennifer Ferguson

Teacher's Post:
She posted a 3 minute video explaining how technology is used in the classroom. She then posted how she was blown away by the digital output of students and the use of technology in the classroom.

Post 1:
"My name is Andrea Fust, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently taking a course, EDM310, and it has introduced me to project based learning. Through PBL students learn how to ask good questions to get good answers, to use reliable sources, to determine fact from opinion, to apply it to real life, and to asses the outcome. I think it is important for students to have these skills to be successful in today world."

J.Ferguson has not posted a new post since August 9th, so I posted on the same blog post.

Post 2:
"Ms.Ferguson,
I was looking back over your blog, and I too am in awe at the digital output of these students. I am really anxious to see what the future holds. In my class, EDM310, we have seen what these children are capable of, and it is amazing. Our class blog also has links to a lot of great videos. Thanks for posting."

Blog Assignment #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

Back to the Future
In Brian Crosby's video, Back to the Future, he shows what goes on in his fourth grade classroom. Most of his students are students of poverty, and did not know the answer to questions most fourth graders should know. However, what these students were capable of is incredible. I wish that I had, had Mr.Crosby as a teacher growing up. He took one topic, and covered every subject using project based learning. He used entry events to spark interest in his students. He then had the students wondering "Why did that happen?". His students went into learning the history of balloons, and researched different types. They then used language arts to write a story as the balloon. They also launched an actual balloon into the atmosphere with a camera. This camera filmed the balloons entire journey. The students used Google maps and were able to locate the balloon and know how fast it was going. These students used blogs to reflect on what they had learned as well. These blogs caught attention of other students around the world. Mr.Crosby even used Skype to involve a student with Leukemia in the class.

Blended Learning Cycle
In Paul Anderson's video, Blended Learning Cycle, he explains blended learning. Blended learning starts with a really good question. This would be an entry event or a hook that gets the students attention. This makes the students want to do the next step, investigate. The teacher can then play a video for the class. The students will then read and research about the topic causing them to go more in dept. Lastly, they review and take a summary quiz.

Building Comics
In Sam Pane's fifth grade class, he used comics to inspire his students. In his video he opened his lesson with a quote from Spiderman. "With great power, comes great responsibility.". He then had his students brain storm what it meant to be responsible on the internet and how to be an online citizen. The students then created their own superheroes and made a comic strip. The comic strip was for them to demonstrate what it means to be a responsible online citizen. I really liked Mr.Pane's teaching methods. I think that because he used superheroes he really caught the attention of his class. The lesson was fun and meaningful.

This video of Roosevelt Elementary is a great example of the benefits of PBL.

What did I learn from these teachers?
Teachers should make the lessons fun and relevant to the students. Entry events help with this, because it sparks an interest in the student. Entry events get the students asking questions, and making them want to learn the answer. Project based learning causes children to become curious about the world around them and to want to know more about it. I feel that students who learn through PBL from a young age will become more confident then students who use just pen and paper. Teachers should collaborate with each other, so the students are utilizing all of their time wisely. Not only is PBL a more effective way to learn, but it is also a more enjoyable way.

Project #14

Our second lesson plan has been organized on a Google Site: Lesson Plan #2.

This is a lesson plan for an 11th grade history class. It is a project based lesson plan that recognizes different types of technologies that we take for granted every day. The students will be using iPad apps, websites, internet searches, and Google Presentation.