Thursday, November 29, 2012

Last C4T

Flipped Class – a student perspective

My first assignment, I was assigned to read Jerrid W. Kruse blog.It is about a former middle school students who is now in high school & in a flipped classroom. Her words speak for themselves, but think her words speak to the state of science education well beyond the flipped class model.Her opinion on the flipped classroom varies for certain situations. She enjoys the freedom the flipped classroom gives her and she able to easily keep up with our everyday schedule. But, for students that have trouble learning from just a couple videos don’t do as well. She feels like every other day the teacher is spending the class period catching up the students who fell behind. This method really only benefits that small percentage of students who are able to memorize the notes they take on the videos we’re given.

My name is Hillary Hamlin. I am in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. As you know, we recently had to watch a video about a flipped classroom. I understand that many different teachers have their own way of “flipping a classroom,” but I don’t think the teacher is being helpful by any means. The teacher is not guiding them to learn something. I believe that the flipped classroom only needs to be assigned in certain subjects because sometimes it is difficult to help students reach a certain mastery level. Thank you for the insight

Emotional Sink of Teaching

For this comments for teachers assignment, I was assigned to read Jerrid W. Kruseblog. This semester he had all assignments be “learning experiences”. That is, the assignments were not graded in the traditional sense. When the students turned in assignments he provided extensive feedback for them to consider as they continue to learn. Then, four times throughout the semester he met with each student individually to discuss what they’d learned so far and what they could continue to work on. During these meetings he helped students become more and more adapt at self-assessing. Their final grade was self-assigned.


I am back again! Reading over some of your blog post and I found this one to be quite interesting! I know trying something different like feedback can be mind boggling, but it really seems like you take your work serious! I can only imagining after getting off having to go home and do it all over again, I know soon I will begin to get the taste of it! I am sure that you do get better and more efficient at giving that kind of feedback.

C4K November

Mckenna's Marching Into Fifth Grade

This week I was assigned to read McKenna's blog post. Her post was about October highlights.For the month of October they have had a Halloween party, monster bash, learned decimals in math, and also learned the Revolutionary War. She goes into a lot of detail on what they did inside their classroom. The monster bash is where they do some science projects. They did ghost farts with dry ice. They also did vampire veins with this cool goo.

I replied to this post saying my name is Hillary; I am from the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your blog post about activities done in October. It seems to me that you and your classmates had a great time! I also loved the video you made to summarize everything up. The Halloween party had to be a blast especially with the chocolate fountain :) yummy! Keep up the excellent work, because you did a tremendous job!

Ten Lies about High School
This week I was assigned to read Sara's blog post. Her blog post was a list of ten lies about high school. The one that caught my attention was all of the teachers care for you. Also high school will be an healthy environment.

I replied to this post saying my name is Hillary Hamlin. I am an Education major at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading you blog post about "Ten Lies in High School". I recently graduated from high school and I couldn't agree anymore on your facts! I know my high school was far from perfect, it is sad to say that a huge percent of the teachers really don't care! But as a student you have to look at what is best for you and keep reaching for your goal and remember to never give up! Good luck with everything!

Twilight
I was assigned Dakota H's blog post. This blog was very short and simply. She read the book twilight and just explained in short detail what the book was about.

I also replied to her comment saying I am from the University of South Alabama. I enjoy reading Twilight myself! I loved all the books and the movies. If you haven't seen the last movie, I highly recommend it! Thank you for sharing! Keep up the great work.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Final Post for PLN

Since I got my first PLN with Symballo, my computer life has completely changed. I found it to be very helpful to become well organized.Being in EDM310 has especially proven to me the importance of organization skills, as well as staying focused. By making my PLN, I was able to sort my categories out the way I wanted them.I have recently added a few websites to help me out in my new future with education. I have enjoyed adding and deleting sites, and I plan to continue to add sites from here on out! I am so glad that we were introduced to this tool, and I cannot wait to continue the knowledge with my own students one day! By doing this, it will allow my students to stay organized, as well as offering them the idea of having social and fun activities all at the same time!

Blog Post #13

hot air ballons


Back to the Future

Back to the Future is a video of Brian presenting a project he did with his fourth grade classroom. First of all, the majority of Mr. Crosby's students speak another language besides English. English is there secondary language. Most of these students don't even what country they live in at the beginning of the school year. Brian knew that itself would be a challenge. He knew that his teaching had to be extremely engaging to help these students out. Each student in Mr. Crosby's classroom has their own laptop for using blog assignments. He also required his students to set goals.

He explains that each assignments are connected like the "High Hopes Balloon Project". The students used history, science, language arts, and also technology with this project. He conducted a hot air balloon experiment with his students. The classmates then recorded and posted about their progress with this project. This brought attention from all over the world. Mr. Crosby's poverty students began to be active learners through technology. An experiment like this empowered the students to learn on their own and also help break the language barrier. Like Brian says, if students have an audience that they know is reading what they write, there is more motivation to do a good job. This was very inspirational to me. This form of learning is a lot more valuable in the long run instead on learning the content to just pass a test. I believe that all children deserve the best education that will prepare them for a successful future.

A Vision of Students Today

A Vision of Students Today is a video about the realities of attending college in today's world. This video has no words just text. This video covered topics ranging from spending hundreds of dollars on textbooks that will never be open to professors never even knowing your name. This assignment was very clear to view this video from a teachers prospective not a students. Some of the things that were highlighted in the video were how students will be in extreme debt by the time they graduate. Also the fear of not been able to find a job after graduating because the job doesn't exist anymore.

As an educator you cannot waste a student's time. Instructors need to think of the needs of the student. This video really connects to me because I am a student myself in college. I have some of the same feelings as the students in the video. Many of these ideas presented in this video are very true. There have been plenty of times in class I seen students do everything besides school related things on their laptops. Looking at things from a teachers point of view, I can see that technology can make classes run a lot smoother. This video should be a wake up call to college professors.I believe more classes should be web based because it forces a student to have power over their own work.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Progress Report on Final Project

I am working with Kabrina Harris, Chelsea Calvert, and Haleigh Respress on our final project. We have been discussing and brainstorming numerous ideas such as using the smartboard. We finally planned a lesson for the plant cell. We split the vocabulary up into three different parts so we could demonstrate on the smart board. Haleigh was able to record us at different times to finish up our project.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Blog Post #12

My assignment for blog post #12 is for you to find a video about something that inspires you to keep moving forward. Sometimes in life we have many different bumps in our road but we always find away out of them. Also describe the message you gain in this video.

I found this video to be very inspiring! Forgiveness is a huge key to moving forward in life. This video makes me look at things in a different perspective. Sometimes I will get stressed out and feel like its only going to get worse but in reality if one door closes another one will open. We must notice that our future is so much brighter that our past! I gained many inspiring messages in this video. I never realized how powerful words can be.It is for people who always wanted to achieve the best of their ability and fulfill their dreams. Never give up! In this poem he says, "When you were born, you were crying, and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so, that when you die, you are the one that is smiling and everyone around you is crying" These words couldn't get anymore inspiring, I dont believe! We only have one life to live and we only have the power to control our destiny! Everything happens for a reason and the only person reliable is yourself!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Blog Post Assignment #11

baby using a computer


Little Kids... Big Potential

This video is about Little Kids...With Big Potential. The children use many different resources in their classroom.I must say I am really impressed upon the fact that the children seemed so interested in their assignments and projects. The first thing they begin talking about is their blogs. The students really seemed to enjoy blogging and receiving positive feedback. The blog is also an online portfolio for their work. Mrs. Cassidy found that she could coordinate homework assignments,writing assignments, and all other information in one website.

Blogging is a great learning experience especially for younger children. Young students love the attention from their peers.It blew my mind to know that a first grader understood the main rules of blogging, which is to never leave a negative comment on someone's blog. Also they were able to explain how they use all different tools of technology everyday. These tools allow the kids to post their own topic or idea they wanted to learn about.

Mrs. Cassidy is very pro technology, she made it clear in her video. She seems to make learning fun, which is a huge key for success as a teacher. She allows the classroom to make videos. These videos would help the student interact with other classmates and also learn at the same time. This helps students learn how to become more connected and communicate with others.

I really think it is a neat idea that the blogs can be used as a online portfolio. As a parent, I would strongly believe in looking at my child's online portfolio. I would love to be able to see what he or she is learning and how well they are doing in a particular area. I would find this to be very beneficial to the parents that want to have a part of their childs learning experience.

This past year I have learned a lot about technology. Anyone is able to do this type of work, it just takes a little more motivation. Overall, I very impressed with Mrs. Cassidy's classroom. When I begin teaching, I want my classroom to be just like hers. I could see that the children were so excited being in her classroom. I want my students to do more hands on activities and engage in every assignment or project. Blogging is another way to view information. Cassidy is showing the world just what a 21st century classroom looks like.

Special Blog Post Assignment

A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind

This article talks about education in the next 30 years. Everything will be done over the computer, and education will be free. It explains in great detail how technology will take over the classroom. He starts off in a deep thought into the future of education. He wants to teach the students more learning skills so they will be able to understand instead of just memorizing. He goes on about the "failure of the education system" --wont exist! Rather, students will take as much or as little time as they need to demonstrate mastery of a particular skill or concept. He believes this will change the way teaching is been taught for example, "Education will respond to you".

I like most of his points about this article. I agree that grades hinder learning. Grades do become the focus and the goal, not the learning. I do not believe we should completely take away grades. Grades show a teacher where he or she stands in a particular concept. Thrun said, “they aim to make online college education as cheap as a cell phone bill." I would love to see education only cost that much in the future but that is if it really does happen. Mr. Thrun may not have the answer but at least he recognizes the problem. We do need to evolve away from the old education models, but I still highly believe in having a teacher test a student on their knowledge. To me there is more to education than homework and technology.

C4T #3 Post

The influence of a good teacher, can never be earsed


C4T #3

I was assigned to comment on Mrs. Kathleen's blog. The title of the first blog was 10 Internet Safety Tips for Students. These ten steps for internet saftey went in a very great detail. She believes it is important that students are taught these tips. She says the internet can be very helpful but at the same time very dangerous. Her hope is to teach students the key message at a young age. Check out her list!

My comment I left began like this:
My name is Hillary, I am a education major at the University of South Alabama! I really enjoyed reading and also learning a few things from your blog post. Safety tips are strongly important especially when working with younger students. I think it is important for parents and teachers to help the child understand there are rules. Yappy (the personal information you should not share online)- seems like a great way to help the kids understand the safety procedure. Thanks again for the many intersting facts that need to be spread to parents and teachers.

She responded back to my comment saying:
Thanks for commenting. I have found YAPPY to be an acronym that really resonates with my students. It’s an easy way for them to remember to keep their personal information private. I have used it with students aged 7-10 although I think it could work well with children of all ages.
Good luck with your studies. It sounds like you’re enrolled in an excellent course.

Another blog from Kathleen was Tips and Topics for Student Bloggers she goes in detail about quality blogs and how it is important. She made a poster with tips for student bloggers. It is avaliable for downloading or to print also. Then she also made a document with 20 ideas for blog post topics. I found this to be very helpful source!

C4K October

Ella's Blog

This week, I read a blog post called Dear Santy Claus. This post was talking about how Santa Claus goes on vacation during his off season. Also she made her Christmas list. After her Christmas list, she explains why she deserves everything on that Christmas list. She says she always listens and respects her parents.

The comment I left was:
My name is Hillary Hamlin and I am a student at the University of South Alabama.I really enjoyed reading you note to “Santy Claus”. I am sure they are getting ready for Christmas in a couple months. Also I love you list of extravagant gifts for Christmas.I believe you do deserve it especially since you help do dishes and take care of your parents and animals. I know your parents really enjoy you helping them out. I hope you get everything that you want, just keep giving your mother caramel treats! :)

The USHRS Blog
The week after, I was assigned Michael's Blog. He explains how United States History Research Seminar has been a completly new experience for him. They are using a different kind of learning experience instead of the teacher-gives-lecture-to-student-while-student-takes-notes type of learning, they are doing something called partnering. It's basically a style of learning created to make students more enthusiastic about their work. He says he looks forward to this type of learning inside USHRS.

My comment I left was:
My name is Hillary Hamlin and I am a student at The University of South Alabama. I am interested in this way of learning! This style is something that is new to me! Partnering seems to be very helpful especially in a students point of view. I know as a student myself, I enjoying working with others and sharing different thoughts. I do understand sometimes teachers wont pick the most interesting topic but if you have help from a partner y’all can make any idea creative. I’m also inspired by the fact that students can have their own sense of control over the subject. I believe that is a great thing to teach especially before college! Thank you for sharing!

Stephen's World

This week for comments for kids was really short and simple. Stephen mad a list of his favorite things. His favorite time is Christmas, also his favorite subject is Math.Welcome to his World

The comment I left was:
I really enjoyed reading your post about your favorite things. I do believe we have at least two things in common; my favorite holiday is Christmas. Also my favorite subject is Math. I find math to be real simple and fun at the same time. It is really interesting that you want to become a engineer. Keep up the great work and Im sure one day it will pay off. Dont give up on your dreams!

Vitulli & Santoli: Eyes on Ireland

This about two doctors who went to Ireland. Of coarse everything is different compared to the United States, but one particular thing would be the food. They made a whole blog post just about FOOD! They explained the pictures of food in great detail. Check out all the amazing food in Ireland

My last comment for October was left: First off, I really enjoyed learning about your trip to Ireland.That is a tremendous ammount of food, but since the prices are pretty high I would aspect a great ammount. This food looks magnificent! I'm sure it is a joyful experience to travel somewhere outside of the United States. I hope yall enjoy yourselves!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Blog Post #10

Paper Cartoon

"Adventures of Pencil Integration"

I would be lying if I said I understood this cartoon right away. It seriously took a minute to comprehend John T. Spencer's illustration. After finally understanding, I concluded that you get what you pay for. PCs are inexpensive but they do manage to get the job done. On the other hand, Macs are built to last. I never really knew much about Macs until I began this coarse. I sure wouldn't mind having one, maybe one day I will invest in a new improved computer!

"Why Were Your Kids Playing Games"

The next blog post of Spencer's I read wasWhy Were Your Kids Playing Games? This blog post begins in a dialogue form with a principle and a teacher. He calls the teacher into his office and tells him "No Games!" The teacher quickly responds back by ,"they weren't games, they were advance stimulation." I can totally agree on the fact that students learn more when they are engaged in a activity instead of just memorizing things. As a educator we began to understand the concept about how important it is to engage every student. I could not agree more, that games are a great way for students to understand and comprehend the content that is been taught to them.

"Remember Pencil Quest"
Also, I read a blog post from Mr. Spencer called Pencil Quest. He talks about a field trip that he will always remember. His teacher took him on a "Pencil Quest". The students had assigned sites and the would read pages of material. The teacher described this as a "moving textbook". Mr. Spencer was so excited to began this project. He says that his fellow classmates even loved this assignment.

Mr. Spencer enjoys seeing his students get excited over many different variety of projects. He often sometimes wonders if his students will look back and remember their school days. I believe in this post he is trying to explain that pencils are still relevant in our today's society. He wants his students to become life long learners, which that is why he tries making learning in a fun way.

"Dont Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?"

This blog post is by Scott McLeod. Scott tells this story with a great sense of humor. He addresses this post to teachers, parents, administrators, and board members. He is almost begging everyone not to teach children about social media, blogging, making videos, or anything that has to do with the internet. He blocks it out of the student's life like it doesn't even exist.Then at the end he allows his students to use to useful tools.He as a teacher, learns the student's improvement that is been made. Students need technology learning lesson to help them use the internet in a resourcefulness way. It is important to teach things about the internet because it can be dangerous. The internet explore is a wonderful tool that should be used inside each classroom. It is a great way for a change in education.

Project #14 Smartboard (Part 1)