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Sunday, April 28, 2013

C4K #8, 9 & 10 - Summary for April

C4K #8, 9 & 10
The first comment I made for this month was on a student named Bryor R. Bryor R is an 8th grade student in Mr. Boylin's class. Bryor discussed in his blog his favorite sport, which is basketball and his favorite subject, which is Algebra. The next student I commented on in April was Kaylee from Nebraska. Kaylee asked many questions of her readers. She wanted to know where they lived and all about their state. She asked about their state bird, flower and flag. Kaylee was very inquisitive. What is so surprising, is that Kaylee is learning the same thing we as college students are learning, how to blog. The last student I commented on is Logan M. Logan M. is in Ms. Kelly Jordan's and Ms. Kathleen Morris' class. Logan M is from Victoria, Australia. Logan shared his Easter holiday with his readers. After reading his blog, you can tell that Logan loves to camp and spend time with his family.


Camping Tent

C4K#10 - Logan M

The student I commented on this week was Logan M. Logan is a student in Ms. Kelly Jordan and Mrs. Kathleen Morris' 4th grade class. Logan attends Leopold Primary School in Victoria, Australia. Logan told about his Easter holiday in this blog. He had a busy weekend. The most exciting part of his weekend was going camping in Otways. Otways is a beautiful camping site. It was a family friend's birthday, so the entire birthday party dressed up. Logan dressed up as a knight. Logan appears to be very close with his family and they enjoy a lot of time together. In his first blog, I could not tell if Logan was a girl or a boy, so I had to go back to his first blog. This is where I found out that Logan was a 10 year old boy. I enjoyed reading his blog.

C4K #9 - Kaylee from Nebraska

The student I commented on this week is Kaylee. Kaylee is in Mrs. Gildes 4th grade class in Nebraska. In this blog, Kaylee asks many questions of her blogger. Some of the questions were where her readers live, their state's football team and about our state's symbols. Kaylee is very smart and inquisitive. I really enjoyed reading her post. What I am most surprised of is how 4th grade students are learning the same things as college students. Basketball goal

C4K #8,- Bryor R.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://kidblog.org/MrBoylens2012-13LAClass/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy28xuqadLghrmJLmjN2tsGgBjt3Gtw

The blog I commented on this week is from a student in Mr Boylen's 8th grade class. His name is Bryor R., he lives in Iowa and he is thirteen years old. Bryor enjoys playing basketball and hanging out with his friends. His favorite subject is Algebra. In Bryor's blog, he asks his readers to answer several questions. My answers to his questions were that I do not have pets, I have never been to another country and that I want to be a Physical Education teacher and basketball coach when I complete college. Bryor and I both love basketball and playing basketball video games. I enjoyed his blog.

C4T #4 Summary for April

The blog I read for this month was from Mr. Dylan Blain, better known as Mr. Robbo. Mr. Blain shared with us how to create and easy QR code. He gave a demonstration and shared how useful these codes would be to us when creating a lesson. His second blog dealt with his department creating video recordings of lessons on their iPads. Videos of their lessons would be placed on Google Drive and shared with the staff. A folder would also be created for substitute teachers. What a great idea. I suggest video recording of lessons to be shared with incoming student teachers. Seeing a lesson is much more valuable than just reading a lesson plan. Mr. Blain always gives useful information in his blogs.



QR Code

C4T #4, Comment #1

Chrome Extension for Instant QR Code CreationThe teacher I commented on again this week is Dylan Blain, better known as Mr. Robbo. In this blog, Mr. Robbo shows us how to create easy QR codes. He also shows a brief video demonstration on how to create the more improved QR Codify installation. These are very simple steps in creating a QR Code for any link. This was a really cool blog. You can find how to create this QR Code in the Chrome Web Store.

C4T, Comment #2

Department Development Meeting

Since there were not updated blogs from Mr. Blain, I went back and picked up this one. In this blog, Mr. Blain and his colleagues decide to record video footage of their lessons to share with other staff. The department does this by using their iPads. A folder is created through Google Drive and shared will their colleague. A folder is also created for substitutes. What a great idea. I think this would be a useful tool for student teachers also. Seeing the way a lesson is to be taught is a step further than reading a lesson plan.

Blog Post #14

E-textbooks

Teacher Knows if You Have Done the E-Reading

The article Teacher Knows if You Have Done the E-Reading, was a study done by colleges to see if students were properly reading their assignments on E-textbooks. The article does this through a new technology source called CourseSmart. CourseSmart is a tracking device to see if students are actually opening their online textbooks and reading. The article points out benefits about CourseSmart as well as complaints about this program. Some of the benefits were finding data out that will help students attain better study habits, and enhance test scores. Some of the complaints from the program were bugs in the program and tricking the program. It was stated that students could trick the program by simply leaving it running while they went about other chores. I guess with more research and data collection, better information may become available. For now, the jury still is still out on CourseSmart.

As a Teacher

As a future teacher, I think this kind of technology is just a way for big companies to make money. I'm sure the companies believe that CourseSmart's data will benefit the teacher and student. As for me, I say again, students learn differently because of what is going on in the world and in their own personal lives. As a teacher, I will not dismiss this kind of technology, but I will not allow it to run my classroom. I will also not judge my student's performance based on CourseSmart.

As a Student

As a working student, my opinion is simple, students learn differently; always have and always will. As a student, I have to prepare for tests as early as possible and look over my notes daily before and exam. My cousin, on the other hand, crams before her tests and still receives good marks. The man mentioned in the article, who has to work and has a family, does the best he can. His study habits fits his lifestyle, as does mine. It's hard on all college students who have more on their plates than just college. I do not make excuses, but I study hard with the time I have. I do not need or require someone checking up on me, to see if I am studying or not. I believe they are my grades and I know what I have to do to get good grades. If this technology applied to me now, I have to say that I would remain doing as I always have, the best I can, with the time I have. I truly believe people/students know what they have to do, and will do it without someone watching us or keeping track on us.

Questions for the Instructor

1.)What evidence have you found that CourseSmart works? 2.)What do you think about the comment, "There is no problems with the software"? Do you think bugs can be in any software? 3.)How can you ensure your students are truly reading the digital text? 4.) Do you think this is a market ploy for large book companies?

Questions for the Students

Have you ever just left your book open to make the instructor believe you were reading? 2.) Do you cram or study the entire week before a test? 3.) Do you believe CourseSmart is worth the money? 4.) What is you opinion of CourseSmart?

My Comment

My comment for this blog assignment is that CourseSmart sounds good but has not been proven; it still needs to be proven to be worth the cost. I believe that people learn differently and thinking you can make them study more through this type of technology, will probably not work.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Project #12 - Book Trailer

Coyote Cry

Blog Post #13

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Mr. Brian Crosby

Mr. Brian Crosby is a teacher who had the same 4th graders for three years. He had them for the 4th, 5th and 6th grade years. His students is from a low economic background but who is excited about learning, because of how their teacher is incorporating technology. Mr. Crosby points out in his video, that some of his students were unable to answer even the most simple questions. Many of the student did not know the city, state or country they lived in, and many did not know their address or phone number. I's sure he shared this status to point out how technology has made a difference in their lives. Mr. Crosby points out that even though a narrowed curriculum is not what educators want to teach these students, that a narrowed curriculum is what these students have been living with all their lives. After watching this video, it made me reflect on my own life. To me, some student, who may be very intelligent will begin school at a disadvantage. I can remember in 3rd grade, taking a trip to Ft. Conde and finding out that some of my friends had never even been in a tunnel before, they had never even been to Mobile. I was even at an advantage over students who were much smarter than me in the classwork, because my parents had already taken me to Ft. Conde. I was the student who was able to answer questions about Ft. Conde, even though I was not the smartest student in my class. Same thing with our New Orleans field trip in 5th grade and my Montgomery field trip in the 4th grade. Again, I believe some students are at a disadvantage because of the lack of opportunity. I still find myself at an advantage to even some people older than me. Some adults have never even gone to the Smokey Mountains or on a cruise to different islands, as I have. I have definitely been at an advantage with having these opportunities; which probably improved my intelligence without me even realizing it.

His science experiment reminds me of how I had an advantage of the normal student because of visiting NASA at Cape Canaveral several times. Technology definitely helps students be on a more fair playing ground. It allows students who have not, or will never experience trips like I have, the opportunity to visit these places through technology. Technology also allows his students to visit other people around the world, on topics being discussed, that will be remembered forever.

After watching the section of the video on High Hopes, I know his students learned more from releasing the balloons and watching them in real time, over what they can read in a book. Active learning is what I think he called it, empowers his students to be better learners. This is a learning style I wish was available to me earlier. It is a learning style I definitely intend on incorporating in my future classroom. The High Hopes lesson is one that I would like to do with my future physical education class.



Blended Learning Cycle (Mr. Paul Anderson)

Mr. Paul Anderson discussed in his Blended Learning Cycle podcast, how this strategy is helping his students to learn. He states that he has been and gotten information from experts on how to make this strategy work better. He states that blending is a combination of online and classroom learning. His method is to Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand and Evaluate. I believe this is how a good teacher should teach their lessons, he simply makes it easier to follow and understand. I do have a problem with two things he mentioned in the podcast. He states that students should be in control of peer grading. I do believe they should help in peer grading, but I do not believe they should be in control of it. I think this is a teacher's job. I can remember being in high school, and I would not have wanted some of my classmates having control of my grades. I do believe that with our new technology, it is important to allow students some of this responsibility, but not control it. I also believe, after studying flipping the classroom in previous lessons, that a teacher will have to be on it for this method to be effective for her entire class. I think I have to research this topic more, to feel comfortable using it in my future classroom.br />br />Mr. Anderson used an acronym that he believes are 6 parts to Blended Learning. The acronym is QIVERS (Q=Question, I=Investigate, V=Video, E=Elaborate, R=Review and S=Summary Quiz). His QIVERS acronym reminds me of when I had to do a science project for my school's science fair. This required steps also. I believe acronyms are great for anyone, especially me. Therefore, this will definitely be a strategy used in my teaching. Mr. Anderson's strategies are very good and seems like they can be used in any subject, even physical education.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Blog Post #12

Baldwin County School's Logo

Blog Post I Created

Baldwin County - Digital Renaissance Initiative

My Blog Post #12 Question: In your area of specialty, how will working in Baldwin County differ from working in Mobile and other counties, not having one to one laptops for their students? Watch the video on local channel 15 news on Digital Renaissance Expands to Baldwin County Middle Schools, to help answer the blog question. http://www.local15tv.com/news/local/story/Digital-Renaissance-Expands-to-Baldwin-County/XzZuu94wW0Cv2lU9bQYTaw.cspx?rss=217

When I read the assignment for blog 12, I thought it was going to be one of the most difficult assignments this semester. Having us to create a blog assignment, I didn't know where to start. I came up with this blog, based on conversation I overheard between my parents. They were discussing the financial aspect of the Digital Renaissance initiative in Baldwin County. My mom is a middle school principal in Baldwin County and her school and other middle schools in the county are receiving their Mac Books this fall; all of the teachers will get theirs in May. Yep, all high school and middle school students and teachers will have individual Mac Books this fall.

I questioned my mom about the role-out of the laptops to all middle school students. First of all, my mom thinks that having this class is a plus for us. I was told that the knowledge we gain from this class, will help us gain employment faster than someone with less technology training. She thinks we will be ahead of many of our peers graduating from other universities. She said she wishes more of her teachers had the experience I am receiving in this class; many of her teachers are fearing this technology move. She said her teachers who are eMints and Amsti trained are learning what we are learning and are ready for the Digital Renaissance move. This is the first time I ever heard of eMints and Amsti, but it is something we as future educators should probably look into. My mom told me that she began offering her teachers professional development(training), over a year ago, when they found out they would be next in line for laptops. She said she has sent and is sending her teachers to training in advanced technology to Missouri, a(STEMS) conference and North Carolina (Mooresville). Mooresville is a school district that has one to one laptops for their students and from what I can gather, where Baldwin County got the idea of Digital Renaissance. She has a Digital Renaissance Team of sixteen members who attend special monthly training from the county. In turn, these teachers are supposed to return and train the remaining faculty and staff. She also has professional development called Mac Monday. This is where a specialized trainer comes each Monday afternoon and train her faculty and staff. I found out from our conversation that Gulf Shores Middle School has been one to one laptops for the past year. They received funds from the city of Gulf Shores. I then asked what she thought of this move and what would help teachers feel more comfortable with this new technology? She told me that she believes Baldwin County is making a bold move promoting Digital Renaissance. She believes that Baldwin County will be a system ahead of other systems. She said that there was a lot of apprehension because of the unknown, money being the biggest part. She thinks her teachers will become more comfortable when they have the computers in their hands and able to practice on them. Mom thinks that more training is a must.

Baldwin County School's Logo

Now, to answer my blog post question. In my area of specialty, which is physical education, I will use technology to communicate with my colleagues, students, parents and people around the world. I think when technology is used, you have to use blogging as a tool. This is why I said around the world. I know I will be teaching PE, but through the assignment in Project 10, on Finding the Right Tools, I found many useful tools that I plan on incorporating in my lessons. It would be sweet to land a job in Baldwin County, where technology is in full force, but if I am unable to do this, I plan on incorporating technology wherever I may be assigned. Working in Baldwin County will help me communicate with my students from day one. Teaching students who have their own computers will help improve the communication gap between students, parents and teachers. I'm sure Mobile County has computer use for their students but one to one computers is the way to go. I definitely would like to teach in a system that is promoting technology the way Baldwin County is. I think I will be a stronger teacher wherever I go, with the knowledge I have gained in EDM 310. However, I do intend on taking more classes in technology before I leave the University of South Alabama.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Blog Post #11

Computer Keyboard

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class

The video about the First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class, shows in a first grade class what we as college students have been learning all semester. Students in the class are experiencing technology that college students are using today. From the video, they appear to be as knowledgeable or more knowledgeable than I am with some of the technology tools discussed. These students are not only familiar with these tools, they are applying these skills within their lessons. First graders in Ms. Cassidy's class are using the following: Blogs, Smartboards, laptops, high tech headphones, Skyping, Wikis, videos and even Nintendo DS'S. The students also made reference on how to comment properly on blogs. Again, they seem to have a heads-up on us. The students in the video state that the use of different technology have made them better writers, better problem solvers and better communicators. They said that technology has even helped them share more with their classmates. The students in Ms. Cassidy's class threw a shout-out to one of our EDM 310 classes about learning ALPHABETS through WIKIS. These student are not limiting their technology abilities to only their classrooms, but also sharing it with other students across the United States and perhaps the world. They make me want to do even better in this class. I simply wish I had more time. Great video.

Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy

The interview with Ms. Cassidy was very interesting. Ms. Cassidy's approach to the use of technology in the classroom, is similar to what we have been learning with Dr. Strange in EDM310. Ms. Cassidy's approach is to teach students technology as early as possible. She do not believe that we should wait to teach our children all the new technology that is available today. She believes as I do, since the world is changing so much, it is our responsibility as future teachers to teach our children these changes. I also agree, that we CANNOT teach our children the way we taught them even five years ago.

Ms. Cassidy believes and uses blogs in her class because she believes that the student's work is read by an audience instead of just one person, the teacher. To me, the more people commenting on a blog, the more perspectives you have about the topic. Collaborating over blogs is a great way to see how things are all over the world. For instance, events happening in the world are looked on differently in different parts of the world. I also agree that it is not just a good idea for today's teacher to be technology literate, I think it should be mandatory. I believe a teacher should have to pass a test that shows computer literacy before they are offered a job. (Did I just say that?) Since we have been blogging all semester, this is the technique I will definitely use in my class. Even though I am majoring in physical education, I think blogging and tweeting is a technique I will be able to use effectively. For instance, I will post assignment, share ideas, post important dates and group projects on my blog. I will be able to communicate with parents, peers and students; enabling me to share information at one time.

I think the impediments I may have is assessing assignment dealing with technology. I guess in this case, I will also have to use Ms. Cassidy's suggestions. I will develop a fair system of grading on collaboration. We will have to view assessment differently. To me, grading is a bit over the top anyway. I think if a person can show they know the skill, they should be given a decent grade. I can remember having to do 50 problems in math, but the teacher was assessing the same skill. Did I not grasp the concept after the fifth problem? I believe this wastes valuable time; we could have been learning the next concept/skill. I think by using Ms. Cassidy's approaches, we will not allow our students to be left behind. I think she is a teacher who wants her students to be top of their game when it comes to technology. What I worry about, is the next year's teacher. Will all the work she did in first grade go in vain?

Saturday, April 6, 2013

C4T #3 Summary for the month of March

I Love PE ButtonMr. Robbo, The PE Geek

The blog I commented on the past month was from a man who calls himself Mr. Robbo, The PE Geek. Mr. Robbo is a good resourse if you are majoring in physical education. His first blog tells us the importance of staying up with current research in our field. This is called Research Informed Practice. With technology the way it is today, a person should have no problems staying up with current research. In fact, there is so much out there, and with new information coming in so fast, we will still be behind. The second blog from Mr. Robbo was on finding helpful APPs for the physical education teacher. This blog listed hundreds of APPs that takes you to the most useful sites a PE teacher could think of. I will continue to visit this site just to keep up with the latest happening in the physical education world.





Physical Education



C4T #3, Comment # 1

The teacher I commented on this week is Mr. Jarrod Robinson, better known as Mr. Robbo-The PE Geek. I really enjoyed reading this post. I enjoyed it because it deals with what I am majoring in, Physical Education. The blog is about Research Informed Practices. The post emphasize the importance of teachers keeping up with current research in their field, which in this post is physical education. It lists publications that offer updated research that will be useful to anyone who teaches P.E. The blog also offers an opportunity to get free research from other physical education teacher blogs. I believe that with the kind of technology available to us today, research for any subject will be easy to obtain. I appreciate Mr. Robinson sharing his blog. There was information in his blog that will definitely benefit me as a new physical education teacher.

C4T #3 Comment #2

This weeks blog for Mr. Robbo, The PE Geek dealt with how to find useful APPs for physical education. Again, I am all over this site, since I'm majoring in physical education. He listed places to find top APPs for PE teachers. These APPs included cool games of tag, Netball, Adventure Walks, IYoga, IMuscle, only to name a few; there are hundreds more. There are so many, that it is over-welming. My worries about what will make my class more interesting and how I will incorporate technology into my physical education class have diminished. This one website alone can probably cover the Alabama Course of Study.