Blog Post 6

What Can We Learn From Anthony Capps?

This weeks assignment was for us to watch videos by Anthony Capps demonstrating various online tools that can be incorporated into the classroom. In the first two videos the importance of project based learning is stressed. Project based learning is very similar to what we are doing in EDM310 with our blogs. Our blogs are the proof that we have learned how to use and incorporate the information and technology we are being introduced to.
                                       
                                           

Another video between Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps was discussing iCurio and the benefits of a search engine like this. Not only does iCurio offer safe and filtered searches for students, but it also acts as a means of storage. Search engines such as it make internet streaming safe for children and parents. The kids have their own log in so they can work on it at home or in the classroom. This would be very useful in a classroom, especially with things becoming more and more technologically advanced.

Anthony also describes another technology based learning tool known as Discovery Ed, which is similar to an audio and visual textbook. With this form of learning you get away from using the physical textbook and use an animated version. This would get the kids more involved with learning and break away from the traditional form of reading textbooks.

Overall these videos stress the importance of utilizing technology in the classroom to better prepare yourself and the students for the future. We have all these great advancements that we didn't have 10 years ago and they are there for the taking. As we have seen many times now the example of the 3rd graders already immersing themselves into this type of learning. If they are learning how to do all these things at that early of an age, how much more will they be ahead of the game when they get into high school and college.


One of the key things I took from these videos was not to teach technology but use it. Get your students involved and asking questions and learn as you go. These videos were insightful as to how these types of tools are being taught regularly in 3rd grade classes and probably even earlier. I can see myself using some of the examples that were discussed. The tips for how to be a successful teacher definitely did not go unnoticed.

C4T #2

This week I was assigned to the blog of  Julie Vincensten, who is the Principal of Helen Keller Elementary School. The first post I read was titled "Capturing Struggling Readers". It was discussing the benefits of having audio books in the classroom. This would be beneficial to the students who were struggling with reading, and not being able to keep up with their fellow peers. She also gave some examples of audio books that are available to use. Check out her post here:
 https://principalmusings.wordpress.com/

The second post of hers that I read was titled "Thank you Dr. King". It was posted on Martin Luther King Jr. Day back on January 16, 2012. She reminds us of how far we have come as a nation since the days of segregation. Within her post she provides a powerful video about the legacy of Dr. King. Check it out:
<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/19340366" width="500" height="331" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

Project 7A

  My Sentence Is...

My Passion Is...

Blog Post 5

What are Personal Learning Networks (PLN)?

PLN is a Personal Learning Network. It is source of technology that let's you stay connected with various modes of assistance. It can be a group of people around the world ready to help you with the click of a mouse. It can also help you by organizing all of the various tools and other assistance you use frequently.

How can they help you as a teacher?

A PLN is a tool made available to teachers and anyone else who desires to use them. They are especially valuable to teachers by figuratively placing the world at their fingertips. Information is made readily available to them any time they desire to reach out for it.

How are they formed? / How can you create your own PLN?

PLNs are simply by going to a website such as http://www.symbaloo.com/ or http://www.netvibes.com/ and creating your account. Like any piece of new technology it takes a bit of time for us to become familiarized, but with a PLN the learning is quick and rewarding. Once you become familiarized with your PLN you can then make connections with individuals that will be extremely helpful in many scenarios. I have recently created my first PLN through the above mentioned website symbaloo. You can quickly access thing like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Ebay.

Who will be the first additions to your PLN?

The first editions to my PLN would be consultants in the field of education. Whenever the time arises when I need assistance in my educational career they will be there. Fellow EDM310 students and teachers would also be good resources to add. Some basic PLN networks are Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs.

Blog Post 4

Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

 How and What Questions Do We Ask? 

This weeks assignment was focused on questions within the classroom. We were assigned to read and watch videos on how to become more involved with our questioning. One of the videos that stuck out to me was "Asking better questions in the classroom" (2:27) by Joanne Chesley. Which focuses on the differences between open and close ended questions that provoke the way that students answer. Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFMfEVdfDys
In her video, Dr. Chesly describes different ways in which teachers word their questions and how the students respond to their questions based on their wording. The ultimate goal is for teachers to get more than just a yes or no answer from the students. We want the kids to become more engaged with their answers, which would ultimately would lead to more in depth discussions in the classroom.  Simply changing the phrasing in a question you ask will change a close ended question to an open ended question.

                                                  

Another video that I watched that was of interest to me was "Questioning Styles and Strategies" (7:49) by Dr. Harvey Silver. In this video Dr. Silver uses many different techniques and strategies to get the students involved in a discussion about a novel they have read. He ask the kids questions about the book in ways that force them to dive into their feelings and emotions. There were definitely some useful tips in this video, especially for the elementary grade levels. Check out his video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKqs3D0Z0M

                                              

This blog assignment made me realize just how easy it is to get students more involved with classroom activities and learning. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box and ask yourself what kind of teacher you are going to be. Do you want to be a teacher who just gets a yes/no answer to your question, or do you want to go above and beyond the burp-back.

Created by Jordan Sweat
2/8/2015

Project 15 Search Engines

Search Engines
                                       

Bing- is a search engine much like google. It helps you by giving suggestions to what you might be searching. It also suggest things at the bottom that might be of some interest that are happening currently.  
http://www.bing.com/

Yahoo- is probably one of my more preferred search engines. One thing that is unique about it is that it gives you the current weather conditions of your location. It also suggests the trending searches at that moment ranking from 1 to 10.
https://search.yahoo.com/

Ask- is a search engine much like google in that it is the question answering genius. You simply type in your question and it gives you the answer or something very similar to what your asking. Although its not nearly as used now this search engine has been around for a pretty long time.
http://www.ask.com/

DuckDuckGo- another search engine that is modeled after google but this one doesn't have near the amount of adds as google. Actually a good one to use, and I have never even heard of it until tonight.
https://duckduckgo.com/

Dogpile- one thing I found extremely unique about this site is that it had specific folders for searching. For example the one I found most useful was the "white pages". You can look up individuals just by their name and find their phone numbers and addresses. Which ultimately can be good and bad depending on who is trying to look up your information and their motive behind it.
http://www.dogpile.com/

Yippy/Clusty- one thing that was unique about this search engine was the fact that it has a specific search for blogs. This would be especially helpful for future searches for blogs we need to refer to. It also had a jobs portion that you could search.
http://www.clusty.com/

Webopedia- was a search engine that is much like a dictionary for the web. You simply type in a word that you don't know like URL for instance and it will tell you the definition. This would be especially helpful for edm310 because sometimes we run across technological terms that we may not understand.
http://www.webopedia.com/

Wolframalpha- this search engine was one of the coolest ones I have discovered. It is bacically a calculator. You can simply type what you want to be solved and it will give you the answer. I wish I would have known about this search engine years ago. I will definitely be using this again.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Project 4 C4T

Julie Greller's blog A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet is a resource for beginner and expert bloggers in the field of education. Her blog was full of tools to help teachers and librarians in the school. She had on of the most detailed blogs I have ever seen, so clearly she has been doing this for a while. She terms herself a "cybrarian". Check out her blog here :  

http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/

My first comment on Mrs. Greller's blog was on her post from Monday, February 2nd titled "Kids Love Scavenger Hunts! Here are 57 Sites to Get You Started". In this post, Mrs. Greller tells us how to create a scavenger hunt from the traditional outdoor activity to something we can do on the internet. She says that, "Today, there are internet scavenger hunts..." which will allow for kids to do the same activity at the convenience of themselves and the teacher in a classroom setting. I commented on how detailed she made her post and appreciated the shear amount of information she included within it. She had scavenger hunts for all ages K-12 and she also covered every subject.
 Check out her post here:

  http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/2015/02/kids-love-scavenger-hunts-here-are-57.html

My second comment was on a post of hers from February 7th titled "Free Online PD Infographic". In this post Mrs. Greller provided a tool for up and coming "teacher-librarians". It has a list of resources that connect people to specialist who can help them resolve problems they may be experiencing with certain technological advancemts in the classroom. Some of these examples are as follows, edcamp, edweb, Follett, and SLJ Webcasts. In my comment I applauded the fact that she had provided such a huge resource for teachers and librarians alike. Not to mention that she had made this available to everyone for free!

Project 2: Rubrics

Project of Evaluation https://drive.google.com/?authuser=0#my-drive
Collaborative Work Skills: Individual Blog Post
https://drive.google.com/?authuser=0#folders/0BzM3HVb_JmHtfmhwNWVxMm9jLXhIc091dHNaMkNyZkpMX1Zzc1ZiQXRTdkFZajZNd0U4MjQ
Collaborative Work Skills: Individual Performance https://drive.google.com/?authuser=0#folders/0BzM3HVb_JmHtfmhwNWVxMm9jLXhIc091dHNaMkNyZkpMX1Zzc1ZiQXRTdkFZajZNd0U4MjQ