BLOG POST 11

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From These Teachers? 

1. After watching the video "Back To the Future" by Brian Crosby, I learned that active learning is very beneficial to the education of children. Brian Crosby spoke about doing a hot air balloon project with his students. The hot air balloon had a camera on it, so that they could see what they look like from thousands of feet in the air. After they finished their project, they had to write about what they saw. In my opinion, activities such as the one Crosby spoke about encourages and teaches students how to be learners. It is a good thing when students are having fun, learning, and experimenting at the same time.

2. After watching the "Blended Learning Cycle" Video by Mr. Anderson, I learned that blended learning is taking the components of learning from the classroom, mobile (hands-on learning), and online learning and incorporating them. Blended learning really focuses on students asking questions and investigating. I think that it is a great idea to incorporate in the classroom. I like the part where Anderson have conferences with his students to check their understanding before they take a quiz. I believe that this help build teacher-student relationships in the classroom, which benefits the student because of constant communication with his/her teacher. Communication allows the student to understand the teacher and what he expects and it helps the teacher understand the student's strength and weaknesses.

3. While watching the video "Making Thinking Visible" , I saw how Mark Church had his students to complete a History project. I saw how he instructed the students to put their thoughts on paper (making thinking visible). I like this concept because it allows the students to see what they are thinking and allowing them to be creative. It also allows the students to see what others are thinking and it encourages learning from other people. I also liked how he had the students working in groups, where they exchanged ideas and learned how to work and communicate with each other.

4. Watching Sam Pane's video gave me enthusiasm about being a teacher. I like seeing how excited and creative the students were being while creating their superheros. I believe I enjoyed watching the students create them as much as he enjoyed teaching them this lesson. I like the lesson because I believe that creating a superhero gives the students a sense of identity. While they are making their hero, they are learning about themselves (their likes and dislikes). If a student learns about himself, will it be easier for him to choose a career? I believe so and a activity like the one in this video is beneficial to helping student learn about themselves and other people. I would definitely recommend this activity to other teachers.

5. While watching Dean Shareski's video on Project Based Learning, I learned that creating projects that relate more to the students interest are more beneficial. When students can relate to what their school work then enthusiasm and engagement is enhanced. Also, subject integration is a creative way to teach students about more than one subject at a time. This helps the teacher with time management. For example, a teacher could instruct her students to write a poem about World War II (which allows to the students to show what they have learned about History and English).

6. While watching Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program , I learned that Project Based Learning is in depth learning, that is research based and involves teachers collaborating together in order to encourage students to work together and learn on their own. It allows the students to have a sense of ownership and being able to make their own decisions (which can help them practice decision-making skills). Also, it helps enhance their communication skills, public speaking skills, and other social skills. This is a very informative video and you should watch it!

C4K Summary for March

Comments For Kids!

1. C4K #5

This post is from Paige S. From Mrs. Lombard's English Class in Oklahoma. She read a book called Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan. The setting is in New York. It has three main characters plus a few more characters who are not main characters. Percy Jackson is the son of a god and a human (as known as a half-blood or demi-god). Percy gets kicked out of every boarding school he attends. When he gets to a school called Yancy Academy, he is attacked a lot by monsters and people in Greek Mythology and he does not know why. When he goes to camp half-blood, he finds out everything. It seems that the God named Zeus' master bolt has been stolen from him and Percy has been accused of it. After Percy learns of this information, He and his friends go on a quest around the United States to find Zeus's bolt.

MY COMMENT:
"Hey Paige! I am Tyeshay (Ty-e-shay) B. from the University of South Alabama.

Wow! this book sounds interesting to read. I am a fan of Greek Mythology that is why it sounds so interesting. Have you researched the history of these gods? If you have not, then I recommend that you do because it would make the fictional story more interesting to read!

I compliment you on your book review. It is well written and informative. Keep up the Good work!"


2. C4K #6
This post is also by Paige S. of Mrs. Lombard's Class in Oklahoma. She writes a short post about her Christmas break. She traveled to the Southwestern part of the United States. She visited New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada. She visited Disney Land and she saw the Meteor Crater in Arizona.

MY COMMENT:
"Hey Paige!  I am from the University of South Alabama's EDM 310 Class.

I wish I went with you on your trip to the South west of the U.S. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. I wish you wrote more about it (sad face), especially about disneyland. Is it different from DISNEY WORLD? Also, did you know that the crater is over 10,000 years old? Amazing!

Great post!"


3. C4K #7
This post was written by Sean J. of Mrs. Lombard's English Class in Oklahoma. He writes about the story of Jonah in the bible. Jonah was angry at God, so he choose to run away from Tarshish. Jonah wanted God to take his life away, but God refused. One day, God made Jonah a plant for shade outside the city of Ninevah. When the plant died, Jonah was sad. God asked Jonah was he sad about the plant, but not the people of Ninevah. After that Jonah understood what God was saying and helped the people of Ninevah before the city was destroyed.
Sean says that the moral of the story is that we should care about other people not just ourselves.

MY COMMENT:
"Hey Sean J!

My name is Ty-e-shay B from the University of South Alabama's EDM 310 Class. I enjoyed reading your post about Jonah. I believe that it has a great message in it and I think that you should try to remember it for the rest of your life because people will appreciate you when you love them as well as yourself.

Thanks for sharing! :-) "

BLOG POST 10

What Can We Learn From Mrs. Cassidy?

I. I thought that the children in the video "First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class were adorable! I enjoyed seeing the different things they learned, seeing the tools that they used, and seeing what they created. I believe Mrs. Cassidy is creating future Jimmy Neutrons! (LOL)

II. Kathy Cassidy's Interviews

1. While watching the Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part I , I learned about protecting students while they are active on the internet. If I were to have my students create blogs on the internet, I like her technique of keeping their last name's private, but since criminals are extremely crafty I would have my students use nicknames instead. I think that having students to create blogs is a great technique for incorporating Art and English, and other subjects together. I would definitely consider the blog project for my future students!

2. In the Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part II , Dr. Strange asked what does she prefer a teacher to start with (blogging, twitter, videos). She stated that a teacher should start with what they are interested in. I agree, but I would start my students with blogging because I believe that they can accomplish a lot more than having a twitter. Blogs give students more room to be creative, to write, and network. I also would like to start them off with blogs because I believe it is safer and they could learn how to network with each other. After my students are comfortable with blogging and they know how to be safe with strangers, then I would introduce them to social sites and creating videos.

3. While watching the Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part III , I learned about the difference between cheating and collaborating. As a future teacher I would not be concerned about my students looking at other students' blogs because it is just like going to a wikipedia website (for example) and getting ideas and information. As long as my students are not verbatim with the information that they use then they are okay. I will grade them by how they present the information they used in their own words.

BLOG POST 9

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

1. After watching the video "Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning",

BLOG POST 8

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

BLOG POST 7

HOW DO WE ALL BECOME LEARNERS?

I. Within the next year and a half I need to start thinking about and create a teaching method that will help me teach my students using Project Based Learning. As a future teacher, I do not want to "handicap" my students or in other words, make them too dependent on the teacher for every single thing. I do not want to do their work for them, instead I want them to be thinkers and learn how to gather information from others and using their technology. I want to guide them and teach them how to become learners and critical thinkers. I want my students to be independent and self-sufficient because those skills will help them in the future.

II. What did I learn from each video?

1. While watching Dr. Strange's video about using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten , I learned that we, as teachers, should not underestimate our students! Watching this video has me enthusiastic about seeing a KINDERGARTEN student use iMovie and AVL. That is amazing for a child to do all of these things at a age where they can barely read. I would love to see them in action using these tools! I believe that teachers like Elizabeth Davis and Michelle Bennett are doing a good thing by allowing students to play around with the things that students use in college because it can boost a child's self esteem. If they start to feel like their work in school is too hard, then they can always remember that they did the same projects in kindergarten that the students in EDM 310 were doing while in college, which helps them believe in themselves.

2. While watching the video "We All Become Learners" , I learned that we are all learners and teachers. In the classroom you have teachers teaching students, students teaching other students, and students teaching the teacher. When you have a classroom where everyone knows that they learn from each other and are working together then that helps students learn how to share, how to work with a team, and become less selfish. Also, it helps students become more independent. Instead of relying on the teacher for every single thing, students can rely on each other and help each other.

C4K SUMMARY for February

1. C4K#1
This post is from Cassidy P. from Mr. Boylen's class. In this post she did a report on Jennifer Lawrence (also known as JLaw). Lawrence is an actress who stars in the infamous movie called Hunger Games. She is 24 years old and she has a birthday in August. Her Zodiac sign is a Leo. She is involved in many charities such as World Food Programme, Feed America, The Thirst Project. Cassidy believes that she is a great role model.

My Comment:
 "I enjoyed reading your post about Jennifer Lawrence. I learned so much about her while reading your post. I remember her from the movie Hunger Games, but I did not know that she played in 19 major movies so far! I love the story of how she was discovered. If I was JLaw, I would think it is weird for a random person to ask for my picture and my mom's phone number. How do you feel about that? Do you have an interest in acting? If so, I believe she will be a good role model for you because she acts very well. Thank you for the information about her. I love to hear about young and successful adults."

2. C4K #2
This post is from Michael E. from Mr. Boylen's class. This post was a very short post about foods that Americans eat. He posted pictures of breakfast foods like cereal, lunch meals like burgers and sandwiches, and desserts like chocolate cake! This post help me realize the type of things that Americans eat.

My Comment:
" Hi Michael! The food on this post look very good, especially the chocolate cake! I think that American love dessert because we will eat it at anytime of the day! LOL. But I have a question, what was the purpose of this post? Was this post meant for foreign students to read?"

3. C4K #3

This post is by Sierra S. from Mrs. Lombard’s English class in Oklahoma. Sierra writes about a book called Counting By Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan. It is about a girl named Williow Chance. Chance is in the 7^th grade and she becomes friends with a Vietnamese girl name Mai. After Williow and Mai go out for ice cream, Williow finds out that her parents died in a car accident and Mai’s family takes her in. Overall this story is about overcoming obstacles like hurt, depression, anxiety and love. Based on Sierra’s book review, this is a good read and has a great message.

My Comment:

"Hi Sierra! My name is Tyeshay B. from the University of South Alabama's EDM 310 class. I enjoyed reading your post. It was very interesting to read and well written. Based on your book review, I would recommend this book for anybody. The world need books like this because there is so much hurt and depression in the world and people can benefit from a story like Willow's story. Thank you so much for sharing!"

P.S. watch your spelling... it is VIETNAMESE not Vitnamese. :-) 

4. C4K #4

            This post is from Alivia C from Mrs. Lombard’s Class in Oklahoma. In this post she writes a very short overview about the sitcom called Pretty Little Liars. In this episode, five girls get put into jail for the murder of their friend named Mona. In the process of going to jail, they are kidnapped by their stalker named “A” and placed in a doll house. Alivia believes that the hidden character named "A" is the boyfriend of Aria named Andrew.

My Comment:

"Hi Alivia! My name is Tyeshay B from the University of South Alabama's EDM 310 Class. I enjoyed reading your post about the PRETTY LITTLE LIARS sitcom. I have seen the first season of the show and it is interest but tedious. I feel like they keep the character name A hidden so that people can keep watching. I feel that they should give viewers more reasons to watch the show. But anyway, "A" could be Andrew. Who knows, he could be working for the police and he could be only dating Aria in order to find out her secrets."