Blog post #15 Final Reflection

Project #16

Project 16 was to create an iBook collaboratively. Our group ,Excel, chose a space theme. The title of our book was "Discovering & Exploring the Unknown in EDM310." In our intro we discussed how we explored our way through EDM 310. Our iBook is composed of 21st century technology tools that we intend to use in our future classrooms. This iBook includes our book trailers, blogs and videos done while taking EDM310. When we first began the class, it seemed like we were stepping into areas that were very unfamiliar. It can be terrifying when it comes to exploring new territory but after we had completed the iBook we could see all that we have learned and accomplished while taking EDM310.

C4K April

My first blog to comment on was Jonathan's blog. He posted about Mother Teresa. He commended her for the good things she had done for others. He also discusses the conflict about how she believed. Some people say she changed the world and others say she didn't even believe in God. My comment: Hello Jonathan, my name is Courtney Fields and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. This is a great post about Mother Teresa. I can tell you really did your research. She lived a long life and helped a lot of people. Her efforts to help others inspires me to do the same. Keep up the good work! Jonathan's Blog

My second post was on Melaia's blog. She posted about her Fiafia night. Of course I had no idea what that was so I googled it. From the information I gathered it is a dancing/food festival. From the information I gathered it looks like it is entertainment for tourist. Melaia talks about how she was in the Hawaiian dancing group. The song they danced to was about a mountain. Her favorite group is the Samoans. My comment:Hi Melaia! My name is Courtney Fields. I am a student in EDM310 at The University of South Alabama. Your post was very interesting to read. I do not know much about Fiafia nights but it looks like it would be so much fun. Do you like to dance?

The last blog I was able to comment on belonged to Kerstein. She posted a 2014 Term 1 Chromebook reflection. She answered several questions to explain what she liked and disliked. She also explained what she learned and what she could have done better. My comment: Hi Kerstein! My name is Courtney Fields and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. It looks like you have learned a lot this term while using the Chromebook. It is great to reflect on each project so that you can make the next project even better. Keep up the great work. Thank you for sharing your Chromebook reflection. Kerstein's Blog

C4T #4

Eva Buyuksimkesyan posted on April 8th about a poster Twitter activity she did with her 9th graders. She had the students form groups and create a chain story using tweets on a poster board. My comment: Hello, my names is Courtney Fields. I am a student of EDM310 at The University Of South Alabama. I love this Twitter activity. It is a fun and creative way to engage the students. I think it is important to incorporate some fun into learning, especially, when it comes to ninth graders. Thank you for sharing! Eva Buyuksimkesyan's Blog

Eva Buyuksimkesyan posted on April 2nd about her class being virtual tourist. Her class was learning about pyramids and they were about to visit the pyramids using a virtual tour website. Her class was able to go all the way across the world to visit the subject they were studying. My comment: This is an amazing way to bring your classroom to life. I know your students really enjoyed this lesson. Visuals can be so beneficial when it comes to learning. Thanks for sharing.

Blog Post #13

What Did I Leave Out?
I will be teaching 6-12 Math and in my future classroom I plan to use the Flipped Classroom method. This teaching technique will require several 21st century learning techniques, such as collaboration. A large portion of our class time will be spent in groups. Learning to collaborate with peers will help students understand what it is like to work with diverse personalities.

What are some things that help a group function properly? What steps should you take in order become a core member of your group? How will learning to collaborate benefit your future? Here are several videos and articles to gather information. It may also be beneficial to ask your mom, dad or family members how important it is to be able to work well with others.
How to do Group Work.
Randy Pausch's Tips for Working Successfully in a Group.
10 Tips For Working Effectively in a Group.
Benefits of Group Work.

Group work can be difficult, especially if it is a long term project. Group projects require additional time outside of the classroom. Everyone has different schedules so it becomes difficult to agree on a time to meet. There are also different types of people that make group work difficult. There are those who do not contribute but also want to put their name on the final product. These are several tips to remember when working in a group:

• Start with a proper introduction- Come with a positive and enthusiastic attitude. Be friendly, get to know each other and exchange phone numbers.
• Be flexible- It can be hard for everyone to meet all of the time at the same time. Try your best to make the group a priority.
• Be honest- State your opinion in a kind way.
• Let everyone talk- Let everyone state their thoughts.
• Praise each other- Encourage each other's ideas no matter how big or small it may be.
• Avoid conflict- When tension arises, take a break.
• Come prepared-When your group meets, bring all information needed to complete the task for that day.
• Don't leave it up to others-Do your part. Don't assume someone else will do it.

These tips can be applied to any type of group work. I think that groups can work well if every member puts in the effort. It takes each member doing their individual part. When the group meets and discusses the project, each member must insert their ideas and thoughts. If everyone can keep in mind the common goal the group will have a successful outcome. Every job will require you to work with others. Learning to collaborate with your peers can benefit your working skills when you enter into the workforce. Communication is also vital to teamwork. Through communication you will learn to work out differences among other associates. Collaboration will also improve problem solving skills. Differences will arise in any group or workplace but if you can work together to solve the problem it will not destroy the project. A perfect group is impossible when combining many different personalities but applying some of these tips can help.

Project #12 Part B

Blog Post #12

Blog Post #11

Interview Movie Project #10

C4T#3

Michael Gorman posted on March 16 a blog post called 30 NCAA Basketball lessons links...PBL series...Best classroom lessons never taught. He told a PBL story about how students were so eager to get to class. That week they were using the computer and printer to create a graphical worksheet about basketball teams. They formed groups and used google maps to locate each university where the teams played. They also researched the desired teams and compared their strengths and weaknesses. My comment: My names is Courtney Fields I am a student of EDM310 at the University Of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your PBL story. I agree that project based learning will transform how students learn. Through collaboration and peer-to-peer learning the students are able to share what they know with each other. Basketball is a great way to engaged the students. They become eager to learn and share when it is something that strikes their interest. Thanks for sharing!

On March 30 Michael Gorman had a guest post written by Dayna Laur. This was an insightful post about the disconnect between students and school. She explains that her daughter, fourth grader, has started to complain about school and the upcoming standardized test. Although the standardized test are here to stay, Dayna explains different techniques to engage students to be excited to learn. She added several links to real world projects. She explains that more teachers should involve the community, parents and state boards to be an audience to real world learning. So many students do just enough to get them through. Dayna states that involving a diverse audience can increase the students interest and overall test scores. My comment: Dayna, I enjoyed reading this post because the reality is students are bellyaching about going to school. It seems as if they lose all excitement about school after the third grade. I agree, it is time to use real world experiences to turn up real authentic learning. Bringing in a variety of listeners is a great idea. It encourages the students to provide their best work. When the students receive positive feedback it impels them to raise the bar. Thank you for sharing these great thoughts and ideas. Michael Gorman's Blog

C4K March

The C4K March is coming all the way from Auckland New Zealand. The first class blog I visited was Little Voices Little Scholars. Mrs. Jenny She teaches second grade at Pt England School in Auckland New Zealand. I commented on Arthur's post. He posted a video telling about his weekend. His video tells how he went to the beach and went swimming. He also played in the sand. My comment: Hello Arthur, my name is Courtney Fields I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. You did a great job on your video. It makes me want to go to the beach very soon. It is my favorite place to go. Do you go to the beach every weekend? Great job! Keep up the good work. Arthur's Weekend Story

The next class blog I visited was Mrs. Lavakula's 4th&5th grade class. They are also from Auckland New Zealand and attend Pt England School. I commented on Adam's blog and he posted about his swimming lesson with an instructor. He writes about all the different types of techniques he has learned and his favorite technique is gliding. My comment: Hi Adam! My name is Courtney Fields and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed visiting your blog, it is great. We have something in common, my favorite subject is math too. This is a great blog post. I love to swim too, but I have never been taught by an instructor. My parents taught me when I was very little. Good luck on making it to group three. Great job! Adam's Blog

SMARTboard Project #12 Part A

Blog Post #10

Bring on the Revolution-Sir Ken Robinson
Sir Ken Robinson states that our education system is in need of a revolution. A revolution will require innovation. If we continue to build on a broken system it will cause a downward spiral in the education system. Adding technology in the classroom can be a step in the right direction. One great point Mr. Robinson make is that we learn things according to our generation. The students we are teaching today live in a world of high tech devices. Technology can change our education system and reach students in a way that the past methods can no longer do. The difficulty with this new step is the lack of cooperation. This will require work, change and doing things you would not normally do. Teachers that have been teaching for many years will have to change what they know about the classroom and be willing to learn something new. When everyone is onboard, then the revolution can begin. Even though school is primarily about educating and preparing the students for college. My parents have instilled in me the importance of education and how vital it is to be able to get a successful job. After watching this video it made me realize that not everyone will attend college. We still need citizens to fill other positions in the community. Although I believe education is important it is just as important to enjoy your future career. When you do something that you love it becomes who you are.

"We have built our education system on the model of fast food." Sir Ken Robinson
I have never thought about that but this statement is entirely true. Every student must start and end at the same point in the same way and at the same time. Mr. Robinson explains that it is a standardized system in which there is only one way to the ending point. When it comes to learning students do not learn or comprehend the same way. I agree with Mr. Robinson, there should be a customized learning plan for students. Some students can excel in certain areas and others do not. Students should be taught with their passions in mind. We as teachers can help the students learn through what they love. I agree that we should make a movement to allow our students to thrive.

Project #15 Project Based Learning Plan #3

Crack The Code

Blog Post #9

Ms. Cassidy's use of technology in the classroom started when several computers were given to her class. The computers were able to access the internet but were not able to download software. She wanted to use the resources that were available so she researched about creating webpages and that carried her into blogging. Through her personal learning network she developed her skills to become a tech savvy teacher. Ms. Cassidy's first grade class uses the SMARTboard, webpages, blogs, Wikis, videos, video chat and the Nintendo DS as learning tools. Ms. Cassidy is correct, it will be difficult to teach the 21st century students with teaching methods from 10 years ago. Students today are engaged in technology outside of the classroom, so it is important to embrace it and use it in the classroom for learning purposes.

There are classes in which you may think technology is unnecessary but there are so many resources available. If a teacher has a webpage he or she can post updates to the students even if they are not in the classroom. I plan to have a webpage for my class to keep the students posted on current information. I will be teaching 6-12th graders so I can put reminders about test and also classwork required due to an absence. Students will be able to know what we did in the classroom that day even if they miss school. Also, if I will be absent I can post the classwork to the webpage and the substitute will know exactly what is expected of the students. Parents can also view the page and keep up with everything their student is learning. Another tool I will use in my class is the learning videos. Ms. Cassidy's students took videos of one another showing what they have learned. They were able to post it to their blogs and the parents can watch their children's progress.

There are several things that can hinder the use of technology in the classroom. One thing is the lack of support from administration, fellow teachers and parents. Ms. Cassidy discussed how some school officials do not discourage but they also do not encourage the use of technology. If I encounter this issue when I become a teacher I hope to show them how our classroom works and the success it has brought. A wonderful benefit of technology in the classroom is it is accessible to all the student's parents. They are able to view what their child is learning from day to day. Some people are not able to accommodate change but like Ms. Cassidy states in the video, "Technology is here to stay." Technology has made an impact on classrooms around the world. Students are engaged and excited to come to class and for a teacher that is rewarding. After watching the video discussion with Ms. Kathy Cassidy it made me realize not all tech savvy teachers started out that way. Learning technology comes through practice, failure and success.


Little Kids...Big Potential
Interview with Kathy Cassidy part 1
Interview with Kathy Cassidy part 2
Interview with Kathy Cassidy part 3

Blog Post #8

What are some 21st century communicating tools?
As technology evolves so does our ways of communication. Today's technology allows us to reach someone across the world in just moments. Some 21st century communication tools include:

• Email
• Text message
• Instant message
• Podcast
• Google Hangout
• Skype
• Facetime
• Facebook
• Twitter

What are some 21st century learning tools?
There are more ways to learn besides sitting in a classroom. Some 21st century learning tools include:

• YouTube
• Discovery Ed
• iCurio
• Khan Academy
• Teaching Channel

Khan Academy
Most of these tools are free and can be easily downloaded to your smartphone. Students, teachers and parents can access these tools at anytime as long as they have the internet. Some of these tools are used in our everyday lives such email, text message and facebook. With the power of technology students and parents can contact a teacher with any concerns they have outside of the classroom. Discovery Education and iCurio are filtered search engines for students to use while researching information. The students can use YouTube, Khan Academy and Teaching Channel to view instructional videos to familiarize themselves with additional information. One tool that really interest me was Khan Academy. It is a free tool made available for everyone. Students, teachers, parents, lifelong learners or anyone interested can access this website. Khan Academy is loaded with instructional videos of any subject. There are math tutorials, test preps, and information on computer programing. For the students studying a particular area of math they have a tab filled with many missions, or task, to complete. The teacher and parent can view the students learning flow at anytime. This tool is a great recourse for students to access from home if they need additional help. Since I discovered Khan Academy I have used it several times to fortify my math skills learned in class.

What use of technology will I use in my classroom?
"Flipped learning starts with one question: What is the best use of your face-to-face class time?"-John Bergmann
After watching all of Katie Gimbar's videos I fell in love with the idea of flipping the classroom. Ninety percent of class time is composed of lecture from the teacher and ten percent of class time is composed of application. Throughout my whole school experience I have found this statement to be completely true. When I get home it is up to me to apply everything I have learned in class to the problems assigned. Most of the time this means I will have to research the information over again because I do not know how to apply the information learned. Flipping the classroom is designed to flip that percentage so that ten percent is spent on reviewing material and ninety percent is spent on applying the material. The teachers record the lessons in advance and assign the videos to be watched the night before class. The students come prepared with questions and ready to apply what they have already learned. All students learn at a different pace so the videos can be watched over again until they understand the material. I will be teaching math so, this is an excellent way to free up time spent in the classroom on lecturing. This allows the teacher to prepare group activities and peer to peer learning. The teacher is also able to spend additional time with students that may be struggling. Parents can also get involved and watch the videos with their children to see what they are learning.


Flipped Classroom models rely heavy on technology
Katie Gimbar's Flipped Classroom-FAQ

Project #14 Project Based Learning Lesson Plan

What's your Motion?

C4T #2

Dawn DuPriest posted on January 10th a blog about the pros and cons of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). First she clarified what the Common Core Standards are and what they were not. She states that the standards have made things much harder for the teacher but in return made the students and teachers better learners. Comment#1 My name is Courtney Fields and I am also a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I am just now being introduced to the CCSS and your blog has defiantly shed some light on this subject. You stated that the use of CCSS has made not only the students better learners but also the teachers. In EDM310 we learn a lot about how teachers must learn continuously because it is never ending. It's great to see that you are putting that into action. I also agree with your statement about the use of technology. In my college math class we have a website that allows us students to work problems, take quizzes, and watch tutorials. I assume they do not have something similar but that would be a wonderful tool for middle schoolers. I enjoyed reading your post. Thanks for sharing!

Dawn DuPriest posted on December 10th a blog called The Hour of Code Activities. In this post she explains that coding is no longer a thing of the past. The software has improved and is a great tool for math modeling. The students can receive instant feed back and they are able to revisit each topic to correct any mistakes made on their first attempt. The project has worked exceptionally well and the students have learned to be real life problem-solvers. I am not familiar with coding but after reading this post I intend to research and find out about the program. I thought it would be difficult to apply PBL to a math class but now I can see all things are possible through technology. Comment#2 I agree, visuals are rich and this project brings this lesson to life. Students love to be able to create things on their own and be good at it. Projects such as this one will help students in the future to become great problem solvers. The skills you are teaching will be essential to their future jobs and careers. Great job! Dawn DuPriest's Blog

Project #9 Video Book Conversation

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Project #13

Project #13 was a collaborative project where our team created a project based lesson plan. Our project is called Shapes of Life. This project allowed us to practice for many lesson plans to come. Below is a link to our google site.

Shapes Of Life

C4K February

C4K

Comments for kids gives us an opportunity to comment on student's blogs and encourage them. This also gives us a chance to see what it is like for students in other parts of the United States. My first comment was on Harley H.'s blog in Nebraska. Her blog was explaining how to cross multiply. It is a step by step tutorial. This was my comment: Nice job! You made that look so easy. Do you enjoy doing math? You would make a great teacher one day. Keep it up.
Harley's Blog

My second comment was on William's blog from Mrs. Caddy's 6th grade class. His blog was a survey asking about yourself.
My answers: How old are you? 23
Where do you live? Theodore, Al
What is the weather like? It is cold now but it is normally hot and humid.
What type of terrain do you live in? lowlands
What are your hobbies? Sewing and crafts
What is your favorite subject? Math
Do you like school? Yes
William's Blog

The third blog that I was able to comment on was Sasha's from Mrs Bayer's 7th grade class in Ontario. Sasha shares a post on how much she loves to travel. She talks about the places she has been to and the future plans to travel. She has already been to Italy, Mexico, Cuba, Estonia, Russia, Montreal, and Germany. She would like to visit Croatia, Turks and Caicos, Spain, and Greece in the future. My comment to her was Sasha, this is a wonderful post. That is very exciting to have visited all of these places at such a young age. I agree with Jeel, your post has inspired me to do some traveling. I look forward to reading your future post about the places you have been. Great job!
Sasha's Blog

The last blog was P-row from Mrs. Miller's English Class in Baldwin County. P-row's blog post was about how he feels that no matter what you do your bad deeds always will find a way back to you. He states that every time he has done something bad it always comes back to affect him 10-times worse. He apologizes to God but he feels like it makes no difference. This was my comment: I believe what your talking about is karma. Sometimes we have to make the best of every situation even if it is bad. You can make different choices and change your fate. God always forgives. Great job on this blog post it was very interesting and defiantly made me think.
P-row's Blog

Blog Post #7

What can we learn about teaching from Randy Pausch?

In Randy Pausch's video Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams he talks about the dreams he had as a child and how he achieved them. He also explained how he was able to enable the dreams of others. Being a teacher, helping others achieve their goals is what matters. It is important to find out their interest and ignite the fire in them and open the door of opportunity. Randy Pausch said that brick walls are not to keep you from achieving your goals, instead, they are to prove how bad you want it. When the brick walls are built up in front of your students help them find ways to break them down and press through. Let them communicate their ideas and listen to what they have to say, even if you don't know what the outcome will be. Randy Pausch states that the best way to teach something is to have your students think they are learning something else. I think that is where project based learning comes in. When you have a project in front of your students, they don't see the learning involved they see the fun. When you create a bar of excellence your students will work to reach that goal. What about exceeding beyond that bar? Randy Pausch suggest not to set a bar just allow your students to keep going. Pausch's Building Virtual Worlds class used the project based learning method and was very successful. He thought to use a video game type technology to teach useful things. Which I think is brilliant because much of our youth today are engulfed in video games. We can use those tools to power the student's minds and have fun at the same time. Pausch stated that if someone has disappointed you, let you down or hurt you don't give up on them just yet. Eventually the good side of them will emerge. I think we can apply this to our future students as well. Some students will drag by doing the bare minimum but eventually you will strike their interest and they will excel. Don't be so quick to give up on this type of student, continue to push through and eventually this student will have something to offer.

What can we learn from Randy Pausch about learning?

Randy Pausch talks about how we should learn indirectly though real life experiences. Although his video was about achieving his childhood goals we are able to learn major points that we could apply to ourselves as teachers. One useful tip he mentioned was to cherish feedback. Do not get offended when it comes to peer editing because it will only help you improve. Thus, you can apply these tips to your future assignments. We should also learn to be a team player. Most jobs and some school projects require teamwork. Strive to be the person everyone wants to work with. In Pausch's class, after projects are completed the members do an evaluation on their group members. If you receive a bad review, work on things to improve your team working skills and apply it to the next collaborative project. My favorite part of the video is when he brought out a cake for his wife's birthday. He explained that we should focus on others rather than ourselves. We should also help others and share the information we know with them. It will be very rewarding to enable the dreams of my future students and help them succeed.

Blog Post #6

PLN'S
A Personal Learning Network is a list of tools or people in which you can refer to for answers. Your personal learning network is associated with your interest or field of study. This could include your classmates, professionals or websites concerning your interest. From past projects in EDM310 it is evident that you will continue to learn throughout your college and teaching experience. When you are faced with a new technology, typically, there are experts that would be willing to help. Through blogs you can gather ideas from other teachers in your field and generate new and creative lesson plans. With the use of Twitter you can post a question and have several answers in minuets. These tools will also help develop you a a teacher and a lifelong learner. Personal learning networks are formed by using tools such as Twitter, facebook, youtube, and blogs. When you follow someone on Twitter you have access to their comments, thoughts and other followers. When others comment on a post that interest you, you will be able to decide if they will be helpful in your learning network. When you reach out for help on social media you may get a response from someone that will be helpful in the future, so you can add them to your list of PLN. Symbaloo is a great way to start organizing your personal learning network. The C4T blogging project has help start my PLN because the teachers are associated with the same field I am studying for. I am able to see their main concerns, struggles and success stories.

My PLN
My first addition to my PLN is going to be the EDM Class Blog. I refer to the website when I am having trouble with a project or assignment, it also has some useful videos. I will also include Google and YouTube. When I need additional information on a subject or I don't understand the meaning of something I always refer to Google. My math teacher has a YouTube channel that he post instructional videos, so YouTube gives me access to any tutorial. I have also added several blogs from the C4T assignments. They also teach in the math field so I can see lesson ideas and topics they discuss with their class. When we are in need of answers we will reach in many ways to get them. Everyone has a personal learning network, even if it's not written down or organized.

A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment
Building Your PLN-A Primer for Anyone
My Wonderful PLN
Michael Fawecett Discusses his PLN

Project #8 Book Trailer

I was able to find my author's email address to send her the book trailer. This was her response to me.
Dear Courtney, Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful,witty trailer! I'm honored that you chose Late for School! I'll be looking for your name on films to come. All the best, Stephanie.

Blog Post #5

Project Based Learning Part 1:Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher
Project Based Learning Part 2:Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher

In the first video Anthony Capps shares with us about Project Based Learning with his third grade class. I learned that project based learning is constantly evolving. The more experience you have with it allows you reflect back and make changes to make it better the next time. In a more traditional classroom you are assigned projects to show what you have learned about a certain topic. With project based learning, the projects are done in order to achieve the desired learning. It is a hands on teaching method that allows everyone, including the teacher, to be a learner. There are some goals to keep in mind when creating a effective project. One goal is to chose a topic that is interesting to the students. They will be driven to to better if they are totally engaged in the subject. Also, choose a audience that will motivate the students to surpass the goals you have set. Last, allow students to edit each others work. It will give them an opportunity to be engaged in the grading process and to make room for improvement for the next project. In part two of project based learning Anthony Capps states that not every project will go well. Sometimes you will have to improvise and reflect on how it can be better the next time. The project based learning method takes a lot of planing and preparation but according to Anthony Capps it has received high approval ratings by administrators, parents and students.

iCurio
iCurio is an online tool used to search websites that are filtered for educational purposes. iCurio also has several additional features for student and teachers to collect and share data. When a student is researching a project they can save data in folders for later use. Timelines and directories are also available to search historical figures. iCurio is kid friendly and can provide services to disabled students. iCurio helps all students achieve their desired and required amount of researching skills.

Discovery Education
Discovery Education is a search engine that provides text, visuals, articles, photos, and videos for projects or reports. Todays students are listener/watchers so this allows the text to come to life. Not only can they read about a particular topic they can scan through videos and photos to help link these images to the text. This tool along with iCurio encourages students to be independent learners. They can explore these websites by themselves to collect and research data.

The Anthony-Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1

These are some tips Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps came up with for teachers that would like to continue to be effective.
1. Be a learner yourself because it is never ending.
2. Teaching is hard work so combine it with fun.
3. Be flexible because things do not always go as planned.
4. Reflect and Revise in order to improve future projects.
5. Start with a goal in mind.
6. Engages 100% of your students 100% of the time.

Don't Teach Tech- Use it
Additional Thoughts About Lesson
In these videos Anthony states that technology comes natural for kids. Most small children know how to operate their parents iphones and ipads. Which goes to show there is no need to teach children how to use technology. As teachers we should use this technology as a tool to learn. Several years down the road these same student will deal with newer technology so learning this now will help your learning skills in the future. Introduce one technology at a time and do not expect perfection. Instead reflect and revise on the past projects to improve on the new ones. Another good point Anthony brings up is if you are worried about introducing something you are not familiar with you can try it yourself first. When you bring it to your class and they have questions you will understand where they are coming from. In the last video Anthony talks about how lessons are four layers thick. First layer is your year plan. You have a desired amount of curriculum you must cover within that year. From there you go to the next layers with your unit, week and daily plan. You must make sure your meeting goals for each layer with delivery hooks to keep the students learning.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is…

This Is My Passion…

C4T

In the comments for teacher project we are assigned to a teacher's blog and we comment on a post. The teacher I was assigned to is Mrs Andrea Kerr. She is a craft loving math teacher and I can't wait to try some of her teaching techniques.

C4T#1 Mrs. Andrea Kerr posted on November 15th a polynomial arts and craft project. She used a coloring page to take notes and to solve problems. Comment #1: Mrs. Kerr, my name is Courtney Fields and I am also a student at the University of South Alabama. Arts and crafts and math are two of my favorite things, so I love how you joined the two totally different topics to make learning fun. I think that is so important in order to keep the students interested. Great idea!

On February 5th Mrs Andrea Kerr posted a group project on solving exponential equations. Before class she created a circle with 2-3 desk to create ten groups. Each desk had a record keeping card and a paper with a problem to solve. After each group has solved their problem they must get up and move around the room to solve all ten problems. Comment #2: I love the group work. It encourages the students to teach one another something. I agree with you, I bet they enjoyed it better than sitting in the chair the whole class time. Thanks for sharing!

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #4

What do we need to know bout asking questions to be an effective teacher?

Why do we ask questions? For teachers to reassure students understand the material being taught; however, the question do you understand is not acceptable. As much as we would love all student to be eager to ask or answer questions it is not probable. Ben Johnson's blog, The Right Way to Ask a Question In The Classroom, explains why only certain students answer questions. If the class knows your question is directed toward all, majority of the class will leave it up to another student to answer. If the teacher calls on a particular student after asking the question, it becomes irrelevant to the rest of the class. One effective approach to avoid this disconnect is using a pause after the question. When you ask the question pause for at least three to five seconds before calling on a particular student. This allows all the students to generate a response in their mind. While reading comments under Johnson's Blog, another teacher stated she uses a white board technique. This allows all the students to answer at the same time on small individual white dry erase boards. This method would work exceptionally well for the Math field, in which I will be teaching. This would encourage all students to work the problems together and answer at the same time.

Good questions make students think.

In the document Asking Questions to Improve Learning it states that good questions encourage participation. There are some important things to remember in order to ask good questions. Avoid questions that do not allow students to think independently. Also, if you must ask yes or no questions follow up with additional questions. Do not ask more than one question at one time, students will be confused and do not know which question to answer. Open ended questions are questions that require more than a yes or no answer. These types of questions require more thinking. Close ended questions only require yes or no. These types of questions are best to be followed with additional questions. After these questions are asked teachers must use active listen skills to encourage the student that they are interested in what they are saying. Do not interrupt while the student is answering , keep eye contact and nod occasionally to insure the student they have your full attention.

Three ways to ask better questions in the classroom

1. Prepare questions

2. Play with the questions

3.Preserve good questions

Preparing the questions you will ask insures you will not leave anything out. Also, placing questions throughout your lesson so that you will not try to squeeze several questions in the last few minuets of class. Leave the questions unanswered for awhile, that will allow the students to think on the question. Write down and preserve good questions that are asked during class. You may use them for the next class or reword the question to keep it interesting.

Questioning Styles and Strategies

The last Video is of a fifth grade class using different types of questioning styles and techniques to promote learning and class participation. He uses the book Bridge to Terabithia to create a class discussion. One of the technique was called mastery. He ask the class to describe the land of Terabithia and to turn to a neighbor to see if they had any similar characteristics. Next, the teacher called on a student at random to share their entry and then surveyed the class to see if they had anything different. In the end he would open the floor to anyone who had additional information to share with the class. He continued throughout the whole class asking questions and linking them to certain activities. He used a learning log to write in so students could exchange responses. When it comes to asking questions in the classroom it is important to know when, where, and how to do so.

The Right Way to Ask Questions In The Classroom.

Asking Questions To Improve Learning

Three Ways to Ask Better Questions

Asking Better Questions In the Classroom

Questioning Styles and Strategies

Blog Post #3

How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

Peer editing is critiquing work of someone your age. The three steps in peer editing are to make compliments, suggestions and corrections. It is important to stay positive when it comes to editing, we do not want to be a negative Nancy. Complimenting can be picking out the parts that you can relate to and commenting in a positive way. Starting with the positive will let your peer know you are not here to attack their writing, only to help them improve. Next comes suggestions on word choice, detail and organization. Did the writer keep you interested with the detail? If not, make a positive suggestion. Tearing someone down about their writing is not the way to inspire improvement. The last step is correction. You can make corrections on spelling, grammar, and punctuation. In the end I know your peer will appreciate the corrections you have made. They can learn from your feedback and work hard not to make the same mistakes again. If your work was never edited how could you improve?

I have learned from the video Top Ten Mistakes that it is important not to become too critical or too careless. You must find a happy medium between Whatever William and Picky Patty. You don't want to offend or embarrass your peers. As a future teachers we will deal a lot with editing. I want to be able to correct my students in a way that will not humiliate them or diminish their creativity.

Blog Post #2

In the video Mr. Dancealot the professor is teaching a dance class through the lecture method. He is using a powerpoint video to demonstrate the different position and dances. He does not allow the students to practice the dance but instead expects the students the meet the requirements of the final just by taking notes. The central message of this video is you can not learn to dance without practice and experience. In the video the students take notes all semester and in the end they are put on a dance floor and asked to perform the dances learned. The students obviously failed that task due to the lack of personal experience. I agree with the author's conclusion. You can not teach someone to dance simply by showing them pictures and by taking notes. Dance can only be learned through repeated practice.



In Teaching in the 21st century Roberts states that teacher's are no longer the only source of knowledge. He says that students can learn anything, anywhere at anytime just by using google, facebook, twitter, blogs, YouTube and Wikapedia. Roberts also argues that educators should rethink the tools they use in order to teach. He suggest using podcast, RSS feeds and online surveys in order to gather and discuss data. I feel like Roberts is correct about how technology has evolved, and will continue to evolve for classroom learning. As for future educators it will require us to be technology literate. We will have to continue to learn from this point on in order to evolve with our technology advances.

The video Networked student the student was able to collect all the information he needed just by using his resources. The video suggest if he used his networking skills to complete this project, why does he need a teacher? The teacher is there to teach you how to use the resources you have and answer questions when you get stuck. I thought it was amazing how much information he gathered just by reading blogs and information on different cites. Just by asking he was able to get a professor to share his knowledge to the class via skype. I knew the internet was useful but I never thought to use blogs as a source of information, as long as it is backed up with credible information.

Viki Davis' video thesis corresponds with EDM 310. She states that only certain types of children can learn with the paper pencil method but all children can learn through the methods using technology we have today. She connects this classroom with the whole world by using different types of media. Another important thing she shares is that children become empowered when they discover and learn things on their own. I agree with Mrs. Davis, children must be taught to think on their own. When they discover something new independently they are compelled to share with other classmates and it improves self-confidence.

I have never heard the term flipping the classroom however it is familiar. My current math class I am taking now has a site called MyMathLabPlus. In the website there are homework problems and step-by-step tutorials. I think this approach will be useful and most of all be beneficial to the students. They will come to class prepared to work more problems and discuss any questions they may have. They also can go back to the instructional videos if they need extra review.