Blog Assignment #10

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On September 18, 2007, Randy Pausch gave his last lecture.

After watching "Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dream," it was very inspiring. He begins talking about his "childhood dreams" and how he achieved or came close to achieving those dreams. It was amazing to me how he spent living his life trying to achieve his childhood dreams. When he started talking about those dreams, I started thinking to myself. I could not remember any of my childhood dreams, or even if I had any. Every time I try to think about it, all I see is a blur. I can not even remember one thing I wanted to do when I was a kid and now that I think about it, I do not think many kids now know either. He also talks about the many people he has met and the people who have made him who he is today.

One of the things he discussed that stuck out to me most was "head fake." "Head fake" is when the student learning thinks that they are learning something else. The example that Randy Pausch used is "Kids make movies and games; the "head fake" is that they are learning to program." From other videos that I have watched, such as "Brian Crosby - Back to the future," I have noticed both have similar ways of teaching. You give students fun assignments that get them interested while teaching them what they need to know and they forget that they are even learning. In Brian Crosby's video, he used the balloon project to teach his students about the layers of the atmosphere without them knowing. I really like this way of teaching. The cliche of a teacher standing at the front of the room lecturing and students in their seats taking notes should not exist anymore. We should be making learning fun for our students. Make them forget that they are learning at all. This idea is to help students have fun while learning something hard.

I think the message Randy Pausch was trying to get across is that to achieve what you want, you need to learn how to get there. You need to have dreams and goals and some sort of path to get you where you want to be. Allow kids to be kids. Allow them to dream, imagine, create, fantasize, and let them do what they please as long as it does not harm them in any way.

I learned a lot from Randy Pausch. How to teach kids while having them think that they are not learning anything. How to keep dreams alive and believe that anything is possible. He achieved his dreams, why can't we?

Project #12 - Part A

Smart Board Presentation

Project #9 Podcast

Project Based Learning by Thom Markham Podcast

Blog Assignment #9

Discovery Education

Project #10 Green Screen

Oh, The Places Dreams Will Take You!

Blog Assignment #8

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning from these Teachers?

In the TED video "Brian Crosby - Back to the Future," Brian Crosby, an elementary teacher in Sparks, Nevada, talks about his 4th grade class and their want to learn. His 4th grade class consist of second language learners and students living in poverty. On the second day of school he surveyed his students on things that I believe most 4th graders should know. Out of twenty-four 4th graders, only 9 knew what city they lived in, 12 knew what state they live in, and only 3 knew what country they lived in. Less than half the students knew their address and very few knew their home phone number or did not have one. In his classroom, each student has a laptop and each of them have a blog. These kids are building learning networks and the feedback they receive makes them happy.

One of the experiments he did with his students was the balloon project. He used this project to teach them what they needed to know. The balloon project taught them imagination and creativity, and also about the atmosphere, which was a standard. A video camera was attached to the balloon when it was released. It allowed to students to see what happened as the balloon floated higher into the atmosphere and what happened when it had floated to high. He asked his students to write a story about being the balloon describing what was happening.

He says, "We have been teaching kids how to be taught, to raise their hand when they want to ask a question, but that is changing." We are empowering kids to want to learn on their own. They get to connect to the world and collaborate with classmates and others. Technology is changing the way students are being taught. In one of his classes, he had a student learning through her computer at home because she was ill. She became a part of his class. He says that we should stop racing kids through school, that it is not a race. Everything that we are doing should be providing them with opportunities.

My Thoughts
It was really surprising to me that these students did not know this information about where they live and such, but knowing their background, I can understand why. When I was a 4th grader I knew what city I lived in, my home phone number, my address, what country I lived in, all of that. In a way, I guess I was force to know this information for emergency purposes. I really enjoyed watching this video. I want to be able to teach this way in the future. I want to make learning fun for my students just like Brian Crosby does. With the balloon project, he used it to teach them what they needed to know as well as spark their creativity. It is like killing two birds with one stone. He has them creating videos, posting them to their blog, and have them explain what, why, and how it happened. He made learning fun. He sparked their curiosity and made them want to learn. From the video, he did an experiment with a can that when it got close to this liquid, the pressure dropped and the can implodes. I am actually still trying to figure out why and how that happened. He even had me curious. I remember in elementary school we never did stuff like this. I do not even remember doing many experiments. Technology is really changing things, but I think it is for the better.

Making Thinking Visible - Kaitlyn Parker
In the video Making Thinking Visible , Mark Church, a 6th grade teacher, asks his students to discuss in small groups a video they saw the day before. He asks them to sum up in a few words what they think the video they watched is about. He gives them a piece of paper to write the headline on after the group has decided. By doing this he is engaging the students and really getting them to think about their opinion on the video and what they think the video was teaching. I like the way he puts them in small groups. This gives the students an opportunity to talk to the other students and hear their opinions also. I can learn from Mark Church's way of promoting engagement and thinking with his students. He gives them a chance to be independent by voicing their own opinions, as well as learning to work in a group and decide on a final headliner together. As a future teacher I believe I can really benefit from observing other experienced teachers with their classes. I can see what works for them and what does not. I think I can really learn a lot from other teachers and I can utilize some of the teaching techniques they use in their classroom in my future classroom.

The Blended Learning Cycle - Haley Torries
BOZEMANSCIENCE , by Mr. Paul Andersen, is a science blog with educational videos, notes and video translations. In one of the videos, Blended Learning Cycle, he describes the full process and essentials of his Blended Learning Cycle. It starts with the components of online, mobile and classroom by blending them into one. Then he adds five e's in this learning cycle; engage, explore, explain, expand and evaluate. First, he engages the students with an engaging question. Then, he allows the students to explore all of the possibilities of the answer. After they explore, he explains the answer by expanding it. Finally, the question and answer gets evaluated. All of these components make up the Blended Learning Cycle.

He uses the acronym QUIVERS with a picture of a quiver holding six bows. The bows signify his six ideas. The QU in QUIVERS stands for the question given to the class. The I stands for the student doing an investigation needed to find the answer. V stands for the independent videos the students watch. The E stands for elaboration, so the students have a chance to expand the information on the subject. R stands for review. The teacher goes around the room to each group individually to make sure each student understands the answer. The last letter is S because this is the summary quiz, which the students are not allowed to take until the teacher knows they understand the subject. This cycle would be beneficial for a teacher to use in a classroom.

C4T #2

For this week I have been assigned William Chamberlain's blog.
William Chamberlain is a middle school teacher at Noel Elementary and Jr. High in Noel, Missouri.

It Would Have Been More Fun...
In the first post I read, Mr. Chamberlain talks about a project he had given his students on figuring out the cost of his baseball trip. Then he went on to ask his students if they had enjoyed the project. One student asked him if he enjoyed the project and another said she would have enjoyed it more if it was a trip she was taking. So he began creating a project for a trip they want to go on. For the project he gave them guidelines on the trip. The trip had to be 5 days in length, each student needed to spend 75 dollars a day for food and 50 dollars in souvenirs. After the students began working, he learned that some students were planning a real trip they wanted to take, some students planned a trip with other students, some had a hard time choosing a place to go and still bargained on hotels, and some students wanted to plan a trip to visit relatives who did not live nearby. The project ended up being a great way to get the students engaged in learning.

After reading this post, I commented saying that while reading I thought to myself, "I do not think that I have ever seen a classmate when I was in school answer a question with a question." I told him when I was younger, I was kind of quiet and did not talk much. I wrote that I like that his students seem to want to learn. They gave suggestions on what would make the project more fun for them. I also do not think that any of my previous teachers even asked me or the class if we liked the project. I like that he keeps his students interested and wanting to learn. I also wrote that I agree with his students that if I can relate to the subject, I am more interested in it.

Whispersync for Voice
In this post, Mr. Chamberlain talks about Whispersync for Voice. He starts by saying if you love to read or be read to, Whispersync is for you. He explains that if you own a Whispersync for Voice enabled ebook and audio book for Audible.com, they will sync as you read them. As an example he says that if you are reading the ebook and need to go somewhere. When you get in the car and turn on the audio book, Whispersync will start where you stopped reading. There are many great deals on books Whispersync ready on amazon for a great price.

On this post, I wrote to him that I also love to read and I think that this is great for all ages. I think it would be a good edition to a classroom and will be helpful for required reading books. I commented and said that audio books were always helpful in my Literature class. I also said that I think it would be good for younger children and help them with pronunciation of larger words.

Here is a picture of one of the Audio books that was Whispersync for Voice ready and only 99 cents.

Blog Assignment #7

Assistive Technologies
After watching Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children, there are a lot of assistive technologies that I did not even know about. I actually have not heard of any of them. I did not know that we had this type of technology for these children. Then I watched The Mountbatten video presented by The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine, FL. That was when I was introduced to the Mountbatten for the first time.

The Mountbatten
The Mountbatten is the perfect tool for blind students. It is a brailler manufactured in Australia by Quantum Technology. It can type braille as well as send to and receive information from a computer. Along with being able to do all of that, the Mountbatten says the letter out loud while the student enters it. It allows the students to be able to tell if they made a mistake or not. The first time that I saw this, I was amazed. I did not even know a machine that is capable of this existed. It literally blew my mind.

I think this is great for children who are blind. I think it helps them connect to the rest of the class and the rest of the world. It allows them to not feel left out just because they have a disability. The Mountbatten should be given to all blind students to use. According to the mountbattenbrailler.com, the Mountbatten is also helpful for children learning braille. It reinforces the recognition of braille characters. Children are able to type, hear, and read the letter that they are typing. It shows students how to use files and edit documents. I think that it is an amazing product. It gives blind students an opportunity to be a part of the world they live in.



Kaitlyn Parker - iPad Usage for the Blind
The "iPad usuage for the blind" video was very eye opening. I did not know that the iPad had options for the blind or visually impaired. An iPad has "voice over". Voice over can be used when a person drags their fingers over the iPad screen. As the person does this, a voice tells them what they are dragging their fingers on. If it is a blank page it just makes bumping sounds. The voice also tells them to double tap to open an application when it is needed. Voice over can also be used to read books to the blind in the iBooks application. Nook and Kindle do not have this option. This is where the iPad really stands out from others. It is able to be used by anyone. It does not matter if you're deaf, blind, five years old or fifty years old. The iPad is easy and effective to use. I really enjoyed this video because it taught me things about my iPad that I did not know it could do. This is good to know because I may have a hearing impaired child in my future classroom one day and he or she may need assistance by using a iPad and voice over. Voice over may be just the thing he or she needs to help him or her learn and excel. He or She could listen to books or do things online with the assistance of voice over. I think voice over is a very powerful tool. If needed, I would use voice over in my classroom to assist a child in their learning.

Having a great time teaching a mom what her deaf/blind child is learning on a iPad

This video was also educational. In the video, a mom was taught how to use voice over on an iPad. This was to show her what her child was learning on an iPad using voice over. It was shown in this video that when typing, no letters will be inserted until the user double taps them. When the letters are touched only once, they are read aloud. There are two modes of typing; standard and touch typing. She really enjoyed learning how to operate the iPad so she can better assist her child. The iPad is a great way to assist blind children in their learning. If I have a student who is visually impaired, I would use the iPad to assist them in their learning and education in my classroom. I would also like the student's parents to know how to use the iPad and the voice over option so that they can help their child also at home and to know what their child is doing and learning in school. I think if the teachers and parents know how to operate the iPad with voice over it could be a very helpful tool to help a visually impaired student learn and also feel more independent.

Haley Torries - 50 Must-See Blogs For Special Education Teachers
50 Must-See Blogs For Special Education Teachers allows special education teachers and other teachers access to 50 different viewpoints on special education. The site, edudemic.com, where this information is posted is a great tool for teachers. Edudemic has information for not only teachers, but for students also.

Special Education Strategies And More...
When I first accessed this blog, I was impressed. Special Education Strategies And More... is a blog for teachers or parents of a child with special needs. Different strategies for education that have worked for other people are given in this blog. These strategies explain how to apply them, shows how these strategies worked for someone else and even points out what could go wrong with these different strategies.

Assistive Technology
The Assistive Technology blog is a great resource on different technologies available to be used with children with special needs. The most recent post is iPad Workshop: Using the iPad for Students with Learning & Organization Disabilities. There was a link to where a teacher or parent can sign-up for this workshop right in the post. I did not know there were multiple types of apps on the iPad for children with special needs. This is only the beginning of this blog, there are more technologies and tools that will help anyone with a special needs child.

The Shut-Down Learner
Children with special needs often find school a threatening place. The Shut-Down Learner has different techniques on how to make school less threatening for children with special needs. There is also a post on how parents can make after school activities more helpful for these children. This blog was created by a child psychologist, making it a good resource for teachers and parents.

I only discussed a few blogs from 50 Must-See Blogs For Special Education Teachers . I encourage all teachers to visit this blog to expand your knowledge.

Kabrina Harris - Voice Recognition Software
What is Assistive Technology? Assistive technology is any device that helps disabled children or adults learn. These devices enhance learning, remove barriers and give hope to disabled students. Without these devices, students would have a hard time participating in class. Voice recognition software is a great assistive tool that helps disabled students keep up in the classroom. Voice recognition software turns spoken words into typed words on the computer screen. This device can be very beneficial to students with visual and mobility impairments. Voice recognition software helps empower students and gives them a sense of independence by allowing them to write their own papers without the assistance of others. This tool can also be beneficial to teachers by giving them written evidence of the students’ progress. Since this tool allows the students to write their own papers, teachers have more time to focus on other important educational areas. I think this is a great tool that can also be used outside of school in other areas such as work, communicating with others, and creative purposes. Information about voice recognition was found on this site.

Teaching Math to The Blind
The video, Teaching Math to The Blind, is very interesting. Before watching this video, I never thought about how blind people did math. If I had to take a guess at it, I would have said that they used Braille. According to the video, I would have been partly wrong because braille is not 2 dimensional and it would be hard to write math problems with it. The professor on this video explains a more helpful way of working out math problems. He suggests that student use little cubes with invisible numbers and braille. The cubes can be placed on a grid and conformed into 2 dimensional numbers on the computer screen. The student can hear the number and place it on the grid to create or solve a problem.

PLN - Progress Report

My Personal Learning Network A Personal Learning Network is a network of sites educators use for professional development. For managing my Personal Learning Network, I used Symbaloo. When I first opened the Symbaloo page, I had already started loving the way it looked. I like the fact that it is customizable and that you can arrange your sites to your liking. It keeps things organized. You can also create webmixes, which are different networks of different sites. Lets say I have a PLN webmix with all the sites and information that are related to my personal learnng network and I have a My Favorites webmix, which includes all of my favorite shopping, social, and new sites. Webmixes allow separation of sites so that you do not get your work involved with your life. I also like the fact that I can access my PLN anywhere when using Symbaloo, on a computer and on my smartphone. I know where all of my information is at when I need it. It gives me access to all the sites that I add to it anytime, anywhere as long as I have internet access. Not only is it useful to me, if a classmate of mine wanted to check out some of the sites I have saved, I can easily share my Webmix with them.


Symbaloo also has another site called Symbaloo EDU. Symbaloo EDU allows teachers to share sites with his or her students. It allows the teacher to give students quick and easy access to sites that are helpful with the lesson and other things. When I start teaching I plan to use Symbaloo EDU with my students. It will allow me to share sites with useful information to my class. I also think it is a good site to use to teach organization.

So far, I enjoy using Symbaloo. The way it is set up and organized is a plus for me. I like to have my sites organized and separated by things they have in common. I keep my news sites together and my social sites together. Overall I think that it is a great site for teachers and students.

Project #8 Book Trailer

That Yucky Love Thing

Blog Assignment #6

What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

As a teacher, questions should always be asked to keep students interested, but they need to be the right questions. For this assignment, the question to be answered is what do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

After reading Asking Questions to Improve Learning, I learned the strategies for asking questions. You should ask questions that keep your course goals in mind. Questions should be formed to make students think, such as yes or no questions should be followed with a question explaining why they chose that answer. Use a sequence of questions that all connect to answer a larger question. You should use a mix of different types of questions such as "closed" questions and "open" questions.

There are many things that you should keep in mind when asking questions. What is the goal of the question? What are you trying to learn? Do you want more than one answer or one specific answer? I never knew that there was so much to a question. As a future educator, I think you should learn these strategies. I always said that as a teacher I want to make learning fun for my students and keep them interested. I wanted to keep them curious and make them want to learn. I think that questions are a good way to keep the curiosity in your students but only if you ask the right questions.

One of my favorite strategies from this page is when a student gives an incorrect answer you should ask a follow up question to lead the student to the correct answer. I think this might make students want to answer questions. All through school, I never raised my hand to answer a question unless I absolutely knew the answer. I never wanted to raise my hand and answer a question and get it wrong. When I was reading The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom by Ben Johnson, I learned that you should always think like a student. In one scenario he wrote about asking the entire class a question and after calling on one student, the rest of the class would sigh in relief that they were not picked to answer, but it would get their mind flowing until the student is called. I remember this very very well. Even in college this happens to me. When a teacher or a professor ask a question and I do not know the answer, I sit in my desk hoping that the teacher does not call on me. I would try and think about the answer but I always felt relieved after someone else was called. You should think about how students act to get them involved in answering questions. One way that Johnson mentioned was that teachers use a system to make sure that every child at least answers one question throughout the day. I think this would work because if students think that after they answer one question they do not have to answer anymore, it would have them wanting to answer questions earlier in the day.

Back to the question what do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?From the reading, I learned that we need to know what we are teaching and what the students need to learn. We need to know what type of questions go best with the topic that is being discussed. I learned many tips about asking questions and asking the right one. I can not wait to start using some of the techniques I read about in my classroom one day.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...


My Passion Is...

Blog Assignment #5

After exploring the Langwitches blog and reading Podcasting with First Grade, it shows that students can learn many things from podcasting. I learned that podcasting teaches students how to listen, to speak, to present, comprehend, storytelling, performance, voice acting, oral fluency, media, and technology. It helps shy kids open up and come out of their shells. Kids can be very shy these days. I remember that I was a very shy kid. I am still shy. It was not til college before I actually started coming out of my shell and I do not think that I have fully came out yet. I think this is a good for children. It teaches them skills that they will need in the future when they are graduating college and applying for jobs. I think it shows kids that they can do anything they put their mind to. I wish that my teachers had podcasted with us when I was younger. Maybe I would not be as shy as I am today.

After reading We Podcasted Today! So Did You Learn Anything?, I also learned that podcasting teaches students to be creative. The teacher would ask the students to gather into groups and they would script out different sections of the podcast. It taught the students how to work with others and how to collaborate with others. It also showed them that if you mess up, try again.

Blog Assignment #4

21st Century Learning and Communication Tools

As a future elementary teacher, the tool I would use in the classroom is YouTube EDU. YouTube EDU is a similar site to YouTube, but it is for learners and educators. As YouTube EDU calls it, it is a “global video classroom.”

It gives students the chance to find short lessons on material they might have missed or do not understand well. It also gives educators the ability to teach without having to be physically there. This also is related to flipping the classroom. I do not like the idea of flipping the classroom because I believe that kids will not learn that way due to the fact that I believe kids will not take the time out of their day to do the work. In a way it is pretty similar to having homework, which no kid is happy with. But, I like the idea of teaching without having to be physically there. Imagine a child who is hospitalized for whatever reason and cannot attend school. Videos of the lesson will allow the student to be able to learn and keep up with school work at home. One way I would incorporate YouTube EDU into the classroom is by creating videos. I think that a good project would be to have the students group up to learn a specific topic and help them create a video to post on YouTube. I believe that this is a fun way to teach the students and help them learn the material. It teaches students how to work in a group and how to work with others. I chose YouTube EDU because I believe this is a good way to help keep students interested. I think that most elementary students are very visual learners and this would help them in the process. You might ask, “What if the students do not want to watch the video?” I would say, If I were to show a video in class, I would make sure that it is fun, entertaining, and interesting. I know that sometimes educational videos can be extremely boring, so it is my duty to pick the ones I know they will watch.


Kaitlyn Parker
When I begin teaching elementary education with my second grade students I want to utilize technology to keep them interested and engaged, as to maximize their learning. I found two learning tools I would love to use in my classroom to occupy my SMART board. The first tool is the SMART table collaborative learning center. This interactive table lets students work in groups and use visuals, auditory, and physical elements to learn. The table is multi-touch and multi-user which means that more than one student can use it at the same time. Students can use this to help each other learn material and also learn good teamwork skills.

The second tool I found that would be useful in my 21st century classroom is a SMART response interactive response system . This is a wireless handheld device or clicker that students can each have at their desks. It has large, easy to understand buttons for the young minds I will be teaching and is great for all reading levels. Teachers can ask a question on their SMART board and have students choose an answer on their clickers and teachers will receive instant feedback. This allows them to see if all students are engaged in the lesson and to also see where the class is having trouble understanding material. This is also a much more quick and efficient way of evaluating students than giving problems via paper and pencil and then the teacher having to grade the problems and tally up the results that the SMART response interactive response system can give in seconds. I hope to be able to utilize one or both of these learning tools in my classroom in the future so my students can learn and be more engaged in the lessons. I think this is a fun and exciting way to get students interested in the lessons and interacting in the classroom.

Kabrina Harris
Wikispace is a great collaborative site that can be used by students and teachers. Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using any web browser. The site allows people to view others work and edit it. This tool reminds me a lot of Google drive. Teachers can give assignments to students and allow them to work on it as a group outside of the classroom. I would use wiki in my class for the purpose of group research projects. I would expect my students to do their own research and share it with their group through wikis. If a group member sees a mistake in someone’s work they could edit it. The benefits I would expect from using wikis are my students will learn to effectively collaborate with each other and edit others work. I chose wikis because its a great collaborate tool that could be used by anyone at anytime. Wiki also promotes group work.

Haley Torries
While there are numerous 21st century Learning and communicating tools, I decided to focus on WebMD and Blackboard.

WebMD
WebMD is one of the more popular websites in the medical industry due to the ease of finding the resources located there. All the information on this site can be reached in these categories; A-Z, Drugs and Treatments, Women, Men, Children's Health, News & Blogs and Message Boards. The information found on this site is well-research and comprehensive. Anyone is able to search for what causes certain symptoms or how to treat any disease a person might have. The Message Board allows visitors to discuss remedies and information they have learned from doctors all over the world. I will be able to use this in my classroom to help students learn about different types of diseases. I believe it is important for students to understand that there are many different diseases in the world. They also need to understand that some illnesses can be prevented by good health care; such as lung and heart diseases. Some illnesses people are born with. WebMD can give students an awareness of the daily lives people with these diseases live with. Children with a better understanding of these diseases are less likely to bully. This will help the students lead healthier lifestyles.

Blackboard
Educators from around the world are using Blackboard to reach students in personalized, new ways. Blackboard keeps the educator's up to date and involved with different techniques on how to keep students interested. This is a great resource for teachers to use whenever they want to consult the whole class about an update on course materials, calendar changes, ect. Grades can also be posted on this site. Blackboard has e-text. Students can also use voice narrative of the text if desired. It has interactive, reinforcing activities, like matching games, etc. This helps the students enjoy learning. This would be a great tool for me to use in my future classroom.

Project #3

C4T #1

For my first Comments4Teachers assignment, I have been assigned Jabiz Raisdana.
Jabiz Raisdana is a middle school teacher. He is passionate about many things and loves to share his passions with other people. He said he loves teaching and cannot think of anything he would rather do.

I Wanna Rock
The first post that I commented on was "I Wanna Rock." Jabiz wrote that he was excited because he had just received an email about his ideas on a Rock and Roll after school club for high school students. At first the activities director was hesitant with the idea, but after hearing the ideas that Jabiz had for the after school class, the director was on board.

In response to this post, I congratulated Jabiz on getting his after school class. I like that his interest in Rock and Roll led him to want to share it with students. I also like his ideas of making the class fun by having the students learn different songs and perform them or creating digital stories, instead of a typical history class. I stated that it makes it more of an after school activity than a class which makes it even better.

No Budget
In this post, Jabiz begins to say how it has been a while since he has posted anything. Then he begins to talk about an email he had received from an artist named Adriana. Adriana came across a picture from his blog a long time ago and it inspired her to create a series of paintings in her Pop Surrealism Style.

He begins to talk about whether if this email meant anything to him, was it important? He states that it feels right. He also says, "...giving of my life in a way that might connect to other passions matters to me." After the email, he has been getting to know Adriana and her work a bit more and also asked to buy the painting.
He also receives another email from an author and graffiti writer named KET. KET came across his photo of graffiti and asked to included it in book on street art. Jabiz then writes, "After years of living online and sharing my life with the internet, I am more often than not pleasantly surprised by what comes back to me."

In response to this post, I commented how I like that he is passionate about passions, his passions and others. It is great that he inspired these two people and knowing that he has makes him feel good inside. I wrote that I believe everyone wants to feel as if they have inspired at least one person in their life.

Blog Assignment #3

Peer Editing

After watching "What is Peer Editing," "Writing Peer Review - Top 10 Mistakes," and viewing the slideshow "Peer Editing with Perfection Tutorial," I have learned many tips on peer editing and other useful information. The number one most important rule in peer editing is staying positive. Peer reviews should be written or said how you would want them to be said to you. I guess it all comes down to the saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

You should always start off with a compliment, commenting on what the author has done well. After complimenting, offer suggestions on how the author can make his or her work better. Suggestions should be specific. They should be based on word choice, use of detail, organization, sentences, and topic. You should aim to note suggestions in a positive way. After suggestions, if there are any errors in grammar, punctuation, sentences, or spelling, then you should let the author know.


If I was peer reviewing on an already edited work, then I would comment publicly. But if I was asked to edit just written work, then I would email my peer my suggestions. I think suggestions and corrections for non edited work should not be displayed publicly. A non edited paper should have errors and I do not think that they should be displayed for everyone to see.

The hardest part about editing blog post for me, is that I like to edit on hard copies. My suggestions and corrections are more accurate when I can read each line and make corrections. When editing a blog post, it is easier for me to overlook things and make mistakes.

From these three presentations, I have learned that you should care about what is being edited and care about the comments you are receiving. You should strive to be positive and be specific. You should be serious about reviewing your peers work and editing your own.

Blog Assignment #2

1. Professor Dancealot
In the video “Professor Dancealot,” Professor Dancealot’s teaching and exam formats were not in sync. Professor Dancealot lectured everyday in class and expected the students to be able to learn the dance moves without getting up and practicing them. He taught behind a desk and when he demonstrated the foot work, the students could not even see what he was doing. The students came prepared and ready to learn, but he did not know how to teach. If I was teaching this class, I would go over the slide during the first part of class and then take my students to the ballroom to demonstrate and let them practice. This way, even if the students do not get much practice time in class, they will have some basic knowledge of the steps to go home and be able to practice.

It is sad to say, but I have taken many courses where the professor has taught in a similar way. You can’t always choose what professor you get. They are either very good at teaching or very bad. Professor Dancealot was not a great teacher and I think many can agree with me. If the teacher does not teach well, this does not mean that you will fail the class. If your professor is a terrible teacher then it is up to you whether you pass or not. The students could of went home and looked up the dance moves on their own but chose not too. What I am trying to say is at the end of the semester, if you fail because he is a bad instructor, then you deserve to fail; but if you failed because you tried your best, then there is really nothing else you can do.

4. Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
In the video “Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts,” by Vicki Davis, Davis shows us how technology can be good for students. If you give them something they do not know how to use, then they will figure it out. She allows the students to teach each other and work together. Students can get bored of listening to a teacher lecture. Therefore, Davis lets her students demonstrate what they have learned. She gets them involved with technology. Technology is expanding and will eventually start invading the classroom, why not put it to good use?

I like the way that she teaches her students to use technology to teach themselves. If they have questions or do not know something, she is always there to help but they also have the tools to look it up.

The Edutopia website has many tips and ways to make teaching and learning fun for the students. Showing teachers ways that can keep their students interested and wanting to learn.


2. Teaching in the 21st Century - Kaitlyn Parker
Roberts believes teaching in the 21st century is about engagement instead of entertainment. Teachers are no longer the only source of information for students, but teachers are the filter for the information. Students now have access to iPad's, computers, and smartphones where they can access Google, You-tube, or Facebook wherever and whenever they want or need. Technology gives them access to anything they need. Students can easily "Google" any question they have and within seconds get millions of responses. I feel that teachers are still needed in the classroom but they can utilize technology to excel their teaching and engagement with the students. Technology is growing and improving each and every day. As an educator technology will be used in my classroom to help me engage with my students. This will help teach them concepts I may not have been able to teach them using just a textbook and chalkboard.

3. The Networked Student - Haley Torries
The networked student video allows students to discover more of (what) technology has to offer. I enjoyed watching this video. I believe students become more engaged with this type of learning. They also connect with other people and their ideas.

Why does the networked student even need a teacher? The student needs a teacher as a coach whenever they feel like their research has hit a brick wall, to help them organize what they discover and keep them in the right direction. The teacher makes sure the student understands how to communicate properly with people all over the world by being kind and eager to learn. The teacher is also needed to make sure they are searching on sites that use correct information to back up their opinions.

I definitely believe a networked student needs a teacher. I think a better name for the teacher would be mentor. Mentors are there to answer any questions the student has while helping them become more independent in the field they are studying. I look forward to mentoring children and watching their imaginations grow.

5. Flipping the Classroom - 4th Grade STEM - Kabrina Harris
Flipping the classroom is a great concept that allows all students to learn at their own pace. I really believe that this way of learning could be helpful to all children and should be used in all schools. The best part of this program is that children get a chance to review the material before coming to class. Skipping the lecture allows students more time to ask questions to clear up problems that they may be having. Children can benefit from this program by being able to see the material more than once. I believe that the more time that they get to spend on a subject, the better they will become at it. This method gives students the opportunity to ask questions in class. Students can pause, rewind, and watch the video as many times as needed to effectively understand the information. This method seems to be very effective and I may even flip my classroom in the future!