The first C4K student I was assigned to was Adam. Adam is a student in Mrs. Toal's class. The post I commented on of Adam's was titled "SHARKIES". In this post Adam talks about sharks and how one million are killed by humans each year. He also tells about how humans use shark fins to make soup, which I found very interesting. In my comment on his post, I told Adam how much I enjoyed reading his blog and how he taught me a lot of new things about sharks!
Alexis is a 5th grade student in Mrs. Caddys class. The blog post of Alexis's that I commented on was a survey called "All About You". In this survey Alexis asks fun questions like what is my idea of a dream house and what animal would I chose to be able to talk. Taking her survey was so much fun and I loved all of her creative questions. In my comment to Alexis I told her how much I really enjoyed taking her survey and that I hoped she kept up the good work!
Zoe is a 4th grade student in Mrs. Bayer's class in Iowa. In the blog post I commented on by Zoe was call "Dog Troubles". In her post she explain how she really wants a dog, but her parent's will not let her have one. She gives a list of the responsibilities of having a dog and a list of things you have to buy when owning a dog. In my comment I told Zoe how I often think about getting a dog myself but know there are lots of responsibilities that come along with it. I loved reading her post and thought it was very cute and good for her age!
"Redneck" is a student in Mrs. Miller's class and his real name is Justin Noble. His blog post was a short story about a boy named Jared that went mud bogging for his birthday with some of his friends. His story is kind of comical and tells about them getting a four wheeler stuck and how they had to get it unstuck before their curfew. I commented on "Redneck's" post and told him about how I also like to ride four wheelers with my friend's and how I enjoyed reading his post!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Blog post #6 Personal Learning Networks
Personal Learning Networks are a way for teachers to keep connected with other teachers and also are tools that can assist you as a teacher. Personal Learning Networks can range from twitter, blogs, and even just google. PLN's can help teachers because it gives them new ideas and thoughts from other teachers. Also PLN's keep teachers connected and learning from each other daily. This tool, PLN, is a good way for teachers to not only help teach their student's, but also to help teach themselves new teaching ideas everyday. As a future teacher, PLN's can help me establish how I would like to teach by gathering new ideas and thoughts from others. Since I am new to the teaching scene I do not have an established PLN. But now that I am taking EDM 310 Dr. Strange has taught me many ways to start. One way I would start establishing my PLN is by reading other teachers blog's and searching for them by using twitter or other searching devices. Now that I have learned about PLN the first additions to my own PLN would be, of course, Dr. Strange. Also I would add Anthony Capps, an excellent teacher and friend of Dr. Strange. Another way I could find teacher's I would like to add to my PLN would be by the C4T list that Dr. Strange gives to our class each week to comment on their blogs. My first teacher, Mr. Tom Schimmer, had an amazing blog and lots of thoughts and ideas about teacher that I would love to collaborate on when I become a teacher.
PLN's can also be other networks besides just other teachers. Twitter, Pintrest, Facebook, Symbaloo, Netvibes, and many others are also examples of PLN's. Symbaloo is a network that gives you a full dashboard showing you all the networks possible for you to use. Netvibes is a tool you can use to start setting up your own personal PLN. This will be a great tool for me to start using as I begin to set up my PLN. I am excited to start my own Personal Learning Network so that I can begin finding ideas from other great inspiring teachers, that way I can aspire to be just as great of a teacher myself.
PLN's can also be other networks besides just other teachers. Twitter, Pintrest, Facebook, Symbaloo, Netvibes, and many others are also examples of PLN's. Symbaloo is a network that gives you a full dashboard showing you all the networks possible for you to use. Netvibes is a tool you can use to start setting up your own personal PLN. This will be a great tool for me to start using as I begin to set up my PLN. I am excited to start my own Personal Learning Network so that I can begin finding ideas from other great inspiring teachers, that way I can aspire to be just as great of a teacher myself.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Blog Post #5
"Conversations with Anthony Capps"
What I learned:
In the first video "Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grader" we are introduced to Anthony Capps, a former EDM 310 student who is now a 3rd grade teacher in Baldwin County. Dr. Strange asks Anthony questions about Project Based Learning and how he uses this in his classroom. Mr. Capps tells about how he thinks Project Based Learning works efficiently, helping students learn the material they need for their projects along with completing the projects at the same time. Mr. Capps also states that the students are "driven by content", meaning that the projects he creates for his students drive them to have the need to know more on that subject.
In the video "Discovery Education", I learned about a type of learning tool that I had never heard of before. Discovery Education is an online tool for students to help learn about a certain subject or thing on a level the teacher might not know about. This tool has videos from experts on certain subjects that the students may want to know more about. During this video Dr. Strange makes a comment saying pretty much that students learn better by seeing than hearing 50 percent of the time. I agree with this comment a lot, I am one of those students that learns more by seeing than hearing.
Another video I found interesting was "Use Tech-Dont Teach It". In this video Dr. Strange and Mr. Capps discuss the controversy of technology in the classroom and how it should be incorporated into classrooms everyday. Mr. Capps talks about how instead of teaching technology, you should incorporate it into your assignments and have the students using the technology as a way to learn it. When incorporating this kind of technology into your classroom, Mr. Capps says you should do it slow, and adding new technology factors in weekly. I really like the way Anthony Capps talks about the way teachers should use technology in the classroom and agree with his methods.
I learned a lot from Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps video discussions. I loved the way Anthony talks about how he teaches and involves technology into his classroom. I hope that when I become a teacher I am as organized and focused on helping my students to learn through all the different ways that he does. It is so nice seeing teachers today excited and enthused about the things they do and want to do in their classrooms!
What I learned:
In the first video "Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grader" we are introduced to Anthony Capps, a former EDM 310 student who is now a 3rd grade teacher in Baldwin County. Dr. Strange asks Anthony questions about Project Based Learning and how he uses this in his classroom. Mr. Capps tells about how he thinks Project Based Learning works efficiently, helping students learn the material they need for their projects along with completing the projects at the same time. Mr. Capps also states that the students are "driven by content", meaning that the projects he creates for his students drive them to have the need to know more on that subject.
In the video "Discovery Education", I learned about a type of learning tool that I had never heard of before. Discovery Education is an online tool for students to help learn about a certain subject or thing on a level the teacher might not know about. This tool has videos from experts on certain subjects that the students may want to know more about. During this video Dr. Strange makes a comment saying pretty much that students learn better by seeing than hearing 50 percent of the time. I agree with this comment a lot, I am one of those students that learns more by seeing than hearing.
Another video I found interesting was "Use Tech-Dont Teach It". In this video Dr. Strange and Mr. Capps discuss the controversy of technology in the classroom and how it should be incorporated into classrooms everyday. Mr. Capps talks about how instead of teaching technology, you should incorporate it into your assignments and have the students using the technology as a way to learn it. When incorporating this kind of technology into your classroom, Mr. Capps says you should do it slow, and adding new technology factors in weekly. I really like the way Anthony Capps talks about the way teachers should use technology in the classroom and agree with his methods.
I learned a lot from Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps video discussions. I loved the way Anthony talks about how he teaches and involves technology into his classroom. I hope that when I become a teacher I am as organized and focused on helping my students to learn through all the different ways that he does. It is so nice seeing teachers today excited and enthused about the things they do and want to do in their classrooms!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Blog Post #4: "What do we need to know about asking questions to be an affective teacher?"
In this source of information about asking questions as a teacher, the author talks about why teachers really ask questions and why that process is not always effective. In his writing he says...
"The fallacy with this type of thinking is that the students do not understand that they do not understand, and if they do not know what they do not know, there is no way they can ask a question about it."
Even though this quote is kind of tounge twister, I understand exactly what he is trying to say. When teachers finish a lesson, and then ask "Does everyone understand?", most students are not going to even be able to know if they understand or not. Students categorize themselves when they are a part of a classroom, smart, not smart, doesn't care, ect. And when a teacher asks questions students know when they should or should not answer based on their "role" in the classroom. So when asking questions as a teacher it is important to know each and every student in your classroom's "role" so that you can help them be molded into the real student that they can be.
Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom.
1. Prepare Questions
2. Play With Questions
3. Preserve Good Questions
Thursday, February 6, 2014
C4T Summary
C4T #1
For my C4T assignment I was given #TomSchimmer as my teacher. The first blog post that I read of Mr. Schimmer's was titled Accurate Grading with a Standards based Mind Set. In his post Mr. Schimmer describes how grading is and how he thinks it should be. His blog post is a summary of a webinar that he posted right before, that can be seen here. He talks in his summary about the differences in elementary, middle, and high school grading standards. He also talks about what he calls the "Standard-based Mindset". The standard-based mindset represents the "heavy lifting" of the grading conversation. As he says in his post, "Once we shift how we think about grading, the implementation of standard-based grading is easier, since the way we think about grades, how we organize evidence, and what we think is most heavily emphasized is different". Mr. Schimmer thinks that it is more important to grade a student thoughtfully and meaningfully than just giving them a grade solely on test and percentages. He hopes that all teachers will start having a standards-based mindset.
In the comment I posted under Mr. Schimmers post, I completely agreed with what he had to say about grading. Grading should not be based only on tests, quizzes, and written exams. The way a student may or may not learn goes beyond just how they score on a test. I also talked about how I learn as a student and how I, myself am one of those "not so good at tests" students. Even after studying hard, doing all my homework and assignments, ect. I could not always keep up with my peers when it came to high test scores. I hope to see, as well as Mr. Schimmer, teachers in the future that start grading students not only based on scores but by what they learn in other ways as well.
C4T #2
The second post I read of #TomSchimmer was titled "Points over Practice?". In this post Mr. Schimmer talks about the troubles with grading homework. He addresses the questions like should homework be assigned, how much is too much or too little, should it be graded and is it formative. Mr. Schimmer speaks about these topics at conventions and recently spoke at the Pearson's ATI's-20th Annual Summer Conference on the subject. He believes that homework should be for practice and used formatively instead of as a part of report grading.
I love the way Mr. Schimmer thinks about homework and grading, and hope to be a model of the kind of teacher he is someday. In my comment under this post of his, I talked about how I agreed with his thoughts on the subject of grading homework. I also explained my point of view, stating that all students do not learn at the same speed, meaning some students may not make a good grade on homework for material they were taught the same day. I think good ideas on grading homework could be to give bonus points to students that complete their homework or to just give a completion grade for their homework. Even if you use these ideas you should still grade the homework so you can see what each student needs help on. I have enjoyed reading Mr. Schimmer's post's and am excited to read more!
For my C4T assignment I was given #TomSchimmer as my teacher. The first blog post that I read of Mr. Schimmer's was titled Accurate Grading with a Standards based Mind Set. In his post Mr. Schimmer describes how grading is and how he thinks it should be. His blog post is a summary of a webinar that he posted right before, that can be seen here. He talks in his summary about the differences in elementary, middle, and high school grading standards. He also talks about what he calls the "Standard-based Mindset". The standard-based mindset represents the "heavy lifting" of the grading conversation. As he says in his post, "Once we shift how we think about grading, the implementation of standard-based grading is easier, since the way we think about grades, how we organize evidence, and what we think is most heavily emphasized is different". Mr. Schimmer thinks that it is more important to grade a student thoughtfully and meaningfully than just giving them a grade solely on test and percentages. He hopes that all teachers will start having a standards-based mindset.
In the comment I posted under Mr. Schimmers post, I completely agreed with what he had to say about grading. Grading should not be based only on tests, quizzes, and written exams. The way a student may or may not learn goes beyond just how they score on a test. I also talked about how I learn as a student and how I, myself am one of those "not so good at tests" students. Even after studying hard, doing all my homework and assignments, ect. I could not always keep up with my peers when it came to high test scores. I hope to see, as well as Mr. Schimmer, teachers in the future that start grading students not only based on scores but by what they learn in other ways as well.
C4T #2
The second post I read of #TomSchimmer was titled "Points over Practice?". In this post Mr. Schimmer talks about the troubles with grading homework. He addresses the questions like should homework be assigned, how much is too much or too little, should it be graded and is it formative. Mr. Schimmer speaks about these topics at conventions and recently spoke at the Pearson's ATI's-20th Annual Summer Conference on the subject. He believes that homework should be for practice and used formatively instead of as a part of report grading.
I love the way Mr. Schimmer thinks about homework and grading, and hope to be a model of the kind of teacher he is someday. In my comment under this post of his, I talked about how I agreed with his thoughts on the subject of grading homework. I also explained my point of view, stating that all students do not learn at the same speed, meaning some students may not make a good grade on homework for material they were taught the same day. I think good ideas on grading homework could be to give bonus points to students that complete their homework or to just give a completion grade for their homework. Even if you use these ideas you should still grade the homework so you can see what each student needs help on. I have enjoyed reading Mr. Schimmer's post's and am excited to read more!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Peer Editing - Blog Post #3
Complements, Corrections, Suggestions!
Peer editing can be a tricky subject, critiquing the way someone does something can end up in many different scenarios which is why you must do it right! In the first video "What is Peer Editing?" it shows good examples of ways you should and should not peer edit. I love the three steps they gave for peer editing, complements, corrections, and suggestions. When you peer edit it is important to not only critique someones work but also to tell them their strengths as well. If you only tell a student their flaws and negatives it can make them get discouraged and lose hope. When making corrections it is also important to keep positive as well, while also letting them know specifically what they need to work on. Just scanning someones paper and pointing out things non-specifically is not always enough! When pointing out mistakes you have to give the student suggestions on how to correct each mistake. Isn't the whole point of peer editing to suggest and show the other person how to fix their mistakes! The last video "Writing Peer Review Top Ten Mistakes" was very cute and showed examples of wrong ways to peer edit. This video showed real life examples with "mean Margaret's" and "picky Paula's, which in the video were example of real life scenarios of how you should not act when peer editing. Overall the main thing to remember when peer editing is to stay positive!
Peer editing can be a tricky subject, critiquing the way someone does something can end up in many different scenarios which is why you must do it right! In the first video "What is Peer Editing?" it shows good examples of ways you should and should not peer edit. I love the three steps they gave for peer editing, complements, corrections, and suggestions. When you peer edit it is important to not only critique someones work but also to tell them their strengths as well. If you only tell a student their flaws and negatives it can make them get discouraged and lose hope. When making corrections it is also important to keep positive as well, while also letting them know specifically what they need to work on. Just scanning someones paper and pointing out things non-specifically is not always enough! When pointing out mistakes you have to give the student suggestions on how to correct each mistake. Isn't the whole point of peer editing to suggest and show the other person how to fix their mistakes! The last video "Writing Peer Review Top Ten Mistakes" was very cute and showed examples of wrong ways to peer edit. This video showed real life examples with "mean Margaret's" and "picky Paula's, which in the video were example of real life scenarios of how you should not act when peer editing. Overall the main thing to remember when peer editing is to stay positive!
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