Friday, March 29, 2013

Project # 11

This is our green screen project! I'm so glad we came together and decided to do this! It was a blast!

Blog Post # 10

Paper-mate & Ticonderoga:

john spencerIn this picture that John T. Spencer drew there are two different brands of pencils but ultimately the same characteristics. The boy drawn which represents the paper mate is very nice and looks professional. As for the other boy which is the Ticonderoga he is not professional, at all. I think the point that this picture is trying to convey is that it does not matter how much something cost it is how you present your self in life. The paper mate boy looks clean and very well taken care but the pencil he represents is not expensive. The point is, is that it does not matter the amount of money you spend on something, it matters how you present your self and how people perceive you.

Why were your kids playing games?

This was a very interesting blog post written by John Spencer. This blog post contained a conversation between a teacher and his principal on how he can not have "games" in his classroom. This is obviously a strict policy in that particular school. The teacher explains and tells the principal it was, in fact, not a game but an advanced simulation. The principal does not let the teacher explain his purpose of his activity; instead he gets grilled on doing memorization for the children. In my opinion, I think this is a significant problem because everything inside a school should be based on the students and their needs to learn effectively. If a advanced simulation helps them learn something better than putting it on a piece of paper then that is how it should be done. It should not be a one-way learning street.


I Banned Pencils Today:

 I read the blog I Banned Pencils Today and it was very interesting to read. I did not have a particular reason for picking this blog; I just really liked the title and it caught my attention.  In this blog post Mr. Spencer writes about the day he banned pencils in his classroom. This was a way for students to really use their minds to solve a problem. It was more difficult because they did not have any way to record any information for the problem they were given. Mr. Spencer's purpose to this experiment was to get the students to use their highly evolved minds to solve this problem. It is amazing that we have all this technology and depend on it for so many things but Mr. Spencer is right for doing this to his students. It is a great way for students to think and get their minds motivated.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please!

This is a blog post written by Scoot McLeod, he is a blogger, author, and professor. He is also the Founding Director of UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). I really enjoyed this post because it was very humorous and everyone needs a little funny in their life. I would have to say I am on Mr. McLeod's side. He made some very vital points. I think ignoring technology will only hurt you in the long run and, quite frankly, that is not even going to work. There is no way to avoid technology unless you live under a rock. I think people preaching pens and paper have not seen the beauty that technology holds in our world. Yes, there are some horrible things that happen on the internet; but in this case the bad out weighs the good. The internet and everything it provides for our learning is absolutely amazing and it does help us more than hurt us. Yes, we might talk a little funny or write weird but that is something we can be a little stricter on. I really enjoyed this blog post; I think Mr. McLeod is a brilliant/hilarious person! 




Sunday, March 24, 2013

Project # 12



I did my book trailer on Oh, The Places You'll Go! written by Dr. Seuss. Enjoy!!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Blog Post #9

Mr. McClung's Version 4 Post:

google.com
Mr. McClung discusses some really great points on teaching at the end of his fourth year. The best advice he can give is that make sure your students are happy! He did focus a lot on how his students perceived him; but that was, of course, not a great idea. There is always going to be someone, somewhere that does not like something you do or say. This is especially hard for teachers because of the fact we have to do our jobs and do it effectively. He also made sure that his students did not resent school. This is very important because everyone has struggled with not liking school at one point in their life. I think it is very important for teachers and future teachers to make sure we make school as enjoyable as possible.  He also talks about how he lost a lot of creativity over the years because he taught the same material over and over. This is where he said his students started not to enjoy class and that was something he did not want to happen. That is why it is so important to make sure that each year; we strive to make sure our lessons are better than before and the lessons that were not so great should be revised and maybe new ones should be made. Yes, that means more work on top of the work we had before. But in the long run, our students will be happier and so will the teachers!

What I've Learned This Year (2008-2009):

This blog post was written after Mr. McClung's first year of teaching. He gives a lot of great advice. I'm just going to pick a few that really stand out for me personally. Be flexible with your lesson plans! There is never going to be a perfect lesson plan and that is okay! I think this is a problem among teachers because we do strive to be perfect and have perfect classrooms. BUT we are human and we are not perfect. So we just need to strive to be as great as possible. Mr. McClung talks about being reasonable with your students. We all hold students up to a very high standard and when they do not meet the expectations of what we think they are; we are very hard on them. He says that instead of letting them think they failed; pick the student up and tell them to try again. I think this is perfect with all aspects of life; but especially with school. We are not always going to understand everything the first time and that means we have to study harder or lok at from another perspective. Yes, school is very hard but the reward you get from accomplishing school is an amazing feeling! The last and most important piece of advice is to always listen to your students. It is very important to have a bond with your students. This means getting to know them on a personal level, as well. It is very important to listen to what a child says. I want to be the teacher that listens to her students and make sure they know I am hearing what they say, rather than just listening to them and nodding my head. Communication is a failing existence in our generation; which means that it is our job to make sure we communicate effectively with our students.

I really enjoyed reading Mr. McClung's blog posts about his teaching career! I have some great insight about what my future will hold as a teacher and I think I am up for the all the responsibilities ahead of me!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Blog Post #8

This is How We Dream:

 In this video, Dr. Miller is discussing writing with multimedia. He discusses how he began his writing by finding his love for books. He grew up in a house that had many books and he knew that one day he would want a career that dealt with books. This is really how everyone finds their niche in life. Your parents show you something and then you either latch on to it or you let it go and find something else to make you happy. It is like for everyone in their life; whether it was your parents, friend, or who ever.

Mac ComputerDr. Miller goes on saying that documents live a dual life. They appear in hard copy somewhere and then on the internet to remain there forever. I absolutely agree with Dr. Miller when he says that this information can be shared infinitely.This is going to be great for everyone; because not everyone can access the same in different places. I know this is already going on in some places; but when it does make it everyone I believe that it will be wonderful opportunity for students.

Collaboration has to be the part of the internet. Since I am experiencing this first hand through a special group project; I have to say that it is absolutely amazing to all be in different places and work on the same material together. It is very effective and it makes me stay on task. I love how we can all just do everything together and not have to worry about sending emails back and forth. It's so convenient. 

I really enjoyed this video and thought it was very informative on writing in the web. It shows that there many different ways to write on the web and what the writings are used for.

Blog Post #12 By Carly Pugh:

Carly does a great job explaining her reason for picking this assignment. I love her enthusiasm and  creativity on this post. It is absolutely amazing to see someone so passionate about something. I love her idea of the playlist and her specifics on what kind of videos you should put into it. It is a great idea and I think it would be great for parents to see. It explains a lot about you and how you want to teach. I think parents would really appreciate a teachers effort for doing that and it would explain how things are done inside the classroom. I think I might start making my playlist now!! It will be so beneficial for me because it will help me mold my ideas into a specific place and organize them in an effective way. I am very fortunate for this to be brought to my attention because it is beneficial to my future career.

My Video Idea:

I think if I could create any video I would want it to be about the importance of going to school and embracing embracing everything even if you are scared. I think the most important thing in life is to be open minded; not just with your views but with your education. It is very important to try new things and different ways to learn. Especially in EDM310!!! This is all different for everyone but eventually this will be the way we teach our students maybe not in this exact form but the internet will be used more and more every year in schools. I think it would be very effective to make a video on how students with open minds can take their education a step further.

I got this idea from the Chipper series. She came in with different reasons every  time to talk to Dr. Strange and every time she would say something even crazier than the time before. Her procrastination and crazy ideas set her back so far. This is a great video about procrastination and the effects it can take on your life. Chipper's life hit rock bottom before she realized that school was the only option for her and her staying on task was important.  EDM310 for dummies was very helpful on providing information on how to keep calm and organized during this class. It was a really funny video to explain it. I really enjoyed it.

Scavenger Hunt:

 Comic Strip:

The product of some insane thought in my head! Enjoy!


Animoto.com: Video Tool

This program is similar to iMovie. You can choose a style of for your video and add music or text to it. This is a good program because not everyone can access iMovie.  The best feature about this is that it can be done on a smart phone such as an Android or iPhone. I'm sorry, I lied, the absolute best feature is that it's FREE! I can not wait to use this!

polleverywhere.com: My First Poll

Kayla Sandifer Poll





C4T Post #2

A GeekyMomma's Blog: It has happened to me and it can happen to you, too!

This specific post was about your social media and or other accounts being hacked! I learned a lot about passwords and other things I did not know about when it comes to your personal information. I stated I am very guilty of thinking no one would ever hack into my account. I told her I was very glad she wrote about this because it did actually catch my attention and check some of my accounts, including my bank accounts. I also went on to tell her that I checked to see if my pin was a common used one and luckily it wasn't!

Bullying: Not Just For Children Anymore.

Workplace BullyingThis post was about the how bullying is inside the work place. I commented saying that a lot of people did not know that the a lot of bullying occurs in places that children are not present. I told her it was great that she had shown the effects of bullying in the work place and that it was great she showed ways to help prevent the stress. I also went on saying that I was very fortunate to see this post because I could use this in the work environment  to know exactly how to handle a situation like that.