Final Reflection

Here for you viewing pleasure is my Final Reflection on the semester. I hope everyone has had a great semester.

Project 16 Final Project

Project 16 is an Ibook that we had to make for our final project of the semester. This project consisted of work that we had done throughout the semester to be used collaboratively so it has elements from each participant. My group was named Sparta and the Spartans of this group were an excellent group to work with. I'd like to thank Mitchell, Greg, and Jefferey for the great group we had. Best of luck to everyone.

C4K last summary

For my final C4K summary I was able to meet two very pleasant young students who have great potential. The first of these students is Mya. In her post which can be found here, was how to describe her setting. She done a wonderful job of describing the cold around her. I told her that she had done a great job of describing what the area around her was like and that I hoped she would continue on the great path she is on.

The second student I had the pleasure of reading a blogpost from is DJ. DJ's post was describing what FIAFIA is and why he enjoys it. He explained that FiaFia is a type of dance that he has learned. I told him that he has done a wonderful job of explaining what this event is and that I hope he continues to enjoy it.

Final C4T blogpost

For my last comments for teachers assignment I was assigned Dr. Vitulli from here at the University of South Alabama. In Dr. Vitulli's post she was talking about how wonderful her class had done with one particular assignment. This assignment was mask making.

There were many different types of masks that her class had made and she was quite proud of them. I would have been too. I told her in my comment that I was in Dr. Strange's Edm310 class and that she had just opened a new door for me to study in history and I thanked her for the great post; which can be found here Unfortunatly there was no other blogpost for me to comment on for Dr. Vitulli as the rest of her posts were about grading resuming.

Project 12b

In this blog post about project 12b you will see a video that Sparta group has put together following the instructions for Project 12b. I hope you enjoy.

Blog Post #13

The instructions for this post are as follows.

I want you to use research to find websites about how to use technology in a history classroom. This is a broad subject but I want you to use your imagination and come up with something other than "the internet" as a technology tool. What I am looking for is useful ways to give a History lesson using today's technology. Be creative and use your imagination.

Here is an example

Blog post #12

There exist plenty of assistive technology for blind students. There exist Portable Notetakers. They’re lightweight devices that use a speech output rather than a visual one. They can be connected to printers and computers and are usually equipped with a special, braille keyboard. However, there do exist QWERTY keyboards for those who prefer that style of keyboard. There also exist screen readers which reads aloud everything that is on a computer screen. This includes text, icons, and even drop-down menus. There are also digital book readers which are sort-of like audiobooks and there are also various magnification devices that help those who may not be blind, but are still considered visually impaired.

Here's a link to all those devices mentioned as well a list of well-known products that are commonly used by the blind. - Jeffrey Brazeal

C: The concept of teaching mathematics to the blind seems a little far fetched, but is something that should not be overlooked. As teachers, we may encounter students with special needs and we will have to figure out how to handle that. In the video (How to teach math to blind students) they explain how that even numbers have their own braille symbols and all it takes is just a little extra mileage to help the students understand the concepts. This is more true with Trigonometry then anything else, as having to feel the shapes takes a little longer than simply looking at the object. Texas is one of the leading areas in the teaching math to the blind thanks the efforts of Susan Osterhaus, a Secondary Math Teacher at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Susan brought this to the attention of the 10th International Congress on Mathematical Education, which was held in Copenhagen, Denmark on July 4-11, 2004. As we can see, this is something that became a huge deal in the teaching community and is something that needs to continue to be looked after. The end of video, however, had a statement that affects children of all kinds. The statement is that when a student has positive feedback and encouragement, then the student will do better in school. - Greg

E: In the Video “Teaching a Mother What Her Deaf/Blind Child is Learning on the iPad” was an interesting view, and rather hillarious. It is a teacher, I assume, teaching a person, a mother I assume, how their child uses the iPad. First off, it is interesting to watch a normal person trying to figure out how to use it for the first time even when it is just sliding to the next screen. The difficulty that she was experiencing is only increased drastically by the fact that the student is blind or deaf. I remember when I first got my HTC One, I had no clue how to handle any of the devices or even get it to sign into the internet. Turning it on was a chore, I couldn’t find the button for 30 minutes. It is amazing that there are students out there that are figuring out how to not only navigate an iPad simply by touch and sound alone, but also can figure out how to type on the device.

Assistive technology comes in many shapes and forms. Last semester I did a site visit to the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind for EDU400 and I got to see and actually use some of these tools. My guide that day was a man named Stephen Sullivan and he has been legally blind his entire life and has worked at the institute for 20 years. He uses a lot of the technology there to help him with his daily tasks. In my research for this blog post, I stumbled across a great website called EnableMart. It is kind of like an Amazon for assistive technology. It has things as simple as large print keyboards and magnifiers for computer screens as well as more advanced tools. The large print keyboard and magnifier would be very helpful in a classroom that has a student with vision problems. An example is the Headmouse Extreme, which “provides precise and efficient head-controlled access to computers” (EnableMart.com). This particular tool would be extremely valuable with a student with sensory and motor disabilities. This website provides assistive tools for people with a wide range of deficits and disabilities. It has tabs for speech and communication, learning and instruction, vision, hearing, sensory and motor skills, and even assistive technology for the elderly. I would encourage everyone to take a look at this site just to see how much technology is out there that can be used in the classroom or even at home. Some of these tools can make a huge difference in a child’s education and all teachers need to at least be aware of them. – Mitchell Lane

There are a lot of assistive technologies out there for use in the classroom as a teacher. I have found a program called word talk that I think would be useful when using Microsoft word in the classroom. This software can help students with reading and writing difficulties. Some of the features of this software is that it reads the text in the document as well as highlighting the text as it reads allowing for the student to follow along. There are numerous options that allow for customization. For access to this software go to this link.
Another interesting assistive technology that I found is called speedtype. Speedtype is software that is used to make typing easier for those that struggle with it. Speedtype is an abbreviation expanders otherwise known as shorthand. With this software those who have difficulty with typing or those that are slow can increase their output of word processing. By decreasing the time in which it take them to put a word document together this program could potentially help self-esteem and give them time for other projects. –John McPeek

Project #10 Teacher Interview

Unfortunatly the video portion of my interview is nothing but my desktop background but the audio and the meat of the interview is still intact. Here for your listening pleasure is me interviewing High School Art Teacher Anna Villareal from Toledo, OH.

C4K monthly summary

I had two comments for kids this month the first one was a student named Kama from little voices little people. This was a post welcoming Kama to the class. I extended a greeting and welcomed him into the class as well and said that I hope he enjoys his time learning.

The second comments for kids was Gloria from a School in England. She and a fellow classmate had done a brainstorm on Australian New Zealand Army Cooperation. I told her that she and her friend had done a wonderful job of showing support for their soldiers and that I hope to see more great posts from them.

C4T #3

I have had the great pleasure to read 2 posts from David Warlick on his blog The first one involve him talking about time travel and him coming back from the future to come to a conference. It was not a very long post but he did say that he would do some Q&A at the conference and that he met someone he wanted to and took a selfie with him so. The selfie that he took would go onto twitter and he would look it up in the twitter archives when he went back to the future. I told him that this was an interesting story and that I wished he would have elaborated more on the Q&A portion of the conference as I think it would have been very interesting.

In his second post he says a little about learning that their maybe two types. "personalized learning" which he classifies as being able to be packaged, monetized, and marketed. While the other "personal learning" liberates learning. In my comment on the post I told him that I agree with his assessment and although I am not yet an instructor I hope that I will be able to tell the difference between the two.

Blog Post 11

I watched the 1st one, and it has some awesome stuff discussed. To begin with, he talks about how he deals with students that are not high in knowledge, not just because of their grade level (4th) but instead because most of them did not even know what country they lived in. He talks about a weather balloon project that they did in class and the different aspects that went along with it. Not only did it have science and math, but also some language arts and literary aspects. The students were engaged throughout the entire project, and learning became a serious experience to them. Using the web to talk to people, conduct research and even give presentations about the project to other classes across the globe the students had their work cut out for them. - Greg

Sam Pane is a 5th grade teacher at Wilson Focus School in Nebraska, Tennessee. In the video, Sam Pane is teaching his students on how to be good “digital natives”, denizens, or, frequent users of the internet. To teach his students how to be good digital natives, he has his students create their own webcomic that stars a superhero that they themselves create via a online program that allows you to create a superhero. I think that is perhaps the best idea for a lesson EVER. Seriously, I wish I could have done neat stuff like that when I was in elementary school. Shoot, I make my own superheroes every now and again already, it’d be something I’m already awesome at, heh. The hard part though is coming up with a good name for your hero or heroine. This just further reinforces the fact that if you make lessons fun, it’ll make children become much more engaged and passionate about whatever it is they’re learning, mostly because it won’t really feel like learning. Also, by having your students create something, it instills a sense of ownership, a sense of pride in whatever it is they’re creating. - Jeffrey Brazeal

In a video called Project Based Learning by Dean Shareski, we get to see yet another classroom that is fully utilizing Project-Based Learning. In this classroom, multiple subjects are actually combined. So, students aren’t participating in a class that is divided up into “periods” or “blocks”. It’s all one classroom that is being taught by three or so teachers. It’s a very interesting system, though the teachers do talk about how difficult it was to put such a system in place. But, it was worth it. This video further proves just how effective Project-Based Learning is (as though you really needed more proof, heh). - Jeffrey Brazeal

Heres #2:
Paul Andersen teaches AP Biology at a high school in Bozeman, Montana. His video may only be ten minutes long, but it is packed with valuable information. He introduces his style of teaching as a blended learning cycle. He combines blended learning and its three components: online, classroom, and mobile with a learning cycle that aims to engage, explore, expand, explain, and evaluate. He created a mnemonic device to remember the steps of his blended learning cycle. He uses the word quiver. First he presents a question. Second, he encourages inquiry/investigation. Third, he uses video to further explain his topic. Fourth, he elaborates upon the material. This step involves reading and being able to pull valuable, relevant material from text. Next, he reviews his students in small groups so that he can verify that they fully understand the material covered. Finally, once all other steps are reached, he tests his students with a summary quiz over a few units. This was a very helpful video that I'm sure I will be looking back to for inspiration in the future. - Mitchell Lane

Video #3
This video by Mark Church is a promotion for his book Making Thinking Visible. In this video Mark has put his students into groups and encourages them to talk about what they have learned up to this point. While they are discussing the topic the students are to come up with a headline about what they have learned. Mark then states that after a couple of weeks they will revisit the headlines and see what headline they would now come up with. This was a very interesting way of getting students involved in a project. I believe that this would be a good way to get the students interested at the very beginning of a project to see how time and a little more learning about a subject can change their outlook on things.- John McPeek

Video #6
In this video Roosevelt Elementry highlights their Project Based Learning teachers and students. They talk about all the aspects of PBL that help the children grow. One of these aspects that they highlight is that of public speaking. PBL really helps in these lower level classrooms to get children comfortable speaking to groups. Another thing that is highlighted in this video is collaborative work. This skill is a great thing to teach at this early level of learning because it’s what most adults have to do at work anyhow and to learn how to do it effectively and efficiently at this age can only help the students as they grow and learn. The last thing that is highlighted is how much the students enjoy it. The video has parents of children that are in the class tell of how it is helping their child and how much their child is learning using this method as well as how much they enjoy PBL. The aspect that children are loving PBL is what has brought me to believing how powerful a learning tool it can be. - John McPeek

Blog post #10

There are a few things that I think we can take away from Sir Ken Robinson in his presentation. While I was watching this video one thing that Sir Robinson said was to enjoy what you are doing. This I think is a great statement. He said he has seen so many people just getting by with what they are doing and waiting for the weekend. This is part of what we need to change; If we start doing the things that we love as a job then we won't work one day in our lives. I believe that I have found what I will be doing for the rest of my time and that is to teach anybody what I know and to learn on a daily basis.

The next thing that I think we can take away from Sir Robinson is that our education system does need a revolution not just a rehashing of the old way of doing things. The first steps have already been taken by teachers who embrace the PBL way of teaching. If there is a revolution we are the ones that are going to have to make it happen. I do think that our children and the students of today deserve more that what has been offered to us. A lot of schools today are only worried about funding and attendance policies so they can get that extra dollar for a student being there. This does not lead to children learning this leads to teachers and admin being mean to students about missing a day. I beleive Sir Robinson is right and we need to usher in an education revolution where we want students to learn and be happy while learning instead of worrying about faculty being upset that they didn't get that dollar for a student who happened to be sick one day.

The last thing that I think we can take away from Sir Robinson is what he said at the very end of his presentation. We need to be careful because our children lay out their dreams beneath our feet and if we are not careful we can stomp all over them. This brings to mind the story that he told of the fireman. I thought it very funny that there was an instructor that told him he was gonna be wasting his life if he followed that path only to end up saving the life of that instructor and his wife. We need to encourage our children and students to follow their dreams and reach for the stars, and if they fall down let them know that we will be there to help lift them back up to help them chase that dream.

Project #15

This Project #15 link will take you to the google site that I have set up for you to view my projects.

Smartboard Project #12

In this video I show that I can use the basics of the smartboard I hope you enjoy!

Sparta Group Project #9

In this thrilling discussion between myself, Mitchel, Jeffrey, and Greg we talk about Technology and partnering as well as it's impact on the classroom.

Blog Post #9 Mrs. Cassidy Interview and what I learned

This weeks blog post is about what I feel that we can learn from Mrs. Cassidy in her interview with Dr. Strange. The first part of this assignment had us looking at a video that Mrs. Cassisdy's 1st grade class made to show what they are doing in class. Little Kids...Big Potential is the video that they made. In this video the kids give a brief rundown of what they do with technology in the classroom. Their list of technology uses range from making a blog to using skype to talk to an expert. Watching videos like this gets me more and more excited to become a teacher and use today's and tomorrow's technology in my classroom to teach my students.

The first part of the interview is found here There are some very interesting things that Mrs. Cassidy brings to light in this part. In this part she talks about how she got involved in using technology the way she does for the students. The most valuable things that took away from this part of the video are how to try to keep your students protected while they are on the internet and that technology is here to stay and will only become a larger part of education as time goes by. In reference to keeping the students safe a good example is set by Mrs. Cassidy by not allowing the students to post pictures of themselves with their name. She also refrains from letting them post their last names. This I think is a great way to help keep the students protected.

The second part of the interview can be found here. In this part of the interview Mrs. Cassidy talks about how she got into twitter and how it helps her. The most that I took from this video is that twitter can be a very useful tool if used correctly. Mrs. Cassidy herself said "at first it doesn't seem like it will do anything for you." But she also said eventually as you follow people that are closely related to the topics that you are looking at then it becomes useful because they might post a link to something you never would have seen otherwise.

The last part of the interview can be found here. In this part of the interview she takes questions from students in EDM310. I found one of the answers to a question very helpful to any teacher not just a physical education teacher. The scenario is that something gets cancelled. It is far easier for the teacher to send out a text or post an announcement on something like a class webpage than to go down to the office and try to get everyone's attention via the intercom to get the message across. By sending the text or posting an announcement then the teacher is sure that everyone got the message. This three part interview was very interesting and I took a few things away from it that I will probably use. More than likely I will use some type of classblog to integrate technology into my classroom and I think I will be using twitter more and more to expand my PLN.

Blog Post #8 New Technology

New Technology is frightening to some of us but if we learn how to use it to our advantage then there will be no reason to be afraid of it. Since the beginning of EDM310 I have been trying to find out new ways that I can use technology when I become a teacher. My ambition is to teach History at the High School Level. I have kept this in mind when doing my research of ways to use technology to help me become a better instructor.

The Center for Teaching History with Technology is a great place for me to start. This website has a lot of things that will be useful to me and many other history teachers. The setup to use this site is very easy, once you get to the page via the link I have provided everything is at your fingertips. The left side of the page has tabs with topics on them. The one that I suggest people use is the getting started tab as this will introduce you to the site and give reasons on why to use technology in the classroom. There is one tab in particular that I think is very interesting on this site and that is the new resource of the week tab. This section of the website gives a teacher a new resource to look at and see if they can incorporate it into their classroom. This website has tabs for lessons and activities, where it gives suggested lesson plans for certain areas of history, civics, economics, and geography. Other interesting features include presentations and discussions for the students to take part in, as well as giving some rubrics and assessments for the teacher.

For integration into my classroom I believe I would use this technology to better learn how to create projects for my students. Using this website would help me become a better teacher as there is a plethora of information on this website that would help. Using this website would enable me to become a teacher that uses 21st century technology to it's utmost potential.

Project #14

To see project #14 take this link to the google site that I have made for these lesson plans.

C4T #2

For the second edition of Comments for Teachers I had the great pleasure to read The Middle School Matrix blog by Mr. Hadley Ferguson.

In the first post that I commented on entitled Just Laugh was a great blog to read. Mr. Ferguson's class had just gotten back from winter break and it was the last class of the day and he could tell that the kids were ready to get class over and just go home. Mr. Ferguson had to come up with something to catch their imagination and keep it. What did Mr. Ferguson do? He set the class up in groups of three and gave them an article on what they had been studying. This article had funny names to the children and giggling and happiness ensued. Mr. Ferguson at first wanted to shut this down but instead joined in. This may not sound like much but when the children in that class seen him having just as much fun as them they became more engaged in their work. The comment that I left basically told him how I enjoyed that he was able to sit back and laugh with the students. By having fun being a teacher and watching the students have fun I thought that he reached a wonderful place in teaching.

The second post that I commented on was also by Mr. Ferguson although I had to backtrack to a post before the winter break. In this post Mr. Ferguson's class was getting ready for winter break. He had his class for 90 minutes that day and needed a way to keep the students engaged. He came up with the plan of making the "best" map of Africa that they could make. He left the "best" part open to the students. What happened next was that the students broke up into groups and started making different maps of Africa. A couple of examples of these maps were population maps and rainfall maps. Those are just two of the maps the students came up with. He was quite pleased with the outcome of the project that he had them do. The comment I left told him how I think that he once again had come up with a great way to engage the students imaginations and that I think his incorporation of letting the students play some music lightly in the background helped to ease tension in the room.

Favorite Historical Person Project: Project #13

This project is for a History class of 7th Grade.

This is the link to the google site I have set up to view my project 13

Blog post #7

It seems to me that Dr. Pausch is a very inspirational person about life, teaching, and learning. Dr. Pausch, throughout his his lecture talks about the same things that Dr. Strange has been wanting us to use and learn in this EDM310 class. In this last lecture video Dr. Pausch talks about all the different ways that learning and teaching are acomplished. When Dr. Pausch was making the class that is explained in the video he talked frequently about Project Based Learning. Everything that students do in that class is based off of projects. There are no books for that class it is completely project based. He assigns projects to groups every two weeks and after those two weeks he assigns new groups and new projects. This is a great way to implement project based learning in my opinion. Dr. Pausch talked a great deal about the projects that his students had done and of how fond he was of the outcomes of the projects. He stuck with the mantra of leaving an open experience for the students; meaning that they had an open field with what the projects could be on.

I believe that Dr. Pausch's class is a wonderful example of how Project Based Learning can be done right. After watching his video I am amazed at how little this technique is used in teaching. Dr. Pausch also talked a little about learning. The best thing that I took away from him about learning is that our critics are the ones trying to help us be better and that listening to them and changing things can only help us to be better. If I was not convinced that Project Based Learning could work before watching this video I am now. If I can be anywhere close to the Instructor that Dr. Pausch was, then I will think that I may have done it right.

C4K Summary for February

For my first C4K I was assigned a wonderful student in Mrs. Reuters class named Aaron. In the first blog that I commented on he was doing a comparison of two comic making websites. The first one was named Toondoo and he listed the pros and cons of this website. The second comic maker is named Makebeliefscomix, where he also listed the pros and cons of this website. The end of his blog was about which one he would choose to use. In my comment I told him that I thought he done a wonderful job with his blog and that he had done a good job listing the pros and cons of each site.

For the second of my February C4K's I was assigned a student by the name of Benjamin. Benjamin wrote a poem that was in the form of a riddle.The comment that I left Benjamin was that it was a very good poem and that the answer was Santa.

The last C4K of February was once again Aaron from Mrs. Reuters class. Aaron continues a story from an earlier blog that he made about four kittens getting super powers. In this edition of the story you tells of how they saved Milwaukee. The comment that I left for Aaron this time was one of encouragement. I told him that his blog showed that he has a great imagination and that he put it to good use.

Project #8 Book Trailer

If for some reason you only hear music and only see a black screen change the viewing quality to 720p.

Blog post #6 Personal Learning Networks

PLN stands for personal learning networks. These are used by people everyday, sometimes without knowing what they are. Social media outlets are mostly what PLN's are made from. From Facebook to Twitter social media is the main source of how people communicate in the world today. These personal learning networks can help teachers by getting them in touch with other teachers that may know more about the subject one is trying to teach. To get the insight of many people to help with the learning process even as a teacher is priceless. The more people that are in a persons personal learning network the more valuable the personal learning network is. I think that it is great to have personal learning networks. Having the knowledge that I can contact someone that I am comfortable with and being able to pick their brains about subjects without actually having to sit down and do a long interview is great.

I had already started having a personal learning network before taking the EDM310 class, I just didn't know that's what I was doing. I have a twitter and a facebook account already set up. The more research that I have been doing and the more blogs I have read have contributed to me following more people on twitter and facebook. As time goes on I am sure that I will continue adding more and more people to my personal learning network.

Blog Post #5

The first two video's of the assignment for this blog post are interviews with Anthony Capps a Third grade teacher in Baldwin County that talk about some of the projects that he does in his class.. Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher and Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher are the links to these interviews. The things that I have taken away from this interview are that that kids in Mr. Capps class are very eager to learn and love doing most of the projects that he sets forth. He explains, in this interview, that the projects he does also keeps him learning things. I love the thought of doing projects based learning and Mr. Capps, by explaining just how much the kids in his class enjoy it, has only strengthened that thought. The one project that really intrigued me was the one about writing letters to a congressman. The students had to do a lot of prep work to get these letters ready and Mr. Capps explains what went into this project during the interview. Another thing that interested me in these interviews was the way Mr. Capps explains how well it is received by the administrators of his particular school. From what Mr. Capps explains project based learning is very well received and liked by the administrators. This type of reception leads me to believe that project based learning is the type of teaching that is going to gain ground and take over the traditional method of "burp back education" as Dr. John Strange puts it.

In this interview,iCurio Mr. Capps does a short explanation of what iCurio does. iCurio is a search engine that is put together for educational purposes. There is a lot of material out on the internet that is inappropriate for students. iCurio makes it so instructors can be less wary of where students get their information. This website also has other features that Mr. Capps explains in detail like the folder options for storing information that students have gathered. I believe that this is a suitable search engine for educational benefits. iCurio will be something that I look into further, and once I've done research on it, may possibly use it for my educational endeavors.

Discovery Education is a short video interview with Mr. Capps about how he uses discovery education. Without going into to much detail, as I encourage you to watch the video, I will tell a little of this application. Discovery Education sounds to me like a very useful tool in the arsenal of a project based learning educator. This application brings video and experts of certain areas into the classroom via video. Video and reading these days go hand in hand in our technologically based civilization.

In The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1 Mr. Capps and Dr. Strange go through a short list of things that may help teachers who are just now coming into the field of teaching and those that have been teaching for years. After watching this short interview I find that they come up with a short list of things that should be used by every teacher. The most intriguing one to me is to be flexible. I find that if you are flexible, and not just set into one way, that as a student or teacher you can enjoy the fruits of labor put into the projects put before you. Being flexible allows for small or large adjustments that may be necessary. If one was not flexible with this it would make for a very unsatisfying project.

In Don't Teach Tech - Use It Dr.Strange and Anthony Capps talk about whether teaching technology or just implementing it is better for students. The overwhelming result from both Anthony and Dr. Strange is that it should be implemented along with the regular teaching. Mr. Capps says that scaffolding the projects and the implementation of technology and leaving time for reflection has helped his students very much. I must say that I agree with how Mr. Capps thinks. We don't need to teach the technology only give time for the students to get the basics and they will more than likely know more about the technology that we do.

One last little bit of information is given in additional thoughts about lessons. In this very short video Mr. Capps explains the four layers of a lesson. As I end this assignment I can only think that I have learned a bit more about how project based is implemented and how well it does in the eyes of those instructing it.

Blog post #4 Questions and how to ask them.

Questions are what keep the mind learning. If there were no questions then that would mean that people would know everything there is to know in the entire scope of reality. Now we know that is not the case because we pose questions to people and ourselves everyday. I was told, from a very early age, that the only stupid question is a question not asked, and I believe that philosophy works for me even to this day. Questions can be very confusing if not asked in the right way or manner. What is the right way to ask a question to a group of students? Well the answer is not a simple one but there are a few things we as educators can do to help us get our question phrased so students are engaged.

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher? There are a lot of things that one needs to know in order to ask a question effectively. We need to know the goals of the questions we are asking. If we only give students yes or no questions are we really stimulating the mind of a student? There are ways to get a great question and get the students minds stimulated. One technique is to ask a question wait 3 seconds and then call on a student at random. The theory is that the students do not know who is going to be called on and therefor start thinking about the answer they want to give. How we phrase our questions can be a good way of getting students to be involved. Another way of getting students involved is by putting a question on the board at the beginning of class and having students think on the question throughout the class.

For further help on how to ask questions the right way I will provide links to websites that have strategies. The right way to ask questions in a classroom
Asking questions to improve learning
Three ways to ask better questions in the clasroom
Asking better questions in the classroom
Questioning styles and strategies

Project #3 Presentation

C4T #1

For my comments for teachers assignment I was directed to US History Teachers Blog, where I have had the pleasure of commenting on Mr. Ken Halla's posts. The posts that Ken places on his blog are mostly about US history.

The first post that I commented on was about mistakes that changed History. There wasn't much said on the post because it was a video. The video contained some interesting mistakes that changed history. One of the facts was on the Archduke Ferdinand's assassination. The comment that I left told of how I liked the video and that part in particular. I also told about my time in Sarajevo when I was in the Army.

The second post that I commented on was one that said Mr. Halla's was going to put on a presentation for flipping the classroom. Not much was said in the post itself but attached to the post was a slideshow of his presentation. The purpose of his presentation was directed toward teachers and how they can incorporate this style of teaching in their own classrooms. The comment that I left told of how I appreciated him putting up the slideshow on the blog and of how informative that I thought it would be for my own usage as I told him that I was currently in school to become a teacher.

Blog Post #3 Peer review the right way

Peer reviewing can be quite a daunting task. It is really difficult for me because I do not like to ruffle feathers and upset people by giving criticism, whether it is bad or good. I know that I must overcome this thought process in order to become a good educator. I always feel like I'm being picky over things when I peer review someone else's work, yet I know this isn't true. I have a feeling that after I get finished with EDM310 I will have a little bit of a better grasp on peer reviewing.

After watching the videos and flipping through the presentation that was given I feel that the peer reviews I've done in the past did not do justice to the paper I was reviewing. The thing that really got pointed out to me was the punctuation and grammar. I have been known to be a comma hater in papers. One of the things that I found that I have done in the past is to get off topic when sitting with someone to review their work. Peer reviewing is a great thing and can be very helpful if you get the right peer to review your work. By staying on topic, being nice, having constructive criticism, and being specific on the types of errors in the paper a peer could give you a much better outlook on your project than either a boss or a teacher could, because it is easier to listen to a peer than to feel you are being judged by a superior.

Blog Post 2

The professor dancealot video was entertaining and pointed to some glaring holes in the way in which we teach our students. I think that the author of this video was trying to show that active participation in the class room is needed to learn. It is seen in this video that the professor is only giving the students lecture about how to do dances and not actually letting them participate in the learning process. The argument is showing that students need to be actively involved in the learning process in order to comprehend what needs to be done. By showing the students not being allowed to get up and do anything and then not knowing what to do by the time of the final the author shows that he believes the way in which things are taught does not help the students. After watching this video and seeing just how it actually looks I tend to agree with what the author of this video was trying to get across. I sometimes have felt that I did not learn anything in some of my classes because I was not allowed the opportunity to get the hands on portion of the class. It's like trying to learn how to drive without ever getting behind the wheel of a car.

In the video put together by Dr. Strange of Kevin Roberts powerpoint, Roberts thinks that teaching in 21st Century is going to be a lot different than that which most of us have had. Roberts thinks that teaching is not going to be about the information aspect of learning but is going to be how to channel the information gathered from the multiple sources available. Teachers will not be the ones to give out the dates, or information but will be teaching students about what to do with that information and how to channel it correctly. He provides valid arguments in that most students will use the current technology to get the information. It is so much easier to get the information from the internet than is was in the past through newspapers or the encyclopedia. Roberts pointed out that information is so readily available from sites like google, twitter, and facebook. Students do not need teachers that are going to spew out facts and dates they need a teacher that will guide them and show them how to use these outlets of information to further learn. To me Roberts has the correct outlook on how teaching is going to be in the future. I completely agree that this is the way that teaching is going to be done if it is not already starting to change. If this is going to be the way that teaching is done then it is going to change the way that I will have to be as an education. I will not be relied upon the teach the next generation about the history of the world but I will be relied upon to teach students where to find the information and how to use it to benefit them.

When one asks the question why does the 21st century student need a teacher I say because that student needs to be guided in how to use that information. Lets say for instance a student does a project on the history of Rome. This student finds all the information that is needed from internet sources that are reliable but now what does he do with it. This is where a teacher comes into play. The role of this educator is to guide the student into making the proper citations and how to not plagarize. The networked student is learning not just providing information. The student is setting them self up for what they will have to do in the work force later. The video showed great points in how the teachers of the 21st century will be people who guide and show how to use the information that is being presented instead of spewing out facts and information.

The argument that Davis is making is that every student should be involved in their learning process. Its not just the teachers responsibility to teach but also the students responsibility to aid in the learning process. Davis is showing that teachers do not need to know everything when it comes to a certain subject. The fun in being an educator and a teacher is that learning is always constant for teachers and for students. I think that Davis is correct in the way that she thinks and this way of doing things is going to lead to a brighter future for generations to come. To teach students to blog and use the internet effectively and not just for entertainment will help students become effective learners. To see all of this type of technology for teachers and students makes me very exited about becoming an educator and to spark the learning process.

Flipping a classroom is a new idea to me that I have not heard of until I saw this video. Flipping a classroom to me seems like it would be a great way to have the students come to class with some knowledge of what will be taught in the class to next day. This seems to me like it would alleviate a lot of downtime due to having to introduce the topic and teach it all at the same time. This would expedite the teaching and learning process. I do believe that this technique would be great as a teacher as it will give students time to watch the video and get some one on one learning done. Once I get to the teaching part of my career if the school that I instruct at does not have this implemented I will suggest it to the administration.

Blog Post One

There really hasn't been that much that I have heard about EDM310 other than I had heard that it takes a lot of work and time to complete up to expactations.

There are quite a few fears that I have about EDM310 and one of them has already happened to me. Even though I know that this post is late and that late work is not acceptable I will still post it as this was one of the fears that had. The fear is that I would not look at the work that was do and miss an assignment. After this post there will not be another late post from me. As for more of my fears, I fear that I won't be able to do what is expected of me and that I will fail the class.

There are some major differences between EDM310 and the rest of the classes I have taken up to this point. It has been a real shock to my system to not be told when things are due in class and instead have to fend for myself and make myself look up the due dates. I'm not saying that this is bad or that I don't like it. In fact it is very good practice for helping me not procrastinate. All of my other classes have the syllabus but also announce in class the due dates and times of classwork and homework.

The most difficult thing for me to do in this class will be to remind myself to keep checking on the times and dates that everything is due and try to be early and on time with everything. The experience that I have had with being late with this first blog post has taught me a valuable lesson "always be on time and keep track of what is going on. If I can learn this lesson and take heed to what it means I believe and can tackle this most difficult part of EDM310.

Practice Post

I am John McPeek and as a child I was born and lived in Virginia because my parents were both Military. When my parents ended their time in the military we moved to Houston, Texas where we lived until I was 6 years old. When we left Houston we moved to Big Point, Mississippi where I lived out the rest of my childhood and my parents still live there today. As an adult I followed in my parents footsteps and joined the military where I was moved around quite frequently. My first duty station was at Ft. Sill, OK where I stayed for 4 years. During those 4 years I temporarily lived for 2 months in Haiti as well as a 7 month stint in Bosnia. When I reenlisted I chose a different place to go; I chose to go to Ft. Lewis, WA. I lived there for 4 more years and finished out my military career there before moving back to Big Point, Mississippi where I still reside today. As for some of my interests I enjoy camping, fishing, and playing video games. I enjoy watching sports on t.v. and spending time with my wife and children. Let me give a brief history on my family dynamics. I am a father of four girls and if that isn't enough I have 2 dogs that are girls as well. I have been married to my wife for 14 years and have enjoyed every minute of it. I have raised 3 of my girls to adulthood and have 2 beautiful grandsons to add to my family as well. My fourth daughter is in the 7th grade. I have decided at long length to enter the field of education because there have been teachers in my past that have had large influence in my life. As I said before I was in the Military and while I was there all I really enjoyed doing was teaching the other soldiers what I knew. When my career with the military was over and I got new jobs the only thing that brought me enjoyment from those was after I learned the job I wanted to teach others what I knew. This brought me to the realization that I would have more fun doing a job that revolved around teaching and educating. I attend USA because it is the nearest 4 year college to me and the one that has great ratings when it comes to the education department. One of my passions includes being a passionate fan of the Green Bay Packers Football Orginization.

My Test Post Title

This is my first post. I clicked the HTML button which I should always do in EDM310. I am now a Blogger!