Blog Post #11

This week, we were assigned to watch a video by Ms. Kathy Cassidy, as well as a Skype interview between her and Dr. Strange. The video we watched is called Little Kids...Big Potential. In the video, we see pictures and video of Ms. Cassidy's students using the technology they have available in their classroom. First, we see the kids working on their laptops, and the child narrating tells us about how they all enjoy writing on their blogs. People leave them comments on their blogs, and they really enjoy seeing people's comments. The students also explain that their writing skills increase every time they post to their blog! One student makes a point that when you comment on people's blogs, you should never say anything mean. You should always be nice and stay positive when commenting, and that's great advice to follow!

The children also talk about how they use their class website as a central hub to find and pick sites that will help them learn about things like numbers and the alphabet. They do this during a set time during class, and they go to the class webpage to choose what they learn about. Another tool they use in the classroom is a wiki page. They asked for help from others to learn about different topics, like traditions and rituals. People added to the class's wiki their own examples of traditions and rituals, which helped the students learn about them. When the kids made a wiki about the alphabet, people from Alabama made videos and uploaded them to the wiki for the children to watch! Skype is another tool the children use often. They use Skype to talk to students at other schools, as well as experts in certain subjects! I have to admit I was thoroughly surprised when the children introduced their Nintendo DS systems as something they also used in their classrooms. I never really considered that the handheld gaming system could be used in classrooms as an educational tool, but the children talked about how they used them to play NintenDogs! They played the game to help them learn how to read. They also state that using the Nintendo DS has helped them become better problem solvers, and they've learned how to share.

We were also instructed to watch this Skype interview between Dr. Strange and Ms. Cassidy. When asked how she first got involved with technology and how long she's been doing this, she stated that she got involved with technology about 10 years ago because she had suddenly been given 5 computers for use in her classroom. She explains that she's actually had her class blog for 5 years at the point the interview took place. She also explains that she takes security measures to protect her students identities when they post on the internet, and parents are actually very excited and appreciative of their kids using the internet because they get to directly view their children's progress.

I think what Ms. Cassidy is doing is great! I think it's important to introduce kids to technology as early as possible. Even as kids they can learn so much from technology. I think it's neat how she created a class webpage with links to all kinds of games and learning exercises that her students can choose from. Giving them the freedom to choose which games they play to help them learn is such a good thing because it teaches the kids independence, but it also gives them the opportunity to show they can be trusted to use technology appropriately. That's definitely something I'll use when I become a teacher. I can create a class blog or webpage where I post assignments, and I can post links to useful websites. Since I'm changing to Spanish as my concentration, I could even use Skype with my students to talk to native Spanish speakers so my students can hear how it is spoken by someone for whom Spanish is a first language. Of course, there would be some obstacles I might face when using the internet in the classroom. I'll have to make sure my students understand that during classtime, checking Facebook or Twitter isn't appropriate unless I've given them a specified time in which they can do so. But I feel like I'll be able to trust my students, for the most part. As long as I show them I trust them and respect them, I'm sure they'll show me they can be trusted.

C4T #3

For my third C4T, I was assigned to read two posts by Hadley Ferguson. The first blog post I read was Staying Connected. In this post, Hadley talks about how, over the past year, she spent a lot less time staying connected with those in her PLN than she usually does, and she comments that, because of it, she didn't grow or learn as much as she does when she is connected. She explains that staying connected by reading other people's blogs and following people on Twitter allows her to learn new things and keep up with new trends. She can compare her methods with those of others, and she feels she is a much better teacher when she stays connected. However, she iterates that by staying connected, you stay busy. It takes time and energy to stay connected with your PLN, but it's worth it because of all the things you learn and all the people you meet.

In my comment, I agreed that it's very time consuming to build your PLN and stay connected, which is something I'm learning about here in EDM310. But I've learned a lot from reading the blogs of teachers and other students. Everything I've learned can be applied to my future career as a teacher, so it's worth being busy and continuing to build onto my PLN.

The second post I read was Because a Laptop is Distracting. In this post, Hadley talks about some strategies to help students learn to deal with the distraction of the internet while working with computers. First, she says that it's important to accept that your students will struggle with getting distracted. It's all part of working with computers and the internet, but you need to talk to them about it and help them deal with it. Second, she advises that you provide your students with a time to "check in" with their social networking sites to help relieve the temptation. For instance, you can provide your students with 5 minutes before or after class to check their Facebooks and Twitters. Third, she tells us about a technique called "45 your laptops". When she tells her students to "45 your laptops", they tilt the screens down to about 45 degrees so the screen is less visible, and therefore, less distracting. It also helps get rid of that physical barrier that seems to exist between the student and the teacher. Fourth, she suggests you encourage students to take notes by hand instead of using the computer, at least initially. Taking notes by hand takes longer than typing them, and it helps them learn while they write. Then, you can assign your students to type up the notes as homework to help them learn and understand the notes even better. Lastly, she advises you to teach your students to try a few things to help them decrease the temptation, such as closing out all windows that don't pertain to schoolwork, turning the laptops upside down when not working with them, and using apps like iProcrastinate to help them keep track of the work they need to do.

In my comment, I expressed that I really struggled with getting distracted when trying to work on assignments, so that's something I need to learn to deal with before I can teach my students! I said that I thought the "45 the laptop" idea was a good idea since a lot of the distraction comes from being able to clearly see the screen. I also explained one strategy I've used before, which consisted of using a time manager app for my computer that blocked certain websites for a specified amount of time. I used this strategy to study for finals last semester, and I'll likely be using it again!

Project #14 SMARTboard

Blog Post #10

I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga.

This week, we were asked to take a look at the above comic by John T. Spencer. The comic was posted to his blog Adventures in Pencil Integration. This comic is a parody of all those PC vs. Mac commercials you see on television. For any of you reading that might be having a lapse in memory like I did, Papermate and Ticonderoga are both companies that make pencils. In the comic, Spencer is comparing Papermate to PCs and Ticonderogas to Macs. Papermates are more affordable but they "break" often, according to the comic. Ticonderogas are more expensive but are supposedly of better quality. I personally used a lot of Papermate brand pencils in my time in school, and I never had any trouble, but again, this comic is a parody. So to each his own I suppose!

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?

We were also assigned to read Spencer's post Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?. I've got to admit that I didn't catch on to the point of the post until about half way in when I read the line "Do you remember what I said after the Hang Man Fiasco of 1895?". In the post, a teacher named Tom is called to the principal's office and scolded about playing a game with his students. Tom tries to explain to the principal that the game he was playing was teaching his students an important lesson, and that his students were engaged in the activity. However, the principal refuses to listen and shows more concern for the students making high scores on the "rote memorization test". The principal tells Tom that if he wants to "abandon slate-based learning" that Tom needs to at least try some worksheets or algorithm packets.

From what I can tell, Spencer's post is a parody of technology integration in our schools, as well as commentary on how it seems like a lot of school administrations are still focused more on test scores than actually teaching their students what they need to know. As Dr. Strange puts it, so many schools these days are still relying on "burp back" education. There are also too many schools who still haven't made any progress in integrating technology into the classroom. People are so afraid of change that they'll work hard to resist it, even if said change is actually a good thing and would make things much better! Because of this, many teachers who try to advocate for change and more technology integration are met with disagreement, and we need to fix this. Yes, it's hard to change from something you've been doing the same way for decades or even centuries, but it's time for a change, and technology can do wonders for us and our students.

Another brilliant post I read from Spencer's blog was 10 Points on Pencils. The post basically addresses the issues many teachers and administrations have with the integration of technology into classrooms. Except for his post, Spencer replaces modern technology like tablets and cell phones and computers with paper and pencils. It's quite humorous but also very witty. I love his use of sarcasm and how he talks about using paper and pencil. It really sounds like he's a teacher from the early 1900s advocating for change to move away from slate and chalk to paper and pencil.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Our other assignment for this week was to read Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please? by Dr. Scott McLeod. Dr. McLeod is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky and the founding director of UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). The post is a poem written by Dr. McLeod. The poem uses heavy sarcasm, telling teachers, parents, and administrators to not teach their kids and students about technology. In the poem he sarcastically points out that technology is "evil" and only teaches kids how to cheat. Basically, he mocks the idea that children only use technology in bad ways, like for watching porn and for cyberbullying. At the end of the poem there's a break in the sarcasm, and he snidely point out that he will teach his students about technology and that they'll be way ahead of the game in the future, compared to the students and kids whose parents and teachers refused to teach them how to use technology.

I think his post was absolutely brilliant. I can really appreciate someone who uses sarcasm productively and efficiently, and Dr. McLeod accomplishes both of these things in his post. I agree that schools are so quick to demonize technology and assume the worst in kids when it comes to using technology. Yes, bad things on the internet do exist, but we can't just automatically assume that our students will use technology irresponsibly. If we don't give them a chance to be responsible, they'll never learn to be responsible! We have to allow our children and students to exercise responsibility. We have to be able to trust them. Yes, they're going to make mistakes. We all make mistakes. It's part of human nature, but we learn from our mistakes, and that's exactly what our students will do. They'll also learn from their successes. But first, we have to learn to let go and let our students fly because if we don't, we'll only hold them back.

Project #11 Short Movie

Project #12 Book Trailer

Blog Post #9

At The Teacher's Desk: Part 1

This week, we were assigned to read two blog posts by Joe McClung. The first post I read was What I Learned This Year (2010-11). McClung first talks about how important it is that, as teachers, we stay focused on what's best for our students, not necessarily what will please our administrators. He says we initially became teachers to help kids, and that "our decision making process should always be student centered and not centered around pleasing adults". Another point he makes is that you can't expect everyone to be as excited about teaching and change as you are. Not everyone in the teaching profession is going to be as excited and open to change as you might be. However, you shouldn't let those people stop you from being excited. Don't let their attitudes towards change stifle your own eagerness and excitement.

Another point McClung makes is that you shouldn't be afraid to be an outsider. He explains that he enjoys hanging around with his students more than his colleges, and he is aware how that might make him an outsider. But he loves being so connected with his students, so he doesn't really worry about how others perceive him. McClung also points out that it is important to "never touch the keyboard" when you're teaching students. In other words, don't be so eager to take over whatever task you're teaching a student. A student isn't going to learn anything if you do the work for them. Yes, your students are going to struggle while they learn to master whatever skill you're teaching them, but they won't ever really master that skill if you're constantly stepping in and doing the work for them. The last point, McClung makes is we as teachers shouldn't allow ourselves to get too comfortable. While routines can be nice and help us feel comfortable and secure, we need to try new things to keep us from developing routines. Once you get into a routine, he explains, you can become stagnant and stop moving forward. And when we develop an attitude like that, it can be hard for even our students to get motivated. Therefore, we must "be willing to exceed the demands of the traditional 8-3 teaching format", for both our own benefit and for the benefit of our students.

This was a really great post. I agree with all of the points he made. I think it is really important that we focus on what's best for our students. If we concern ourselves too much over pleasing the people who are above us, we risk losing sight of what is really important to us and why we got into the profession in the first place: our students. Something I've learned through my time here in EDM310 is that, unfortunately, not everyone in this course takes their work seriously, and not everyone cares about learning about this new technology we're learning about. The same goes for our teaching careers. Not everyone will be excited about change, and that's something we have to realize. Even so, we can't allow them to influence our own thoughts and feelings about change. We have to keep our fires lit and use that fire to spark the fires of our students. I also agree that it's super important for teachers to stay connected with their students, even if it makes them look odd to their fellow teachers. After all, we're in this for our students, to help them be the best they can be. And we can better help them if we keep connected with them, whether that be through social media or just being around them during lunch or breaks or for hang-outs in the classroom after school.

At The Teacher's Desk: Part 2

The second post I read was What I Learned This Year-Volume 4. In this post, McClung first talks about how he didn't learn as much that year as he had in previous years. But he did learn two important things. The first thing he learned was that he needed to remember who he really worked for and not to worry about how his peers perceived him. He explains that he became wrapped up in concerning himself with how his colleges perceived him as an educator, which is something he never really concerned himself with in previous years. He says that after realizing this, he reminded himself that his main concern as a teacher was making sure his students were taken care of and were having fun. The second important thing he learned was that you must always challenge yourself. He tells us how he noticed himself becoming too routine in his teaching. He admits that he began depending on old lesson plans, and as a result, he began to lose his creativity. However, he was presented with the opportunity to teach a different subject, and even though it will require a lot of work from him, it will be worth it.

I love how this post tied in with his last "What I Learned This Year". He restated in this post that he needs to stop getting so concerned with how his coworkers view him as an educator and focus more on his students. As teachers, it is our job to focus on our students and make sure we are helping them reach their full potential, and we can't do that if we're too worried about what other adults think of us. Again, he also reiterates that you must not allow yourself to become stagnant in your teaching. If you allow yourself to get into a routine, you run the risk of being apathetic to change, which is dangerous. So, in our careers as teachers, it's important to keep that excitement alive and always look for something new to try!

Blog Post #8

This Is How We Dream

One of our assignments this week was to watch This is How We Dream: Part 1 and Part 2 by Richard Miller. In his videos, Miller talks about how we are living in an age of change. Printed materials are becoming a thing of the past, while it is becoming more popular and more practical to read articles, books, and papers online and through computer screens. Miller explains that "this is the time to be engaged in the work of literacy." Miller also makes a point how we are able to go online and get real time updates on news stories and other things. He uses the presidential election of 2008 as an example, saying that, at the time, you could go online to a major news station's website and get immediate updates on which candidates were getting the votes in various counties and states. He also explains that by having academic material posted online, that material can live on for much longer than printed materials can, and you can also share online documents "infinitely", as he put it.

Miller continues on to explain that another incremental change is that through the internet, we are able to collaborate with other people using networking technology to create projects and write articles. Miller stresses that "ideas don't belong to us individually, but they belong to us as a culture." He gives iTunes U as an example of this. People can find lectures and information on all kinds of different subjects through iTunes U. However, Miller explains that iTunes U can be used to make wonderful compositions, but a lot of the lectures people are downloading haven't gone through any post-production work at all, and that's disappointing. The internet allows us to share and distribute ideas instantly, and it holds so much potential for academics, but for some reason, our culture isn't fully embracing it yet.

One of Miller's most important quotes in the video is, "We as educators must be in the business of sharing ideas freely." As a future teacher, I must be prepared to be able to write and share ideas using multimedia, and I will be expected to teach my students how to do this, as well. At the moment, no, I not yet fully prepared to write using multimedia, but that's what EDM310 is helping me learn to do. By the end of this course, I will know so much more about multimedia and education technology than I knew before taking this course, and I will be better qualified to teach it to my own students. With the speed technology is advancing now, it's possible that even when I do become a teacher, my students will know more about the current technology and how to use multimedia than I will. But as I've stressed before in my blog posts, it is my job to keep myself up to date and well informed on new technology so I can teach my students to the best of my ability.

Carly Pugh's Blog Post #12

A past student of EDM310 named Carly Pugh was assigned to create an assignment that Dr. Strange would deem worthy enough of being used for future EDM310 students. In her post, simply titled Blog Post #12, Carly describes that her assignment would be for everyone to create a YouTube playlist containing videos that reflect your views and philosophies as a future teacher. She gives a more detailed list of the types of videos she wants included in the playlists as well as guidelines for how many videos need to be included in the playlist and how many of the listed topics should be included. She then asks students to explain why they chose their videos and how they reflect their teaching philosophy. Carly even did this assignment herself, and you can see her playlist here.

Carly goes on to talk about some of the videos she included in her playlist, such as this one. I think Carly's suggested assignment comes pretty close to what Richard Miller talked about. Carly encourages students to use multimedia (in this case, YouTube) to describe their teaching philosophies and explain some of the things they have learned from EDM310. She encourages students to essentially use multimedia to share their ideas and beliefs, which is exactly what Miller hopes our future educators and other people will do.

EDM310 Is Different

Dr. Strange has made sure to explain to us that EDM310 is different from other classes we have taken. He told us to watch two videos at the beginning of the course. The first video, The Chipper Series narrates the story of a girl named Chipper who is taking EDM310, but she procrastinates all the time and eventually drops out of school. She doesn't get anywhere with her life, and after many failures, she has a change of heart and decides to go back to school and do better this time. The second video is EDM310 for Dummies. The video is a "commercial" advertising the book EDM310 for Dummies, and how the book will help you improve your knowledge and performance in EDM310.

If I were to create videos, I would definitely make a video telling people not to stress out too much over EDM310. I would explain that even though EDM310 is a lot of work, it's extremely helpful and it will really help you out in the long run. I remember at the beginning of the course, I was terrified of this class because Dr. Strange told us we would have to spend 9 hours per week on the material. But once I began the work, I realized it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be, and I've learned so much already. I'd also make some video tutorials on how to use Blogger and Twitter.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

The video Learn to Change, Change to Learn really makes a great point about our lack of technology in schools. Students typically aren't allowed to bring cell phones or tablets or even iPods to school, yet these are all wonderful tools that can aid our education! These are all tools that encourage creativity, and yet they're not allowed in schools, and students sometimes even get punished for bringing or using them. Instead of churning out SATs and other standardized tests for students to take, we should let their creativity flow. When these students get out in the real world and get jobs, they won't be approaching their jobs like they approach standardized testing. Their jobs will require creativity!

We don't need to focus on teaching kids to remember information and facts. We need to teach kids to find information, do research, and use that information to collaborate with others and solve problems. We need to create schools that teach children to embrace their creativity and to care about things, like their culture. The quote that really stood out to me was, "it's the death of education, but it's the dawn of learning." It's definitely time for a revolution in our education system, and we can start by teaching kids how to learn.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0

For this part of the assignment, we first watched the video Web 2.0 Intro, which gave us some insight into what we were about to do. After watching the video, our scavenger hunt began!

The first thing I found was a website that's similar to Twitter and Facebook. It's a website called Edmodo, and it provides a social platform for teachers. On the website, you can set up a classroom for your students, and you can post notes, alerts, assignments, quizzes, and even polls! The interface looks really similar to facebook, so it's easy to learn how to navigate, and since it looks like facebook, it would be much more appealing to students. I could use Edmodo to update my students on when assignments are due, and I can use it to post assignments and quizzes. I could even create a poll to find out how well my students are progressing and gain feedback on their opinions of the material being covered.

The second tool I found was the website Make Beliefs Comix, which allows you to make your own comic strips! Here's a comic I made!

The third tool I found is a website to create polls, called Poll Everywhere. I could definitely use this site in my classroom for my students to give feedback on the material being covered. Here's a poll I created with it:

C4T #2

For my second C4T, I was assigned to read two posts from Jennifer Brokofsky's blog Learning Out Loud. The first post I read was Program Evaluation: Pre-K-Grade 5 Math Learning Community. Her post was about an assignment she had to do for one of her classes, EDCUR 809. For her assignment, she designs a possible plan for the evaluation of a program. The program she chose to design an evaluation for is the Pre-K through Grade 5 Mathematics Learning Community. She lays out 5 important steps for the evaluation and explains them in greater detail. The first step in her evaluation plan is to engage the important stakeholders, such as teachers, the consultant team, and students. The second step is to focus the evaluation. She describes that the evaluation would focus on assessing teacher and student outcomes in the Math Learning Community over a short, medium, and long-term basis. The third step is to collect the information from reflections, observations, and products, including surveys, photos and videos, and written testimonials. The fourth step is to analyze and interpret the data. The data will show whether or not the program is effective in increasing student learning and success in mathematics. The fifth and final step is to use the information to make decisions around professional development in mathematics.

In my comment, I introduced myself and explained to her that I would be writing this C4T summary. I told her I thought her plan for an evaluation sounds great. I said I can really relate to her post because I'm going to be a math teacher, and I explained that it's great that she included students in the process of collecting data and feedback, since students are the ones who will be directly affected by teaching methods. I also said that conducting such an evaluation will help teachers share their successful teaching methods and ideas amongst each other.

The second post I read and commented on was Where We Are and Where To Go Next: Creating a Survey. In this post, she explains that she was assigned to create a survey for her EDCUR 809 class. Again, she created the survey for use by the Pre-K through Grade 5 Mathematics Learning Community. The purpose of the survey is to "assess the degree to which the math learning community members have reached the medium term outcomes." She goes on to describe exactly what those outcomes are, then she explains that she wanted to consider Guskey's five levels of professional development in order to strengthen her survey. She then links us to the initial survey she created, which you can see here. Then she links us to the revised version, which she created after sharing it with her colleagues and obtained feedback on it.

In my comment, I said that I saw definite improvement in the revised version of the survey from the initial version. The revised version asked much more in-depth questions and contained more open-ended questions that should give some very helpful information. I wished her luck on conducting the survey and reminded her that I would be posting a summary of her posts to my blog.

Project #9 PLN Progress Report

In order to keep track of all my resources for my PLN I decided to use Symbaloo. It's a website that allows you to "bookmark" resources in a neat and organized tile format, as seen above. You can color code tiles and organize them in any way you like. So far, I've made connections with people through Twitter and Pinterest, and I've been connected to other teachers through assignments given here in EDM310. For instance, I have Langwitches bookmarked here on Symbaloo so I can easily find it whenever I need it! I also have tiles linking to the EDM310 class blog, TweetDeck, Delicious, Glogster, and Prezi.

As my PLN stands now, I'm following a lot of boards on Pinterest related to education and mathematics, and I'm following quite a few people on Twitter who I've found through my assignments for EDM310. I am also subscribed to blog of one of the teachers I was assigned for C4T because I found his blog very enjoyable to read. I am currently in the process of learning how to use Delicious and Glogster, and once I learn how to use those websites effectively, I'll be able to contribute even more content to my PLN.

Project #8 Podcast

Blog Post #7

This week, we were assigned to watch Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Pausch begins his lecture right away by "introducing the elephant in the room". Right off the bat he explains his current medical condition, showing pictures of his latest CAT scans and saying that there are about 10 tumors in his liver. He further explains that his doctors have given him 3-6 months of good health left. He talks about it so matter-of-factly, saying "it is what it is" and that he can't change it. I love that he maintains happy spirits and a good outlook on it overall. He makes quite a few jokes about it in his introduction, so it definitely helps lighten the mood.

The first technique Pausch talks about is fundamentals. He begins my explaining that one of his childhood dreams was to play in the NFL. But he did play football as a child, and Pausch tells the story of his team's first day of practice. His coach showed up without any footballs, and when the kids asked why there weren't any footballs, the coach explained that they were "going to work on what those other 21 guys [who aren't holding the football] are doing". What his coach meant by that was that they were going to work on the fundamentals. Pausch iterates how important it is to learn the fundamentals of whatever subject you're teaching. Pausch further explains that if people stop trying to correct you when you've messed up, it means that they've given up. As a teacher, it's going to be important for me to never give up on my students and to always help them learn from their mistakes. Even as just a student here in EDM310, every week we're assigned a fellow student to leave a comment on their blog, and in the process, we learn to give constructive criticism, a skill that will be extremely beneficial when we become teachers.

The second technique Pausch discusses is leadership. He gives an example of another childhood dream he had: meeting Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk, as any Trekkie can tell you, is the captain of the starship USS Enterprise in the Star Trek series. Pausch explains that he sometimes wondered what skill set Kirk had that allowed him to be a member of the Enterprise crew, but then he realized that Kirk harbored the skill of leadership. As a teacher, I will be a leader for my students. Not only will I be a leader to them in the subject I teach, I will also be a leader to them in teaching them to learn the new technology that will affect us in the future. So as a future leader, I have to educate myself on the current technology being employed in classrooms now and prepare for the future of technology.

Another point Pausch makes is that there is a good and bad way to say "I don't know". There was a time when he had the opportunity to work with the Disney Imagineering team, a dream he had since childhood. He went to have a meeting with a Dean at the University of Virginia, and the Dean wasn't happy that the Imagineering team would own the rights to the intellectual property of the paper Pausch was going to help them write. The Dean threatened to call the deal off unless that clause was changed. Pausch asked the Dean if he thought this whole thing was a good idea, but the Dean said, "I don't know!" So Pausch instead went to the Dean of Sponsored Research. Pausch asked him, "Do you think this is a good idea?" The Dean's answer, paraphrased here, was, "I don't know if it's a good idea, but you're excited, so tell me more." One of our mottoes here in EDM310 is I don't know. Let's find out. And that's a motto I want to have in my future classroom. If I'm ever asked a question I can't answer by one of my students, I'll make sure we find out the answer together.

Pausch also tells us of a time when he started a class called Building Virtual Worlds. The class was made up of 50 students from different departments, like drama, art, and design, and they were randomly put into teams of 4 to work on projects every two weeks. After the first project, Pausch explains that he was absolutely blown away by what his students did, and he had no idea what to do next. So, he called his mentor, Andy van Damn, who advised him to go to class and say to his students, "Guys that was pretty good, but I know you can do better." His point was if you don't set a clear bar for your students, they will continue to surprise you and keep getting better. As a teacher, I can't expect my students to do their best if I set limits. Creativity doesn't flow well when it's pressed behind limits.

An important point Pausch gives about 52 minutes in is that the best gift an educator can give is to teach their students to be self-reflective. That's something Dr. Strange is teaching us to do here in EDM310. There are no grades. We give ourselves what we think we deserve. We have a checklist that we fill out ourselves and check tasks off as we complete them. During the course, we are to reflect on our work each week and see how we can improve. At the end of the course, we will evaluate our own performance and work in this class. When I become a teacher, it will be important for me to teach my students how to engage in self-reflection. As the saying goes, you are your worst critic. If you can learn to reflect on your work and make judgments on how well you're doing, you're going to be better able to learn and grow.

The last thing I want to iterate on is how, throughout the lecture, Pausch keeps bringing up that "brick walls let us show our dedication". When we run into obstacles, what really defines us and our ultimate success is how we deal with and overcome those roadblocks. When you're faced with an obstacle, you can do one of two things: give up or find a solution. And the people who choose to persevere and find a solution are the people who will do great things.

C4K Summary for February

C4K #1

For my first C4K assignment, I was assigned to check out the blog of a boy named Aaron, who is a 9th grader at Fairhope High School. The post of his I read was Code Talker: Halfway Post. In his post, Aaron does a report on the book he is reading for his history class. The book is called Code Talker, and it's about the Navajo code talkers that played an important role in the the U.S. military during World War II. Aaron describes the book as being about a young Navajo boy who is forced to go to a boarding school and learn English with other Navajo children. At the school, the Navajo children had their names changed and were forced to essentially forget most of their heritage. One boy, renamed as Ned, becomes fascinated by the Marines and wishes to become one, but he fears he won't be accepted because of his Navajo heritage. But an opportunity presents itself when the Marines begin recruiting Navajo people who are fluent in both Navajo and English. When he turns 16, he is accepted into the Marines and goes to bootcamp. After bootcamp, Ned and the other recruits are shipped off to Hawaii where they learn the skills they need as Code Talkers before they go to their field training. This is where Aaron leaves leaves off in his summary, stating that he will continue the summary when he finishes the book.

For my comment, I introduced myself and told him that I think it's really cool that his teacher, Mr. Cometti, is having his students keep blogs. I told him that I remembered learning about the Navajo Code Talkers in middle school and high school, and that the book he's reading sounds really interesting! It's sad that the military forced the Navajo children to conform to what was acceptable behavior and appearance in the eyes of the military, but that it was wonderful that Ned made the best of a bad situation and ended up achieving his dream.

C4K #2

For my second C4K assignment, I was given the blog of a boy named Radley. The post I read was about lions! He said that the female lion hunts for food in the day time, and at night time, the male lion kills other animals. He also added that he would like to be a lion because his friend Ryan likes lions!

For my comment, again, I started by introducing myself and said that it's great that his teacher, Ms. Balestrin, is teaching her students how to blog. Then I told him I thought it would be really cool to be a lion, too, and that I've always loved cats. I said to just imagine what it would be like to be a lion and hunt in the grasslands of Africa!

C4K #3

For my third C4K, I was assigned to comment on the blog of a girl named Faridah. She is a year 5 student at a school in New Zealand! The post I read and left a comment on was called Going Fishing. In her post, Faridah tells us that on sunny days, she and her father like to go fishing. One day, she and her father caught 30 fish! Then they cooked them and shared the fish with friends.

When I left my comment, I introduced myself and expressed my admiration for her teacher, Miss King, for teaching Faridah and the other students how to blog. I also told her that I've also been learning how to blog for EDM310. I said it was amazing that her and her father caught 30 fish! I've only ever caught one fish in my entire life. I also told her that it was really nice of them to share their catch with their friends!

C4K #4

For my last C4K of the month, I was assigned the blog of Caroline, a 10th grader at Baldwin County High School. Her blog post was about suicide. She wrote that she doesn't understand why people commit suicide. She explained that she lost her own uncle to suicide because he had been dealing with depression. She also said that a boy at her school took is own life, and that nobody really knew why. She explained that whenever she saw him, he looked happy, so she doesn't understand why he took his life. She wrote that people sometimes are driven to suicide because of bullies and depression.

In my comment, I explained that suicide is one of the leading causes of death amongst teens and young adults, and that suicide is a very serious and sad issue. I explained that it's important to be there for people who are feeling depressed and let them know that you are there to support them and talk to them whenever they need someone to open up to. I also mentioned that it's important that we teach students just how much bullying, harassment, and depression can affect people.

I think it was fate that I was assigned Caroline's blog. Suicide is an issue that is close to my heart, both because of my own struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide and because I have a lot of friends who struggle with it, as well. I always try to be there for my friends, and I won't hesitate to stay up all night with someone if it means I can save their life. I also hope to educate other people on these issues and how important it is that our society becomes more understanding and that schools teach young people to refrain from harassing other students just because they're different. So thank you, Dr. Strange, for assigning me Caroline's blog.

Project #10 Finding the Right Tool

Brain Nook

When I first started this project, I have to admit I was a little nervous. I was afraid I wouldn't have a lot of luck finding useful tools for math teachers. I was afraid that when I began my search, I would only find websites for making worksheets or tests. Luckily for me, I was proved wrong. At first, yes, I did come across some of the websites I anticipated I'd find. But after clicking a few links to different websites, I found an article talking about different useful tools and programs for math teachers. The first tool listed was Brain Nook and it instantly caught my eye. Brain Nook is an online game where students can learn and practice math and language arts skills while exploring a safe, virtual world. New users can create a cute alien character and choose from a variety of colors to customize their character. After the creation and sign up process is complete, you are brought to a short interactive video where a human girl named Bella explains where you are and what to do.

After this little introduction is finished, you're ready to begin your adventure! Your transported to the interactive world where you can select different types of games to play. Some of the games teach language arts skills while others teach mathematical skills. I played a game that allowed you to practice dividing fractions.

The game was pretty fun, and it was great practice to brush up on my own skills! Brain Nook is definitely something I will encourage my students to play. Brain Nook is something that can be useful for learning the basic mathematical skills and principles that are necessary for obtaining a strong foundation in mathematics. I can urge my students to use it whenever they feel like they need to review certain skills, like multiplying or dividing fractions. I may even require them to complete a few games every week on Brain Nook that are applicable to the material being taught for that week. From using Brain Nook, I expect that my students will increase their knowledge of basic math skills and be better prepared for learning new material. Plus, they will be doing so in a fun environment. Teachers even have the option of signing up their entire class to Brain Nook so students can play together and compete for gaining top scores on the website's leaderboard! So not only does it benefit their mathematical skills, but it also helps them develop a sense of community and benefits their social interaction skills. If another student is having trouble with a game, they can ask another student for help.

I chose Brain Nook because of it's simple yet fun atmosphere. It feels like you're playing a real online multi-player game, and in this day and age, a lot of kids do play online games. So, playing Brain Nook would be a fun way to learn the skills my students need! Plus, the virtual world of Brain Nook is safe to explore both at school and at home without worrying about coming across any inappropriate material. Another reason why Brain Nook is beneficial is because parents can get real time updates on how well they're children are doing. During the initial sign up, Brain Nook asks students for their parents emails so Brain Nook can email progress reports to the children's parents. This helps parents stay involved and invested in their child's progress, and parent cooperation and involvement is a key ingredient in a student's success!

Blog Post #6

The Networked Student

The video The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler tells the story of a boy as he develops a personal learning network (PLN). The student is studying American Psychology, and he starts building a personal learning network. The student first does research and practices finding websites and articles with valid, credible information on his subject. He shares what he finds on his social bookmarking site, and he also looks for other people who have bookmarked articles and websites on his topic. Then, he finds and subscribes to blogs where people write about the American Psyche, and he comments on the blogs, offering his own informed opinion. After conducting plenty of research and reading articles and blogs about the topic, he decides to create and manage his own blog. The student also uses his mp3 player to subscribe to and listen to podcasts available through iTunes U. These podcasts are recorded by professors who teach about his subject! The student is even able to contact the director of a documentary, who then discusses his documentary through Skype to the student's class!

At the end of the video, the narrator poses an interesting question: Why does the student even need a teacher? The narrator explains that his teacher is the one who helps him build his personal learning network. She teaches him how to research effectively and organize his information. Basically, she's the catalyst that helps jump-start the student's journey into developing his own personal learning network, and she is there to aid him whenever he has trouble or wants to learn something new.

This video gave a good example of how to build and maintain a personal learning network. You're not expected to start out already having a lot of connections or even knowing what to do. That's why you have a teacher or someone with more experience to show you what to do and give you advice on how to begin. Then, as you do more research and learn new things, you'll be better able to continue building onto your PLN on your own, as well as be able to help others who might be having troubles or are also just starting out.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

In Welcome to my PLE!, a seventh grader shows us her personal learning environment (PLE) for her science class. In order to keep everything organized, she uses a website called Symbaloo. She explains that the blocks in the upper rows are for personal use, while the blocks along the bottom row are what she uses for her school work. Every day, she checks the blog for her science class to see what will be covered that day. She also has a tile on Symbaloo that links to an essay on her Google Docs account that she wrote about learning how to write a scientific report. Another tile is linked to her Delicious account, where she has bookmarked websites that talk about the leopard gecko. She then wrote a report on her blog that certified her to handle her class's pet gecko. But that's not the only thing for which she uses her blog. She also posts reflections of what she learned in class. On her Symbaloo, she also has a tile that links to a special note taking program where she can paste pictures or small bits of text that she can look at later. This note taking program also keeps track of the sources from which the texts and pictures were obtained. She also created a glog about box jellyfish on Glogster, a site which allows you to create digital posters where you can compile text, pictures, and audio clips related to the subject of the poster. The student even emailed a professional to have her glog reviewed!

At the end of the video, the student explains that she likes this type of learning because it allows students to have more freedom. She can choose how and when to complete the work that needs to be done. She also explains that this type of learning teaches students how to be responsible. Even though students could look at anything they wanted on the internet and be easily distracted by social networking sites, the students feel inclined to work on their projects responsibly and be sensible about which websites they visit to do their research.

The student's PLE is a lot like my own PLN. She uses a variety of different websites and programs to help her compile and keep track of information she has researched. I am in the process of learning how to use Symbaloo, Pinterest, and Delicious in order to keep track of information I stumble upon. She also has a blog where she makes posts about what she has learned, which is exactly what we are learning how to do in EDM310. She contacts professionals to get their opinions, and she connects with her fellow students and others on the internet who share her interests, and she shares her own knowledge on her subject matter with them. In EDM310, we are building and expanding our network of connections by reading and commenting on the blogs of fellow EDM310 students and even other teachers and younger students across the world. Even when I graduate EDM310 and continue on to my career as a teacher, I hope to keep building onto my PLN and to teach my students how to create their own!

Blog Post #5

If I Built a School

Krissy Venosdale's blog post If I Built A School describes how she would build a school if she were given the opportunity. The first thing she talks about is how there would be a huge neon sign on the school's door that says "Welcome: Now Entering an Innovation Zone". That's the first thing a child would see coming to school, and I believe that would be extremely encouraging. She also describes a library with a fake tree with a treehouse and a cafeteria modeled after a comfortable, modern coffee house. She explains that "grade levels" would not exist; there would be classrooms that children advanced through based on ability and readiness, instead of based on age. There would be a colorful bus available to take the children on all kinds of field trips throughout the year, and the front hallway would have a large bulletin board where parents and other people from the community can post thank you notes. She also talks about how, every afternoon, students would get their "20% time", during which they would attend special classes about an area they were interested in. Children themselves would even have the option to teach a class during this time. Laptops, iPads, and other technology would be used daily, and their use by students would revolve around trust and respect and knowledge on how to use them properly. She states there would even be an aquarium in the halls, and that state tests would be cancelled! Sounds like a great school to me!

If I was given the opportunity to build a school, I would put an emphasis on creativity and the arts. I don't think the arts are being taught enough in our schools today. Every classroom would be decorated with a different theme. For example, one classroom would be decorated with a space theme, while another would be jungle-themed. There would be computers or iPads in each classroom, and every teacher would have to be technologically literate or be willing to become technologically literate in order to be hired. Students wouldn't take tests. Instead, they would express their knowledge through both individual and group projects. After all, we should be preparing our students for the real world, and often times, people in the workplace have to work as a team to get things done! Oh, and I'd definitely like to have that library tree house, too.

Virtual Choir

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir is stunning and beautiful. The quality of the voices was absolutely amazing, and the singing gave me goosebumps! Before watching the video, it had never really occurred to me that the internet could be used in such a way. Just think of what else can be done based on the same principle! Someone could conduct a full concert of musicians from all over the world! Or someone could compose a song with voice clips sent in from other people. It's really amazing how much the internet has brought humanity together. If you closed your eyes while watching the Virtual Choir, you would have no idea that the people participating weren't all together in the same place. And I'm willing to bet that a lot of friendships were formed between the singers because of that project. So not only is the internet a central hub for data and information exchange, it's also a center for forming friendships with people around the world! Listening to the interview between TED Radio and Eric Whitacre honestly made me tear up. Whitacre explains that he got the idea from a young woman who uploaded a video of her singing the soprano part to a song of Whitacre's called "Sleep". After watching her video, Whitacre posted to his blog that he was looking for singers, and he posted a download to his song "Lux Aurumque". A man named Scott Hanes offered to be the one to put together and edit all of the videos. The finished product, which is linked above, is something you will surely never forget. I hope to one day be a part of his virtual choir!

Teaching in the 21st Century

In Teaching in the 21st Century, Kevin Roberts talks about what it means to be a teacher today, and I agree with every bit of it. The main point Robert makes is this: Teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge. We are the filter. Students have easy access to information nowadays through internet resources such as Wikipedia, Google, Facebook, and other websites. So if students want to know something, they don't have to go to their teacher and ask. They can just do a quick search on the internet! So, as teachers of the 21st century, it is not our duty to teach at them. It is our duty to engage them in learning using the amazing technology we have available to us. This means that we teachers definitely need to be technologically literate! Technology has become an important part of our daily lives. So it's important that we use it to engage our students in our classrooms.

Another point Roberts makes is that there is a stark difference between entertainment and engagement. He explains that entertainment is passive and allows escape from problems, while engagement is active and solves problems. Our job as teachers is to provide meaningful and powerful engagement to our students. When I begin my career as a teacher, I'm going to be teaching in a world that is very different from the world I grew up and earned an education in. So it's my duty to keep up with the advancements in technology and the other changes in our environment and adapt to it so I can better prepare my students for living and working in our ever-changing world.

Flipped Classroom

The idea of a flipped classroom is something I had never heard about until now, but it's a very interesting concept! Dr. Lodge McCammon explains in his video what it means to flip a classroom. Basically, teachers create videos explaining the new content that will be discussed the next day in class. Students are expected to watch the videos and prepare questions and work on sample problems to bring to class the next day. This way, the teacher doesn't have to stand in front of the classroom and lecture the entire time. By watching a video at home the previous night, students have more time to ask questions and apply what they learned, and the teacher has more time to help them. In the video Why I Flipped My Classroom, Katie Gimbar, a math teacher, explains why she decided to flip her classroom. She explains that she used to teach to what she calls the "middle" group of students, as in the students who understood the content and moved along at a normal pace. This left the group of higher level students not being challenged, and the struggling students didn't get the extra help they needed. Only 10% of the class time was spent on application this way. Now, with a flipped classroom, the students can review the informational videos as many times as they need, and the teacher has plenty of time in class to help each group of students with any concept they're having trouble understanding. Ms. Munafo from Hilburn Academy Elementary also gives a good explanation of what it means to flip a classroom in this video.

A flipped classroom is definitely something I can use in my teaching! Ms. Munafo explains in her video that the flipped classroom is currently being used mainly for math, and since mathematics is what I'm specializing in, I can definitely make great use of the "flipped classroom" concept. Khan Academy has uploaded a lot of instructional math videos to their YouTube channel, and their videos are wonderful examples of how I could make and conduct my own videos for my students. Yes, this will probably be a lot of work, but it will help my students better understand the material and be more engaged in the classroom!

My Sentence Video

C4T #1

For my first C4T assignment, I was given the link to Ira Socol's blog SpeEdChange. The first blog post I read and commented on, titled Kurt Eisner and Aaron Swartz and the Freedom of Information talked about Bradley Manning and Aaron Swartz. Swartz helped shape the internet into what it is today. He was a co-founder of Reddit and he contributed to RSS coding. He also spread the idea that "information wants to be free". Swartz was set to be on trial for freeing publicly-funded research done by MIT from behind "pay walls". However, Swartz committed suicide before he could go on trial. The blog post iterates that Swartz was facing more jail time and higher fines than many killers get, just for releasing information to the public on the internet! Bradley Manning brought to light "horrific military and diplomatic practices", and yet he is being held in prison under conditions that classify as torture, even though he has yet to be convicted. Socol talks about how our country's copyright laws are absurd, how they're not written to "encourage the development of intellectual property", but to cater to the "greedy slobs" who want to make a profit off of other people's hard work. At the end of the post, Socol lists some ways that we can right our wrongs and fix these issues, such as signing a petition to limit copyright protection to 35 years or less, extend full legal protection to military whistle blowers, and if you're an academic, to post all of your work to free sites.

In my comment, I said that I really enjoyed reading the post, and how I was horrified that Aaron Swartz was receiving more jail time than most killers and rapists receive! And I expressed my anger over the government's treatment of Bradley Manning, treating him like a terrorist and putting him in conditions close to torture when he had not yet been put on trial. I also mentioned to Socol the famous hacker group called Anonymous and how they had a very interesting tweet that they had left on their Twitter account: When Internet activists are getting longer prison sentences than rapists you have to wonder what kind of world we're leaving for our kids.

Since Mr. Socol had not made a new post since the last one I read, I went back and read Who will bring the fight for children to the here and now?. He starts off musing that he might have been born to be a revolutionary since he is "uncomfortable with the world as it is". He then goes on to talk about various revolutions, which he states are "dangerous things", but they are essential. He also states that revolutions don't have to be violent, but that a true revolution results in "the destruction of accepted practice". He then talks about how we need an educational revolution in America. We need schools that are centered around children and their needs and schools that "celebrate challenge instead of conformity". Another interesting thing he says is that universities need to encourage "exploration and not regurgitation", and this reminded me of Dr. Strange's principle for EDM310. Finally, Socol urges that this year is a great year to enact change, and he ends the article with YouTube videos of songs embracing the passion of revolution.

In my comment, I said that I agreed that a revolution in our educational system definitely needed to take place. Children often complain about school and how school feels like a prison, and that's an obvious sign that we need to make changes! We need to fan the flames of creativity instead of fighting to extinguish them. I also said schools need to stop forcing children to make choices about their future careers at such a young age. Lastly, I said that I, as a future educator, hope to be part of the educational revolution and bring about much needed change.

Blog Post #4

Podcasting to Teach Foreign Language

As someone who enjoys learning foreign languages, I found the article Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting to be especially eye-catching. The article talks about how a second grade class was learning the story of Purim, and they recorded the story as a podcast, since they had previous experience with making podcasts. The children tell the story in Hebrew, but even if you don't speak or understand Hebrew, you can still hear how much fun the children had while recording the podcast. The most interesting part about this was that the students' lines were recorded out of order, and it was the students' job to put the sound clips in the correct order using a SmartBoard. Doing this allowed the children to really immerse themselves into the language. They had to listen to clips over and over as they sorted them into the correct order, and the repetition helps with comprehension and improves their fluency in the language. I never would have thought about using podcasts as a way to teach a foreign language, but now I can see just how beneficial it would be. Since I'm going to be a math teacher, if I could find a way to incorporate mathematics into making podcasts, it could be really beneficial for my students!

Benefits of a Worldwide Audience

The article A Worldwide Audience for Six Year Olds? discusses if and how having a global audience would affect a class of six year olds. The class recorded a podcast of them "interviewing" the two main characters of the book Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne. After the children recorded the podcast, the teacher made a blog post about it, as well as a tweet, and encouraged people that listened to the podcast to leave comments with their geographical locations. When the teacher read the comments aloud to the class, the children were very excited and happy, especially at a comment that called them professional. The students made journal entries about the experience, and the comments shown in the article all express how happy the children were to have people from all over the world interested in their work.

I think their comments and reactions are enough to prove that having a worldwide audience matters to children. It not only excites them, but it motivates them! Being able to share your work with others around the world and getting positive feedback from them would greatly encourage you, wouldn't it? Children at that age are only really used to receiving feedback from their parents and teachers, so just imagine how it must feel to have someone from an entirely different country complimenting them on their hard work? This article really cemented how important it is to build a network of people from around the world. They can provide a view of your work that you may not have been able to see before!

Producing a Podcast

The article Producing a Podcast talks about the more technical aspect of recording podcasts, and it lists helpful steps to planning and creating a podcast. First, it talks about deciding on the purpose or theme of the podcast. Second, it says to prepare your students for the podcast. Get them familiar with the technology being used to record and how to talk into the microphone so their voices are of the best possible quality. Next, it talks about teaching the students about the programs that will be used to edit the voice clips. And lastly, it lists what can be done for the actual recording. For example, it suggests that the introduction be a recording of the whole class. At the end of the article, it embedded five different podcasts to listen to as examples.

This article gave me some ideas for what I and my group can do for our podcast, for instance, doing the introduction as a group and then recording individual segments. The article also gave me ideas for what I can do in the future with my students. Perhaps I could record a podcast with my students about how to do simple math like addition or multiplication, or we could even do a podcast on learning times tables or basic mathematical principles that would be beneficial to younger students. Creating a podcast with my students would definitely be a refreshing and fun activity and hopefully get my students more excited about math!

Project #5 Presentation

Special Blog Post #1

Wolfram Alpha

According to WolframAlpha, the populations of India and China are each around 4 times higher than the population of the United States. As seen in the figure to the left, China has the highest current population of the three countries. In the blog post Many Students Misinterpreted the Data in Did You Know?, Dr. Strange states that 18 million Chinese can speak English now, and there are 300 million Chinese learning English. The population of the United States in 2010, according to WolframAlpha, was just 309 million. In other words, there's more people in China speaking and learning English than the entire population of the United States!

While I was on WolframAlpha, I searched "Compare Apple and Microsoft". I found that Apple has a revenue of about $164.7 billion, and Microsoft has a revenue of about $72.93 billion. Apple's revenue is over twice that of Microsoft's! However, Microsoft has 94,000 employees, whereas Apple employs 72,800 people. I also chose to search "Compare Facebook and Twitter", since those are two popular social networking sites. According to WolframAlpha, Facebook has 12 billion daily page views, while Twitter has only 710 million daily page views. Facebook is listed as having 640 daily visitors, while Twitter has 120 million daily visitors. That's a lot of people sending tweets and posting status updates!

As a mathematics major, WolframAlpha has been extremely useful for helping me solve difficult math problems. If I ever get stuck on a problem and don't know how to solve it, I go to WolframAlpha and type in the equation, and it solves it instantly! When I begin my career as a math teacher, I will most definitely continue to use it, and I'll urge my students to use it as a resource, as well! I plan on first giving them an extensive tour of the site and showing them everything it can do, and I'll likely give them a few assignments based on the website that teaches them how to use it effectively.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

It's difficult to really grasp just how much information is added to the internet every day. Gary Hayes' Social Media Count gives an estimate of comments added to Facebook, tweets posted to Twitter, and videos uploaded to YouTube, among other things, from the past day, week, month, and even year! By just looking at the mass amount of data being added to social networking sites, it's plain to see how much of an impact the internet and technology have on our daily lives. Every day, more and more people all over the world are joining social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter. The beautiful thing about the internet is that it can bring together people from all over the world!

This worldwide unity is very useful for educators. Not only can we meet new people and make friends from all over, we can also learn about other cultures and other teaching methods that are used in other countries and cultures. The fact that our technological knowledge is advancing at an impressive rate is also a fun and interesting thing for educators to think about. Who knows what our classrooms will be like 5 or even 10 years from now. We could be teaching children who live in other countries by using webcams or technology that hasn't even been invented yet! I need to keep myself up to date on news about new technology so I can prepare myself for my future classroom. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for educators!

Blog Post #3

Peer Editing

Everyone reading this post has probably had to deal with peer editing, whether you were the one doing the editing or the one having your work edited. But students sometimes find themselves unsure of where to start, or they might be afraid to offend their fellow students when they peer edit. Throughout middle and high school, I was never told how to properly peer edit, and sometimes, I would be apathetic or unhelpful when looking over the papers of other students. The video What is Peer Editing is a great video to show students who might need some ideas on how to do quality peer editing. This Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial slideshow is also an excellent source for teaching students how to properly peer edit. Both the video and the slideshow emphasize three essential things for great peer editing skills: compliments, suggestions, and corrections. It's important to stay positive when peer editing, and complimenting the other student on what he or she did well is a perfect way to stay positive. When giving suggestions, again, remember to stay positive and give some specific ideas on how he or she can improve his or her writing. You can suggest they make changes to their sentence structure, organization, and word choice. When making corrections, check the student's writing for spelling and grammar errors, and make sure the writing contains no run-on sentences or incomplete sentences. Again, the most important part of it is to stay positive! The whole purpose of peer editing is to give constructive criticism in a positive manner, not to be a jerk!

The video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes is a cute and informative video made by 4th and 5th graders. The children act out ten examples of what NOT to do when peer editing. First, they give us an example of Picky Patty. Picky Patty points out a bunch of things that don't really have anything to do with the main point of the writing. For example, a Picky Patty will point out that there are too many uses of one word, like "and", and that your margins are 1 centimeter off. Basically, a Picky Patty doesn't give you any substantial advice. Second, there's Whatever William. A Whatever William is someone who is apathetic to the peer editing session and just shrugs off any advice his partner gives him. Third, there's Social Sammy. A Social Sammy will completely ignore his partner and use the time set aside for peer editing to try to talk to his friends and fellow classmates. Fourth, Jean the Generalizer is someone who doesn't give specific examples of where you can improve your writing. For instance, a Generalizing Jean would simply tell you that you have some words spelled wrong or that you have some grammatical errors throughout the paper but would fail to point them out specifically. Fifth, there's Mean Margaret. A Mean Margaret is someone who is very negative and may even use insults when conducting a peer review. Please, don't be a Mean Margaret! Sixth, we have Loud Larry, who is someone who simply doesn't know how to use an indoor voice when peer editing. A Loud Larry will fail at keeping the review more private. Seventh, there's Pushy Paula. A person like Pushy Paula will insist that you do things her way when you make corrections, and she won't really listen to you if you try to explain why you wrote something a certain way. Eighth on the list is Off-Task Oliver. Off-Task Oliver is someone who gets distracted from the peer review process and does other things instead of focusing on the peer review. Ninth, there's Speedy Sandy, who rushes through the peer review process without going into good detail of what you can fix. Lastly, there's Defensive Dave. A Defensive Dave is someone who takes another student's advice as a personal attack.

The moral of the story here is when you're giving a peer review, remember to remain positive! Treat your fellow student the same way you would want to be treated. As long as you stay focused, be specific, and give helpful suggestions, your peer editing skills will greatly improve!

Assistive Technologies

This video, created by The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, introduces an amazing piece of technology called the Mountbatten. It is a device that allows blind students to type out braille, and files can be transferred over to a computer or even from a computer to the Mountbatten. This would be extremely useful in my future classroom. Not only does it allow blind students to do their normal classwork, it also helps engage blind students in group activities, which increases social interaction and acceptance by their fellow classmates.

I didn't realize how much awesome technology existed to help sighted students. In Teaching Math to the Blind, Art Karshmer, a professor at The University of San Francisco, exhibits a device that helps blind students learn math. He explains that math is very difficult to teach to blind students, and that it's very important for them to learn math because it is "the mother of science" and the gateway to learning other sciences. The device has a grid-like structure and comes with little blocks with both braille and a visual number on the front, and the student can lay the blocks out on the grid and can work the math problem with it. As a future math teacher, I found this device to be astonishing! As Karshmer states in the video, it's already hard enough for sighted people to learn math, so just imagine how difficult it must be for blind students! I hope to have one of these devices in my future classroom so I can help any blind students I have reach their full potential.

Another device I didn't know could be so useful to blind people is the iPad. In the video iPad Usage for the Blind, we're shown what features the iPad has that are available for use by blind people. Each iPad comes with what is called VoiceOver, and it uses sounds and speech to help the blind person navigate the iPad. For instance, when the person holds his or her finger over a blank area of the screen, the iPad plays ticking or dinging noises, and when the person moves a finger over an app, the iPad tells the user which app he or she is hovering on. In order to access the app, the person just needs to double tap it. With the VoiceOver technology, a blind person can have books read to him or her with iBooks and even browse the internet. It's amazing technology that hasn't been majorly integrated into all schools yet, which is disappointing. The video Teaching Mom What Her Deaf/Blind Child is Learning on the iPad shows just how easy it is to learn how to use the VoiceOver program. As educators, we need to make sure no one is getting left out. If there's technology that makes learning easier and more fun, especially for students with disabilities, we need to implement them!

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

In the above video, Vicki Davis, a teacher in Georgia, shows us how she uses a virtual world to teach her students. Except she doesn't always do the teaching. What's beautiful is that she assigns her students to learn different things. Once that group of students has learned what they were assigned, they teach the rest of the class, including their teacher! She explains in the video that she had no idea how to terraform before her own students taught her how. Davis states that a lot of teacher think they have to know everything before they can teach it, which she says isn't the right attitude to have. We all learn new things every day, so it's impossible to know everything. Plus, how wonderful is it that our own students can teach us things we don't know how to do?

Davis also helped her students connect to other students and teachers all over the world with the Flat Classroom project. Students from all over the world collaborate and learn about the trends in technology. It really is amazing just how useful technology can be in the classroom. It can connect us with people all over the world, enabling us to not only form social links with those people, but we also get opportunities to learn about their cultures and their teaching methods. As a math teacher, I could have my students get in contact with other math students across the world and find out what methods their partners use to study and learn new material. For a struggling student, this could help him or her discover a new method of learning that they understand better!