Blog Post #16 - Final Reflection

Part 1
Going back and reading first blog post, I still want the same things for my classroom but would just like to add some things. When reading about the tools I plan on using in my classroom, I mentioned a SmartBoard. That was basically it. I had no clue how much technology has become involved in the classroom. If asked, I would have probably told you that a third grader would have no clue how to maintain a blog yet alone make podcasts and movies. I have now learned differently. The way of teaching students has changed from when I was in elementary school and will continue to change. There is no way of stopping technology from being in the classroom.
I hope to teach 2nd grade when I start working. After learning how involved technology is in schools, I will be using technological tools in my classroom. I don't think I will fully rely on technology to help my students learn but will use some. I say this because what if the power goes out at the school I teach or for some reason the devices aren't working. I would want my students to be able to learn with and without technology tools. But rather, I plan on using technological tools to help enhance the learning ability.
I hope my students will learn how to work individually, but also in groups. Working in groups not only teaches you what you're being required to do, but how to work with people and how to approach your group with new ideas or disagreements. I feel as if working in groups not only teaches you academic lessons, but also personal life lessons. I would hope my students will not only learn academically, but life lessons such as how to treat others while at school.
In my classroom, I want learning to be fun. I am a very hands on visual learner. So offering hands on activities, I think, will make it easier for students to learn what is being taught. I do not want to lecture my students, I want them to be engaged and active in their learning. A teacher can not do their job if the student is not willing to learn. I want my students to be willing to learn so I would want to promote it the best way I can through ways they can learn the best.
I would say my classroom would be somewhat the same as I had mentioned in my first blog post. I would just include technology into how I described my classroom. It would be a place where students would feel comfortable and have a fun and exciting environment toward learning. Using technology will help engage the students into learning and will provide a better approach to be willing the learn. I think one of the hardest things to grasp personally would be that these kids have grown up using technology and can use it like a second nature.
After learning about iCurio, I would definitely want to allow this tool to my students. iCurio is like a filtered search engine that is made for educational purposes. It also provides tools to help organization of folders a student may have as well as automatically saves work. As mentioned above, I still would like to have a SmartBoard in my class. With the SmartBoard being touchscreen, students will have the ability to work on that instead of a computer. Also having a SmartBoard will allow a larger group of people see what is being done. Edmodo is also a really cool tool I have discovered while in EDM 310. Edmodo is like a Facebook but made for teachers and students. It is not focused on a personal life of the students and teachers but is academic. Parents of students can be invited to see work posted on Edmodo by their student. I think this is great because it lets a parent see the progress their student is making. Edmodo also allows access to communicate to a student or teacher outside of class or on the weekend. I think this is great a great tool for students with confusion on an assignment because they can ask a question when they want and not have to wait till they're at school to ask.

Part 2

Blog Post #15

Grace Hofer
What can you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?
1. iCurio
Anthony Capps teaches over in Baldwin County where iCurio is used. He describes one of the aspects of it in that students can safely search websites that have been filtered for educational purposes. iCurio also lets students create folders inside their iCurio accounts to help organization. These folders, students can add things that they chose to help them stay organized. One thing I liked mentioned in this video was that things are saved in iCurio. When this was said, I thought of Google drive. In Google drive, everything done in it will save automatically. I love this because of past experiences working on assignments for school, something has been closed out unsaved or the internet cuts out loosing my work. It is great that iCurio works the same as Google drive in saving work automatically. Anthony also mentions about a timeline. The timeline is a great tool where students can enter keywords that helps find historical figures. I think this tool would be great for students because it is a search engine but is filtered so students will not accidently pull up something they did not mean to while searching. iCurio also has a read out loud accessibility which is great for students with disabilities to be able to use. I like this because it is user friendly to every student. I think many times, students with disabilities are limited unlike people without disabilities because people do not know the best way to meet their needs. iCurio has made it easier to meet the needs of every student. I liked watching this video because it allowed the viewers an insight of what iCurio contains. I know for EDM 310 we were going to try to get an access code to learn about it but were unable to. After watching the video I now have a better understanding of what iCurio is and how it works.
2. Discovery Education.
Discovery Ed is a great research tool for both students and teachers. It contains almost everything social studies and science related. Besides just general information and a picture, Discovery Ed includes videos to help learning. Anthony describes it as “It brings experts into the classroom via video.” I like that Discovery Ed includes videos along with pictures and text because it is offering different ways of learning. Some may learn by just reading a text while others may learn by watching a video with information. I think Discovery Ed is making it easier to meet the needs of students with different learning abilities.
4. Don't Teach Tech - Use It!
Anthony Capps says that technology is natural for kids now days. I agree with this simple statement. Capps includes “They’re [students] are really going to enjoy the opportunity to use technology to improve their learning or to learn.” I am a middle child, so when I heard this I was reminded of the time I was finally able to use a calculator in math like my older brother. I agree with what Anthony said that it makes the learning opportunity more enjoyable with technology because I was like that myself. One thing that really stood out was when Anthony said that teachers should not teach technology. But instead, technology should be a tool to teach. Using tools one at a time for assignments will allow the students to use it, but also overtime they will build up knowledge about many different technological tools. I liked that Anthony included that if you, as a teacher, are worried about a technological tool your students are going to learn about, to try it out before. By trying it out before, you could be asked questions by the students about the tool that you may of had but were able to figure it out.

Brittany Allemand
1. ICurio- Anthony Capps explains how iCurio is used and its benefits really well in this video. I thought it was great that it has folders to organize all of the students work and things they have on the website. I think that is a good way to teach them how to be technology organized and even a good way to show them organization in other parts of school and life.Another thing that i really like about iCurio is how Anthony describes that it has a timeline and a directory. The students can just type in something as simple as a woman who went to space in 1970 and it will show up every woman that meets that criteria. It can take you to anything that will be useful with just a little bit of detail provided. I think this is great too because it is safe and can pull up appropriate things for students. I think iCurio would make web searching a little more safe for students, especially younger children. I think iCurio is great for students. Anthony says it is used a lot in high schools, but it can be used with any age group allowed to get on the web.
2.Discovery Ed- Discovery Ed is another program besides iCurio that is offered in Baldwin County where Anthony Capps works. I like how Anthony introduces it by saying “A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a million words”. Discovery Ed combines both pictures and videos so it’s great. I like how he said he is not a plant expert so discovery ed shows the students videos about all kinds of plants and pictures. I think this is a great tool to use for students. It is useful for the teacher too because they can view videos and get a better understanding for teaching their students about a subject. I would definitely be interested in using this in my future classroom.
3. Additional Thoughts about Lessons- This video is very helpful for our EDM 310 class to view. When projects 13,14, and 15 came up, we were all a little confused. Many of us did not do the first lessons plans correctly. We need to get a lot better on how to set up lesson plans and how to create them. This video gave me a good insight into how to do lesson plans. Anthony says there are 4 layers to a lesson plan. The first thing to think about is the year, meaning how the lesson plans cover the yearly standards and content to be taught.Do all the lesson plans cover the standards expected from the grade for the whole year? It needs to. Next is unit, which refers to the unit of teaching and the length and the time allotted. The unit will be like a 6-8 week thing, but within that will be a daily and weekly plan. The weekly plan will be about setting a goal and achieving it by the end of the week. Then within that is the daily plan, what you want to have accomplished within a days time. Anthony said he believes these make up the four layers of a lesson plan and are completely necessary for a well written one.

Chasity Heubach
1. ICurio-
In EDM 310, one of our assignments was to research ICurio. I was able to access limited information about ICurio due to not having a sign in. This limited access provided me with a limited understanding of what exactly ICurio is. However, after watching the ICurio video made by Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps I gained a better understanding. ICurio is a curated search engine specifically designed to provide safe research for students. There are so many things on the internet these days that are inappropriate for children so having a site that is screened by professionals is very important. ICurio is also designed to help students begin developing their online organization skills. As Anthony points out this skill is important because people seem to be naturally unorganized. Another interesting thing about ICurio is that it has a read aloud option for accessibility. This allows children with special needs to get the same information as other students. I thought it was cool how Anthony says his students all wanted to try this option the first few times but then realized that they could read the material faster. After viewing this video I now have a better understanding, enough of one that I look forward to having my students use it in the future.
2. Discovery ED-
I enjoyed learning about Discovery Ed from Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps. Discovery Ed is a tool that allows students to get a better understanding of a subject by allowing them to view images and videos that are associated with what they are learning. Anthony says this is important because children obtain more information when there is a visual associated with text. Another important aspect of Discovery Ed is that is allows teachers to bring professionals into the classroom through video. Anthony said that this is important because students can see that the information they are being taught is not just the teachers opinion but is fact. Dr. Stange points out in the video that students are now what he calls “listener watchers”, meaning that because of our technology advanced world students watch and listen far more than than read and write. I think Discovery Ed is a good tool to use especially in the elementary classroom because a teacher can describe a subject all day long to their students, but until the student can place a visual to the subject they will never fully understand what they are being taught.
3. The Anthony-Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1
As an education major I find myself wondering if I will know what to do on my first day in the classroom. I am beginning to realize that I will not, nobody does. However thanks the Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps I understand why. In their video The Anthony-Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1, Anthony and Dr. Strange give tips to future educators. They start by saying that the most important thing to remember as a teacher, is that in order to be a good teacher you must also be a good learner. Along with that Anthony adds that being a teacher is hard work but if you make it a part of your life, instead of keeping work and play separate, it is very rewarding. Another tip mentioned is that teachers need to be flexible because the unexpected happens, and it is the teacher’s job to keep the classroom running smoothly. Teachers should also think of ways to keep their students engaged. Anthony says that this is a goal of 100 percent student engagement and good ways to accomplish this are to make the content something they care about, make it a process they want to use, and to make it shareable. He also says to always start an assignment with the end in mind. Lastly, he says to allow for reflection and self evaluation because it is key to improvement. I really look forward to the day when I can apply these tips in my future classroom.

Project #16

Project #12 Part B

C4T #4

The most recent blog post by Denise Krebs was Road Tripping, Connections, and Community. In this post, Denise tells the readers of experiences she has had while road tripping. On this two week trip, she was able to meet up with her daughter, a pastor/mentor, her nephews family, and a dozen members of her online professional learning network. Denise mentions how she found it interesting that out of all the people she had met on this trip, she had only met three of them face to face before. She tells of how staying in touch with people we meet of trips seems easier to do nowadays than it was back then, all thanks to the internet. One click away and you can stay in touch with people. Where as back in the day, it was not that simple, but a strong effort that needed to be made by both members if wanting to stay in touch. When getting to visit a friend as she was teaching school, Denise tells the readers of the experience she had witnessed at this school. Two teachers who were co-learners with their student. I loved how she worded this because it is true that teachers learn as well when they are teaching students. She goes on to say how it was a delight seeing the principle of Georges Vanier Elementary, was interacting with the students at the school. This would be a great site to see as a parent of a student. Interacting with the students, the principle is showing interest in the students academics, which all principles should be. Denise then goes on to tell of seeing her friend Robyn and her classroom at a different school. What stood out to me in this class was that Denise mentioned that they were using skype and blogs. This is showing that Robyn's 3rd and 4th graders were using technology in the class which I liked. She finishes her post telling the readers about getting to meet up with several educators that she finally got to meet in person. Also how she was able to spend time with one of these friends, Sheri. Sheri was able to take her around the community, the school she taught at, and several other sites. Denise closes by saying when driving back home with her husband, that she was able to reflect on all the things made possible, because of connections she had made on the internet.
In my comment left on this post, I introduced myself. I included a link to the class blog as well as my personal blog like we have done in the past C4T assignments. I mentioned that it was great that she was able to meet people that she had connections with through the internet. I included that it is true that the internet has been a great help with staying in touch with people from around the world. I finished my comment by thanking her for sharing with the readers the experiences she has had.

Since no new post since the one above, I went and found the next post by Denise Krebs. Failure was really well written and I enjoyed reading it. Denise talks about failing to make a vlog, but does that make her a failure? Failing is being unable to succeed in something. Failure is when you do not attempt to try to correct. Denise shares that the way we can overcome failure is to have perseverance, persistence, and grit. In her post, she shares a quote that she had found that I really liked. "the qualities that matter most have less to do with IQ and more to do with character..." I think this is great because it says that character is important. Many times one can hear of having the academic ability is what someone needs to have to succeed. I think it can help, but it is not the only need. Denise shares an image to her readers. This image includes acronyms to the word "fail". F.A.I.L is a First Attempt In Learning. I love this so much! Anyone who has failed and tried harder and have succeeded will know this is true. The way people learn things is through failure.

In my comment on this post, I introduced myself again and mentioned that I was a student in EDM310 at USA. I included how I loved how she pointed out the difference in failing and being a failure. I included that I agree with her that the words fail and failure should not be used in an educational context. That the person who needs to believe the most in a students learning should be the teacher. By using terms like Failure can hinder a student of their capabilities. I closed my comment by thanking her for sharing her thoughts with the readers.

Project #9 - PLN final report

As my final report for PLN I am still using Symbaloo. This site has offered easy access to the common sites I visit. I learned about Symbaloo while in EDM310 and tried it out. I think it's great! I will continue to use Symbaloo to keep my sites organized. I also like it because it is easy to add other sites I want to add to it. I'm sure there are other sites out there to help keep common sites organized and easy to access, but after discovering Symbaloo, I haven't needed to even check to find one.

Blog Post #14

For elementary education majors
While teaching, you will come across holidays. Teaching children, most likely your students will contain a focus other than learning while at school before breaking for a holiday. Lesson plans during the week of holidays will be different than your usual lesson plans. Create a lesson plan for your choice of holiday and grade as a presentation. The plans must be focused on a holiday your school will take a break for. Include at least one fun activity your students can do that accommodates the holiday that is about to be celebrated. Make it a fun and exciting week of learning for the students!

Blog Post #13

What can we learn from these TED talks?

While looking through Ken Robinson: 10 talks on education, I can across a talk that really stood out to me. The second talk, Arvind Gupta: Turning trash into toys for learning. The thing that grabbed my attention was the "turning trash into toys" words. I grew up with a father who always had creative ideas. From these ideas, my siblings and I learned how to make things out of almost anything. While watching the video, I was surprised of all the creations Gupta had made. I think that creating is a great way of teaching and learning. I remember in school, when we were able to create something, it became more interesting and therefore I learned easier. Creativity is something everyone has. Although they may express it in different ways, it is there. Arvind Gupta expressed his creativity by making things out of simple supplies like newspapers and straws. One creation I thought that was really cool was a drawing slate for blind students. This slate was made out of Velcro with a pen that poured out yarn instead of ink. While drawing, the yarn would stick to the Velcro that would make it a 3D feel for the students. That us something I would have never thought of. Gupta mentions of a slogan, in this slogan was the phrase "build from what they have", I like this phrase because it can be a foundation for teaching. I think teachers are to teach from something students already know, to build on. While many of the toys Gupta showed in the video, I was curious on how he could use them in a teaching atmosphere. But from what I gathered, that wasn't the main point of the lecture. I think he was showing the audience and viewers not that every creation can be used for learning in the school. But rather, the limits of creations can be close to non-existent. Creativity more than likely makes things more interesting. Isn't that what teachers want in their classroom? For students to be interested in what is going on.

Brittany Allemand
Ken Robinson:10 Talks on Education was a good resource to explore. One video that really stood out to me was Kakenya Ntaiya: A Girl Who Demanded School. It was such an inspiration to watch. Kakenya is a woman who was born and raised in Kenya,Africa. She tells a lot about her village, family, and how things are so different in her country. It made me very thankful to live in America after I heard her story. She tells of how her mother farms, owns animals, and takes care of the whole family. Her father is hardly ever around because of work, and is gone for years at a time. When he does come home though, he sells all of their animals and goods and goes to the bar and spends the money. She tells of how women can not go against anything their husband or a man does, and how women are not allowed to own property anyways. Her mother tries to stand up and question as to why he sells their animals and goods, and she is beaten for even questioning her husband. At age 12, she and other girls are to become married and be the perfect house wife. They get up at 5 am and clean, take care of their houses, and train to become a perfect wife. Kakenya never wanted this for herself. She tells of how she always loved school and wanted to become a teacher. However, the girls and women in Kenya are not expected to go back to school after getting married at 12. She is very brave and tells her dad the only way she will go through with the celebrations and marriage is if she gets to return to high school afterwards. He rewards her with his because if not the village will look down on their family if she does not go through with the marriage. One shocking and sad thing that I learned was about the mutilation of the young girls before marriage. She tells of how they cut their private parts before the marriage. This was horrible to hear and to imagine so many young girls going through. Many girls even died from this. After going through high school, she still wants to further her education. She meets a young man who has left and went to a university in America. She sees his nice clothes and shoes and how educated and happy he is. She asks the man to help her apply to a university, and she gets into a ladies university in Virginia. No woman from her village or country had ever left to go to a university or even further their education through high school like her.She is so strong willed and determined to receive an education, and it's inspiring. She talks to the head male of the village, and to other high up men, and tells them of how if they support her trip to America and the university that she will return to Kenya and give back to everyone. She holds true to her promise. While in America, she learns of how it is illegal the way her mother and other women there are being treated. She returns to Kenya and builds a school for the girls in her village, 125 young girls. They are no longer being mutilated or injured or having to become married at age 12. She makes such a difference in her village and in Africa just by going and getting an education. It was so great to hear about how one woman fought for her education and made such a difference in her country. If it was not for her going to get an education and then returning to Kenya, who would have know how long it would have been before those young girls got a school and ended the mutilation and young marriage.

Chasity Heubach
I found myself captivated by Shane Koyczan's TED talk entitled, "To This Day"... for the bullied and beautiful. His lecture started with him describing his life as a child who was bullied. My heart hurt for him as he listed the names he was called and how he was used by people who called themselves friends. When he told others what he wanted to be, he was told to be something different. He wanted to be a writer but that wasn't good enough. He gave me the feeling that to him nothing he ever did was good enough. He was a child forced to endure things that no child should ever have to face. He lists stages of his life, where he went from hating himself, to wanting to kill himself and others. Then he admits to becoming something worse than himself, he became a bully. He talks of how words hurt as much as broken bones. He ends with poetry of how people have been hurt but they persevered. He says "If you can't see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror, look a little closer, stare a little longer, because there is something inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quite... you have to believe they were wrong, they had to be wrong...our lives will only ever continue to be a balancing act that has less to do with pain and more to do with beauty." Shane Koyczan should be and inspiration to everyone, to speak out and to speak up. Bullying continues in schools today and needs to be stopped. The most important thing I learned from his lecture is to never trample on the dreams of anyone, especially children. They will believe in themselves as long as we continue to believe in them. They can be whatever they choose to be as long as they set their minds to it. The life lesson I learned is to love others regardless of our differences and to stick up for the weak, because everyone matters.

Project #15

Blog Post 12

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson?
By watching the TED video, Changing Education Paradigms by Sir Ken Robinson, I came across several things I learned while watching the 11 minute video. Robinson starts the video by mentioning two reasons that every country is reforming public education. One being economically, wondering how will we be able to educate students for the economic world if we don't know what the economic future will hold. The second reason being cultural, wondering how will they have an identity in culture. Robinson continues by saying that people are trying to meet the future by the ways they have in the past. In a time when everyone went to college to have a good career, now days an education is not needed. It can help, but it does not guarantee a good career. This is very true. I know people who did not attend college after high school graduation who are maintaining steady jobs. Robinson says that "The current system was designed and conceived for a different age..." I agree with this as well. This EDM 310 class has taught me this in just the past several months I've been in it. Technology is becoming rapidly involved in our school system. Students are learning by these tools, not the tools my generation and the ones before me learned by. To be teachers to these students, we need to be not only aware of these tools, but how to properly use them. Mentioned in the video is the subject of ADHD in schools. I had not put much thought into this issue in my classroom before watching the video. But now, I think it is great that schools are involving technology in the classroom. Robinson says that students who have ADHD are being distracted by computers, phones, gaming devices, and such and are being penalized for not paying attention to things the teacher is teaching on. This is where technology comes in great in the classroom. Students who have ADHD and students who do not, have grown up with technology. Growing up this way, lets them learn better by using devices. In return, the student does not spend the whole time in class being lectured, but being involved in their learning experience. The video also mentions of people who have either aesthetic or anesthetic experiences. Aesthetic is when you are when senses are at their peak. Anesthetic is when your senses are shut off and are deadened with what is going on. Too many times in classrooms I feel that many are having anesthetic experiences because they are being lectured at to learn instead of being involved. Near the end of Changing Education Paradigms, Robinson says that most great learning comes from groups. I wonder if that is why we are put in groups in EDM 310. I feel as if it is true though. Working in a group seems to benefit everyone involved, not just a single person.

Chasity Heubach:
I really enjoyed watching Ken Robinson's TED talk entitled, How to Escape Education's Death Valley. In his lecture Mr. Robinson discusses the problems America is facing with its "No Child Left Behind" program. He starts by saying that he moved to America 12 years ago. He says that when he arrived he was informed that Americans don't get irony. He said that when he came across "No Child Left Behind", he knew that what he was told wasn't true. The irony of "No Child Left Behind" is that it, in fact, leaves millions of children behind. He says that in some parts of the country 60 percent of students drop out of high school. He claims that if America were to half that number it would create a net gain of nearly a trillion dollars, however, it would cost a large amount to mop up the drop out crisis. He says that it is true that America spends more on education than any other country, the problem is that it is all going in the wrong direction. Mr. Robinson says that there are three principals in which human life flourishes and it is being contradicted by the culture of education.
1. Human beings are naturally different and diverse. He asks his audience how many of them have children. He then makes a bet, one in which he claims he knows he will win. He bets that those who have two or more children will agree that their children are all completely different. He says that education, under "No Child Left Behind", is based on conformity, not diversity. American education focuses on the S.T.E.M disciplines, which he states is very important but it is not sufficient. He states that good education needs to equal focus on the arts, humanities, and physical education. He then points out that ten percent of kids are now being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. He says that he believes the condition exists but that he doesn't think it is an epidemic. "If you sit kids down hour after hour doing low grade clerical work," says Mr. Robinson, "don't be surprised if they fidget." He says that children aren't suffering from a psychological disorder but instead they are suffering merely from childhood.
2. He says the next principal is curiosity. "If you light the spark of curiosity in a child they will learn without any further assistance," says Robinson. Children are natural learners and curiosity is the engine of achievement. He goes on to say that teachers are the lifeboat of success in schools and great teachers mentor, stimulate, provoke and engage their students. He says most importantly a teachers job is to facilitate learning and if their is no learning their is no education. The problem, he says, with Americas education system is that its focuses not on teaching and learning, but on testing. He feels that standardized testing has it place, but should not be the dominant culture of education.
3. He says that it is human nature to be creative. "We create our own lives and we can recreate our lives as we go through them,"he says. He also says that we create our lives by imagining different possibilities and the role of education is to awaken that imagination. He refers to the education system in Finland, and says its schools system is very successful in math and science mainly because it also focuses on arts and humanities. He says there is also no standardized testing and they help students before its to late, resulting in a no drop out rate.
He goes on to say that education takes place in the classrooms, not government offices, so the responsibilities should be handled at the school level to get the job done. He says there is wonderful work happening in America but it is dspite educational culture , not because of it. He then says, that not far from his house there is a place known as "Death Valley". In winter of 2004 it rained there, in Spring of 2005 the whole floor of "Death Valley" flowers grew. This proved that "Death Valley" was not dead, but dormant. He says the same is true for our schools system.
I learned a lot from listening to Ken Robinson's TED talk. I would have to say of all the tools I have learned would be helpful in the classroom, I would have to say Mr. Robinson discussed the most important tool for every classroom. That tool, is to inspire imagination and creativity. I learned to focus less on testing and more on learning. By that I mean standardized testing has its place, but if we don't teach children how to learn they are pointless.

Brittany Allemand:
Ken Robinson's video Schools Kill Creativity was a pleasure to watch. He had such a humorous and charming personality. It was never a bore to watch. It really supported the fact that schools do kill creativity. I never realized how much that this statement was true, until I seen this video. I really liked a lot of quotes that he brought about in his speech. They were short, powerful, meaningful, and to the point. The first quote I liked was “Creativity now is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” A lot of teachers just want the student to get the work done,pass a test, or do a project;This shouldn't be the main objective. Creativity should be encouraged in everything you do in the classroom. For example, Ken mentioned the girl whose parents were called in for a meeting in the classroom because she could not sit still. They thought she had a learning problem. However, they figured out she was a dancer, and she just needed to move to learn. Every student learns different, so why not put on music to learn to. Why not dance around or work hands on? I think the big picture is that as a teacher you can be creative with your assignments and you should promote creativity from your students. What better way then to show creativity yourself.I liked how he quoted from Picasso that every person is born an artist. Every kid has creativity in them. As teachers, we should promote activities that encourage an bring out the creative side.

Project #14

C4T #3

Being assigned to read Hadley, J F's blog,Middle School Matrix, the most recent post was And It Comes Together! #PBL. In the post, Hadley tells how the classroom has become a project based learning class. Hadley mentioned how the students goals and interests became the focus during the class time. Hadley became amazed by how much excitement and involvement the students were showing in their work. Mentioned were how a few members in group projects slacked on their work but the majority completed the task by working together. It was interesting to see how students involved their learning into a creation for a "store" the class had. Included in the post were some creations a few students made and how it tied in with what they were learning about. With these creations, teachers, administrators, and other students would stop by the "store" to see what was made. The students with creations would talk to the shoppers and try to convince them to chose whatever item was made. Using stickers, the shoppers would mark which items they would "buy" and the one with the most stickers would win.
After reading this post, I left a comment. In this comment I introduced myself and included why I was on their blog. I also included a link to my personal blog as well as the class blog. I then mentioned how our EDM 310 class was a PBL. I included that I thought it was cool that the students were learning the same way. I also said that it was great to see that the students had become excited and involved in their learning experience. I finished by thanking Hadley for sharing the experience and success with the readers.

This picture is of a parachute lamp, it is representing an invention by Leonardo da Vinci. This is one example of a creations that the students made.

After no new post sense the one above, I went and found Hadleys' next blog post "Craziest History Class Ever!" #PBL. Assigning his students in groups to come up with items that would best represent 1400-1600 European exhibit. Hadley shared with the readers a list of tasks that each student would be responsible for under the category they were under. These categories are Store Manager, Architect, 2 or 3 Area Managers, 2 Advertising Managers, Business Scout, and Store Maintenance. Each of these groups were assigned to complete some sort of work rather it be research or leading a discussion to name a few. Hadley mentioned that the conversations between the groups was mostly student led with a little input from himself. When it came to the Advertising Managers turn to share with their group, Hadley says that's when the "craziness" started. They were in charge of leading the conversation to be on store names, the store colors, and slogans. Trying to get input from everyone, the groups had to come up with their store.
In my comment on this post, I quickly introduced myself. I included in my post that I thought it was great how Hadley let his students be responsible for their own group. I mentioned that it was also great of letting the students use their own creativity which could let the learning experience more interesting. I followed by thanking Hadley for sharing the experience with the readers.

Blog Post #11

Before watching Little Kids...Big Potential that shows Ms. Cassidy's first grade class from Canada, I had no clue of the amount of kids who use technology. These first graders probably know how to use the internet better than I do. The approach of learning in this classroom is mostly through technology. Growing up in a generation that hardly used technology in school, it was very interesting to see how much it has become involved for the younger generation. These kids were using SmartBoards, maintaining blogs, using Skype, and making videos. The way Ms. Cassidy teaches her class is through ways these kids are familiar with, through technology. Ms. Cassidy mentioned in the Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy that kids and technology go hand in hand. Kids are far more capable of using anything technological than my generation, and past ones, are able. Technology is not, and will not, stop growing. As future teachers, we need to be able to know how to use these teaching tools better than the students. It becomes a learning experience for both the students and the teachers, I think. I loved how in the Skype call, Ms. Cassidy said that she has heard of some teachers creating a separate Facebook account as well as the students. I think this is a great idea! Our EDM 310 class can even be found on Facebook, EDM310: USA Student Aggregator! I think this is great for asking questions and finding information in a familiar atmosphere for many students.
Besides having a Facebook account for teacher/student purposes only, I loved how Ms. Cassidy said that she loves using the blogs because it is exciting for the kids to be able to see how many views their post have received, but also it's good for the parents. The parents of these first graders are able to go to the blog of their child whenever they want to. Getting to do so allows the parent to see the progress their child is making as far as writing. I think this is great because it does let the parent see how well their child is doing in the classroom at whatever time they want. I think maintaining blogs also works great with the students because of the thought of people world wide being able to read what they write. I think using Facebook and blogs are great tools for communicating with students and parents and could see my future classroom using these. I think by using these teaching tools, students will not only become more familiar with technology, but it will make it easier to learn. I think by using ways students are comfortable with will allow students to do their very best. By maintaining blogs, it could improve their writing skills. Also by leaving comments on other students' posts, shows how to improve personal skills such as how to approach someone. Students who make videos, could improve their speaking and performance skills. In many ways these classrooms are teaching, I think a skill is taught in each besides the actual learning which is great.

Project #13

Brittany Allemand, Grace Hofer, Chasity Heubach

Some of the ACCRS reading standards for second grade are
- "Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges"
- "Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action"
Technologic tools used for this project include
- Word Processor
- Blogger
- iMovie if using a Mac
Below is a picture of a weekly lesson plan for meeting these standards. It could be spread out to multiple weeks by letting the student read the book individually. However, we used an example of this standard in a weekly lesson plan. 

We chose Blogger for the students to upload their book report to because it is public. Using Blogger could let people from around the world, other students in the classroom, and teachers to be able to read it and comment their thoughts. The lesson plan we chose included different ways of learning. Reading the book was a way that did not involve any technology. Writing the book report on Word Processor would let the students use the computer to make their project. Uploading it to Blogger would allow the students  learn how blogging works, as well as how to present their writing.
In the reading standard, the students would learn how to describe characters and how they respond to events through writing. Another option that the students could do, is make their report into a podcast by using iMovie if working on a Mac. Doing this they would then upload their podcast to Blogger.

Project #12 part A

Blog Post #10

Being assigned to watch Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, we were to answer the question, What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch? Randy Pausch opens his lecture with a great attitude and audience engaging humor. He informs the audience of what he will not be talking about, and things he will be talking about which I thought was really cool to do. Mentioning what he will be talking about I think is great because it lets the audience know how far in the lecture he is, as well as lets them know what will be coming up. By bringing in life stories, Pausch was able to keep the audience interested in what was being said. When Pausch was talking about a childhood dream of playing in the NFL that never happened, he shared the quote "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." I think this is very true. Many times when you don't get something correct, you learn from that which is an experience. Pausch taught a class at Carnegie Mellon University that was a project based learning class. He said that "The best way to teach somebody something, is to have them think that they're learning something else." I think this is a great view for teaching students.
There are some things I have learned about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch. The way he taught was by letting his students create. Giving them a project to do that was not dreaded. By giving his students an interesting project and letting them be in control, gave amazing results that he was even impressed with. This gave the the students an ability to learn as well as enjoy what they were doing. For learning, we as future teachers as well as people need to take our failures and mistakes and learn how to do the task correctly. The way we learn is to take criticism and try to improve. The way we deliver the criticism can really make the difference in how someone responds. I thought Randy Pausch did an excellent job delivering his lecture by keeping the topic light and by keeping the audience interested in what was being said.

Project #9 - podcast

Project #10 Green screen movie

The summer adventures of the Handy Helpers

Blog Post #9

C4T #2

After reading the latest blog post by Jabiz Raisdana, I Wanna Rock , I thought he did an excellent job. In this post he told the story of how he had wanted to teach a class on “The History of Rock and Roll. Film or Digital Storytelling.” but being a middle school teacher and teaching at a school where this was not an elective, he put his dream of teaching this type of class on hold. He then thought to himself, why not be able to teach this class? Realizing it wouldn't become a class, but as an activity, he was still willing to follow through. After emailing back and forth with the activity director, he was granted permission to try it out.
When commenting on this post, I included who I was and why I was there. As well as a link to my personal and the class blog. I then congratulated him on his achievement. I also mentioned that it was great that he included many options in his emails with activity director to bring this class to life. Mentioning that it showed that he had thoroughly thought the class out. I closed my comment by wishing him the best of luck for the class.

After no new post from the last, I went and read Jabiz Raisdana's second post,No Budget. This post included a short overview of his day, including a great description of the sky turning from day to night as he describes the colors. He mentioned that he came across an email from a reader who was an artist. This artist had once found a picture in one of his blog post and decided to paint it. In the email, the artist shared the painting that she had done. In another email Jabiz Raisdana recieved, was from an author who had been writing about street art, graffiti, and such for over 15 years. The author had come across a picture done by stencil that Raisdana had put up on Facebook. He was interested in using the image for a book he was writing. Jabiz Raisdana closed his post saying how he was "... more often than not pleasantly surprised by what comes back to me."
In my comment on this post, I reintroduced myself. Saying that I was a student in EDM310 at USA, and included the links to my blog as well as the class blog. I then complimented his post and mentioned how I was glad he was able to play a part in someone life. As well that he could make a difference in a life. I finished my comment by adding that it is great he is able to make a difference in the life of someone else by doing what he enjoys doing.


This is the picture the author saw that he wanted to put in his book.

Blog Post #8

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

Watching Back To the Future, I was impressed by how Brian Crosby taught his class. One of the things I noticed was how much participation was being done by the class. The students were the ones doing activities and projects and not just being shown an activity, but playing a part in doing it. I think by letting the students participate, let them become more interested in what was being taught. Students in this class also had a blog that they would write anything and everything they have learned. Blogging offered students to be connected to people from multiple countries and let them learn a little about these countries as well. These blog post by students contained pictures and videos that the students took themselves. The class also had a flickr page that contained pictures taken by the students of the whole class.
I think the way Brian Crosby is teaching his class in an excellent way. The involvement he is offering his students in activities is letting the students be excited about the learning experience. Having students excited about learning I think is what most, if not all, teachers would be thrilled about. Some of the things these students learned was how to maintain blogs, put videos up on their blogs, video chat with a fellow student as well as people from around the world all while learning academically by projects and activities. Using a blog improved their writing and reading skills as well. It is great that his class is excited to learn. I think a way for my future students to be excited about learning, would be to take on the tools Brian Crosby is using in his classroom.

Brittany Allemand
Mark Church's Making Thinking Visible video to explain his book is very helpful. After watching the video, it made me interested in reading the book. I felt like I learned a good bit about learning and teaching from his video. I really like his approach, I felt like it helped independent learning from the teacher but also incorporated group discussion with your classmates and learning from them. I felt like he really brought his titel "Making Lwarning Visible" to life. I liked how he formed the children into small groups. He asked them to sum up a headline for what they had been learning about. They made up a headline and then he hung them up. Later on, he then would get them to form another headline after thinking and learning more about the topic to see how the headlines would change. I like how they all formed a group and had to think about a headline and their thinking was outloud, it really supported the phrase of making thinking visible. His video taught me about how children can learn together and from saying there thoughts out loud in the group. I liked his approach to teaching and learning.

Chasity Heubach
I had no idea how much technology had taken over the classroom. However, not only do I now realize that it plays a key role in the classroom, I understand that it is important in the learning process. I viewed theBozemanscience website which is run by Mr. Paul Anderson. Mr Anderson has been a science teacher for about 19 years. Currently, he is a science teacher and technology specialist at Bozeman High School. For approximately three of the 19 years, he has been teaching science on youtube, where he has created hundreds of science videos. These videos have reached millions of teachers and students worldwide. One video I watched was entitled, Blended Learning Cycle. In this video Mr. Anderson gives instruction on how to incorporate the Blended Learning Cycle into the classroom. He starts by introducing the cycle. He states that first, as a teacher, one must combine online, mobile, and classroom learning into the classroom. He explains that next the teacher would introduce the learning cycle, which consists of engaging, exploring, explaining, expanding, and evaluating a subject. He then discusses an acronym he uses called quivers when teaching his students. He starts with a good QUestion. He then allows his students to Investigate/inquiry about the question. He offers Videos to his students , and then allows for Elaboration. Following that he requires a Review. He sits down with each student and through questioning, he evaluates their understanding before allowing them to move forward. Finally, they are given a Summary quiz, which allows the students to check their understanding for themselves. This method of teaching introduced by Mr. Anderson is very effective. It shows the power of technology, because otherwise he would not be capable of educating the world. I have learned a lot from this site. I learned that teaching any subject can be more effective with the use of technology.

PLN project report #1

I used Symbaloo to create a collection of websites I visit frequently. I used different background colors to categorize each one. The white background color sites are the ones I use mainly for entertainment purposes. The blue, for either entertainment or for educational purposes. Lastly the grey for educational purposes only. I think this is a great site to create a place for easy access to the websites you use. I think this would be a great option for a homepage because it is easy to locate and well organized.

Blog Post #7

After watching Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children, I was very impressed with the video. I have known people who are vision impaired but I never thought of how much a struggle it could be in a classroom without assistive technologies. This video shows a few different tools that could help these students. Screen magnifiers, flip cameras, and text to speech devices to name a few. I also found a tool that could be useful called WordQ + SpeakQ. This tool offers an audio proofreading so someone who is vision impaired would be able to hear what the text contains. It also offers a speakQ which lets one speak through a microphone and will be picked up and typed out. The tool also offers the user to change words to similar words like a built in thesaurus. This tool could be very helpful for students to learn how to better speak, write, and strengthen their vocabulary.
Another tool that is great for vision impaired people is The Mountbatten. The Mountbatten is a braille writer, it can give audio feedback so the person knows that is being typed. This tool is able to save, transfer, as well as receive files from another computer. With this tool being able to have print and braille results, it allows the teacher as well as fellow students to understand. With everyone understanding, it helps everyone to be included in a project.
I do not know if I will for a fact be using these tools in my classroom. But if used, the ones mentioned above could be very helpful. Teachers should be well prepared for all types of students, whether impaired or not, and be able to teach them the way that is best fit for them. It will be exciting to see what the future will hold in my future classroom.

Brittany Allemand

Denise Robinson's Video Teaching Mom What Her Deaf/Blind Students are Learning on the Ipad was a pleasure to watch. I feel as though these technologies help the students who are impaired to feel as though they are at the same pace as the other students, which is how they should be able to feel. I remember being in school and having a couple students who were handicapped and visually impaired in my classes. Technology was nowhere near as advanced as today, and they did not get to participate fully or as much in some of the things we did because they did not have the tools too. I was impressed after watching the video by Denise with the Ipad. I never knew that the IPad could be a tool to accompany the deaf or blind. It was easy to use and follow. The voice was at a great speed and easy to understand. Also, the directions were so clear. I loved how all you had to do was slide your finger across the screen and it read out all the apps and how to open them. This would be a great tool to use in my future classroom. After watching this video, I went to the internet to try to find some tools I could use in my classroom for the future that weren't listed in our manual.I came across a page written by Jeanette Dodds, Assistive Technology for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing, it listed some devices and assistants that can be used to help the deaf in the classroom or in life with just communicating with others. She tells about ways to make clocks and phones easier to use for the deaf or hard of hearing. You can use a strobe light, blinker, vibrator, or flash. I thought this could be useful in the classroom when trying to teach or show something is right or wrong, you could use a light or flash to indicate whether correct or not. Green lights could be used for correct and red for wrong. Also, she mentions FM stations which is an assisted listening device. This works well in the classroom. The way it works is the teacher wears a transmitter, that is connected to a microphone, and the student wears the receiver. FM stations send radio waves from a transmitter to a receiver. The student receives the message from the teacher with the microphone by plugging the receiver into headphones, hearing aids, or other devices. I really liked this because this way everything the teacher says is sent directly to the student and it is way easier to hear.

Chasity Heubach

I am officially excited that EDM 310 is a required course. I say this because I had no idea there were so many resources for disabled students. I would have to say the videos I watched are two of the most informative sources I have encountered so far. The first video I watched was Teaching Math to the Blind. In the video a professor at the University of San Francisco, Art Karshmer, introduces a system he created, using blocks and a grid, to aid blind students in solving math problems. He explains that braille is not read in two dimensions, so where a seeing person would line an addition problem one number on top of the other and add from right to left to solve the problem, a blind person reading braille will line the numbers straight across from left to right. This makes simple math problems, such as addition, difficult for the visually impaired. Professor Karshmer explains in the video how the systems works. The students scans the blocks, with braille and a visual number on the front, with a barcode scanner. Then a computer will read the number aloud. The student then places the block in the grid to properly set up the math problem.
After watching this video I researched more tools to aid blind students with solving math problems. I came across a site, Science Daily, that introduces a new system being developed specifically with elementary aged students in mind. The site states that "nearly one in 20 pre-school aged children and about 12.1 million children ages 6-17 have visual impairments, according to the Braille Institute." Sheila Schneider a senior at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Illinois, under the supervision of Professor Deana McDonagh, is creating small sculptures with mathematical equations imprinted with braille. The equations will be written in a form of Braille known as Nemeth Code, which is used for mathematical and scientific symbols. They were designed from the view point of a child and are intended for children ages 7-10.
The second video I watched was entitled iPad Usage For the Blind. In this video Wesley Majerus, Access Specialist for the National Federation for the Blind, gives a presentation on how the iPad is set up to help the blind navigate through its system. As he is demonstrating you can hear the iPad voice-over telling him the programs and how to access them. The iPad even enables the blind to read books. Wesley explains that being able to but and read books is very liberating.
These tools designed to aid the visually impaired student, are excellent tools to remember as a future teacher. Especially since the "No Student Left Behind" system has physically and mentally disabled students in the same classrooms as non-disabled students. I imagine that the tools are also empowering for and person with visual impairments. I found this encouraging as both a student and a future teacher.

Blog Post #6

Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

After seeing that we were going to do a blog post about asking questions, I felt like it would be an interesting topic. Interesting because I have never thought of different ways of asking questions. I thought a question was just a question. Then I saw the question that we have to answer in this post, What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher? Oh dear, this is going to be interesting in trying to answer.
After watching Asking better questions in the classroom by Joanne Chesley, I have a better understanding about asking questions. In the video she mentions two types of questions someone can ask, open ended and close ended questions. Open ended questions "leaves the form of the answer up to the person who is responding", doing this one can get many different answers because the question is being answered by different people. Close ended questions will give the student the answer, this answer being a simple yes or no. An example of a close ended question would be "Did you eat dinner?", this the response would be a yes or a no. However, an open ended question would be asking "What did you eat for dinner?", doing this would have the response being different than a yes or no. I have taken a class before where the professor would ask us to raise our hands if we thought an answer was yes or no. The professor then followed by picking someone who answered yes and someone who answered no and ask them why they picked that answer. Asking this way switched from a close ended question to an open ended question.
The Right Way to Asking Questions in the Classroom by Ben Johnson pointed out that sometimes teachers expect the student to know things if they do not ask a question at the end of a lesson. I like how he said in his post "The fallacy with this thinking is that sometimes the students do not understand that they do not understand, and if they do not know what they do not know, there is no way that they can ask a question about it." After reading this my first thought was "Yes! Finally someone gets it." There have been plenty of times where I have been in that situation in a class.
The way we present questions will determine the answer we get in return. After reading different post, I now have a better understanding of how to ask questions to get class participation. I look forward to trying it out to my students in my classroom someday as well as hearing the answers I will get.

Project #8- Book Trailer

Morris Goes To School by B. Wiseman

Blog Post #5

Langwitches - Podcasting With 1st Grade
After reading this post, I thought what she is doing is a great idea. She introduces podcasting to her classroom full of first graders. After reading the book, Vacation under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborn, she lets her students create questions they would ask the main characters, Jack and Annie. When the recording process came, each student was able to play one of the interviewers. This let each student participate in the experience of podcasting. By getting involved, students began to get excited about what they were able to do. Some became interested in the editing part of creating this podcast as well. I think podcasting is a great idea she has brought into the classroom. By doing so, many students became interested it what they were doing, became better at presentations, and improved their listening and speaking skills.

Langwitches - Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting
Viewing this post, I was very impressed that the kids learned some Hebrew to tell the story. To create the story, each child participating learned a few Hebrew words and had to tell the story between all of them. What I thought was a good idea was that during recording, all the sentences were out of order. Being out of order allowed to students to edit the podcast and rearrange what sentence follows which. This was done on a SmartBoard which also let the students play, pause, and move around different clips. I think doing this was a great idea because it lets the students create the story. Not only are their voices in the story, but they learn editing skills as well as how to use a SmartBoard.

Judy Scharf Podcast Collection

This collection of podcast consisted of all different types of information about podcasting. In What is a Podcast?, it gave some information of what exactly podcasting is. The post also offers information on what is needed to create a podcast. She also gives the viewers two links, How to create a podcast, which offers watchers a visual idea and instructions on how to create one. The other link was Podcasting, which gave a instructional video as well but from a different site. I think this was a great post because it defined what podcasting is and what is needed to create one. Being a visual learner myself, I loved how she put in a link to videos that showed how to create one.

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...

- I am unsure why I was cut short at the very end. However I did finish my sentence.
My Passion Is...

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #4

Edheads - Grace Hofer
Technology will be used in many if not all classrooms before we know it. Trying to find websites that would be great for teaching and for students learning was an adventure. As I came across some that just seemed okay, I came across Edheads which I think is fantastic. This website can be used for fun or for teaching which I love. Edheads offers games and activities that involve mathematics and sciences to promote critical thinking in the user. To tell you the truth, after I discovered this website, I spent about an hour playing around on it before remembering that I was working on an assignment for this class. Once arriving to Edheads, you have the opportunity to pick an activity that you would like to do. Some of these activities are designing a cell phone, to weather activities, to virtual surgeries. After selecting which activity you would like to do, it becomes like a computer game. You are assigned to do different tasks as the game walks you through each step. Doing one of these games, it asked why might you do a step. You are then given about five options to chose the answer. I liked this because it offers not only a fun environment, but a learning one as well.
Because Edheads offers the user to do a few activities to do virtual surgeries and such, if I used this site for my students, I would offer it to older students. However, I think any age could learn something from this site. When I was playing around on it I even learned something. I picked this website because of the amount of learning experience it can offer to any user. It gives the learning experience in a way that the users feel like they are just playing a game instead of doing something learning related. The game environment will have a better chance of having students enjoy learning I believe. I think this is a great site to use in a teaching/learning field. I enjoyed it so much that I will probably revisit the page to explore some more of the activities it offers.


Brittney Allemand
When I graduate in a couple years with my degree in elementary education, I want to be well prepared and trained in technology. I believe that in a couple years classrooms will be filled with more smart boards, computers, or iPads than books, pencils, and paper. After reading this blog post assignment, I immediately turned to the internet and technology to help me research a good topic. After looking around on Google and numerous websites, one technology tool stood out to me the most. I learned about an eportfolio tool for young elementary students to create. They can create a whole portfolio with tabs for all subjects, like math social studies, and science. The website I visited, tech4learning.com,showed an example of a third graders portfolio and how it could look. They had tabs for all subjects, and videos and pictures of her work. I really enjoyed this tool because it said it was a good way to show a child's progress, which is just as important as their products. The portfolios provide a collection of the students work, drawings, reflections, and numerous other things. I really like how the website described the portfolio and its use:"Because portfolios include a collection of performances that demonstrate growth and include student reflections, they provide additional assessment information beyond what can be gleaned from a traditional letter grade." I really like this technology tool and feel as though it will be useful to us as future teachers in EDM 310. You can visit the website above for an overview of what the portofolio is and does. I feel as though this will help the students work computer and other technology tools also. They will learn how to build a preview of all their work.

Chasity Heubach
To no surprise, I began my research on 21st Century Learning tools with the help of Google. I found many tools for learning that would be very helpful to elementary school teachers. Two tools in particular stood out to me. One was a resource called Smart Lab. This is a learning lab that uses technology to inspire hands on learning for students of all ages. While reviewing the usefulness of the Smart Lab technology, I discovered a program called STEM. This program is a comprehensive system with a focus on science,technology, engineering, and mathematics. The STEM website discusses how the program will help improve "an understanding of scientific and mathematical principals, a working knowledge of computer hardware and software, and problem solving skills". The smart lab learning labs aid in the STEM process. The site for smart lab claims that "SmartLabs are fully-integrated classroom systems that include hardware, software, scientific and media equipment, hands-on construction kits and flexible furniture systems. The Smartlab program, I my opinion would be a great thing to introduce in elementary schools throughout the nation.
Another tool I discovered in my research, and the one I am most excited about, is the program Pixie. Pixie is a system designed to help integrate technology into the elementary classrooms. It is a project based learning system that will, according to the website, help children of all learning styles develop the skills to navigate their way through 21st century technology. I found that another great thing about this program is it aids the teacher in meeting the Common Core Standards.Pixie allows students to create as well as share their own work which instills a sense of pride, resulting in a will to learn. The pixie program in my opinion in a highly motivating program and would be a perfect addition to any elementary classroom. I also believe this would be a good tool to help teachers evaluate a students progress, which would help in eliminating testing in classrooms. The children produce their own work to better show they understand a subject.
Both the Smartlab and the Pixie programs are excellent tools to better prepare students for 21st century learning and I look forward to one day being able to introduce these programs to students of my own.

C4T #1

I was assigned to read and comment on Dianne Krause's blog Dianne's Digital Discoveries Her most recent post, Daily Digital Discoveries 04/17/2013 contained a list of 8 educational books to read about technology. The list was set up as a link which took you to another website which can be found at 8 Education Technology Books Every Leader Should Read. With each book listed was a little summery of what the book was about and what the author of the blog thought about it.


Leaving my comment, I first mentioned who I was and that I was assigned her blog for my EDM310 class. I then gave her a link to my blog as well as the class blog. I thanked her for sharing the list of books that are good to read mentioning that I hope to read them someday. I finished by saying how it is great to be educated about technology and how the books seem to be good for teaching us about the new ways of technology.

After no new post from Dianne Krause's blog since the last one, I went and looked at the one most recent since the one above. The next post can be found at Daily Digital Discoveries 04/02/2013. This post contained a link to read about 12 ways to know that you are using photos legally. In this link to these 12 ways, 12 Most Picture Perfect Ways To Ensure You're Legally Using Online Photos each way was talked about. Each paragraph included a clear understanding of what the writer of the blog meant.

In my comment on this post, I quickly mentioned again who I was and that I was in the EDM310 class at South Alabama. I followed by thanking her for sharing the post and mentioning how it was good to know that there is more behind using a picture than we are normally aware of. I closed my comment by saying that it was great to be aware of the ways to legally use pictures.

Blog Post #3

After watching the video What is Peer Editing? and viewing the slideshow Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial I now know a better way to peer edit. The ways the video and slideshow mention about peer editing can be a better way to approach one should have when needing to do so. One should first compliment ones work they did. Complimenting could be as simple as saying you liked how they worded something or a view they used. Then one should make suggestions on their work and how it could be improved: not telling them what they did poorly, but ways it may be easier to understand. Lastly, you correct their work. Correcting could be in spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors made in the work done. These are the three way to become a better peer reviewer. For an entertaining way to learn how not to peer review, I recommend watching Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes. I have yet to meet anyone who loves people reviewing their paper like the people used for example in this video.

When critiquing a post, I will make small suggestions as in spelling or grammar by public ways like commenting on the post. I do this because most of the time it is just a small error made by the writer. However, if it is something that they have in their post that shows that it was not just an error, I inform them privately by email or such. I do this because I have been informed of a mistake I've made before in front of a whole class. It was embarrassing and frustrating because the teacher could have done it privately instead of making it known to the class I did something wrong. I try to think of the response a person may feel if I critique their work and how they would rather take it.