Blog Post #16

If I was to describe myself in the teaching environment. I would have to say I would be restrictive at first just until I got to know my students then after a little while I would open up more but I am also kinda shy so it is no big deal. My friends and family seem to think I will b very strict and disciplined because I expect that from my children but that is not the case. I have always been told I am very good with kids and I like to think I am as well.

I still think keeping it old school is the best way to do it with pens, pencils, and paper. To me there is nothing wrong with it I don't and wouldn't want my students in the middle of doing a project or an essay and their tablet or what ever crash on them or they don't get it done because they are too busy playing games.

I did like and enjoy doing the project based learning. I felt it gave the teacher more time with the student in the classroom instead of the other way around I believe its called flipping the classroom. I think I would incorporate that into my way of teaching when I did the research on it the students and the teacher seemed to enjoy it more than any other method I have seen used.

Out of all the new tools I have used in this class I like the Prezi. It is easy to use and understand and I think it's one of the better programs to use if you are gonna use project based learning in the classroom. I feel that it is a good thing to use even though I was against it this entire time I feel it would be very affective.

Prezi:
Lets see what can be said about the program Prezi. I had the easiest time figuring it out and operating it. Everything is right there at your finger tips. I had a blast with it did several experimentations with it to get use to it. It was fun even had my children do it a few times. They had lots of fun with it and could use it so easily after the first time I showed them.

Blog Post #15

How Assistive Technologies Transform Learning







By Sally Gajewski:



The first video iPad usage for the blind is a video showing Wesley Majerus, a blind person, using motion tools on an iPad to navigate all of its menus and programs. He demonstrates how to navigate around the iPad using two or three finger swipes and rotations along with other techniques. He can access iBooks to listen to audio books and search through webpages with a few complicated sets of movements. It is beyond amazing what he can do on the iPad and I wonder if other machines can do the same thing. If I had not seen this video, I would have thought it impossible for the blind to use technology is such a way, or at all. Really, it is great the world is researching tools and methods to help disabled persons, for they are people too just like us.

The Mountbatten - Assistive Technology for the Blind is a video demonstrating the braille typewriter of sorts, that blind persons may type with braille keys to produce braille text on paper. Other uses of the machine are saving these braille texts as a file on a computer and receiving such files to be oriented in braille. Lastly, the braille typewriter may translate braille to English letters on the computer, as a user of the typewriter inputs braille the computer writes the passage in Roman letters for the general public to see. This makes it all more accessible to disabled students to communicate with each other and the other students that can read the common letters.

By Brian Orr:



The video Teaching Math to The Blind is the single most innovative story I have heard, with respect to assistive technology. I had no more words after that video than "Wow! What next?" Technology is shaping our era to be the most influential for cultures, ever. We will change how the world works, thinks, feels for a long time into the future I believe. Being blind and able to keep up in at least simple math is revolutionary I'm sure. And the disabled are given tools to make them feel equal to the unafflicted we all can rejoice. And I do like the comment by the professor near the end. "Math is a hard subject, even for the sighted." I couldn't agree more. I have been through 4 levels of calculus and various physics courses, I still feel this way and always will and one reason I love Math for the struggle and eventual success!







The last research I did was on how we came to having assistive technologies for the disabled or impaired citizens beside us. And as Helen Keller is probably the most influential person to help disabled people, I thought I could introduce her. She was a deafblind child that was trained to be able to live independently, to do what no one thought was possible for people like her. Her mentor and "companion" was a woman named Anne Sullivan, who trained her to communicate in spite of Keller being both deaf and blind. Mastery of braille must have been essential to her education, as hearing and sight were of no help to Keller to educate herself. Beyond learning to read braille and execute sign language, Keller was taught to and mainly seemed to teach herself how to read lips with her sense of touch. She also was taught by teachers, among them Sarah Fuller, to speak herself with Keller feeling the way the mouth moves as someone speaks and the position of the tongue with various accents, vowels, and consonants. The inspiring methods Keller used and her enthusiasm to learn to be sufficient on her own give a great example to disabled children and people of all age. From her time forward, the disabled community can have hope for fulfilling their desires, and for the rest of the community to sympathize with their situation and aid them.



Image Sources: http://www.globalcalendar.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/braille.jpg, http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/10/1005_coolest_office_furniture/image/006_braille_writer.jpg, http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/b9/50/57/b95057f5bc1cb8c119f9afb7082ea2f8.jpg, & http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/womenenc/keller3.jpg

C4K

I read several blogs by intelligent students and left very polite comments on their blogs. Telling them all to keep up the good work and to have fun with everything they did. I did enjoy some more than others but they was all very good.

C4T

C4T


She goes through and explains why she is switching to another blog site. She explains how she did it and gives step by step instructions which is really helpful. She also gave some wonderful insight to a few things on google. All in all it was a very informative blog and I really enjoyed reading it.

Blog post #14

Pick three star constellations from the hemisphere you live in. Give me the history or story behind it. With a picture.

Canis Major is known as the Great Dog. In Greek myth, it is said that this constellation, along with Canis Minor, are Orion's hunting dogs. Canis Major was one of the most important constellations in ancient times because the brightest star in the sky is part of it.

Sirius, the Dog Star, is one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Only the Moon, Venus, Jupiter and Mars are brighter. Those that lived near the Nile River used the star to signal the flooding of the Nile. This special occasion represented the return from the dead of the Sun god Osiris.

Canis Major is very easy to find during the months of November through March. First locate Orion the Hunter, and imagine a straight line through his belt. Follow the line to the southeast, and you will see Sirius perched right below it. Sirius is the nose of the dog. His body stretches to the southeast, and his front leg is to the west of Sirius.

I chose this constellation becuase there is nothing like a good hunting dog

Orion, the Hunter, is by far the most famous seasonal constellation. No other is more distinct or bright as this northern winter constellation. The famous Orion's Belt makes the hunter easy to find in the night sky.

Orion looks very much like a person. First, you should spot Orion's Belt, which is made of three bright stars in a straight line. One of Orion's legs is represented by the bright star Rigel, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. His two shoulders are made of the stars Bellatrix and Betelgeuse. You can see Betelgeuse's reddish color without a telescope. Other bright stars make up the two arms, one which holds a shield, and another that carries a club.

Many different civilizations saw this constellation in the sky. The most famous stories come from Greek and Roman myths. Orion was a famed hunter, and in one story boasted that no creature could kill him. Hera then sent a scorpion to sting the hunter. Orion smashed the animal with his club, but not before he was poisoned. Both are now on opposite sides of the sky. They cannot be seen at the same time.

A different story tells of the love between Orion and the goddess, Artemis. One day, Orion was swimming out in the sea. Apollo, who very much disliked the man, bet his sister that she couldn't hit the object in the sea with her bow. Artemis didn't realize it was her lover, and shot Orion with an arrow. When she later found out what she had done, she honored the hunter by putting him in the sky.

There are several clusters and nebulae to view in this awesome constellation. The famous Orion Nebula is located in Orion's sword, which hangs from the belt. It is so bright, that even the naked eye can see the fuzzy patch. It looks spectacular even with a small telescope or binoculars. There are numerous other objects in Orion, so scan the constellation with a telescope or binoculars on a clear night!

Taurus is commonly known as The Bull. It passes through the sky from November through March. Taurus was a very popular constellation in ancient times, so there are many myths about it.

The Greeks thought the stars represented Zeus in disguise as a white bull. He tricked Europa into climbing on his back. He then swam out to sea and carried her to Crete. In Egypt, the constellation was a reminder of Apis, the Bull of Memphis. He served as a servant to Osiris, god of the Sun.

Just as famous as Taurus is the group of stars within it. The Pleiades are a group of seven stars that lie on the Bull's shoulder. The Greeks believed these were the Seven Sisters, daughters of Atlas and Pleione. It was told that they asked Zeus to place them in the sky to escape Orion, who was desperately pursuing them. Little did they know that Orion would be placed right next to Taurus in the night sky!

The brightest star in Taurus is Aldebaran. It serves as the eye of the bull and is near the Hyades, a lesser known but still visible group of stars. The beautiful Crab Nebula is located above the tip of the bottom horn.

Blog #13

Shukla Bose: Teaching One child at a Time. Teaching one child at a time

She started the Parikrma Humanity Foundation from her kitchen table. They walked the slums of Bangalore. After several days of visiting with the parents and the children they started a school on a rooftop in June with only a half ceiling and in India it rains in June. They spent a lot of time under the half ceiling which turned out to be a very bonding experience.

In six years they have four schools, 1 junior college, one thousand one hundred students coming from twenty-eight slums and four orphanages. Their dream is to educate children and give them a better living. They are all English driven schools using the ICS curriculum.

There is a myth that parents from the slums don't want their children to be educated that is untrue. They want them to be educated to lead a better life than themselves but they need to believe. They have any where from 80 to 100% turnout for parent teacher meeting.Fathers are attending as well. When this first started the parents used thumb prints to sign in but now they can sign their names they was taught by their children. They have had mothers come to them asking if they would teach them how to read and write so they started an after school program for the parents. 98% of fathers are alcoholics so they are sent to detox centers and then they help them gets jobs. Three fathers have been taught to cook, and nutrition, they helped them set up kitchens. They now supply the food in the schools and it has helped the fathers get respect and a sense of pride.

Another myth is that children from the slums cannot integrate with the main stream students. That too is untrue every year they hold a sports event where over five thousand students from around Bangalore compete. For the last three years the Parikrma Humanity Foundation has won the event with there students bringing home lots of medals. They have even had several students from the other schools ask if they could attend the foundations schools.

By Brian Orr
"Jose Antonio Abreu: The El Sistema Music Revolution"The El Sistema Music Revolution

The TED Talk I chose was a story of the Venezuela youth symphony, "El Sistema." The orchestra won the Ted Prize for 2009 for making a symphony that is acclaimed around the world, and ranked 5th on the greatest symphonies around the world by the London Times. The program's main focus is developing a Venezuelan music presence around the globe and providing music opportunities for impoverished youth in Venezuela.

The director of the program, Jose Antonio Abreu, always wanted to become a musician and reached his goal by the help of his family, and God. Frequently throughout the talk, Abreu states God has guided his life and program to its success. He brings to light the spiritual hole in most people's lives, that the world is in a spiritual crisis and his program is doing its part to mend this wound. Abreu is a very strong minded character, a person that knows what he is and what he wants and uses his abilities to help others. This story is less about a good music program than it is a charity for children, this one man's vision to contribute to God a healing solution for Venezuelan society.

I found this talk amazingly inspired, that this man could produce this world wide acclaimed orchestra, with enormous support along the way of course, that has a fairly large statement that people need God and need the arts to heal what is missing in their lives. He reminds me of great spiritual leaders, honestly, like Jesus and Muhammad that preach their values to the world with no fear, only conviction.

From the 1st rehearsal to today, Adreu has this vision of creating a great youth orchestra, and he feeds on his own vision to succeed. His demands more from himself, probably even when he thought he could go no further. This man looks like a person who went beyond his body's capabilities and used his spirit to accomplish his great personal goal. He really is a father to these children, and I'm sure this thought or mindset helped him strive to better each of their lives with music and some purpose to their lives, not just poverty and a lack of self identity in Venezuela. As he states, Mother Teresa thought the most miserable aspect of poverty is not the lack of food or shelter, but of identity and purpose, and I think Adreu has managed to give that to his children.

Blog post #12

After watching How to escape educations death valley. I find myself agreeing with everything Ken Robinson had to say. He says there is three principals that drives human life flourish.

The first being different and diverse: He says each child is different, and under the topic of no child left behind he says that its based on confirmatory not diversity school are encouraged to find out what students can do across a narrow spectrum of achievement. One effect " No child left behind" has been to narrow the focus on stem disciplines and tells us how they are not sufficient. Real education has to give equal weight to art humanities and physical education.

The second principal to help drive human life flourish is curiosity. If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child they will learn without anymore assistance. Children are natural learners. Its a real achievement to put that particular ability out or stifle it. Its and engine of achievement. An effect of that has been to deprofessionalize teachers. There is no school in any state or around the world that is more important than its teachers. They are the life blood of the school.

The third of the three principals to help human life flourish is being inherently creative. Everyone has their own way of being creative. Its what makes individuals and why we do our own thing and why we are so interesting, diverse and dynamic. Other animals may have an imagination and such but its not as evident as ours. We all create our lives through imaginative turnouts and such. One role of education is that to awaken and develop powers of creativity instead of using standardization.

Finland does well in Math, Science, and Reading. We only know this because this what we test for. Which one of the problems with the test is they don't look for other problems just as much. But Finland doesn't obsess about them disciplines. They have a very broad approach which includes humanities. physical education, the arts. Finland does no standardized testing, they do but it is not what they base their teaching platform on. They individualize teaching and learning and recognize that its the students who are learning and the system has to engage them, their curiosity, individuality, and creativity thats how they learn. They teach the student they don't dictate stuff the child already know instead they focus on their skills as a student. They put teaching on a higher status along with the realization of picking great teachers and giving them constant support in their professional development. Investing in the professional development is not a cost it is an investment and every country that is succeeding well knows that. people either don't want to learn or they do want to learn.

Every student that has ever dropped out of school has had a reason which is rooted in their own biography. It might be boredom, irrelevant, or at odds with the life they are living outside of school. Theres trends but there is always unique stories.


Ken Robinson's: Changing Education Paradigms
By Brian Orr

I will give a quick summary of the main points and dive into what I think. The main point of Changing Paradigms: think differently, mainly about our education system we have today. It's vitally important, the narrator says, that we redesign how we education our children for this changing economy, evolving work space, and growing (and shrinking) world.

The video is excellently produced, and I have to say even beyond the inspiring message, I was entertained. The entire time. As a 21st Century student, I am not going to lie and say I don't have a short attention span. Well, I do, and this video kept me listening all 11 amazing minutes. But back to the video, we have to educate students to be two main things, the global citizens of tomorrow and the "torch-bearers" of our country's culture. A big task, but something all countries are beginning to strive for.

I would say the first point I disagreed, or questioned, was the education system of America being flawed because of its origins being of the 18th century. Many things can be said to be obsolete in the modern world, but also many aspects of life remain mostly unchanged. Words in books still stimulate people to read them, music of the classical period currently fills my playlist, but the education system does not teach the correct way? I immediately was prompted to think...and that's great! I would say the video is onto something, but I would halt when making a sweeping generalization like it does here.

Onto the meat and potatoes of the message: how to make education more interesting for children and for adults, who have been asked to learn very "boring" subjects in an extremely institutionalized method. Education feels like prison is a common way to describe education in America, at least in my era. And being shepherded from one classroom to the next, among other norms of the education system like required general education for even college students, do not foster extremely useful learning in the video makers' opinion. Another huge point given I hadn't thought of is education is somewhat linear in its approach, that one right answer is what students search for. Rather, the narrator gives support to teaching divergent thinking, something younger children are taught more than when they grow to adulthood. Learning to find multiple answers to a central question (not so much in strict mathematics and science but in other subjects) is important to direct student thinking to finding their own best solution. Breaking out of the mold is a big theme in the video, even the manner in which the content is presented with graphics and animation is out of the norm...and I just like that. It's creative.

The last side note the video goes on about is ADHD and the supposed epidemic that is "hitting" American children. That the technology available today is so stimulating and fun to interact with, and the opposite being true for the school system, medication has been given to even the playing field so to say. Children would love to play games, watch movies, and search the internet for Knowledge (key point is knowledge can be found anywhere, yes even the internet), but the school system does little to compete with such a stimulating task as these technologies provide. Instead, the video points out ADHD medication is on the rise in America, and that parents are giving their children these pills to level down their excitement and make them close to brain dead. We limit the potential of their learning, possibly, or at least are first turning to chemical supplement (replacements in other words) rather than first turning to giving excitement back to the children and reinvigorating their want to learn! Make school fun. A cliché phrase no doubt but something to make as a goal in each school! And large doses of medication can't be good for our children....can it? I say a good portion of oranges, a math textbook with pictures and a narrator like the one in this video, and voilà: Education Fixed (or getting close).


The Importance of Creativity commented on by Laura Hamilton:

Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.Creativity expert Ken Robinson challenges the way we are educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

To be honest, there will always be people who will put you down because you think of things that they don't or because you see things in a different way, but at the same time, in college, I have yet to run into a single instructor who has put me down for being creative. The instructors at my college South Alabama are always pushing their students to think outside the box and do their best no matter what the goal is. I'd have to say that college is a much better experience than high school ever was.

Image Sources: http://mikebougher.com/digital%20paintings/Paradigm%20Shift.jpg, http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6121/5917729691_f987df1dfc.jpg, & http://www.freefever.com/stock/creative-hummingbird-mac-os-mountain-lion-hd-wallpapers.jpg

Blog Post #11

Kathy Cassidy part 1
Kathy Cassidy part 2
Kathy Cassidy part 3

After watching the interview with Kathy Cassidy I agree with her when she says you have to use the current tools to teach the new age child. You cant use tools from 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. But giving a child reguardless of age something like a tablet and expect them not to "hack" it so they can do what they want with it. Its already been done by several thousand students the school board this has happened in has regretted it and said they was surprised when they found this out. I agree let them use the new tools but don't give them 100% free control with it. Here is a better idea why not take them out completely and go back to using real books with paper and pencils. Using all these new age tools yeah it might be faster and easier but I ask again what happens when all this stuff crashes and it can no longer be used. What then are we going to go back to using old school tools?

I have no problems with technology being used. I am not 100% against technology, but giving it to kids because their books are on it is a bit ridiculous. It's not improving our skills our national GPA's are not improving by using them. I think it's funny though that just because someone made the technology yesterday we have to use it today.

C4K

Out of My Mind Chapters 8 and 9Out Of My Mind Chapters 8 And 9
Categories: Blog
October 9, 2013 @ 11:20 AM 1 COMMENT
9
OCT


There is a famous guide dog named Endal. He can turn on the dishwasher,do the laundry and go grocery shopping(He picks up all the items). One thing you can do when you see a service dog is leave it alone. You could disturb it working or helping it’s master. I think Melody feels like it’s nice to have a younger sibling in the house,but she wishes that she can do the things Penny does. I think the author is trying to show Melody’s frustrations,how hard it is to take care of Penny and Melody and how having a dog like Butterscotch can make life for Melody a bit easier.


Hey Josh! My name is Sally Gajewski. I’m a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama taking a class titled EDM 310.

Hey, I agree with everything you said. I did notice a few things you could work on mainly just spacing after a comma, but other then that awesome job.


Ashleys' Blog

Hey Ashley
This is awesome i really like it and agree with it. Its very accurate and to the point.



http://medbury.ultranet.school.nz/WebSpace/474/


I am a mummy,
Fierce, stunning.

Hidden away for thousands of years.
Buried deep in a strong, protected pyramid.
Jars hold my insides.
Beware, before you enter
hidden traps all over the place.
Before I died I was a rich PHARAOH!
I was honoured.
I was adored.
I was feared.
Hieroglyphics told my story.
Amazing colours!
I'm OK?
Not where I'm supposed to be?
Now captured
behind thick, clear glass
in a museum...


Mr. Lucca,
I am a student in the College of Education at the University of South Alabama. That was very good i really enjoyed reading it. I think if your picture had not been there I would of known what you was writing about. Your a really good writer don't give up on that

Interview with a teacher

Project 14

Project Overview


Name of Project: Genetics, probability, and punnett squares

Subject/Course: Life Science Teacher: S. Gajewski

Duration: One Week Grade Level: 7th

Project Idea Summary of the issue, challenge, investigation, scenario, or problem:
Students will research basic genetics discovered by Gregor Mendel, the law of probability, and how punnett squares show the percentage of offspring ratios for dominant and recessive trait characteristics in offspring in the first generation-F1 and second generation-F2.

Driving Question
What is the basic probability of five different characteristics of the cabbage white butterfly in the F1 offspring and F2 offspring using the Mendel's basic law of genetics?

CCSS to be taught and assessed:
CC 6, 11,12

21st Century Competencies
Collaboration: Students will work in groups of three.
Creativity & Innovation: Groups will create models of offsprings
Communication (Oral Presentation)

Critical Thinking:
Groups must research probability to discover possible outcome of level one offspring to create a model.

Major Products & Performances
Group: A completed F1 offspring model of a cabbage white butterfly using five characteristics.
Individual: Each student within the groups will completely answer set one research questions. Each students will also complete set two: punnett square probability chart.

Presentation Audience
Class
Other: Group members

Entry Event to launch inquiry and engage students:
Teacher will show a video clip from Discovery Education on the cloned sheep that survived the cloning process. Teacher will ask the students "If you could be cloned, what good or bad things do you believe will happen if you were cloned?" Students will respond openly in a class discussion forum.

Assessments
Formative Assessments (During Project)
Journal/Learning Log
Notes
Checklists

Summative Assessments (End of Project)
Written Product(s), with rubric: Punnett Square probability chart
Other Product(s) or Performance(s), with rubric: Cabbage White Butterfly F1 caterpillar

Resources Needed
Materials: Paper, writing utensil, student brains, marshmallows, pipe cleaners, toothpicks, and M & M's.

Reflection Methods (Individual, Group, and/or Whole Class)
Journal/Learning Log
Whole-Class Discussion


PROJECT CALENDAR


Project: Mendel's Genetics, Probability, and Punnett Squares

Notes: Students will create a caterpillar using probability of characteristics of dominant and recessive traits.

Monday
Teacher will introduce Gregor Mendel’s work with genetics. Teacher will discuss what genetics means.
Students will complete a research assignment on basic process of trait transference from parent to offspring

Tuesday
Teacher will review basic meanings of genetics. Teacher will introduce and discuss probability using sports references. Teacher will discuss how probability functions in genetics. Teacher and students will complete a probability chart with several traits.

Wednesday
Teacher will introduce the common genetic traits of the cabbage white butterfly to students. Students and teacher will evaluate all dominant and recessive traits of this species. Teacher and students will create punnett squares to test probability of butterfly traits.

Thursday
Teacher will show a sample of a completed offspring caterpillar using 3 completed punnett squares per dominant trait of the butterfly. Students will work in groups to find the average probability of cabbage butterflies to discover what offspring will look like.

Friday
Students will use the following supplies to create their F1 cabbage butterfly offspring to display for breeding of F2 generation matting: marshmallows, pipe cleaners, toothpicks, small colored marshmallows, and M & M’s.


PBL Essential Elements Checklist


Whatever form a project takes, it must have these Essential Elements to meet BIE’s definition of PBL.
Does the Project . . .? ?

YES NO

FOCUS ON SIGNIFICANT CONTENT
At its core, the project on Genetics of Cabbage White Butterfly offspring is focused on teaching students important knowledge and skills, derived from standards and key concepts at the heart of academic subjects.

DEVELOP 21st CENTURY SKILLS
Students build skills valuable for today’s world in the science and medical fields of study, such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and communication, which are taught and assessed.

ENGAGE STUDENTS IN IN-DEPTH INQUIRY
Students are engaged in a rigorous, extended process of asking questions, using resources, and developing answers while creating a possible prospect of probability in offspring.

ORGANIZE TASKS AROUND A DRIVING QUESTION
Project work is focused by an open-ended question regarding Genetics and probability that students explore or that captures the task they are completing.

ESTABLISH A NEED TO KNOW
Students see the need to gain knowledge, understand concepts, and apply skills in order to answer the Driving Question regarding Mendel’s Law of Genetics and the process of probability between dominant and recessive traits in offspring and are able to create project products, beginning with an Entry Event that generates interest and curiosity.

ENCOURAGE VOICE AND CHOICE
Students are allowed to make some choices about the products to be created, how they work, and how they use their time, guided by the teacher and depending on age level and PBL experience.

INCORPORATE REVISION AND REFLECTION
The project includes processes for students to use feedback to consider additions and changes that lead to high-quality products, and think about what and how they are learning.

INCLUDE A PUBLIC AUDIENCE
Students present their work to other people, beyond their classmates and teacher.

Blog Post #10

Randy's Lecture

After listening to Randy's Lecture on September 18, 2007 at the Carnegie Mellon University. I have realized that by setting goals and having dreams and the aptitude to follow your dreams. You have to do it don't worry about failing. Failing is only a small part of it all. It is not about success or failure it's all about what you have learned along your journey.

Randy talks of his childhood goals that he made and set out to do. He did them well most of them, but he says " I'm glad i didn't get all my goals, I had more fun not succeeding then I did succeeding." He said he learned more from failure example he used was he never played in the NFL.

Then he goes on to talk about how he wanted to be part of disney imagineering. He talks of all the brick walls that was placed in front of him such as his advisors. He tells and shows photos of some of his first things he created and worked with.

After watching this video I was inspired to follow my childhood dreams even more. If we could reach a mass amount of students and help them succeed in following their dreams. Can you imagine the type of world we could have? There is no telling the amount of things we could learn not only as teachers but as students. I recommended to some of my co workers to watch this and they was inspired to follow their dreams as well.

C4T #2

When Students say They want to Change the World Listen Angela Maiers

Angela maiers is igniting a fire around what she and others are calling Genuis Hour. She is a former teacher and now is a full time education advocate, activist,and consultant. Bringing her passion-based learning, activist learning, and peer learning of show and tell through choose2matter and quest2matter programs for students, teachers, parents, and schools together.

When asked "what is your favorite part of school?" A child will answer "recess." Angela says her favorite part of her early schooling was "show and tell." Where the students get a few minutes everyday to talk, and learn from each other before they went back to sitting quietly and listening to the teacher until called on. Genius Hour takes show and tell to the next level. Showing the students how they matter not just telling them. First ask them something they want to change in the world then help them do it. Genius Hour allows class time for students to explore and act on matters they care about. Similar to the way Google lets its employees work on their pet projects 20% of their time. The students are encouraged to explore the topics that they themselves want to learn about. If you search on the key phrase "genius hour" will see the fire. Angela Maiers gets the students started by asking them what breaks your hearts about the world then what they think they can do about it.

11 months in to it and students in more then 1,500 schools and 6,000 classrooms went through the process of asking " What breaks your heart about the world and what are going to do about it ?" According to Maiers, " these young activist world-change angents and fearless leaders tackle problems and topics that range from building a library in a rural village of Ghana; raising money to build a well in communities with out water; starting and scaling a non-profit organizations support issues of education. The environment and other social causes and developing approaches to support others."

Hello. My name is Sally Gajewski and I am a student in EDM310 at University of South Alabama. I agree after reading your article and listening to your video interview i have to agree. It does make sense what she has been doing it sends a powerful message to the students. I cant wait to try this in my classroom

Blog Post #9

In the video Making Thinking Visible Mark Church a 6th grade teacher from the International School Amsterdam. He has his students get into groups and has them think about a video they watched cally Early Human Beginnings : Origins of Human Society.

In it he has them get into groups so they can think of a headline. The students discuss what they need to say to get others to understand what it is they are trying to say with this headline. In the video he has one group read their headline which is " Why do mysteries begin and why are they important ?"

After they make the headlines they put them on the class bulletin board. Then after two units he has them check and see if the headlines are still the same.

Brian’s Video: Brian Crosby, Agnes Risley Elementary School, Sparks, Nevada, Back To the Future (17:43) (made in 2010)

Brian Crosby, an upper elementary teacher for 29 years, guides the learning in a model technology classroom in Sparks, Nevada.

TED type video. Hot Air balloon project. 4th graders. Students did not know their address, home state, country. I am not sure why the teacher presenting went over many topics he did, such as tissue flying in air, hot air balloon. I assume he was teaching thermodynamics in basic form, and giving examples/projects as a beginning and teaching the science of the project or demonstrations at a later date.

***Funding! This type of project (sending a balloon with quite a heavy payload, into the stratosphere, would take ALOT of money I would think...for 1 classroom.***

Good part of video is that the blog’s teach children “internet etiquette,” as Mr. Crosby states. The internet is known to be quite a chaotic or hostile environment. Teaching students to be polite is a good lesson to have, yet the importance of this lesson is moot.

Laura’s Part:
Bozeman Science
Mr. Paul Andersen is a high school AP Biology teacher in Bozeman, Montana. Paul Andersen has been teaching high school science for the last nineteen years. He has been teaching science on YouTube for the last three years. Paul spent the first seven years teaching all of the science classes at a small rural school in northern Montana. Paul is currently a science teacher and technology specialist at Bozeman High School.

One Word Questions
In one of his blog or or podcasts he talks about questio in education and in the classroom. Paul Andersen discusses the importance of questions in education. He briefly discusses the evolution of Wikipedia and the probable evolution of textbooks. He discusses the importance of questions and the problems posed by creating enough good questions. He really believes in question changing and evolving instead of the textbooks. Even with using the ipads with the textbooks, he says it is still just a textbook and nothing has changed. He believes learning videos, and interactive videos in school standards should be brought more into the classroom, or even at home with homework. But questions is what his main influences is on. He talks about how hard finding and coming up with good questions is for teachers. And how much work really goes into have good questions and great lessons.

Project #3 Presentation

Project #9 Podcast

By: Sally Gajewski
Brian Orr
Laura Hamilton



references: NGA
Teaching21st Final

Blog Post #8

TEDTALKS By Sally Gajewski

Was started in 1984, as a conference to bring people together from three groups: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. It's free and has over fifteen hundred TEDTalks videos with more being added every week. The conference is held in spring on the West Coast of North America. Lasting four days it 's breadth contents include: Science, Business, Art, Technology,and Global issues facing our world. Its has fifty plus speaker each of whom get an eighteen minute slot interspersed with short presentations including music and comedy. No breakout groups everyone gets the same experience because all knowledge is connected.

DiscoveryEd By Sally Gajewski

Is a website/tool than can transform classrooms, empower teachers, and captivate students, by leading them in a way of providing high-quality dynamic digital content to school districts of large and small sizes, rural and suburban areas, and everywhere in between.

They believe that by capturing the minds and imaginations of students you can accelerate student achievements. Tapping into students natural curiosity and desire to learn. Since Discovery Ed has been around it has impacted the way educators teach providing them with with digital content and professional developments. Transforming classroom instructions into an immersive experience that sparks the natural curiosity of the student.

Envisionschools By Sally Gajewski

Their mission is simple. It is to transform the lives of students-especially those who will be the first in their family to attend college-by preparing them for success in college,careers,and life.

They started as a 501(c)(3) charter school management organization in June of 2002. Today they run three small high performing urban public schools in the Bay Area of San Fransisco. It integrates a challenging curriculum that requires all students to complete the A-G Common Core coursework ensuring them to be eligable and prepared to attend a four year university.

The educators use project-based assignments that challenge students to use the 21st Century Skills of critical thinking,solving problems resourcefully, and collaborating productively. Which are needed to thrive in college, future careers, and life. Students then have the opportunity to use these skills and show what they know through the use of a portfolio presentation and defenses, similar to a dissertation. These presentations are required to graduate and are invaluable to the preparations of the students life after high school.

Building on the success of the schools they created a consultancy division in 2010. It also works with progressive teachers and leaders throughout the U.S. to create vibrant schools and engage students deeply in their learning.

Icurio By Brian Orr

My class has researched iCurio in the past, and reported on it being a magnificent search engine for school age children to use. In this post, I will go into some detail about how I might use it in a Mathematics course to help students learn outside the classroom. The website work quite seamlessly when searching for a topic, reading articles about that concept, and storing those articles in your personalized folders for later reading. I think most children older than 7 or 8 will be able to use the website fluently on their own with little hiccups. In mathematics especially, a student can research a concept that is universal to all people on the globe; what a powerful tool the internet is! Derivatives, basic algebra, quadratic functions, graphs of 3-D shapes, all of these ideas and lessons can be found on iCurio and learned by a student at their own pace. No deadlines, no homework! Students have the freedom to research to their hearts content.

I found a few lessons on Algebra II concepts such synthetic division, logarithmic functions, and simplifying exponents. Each search result brought 5-20 pages of content that would introduce each concept or develop how to use it in various cases. I could assign one of the webpages for my students to use, if they would like, to reinforce material taught in class. Or direct them generally to the iCurio database and let them choose which result they think personally best. In short, iCurio contains a lot of information, and lessons are based on meeting common core standards. Students can learn from home, quite well, and on their own initiative.

Teachingchannel By Brian Orr

Teaching channel is a website dedicated to hosting videos that teachers or schools create, to highlight different lessons plans, styles, and common core standards. The site is particularly useful for teachers wanting to improve meeting common core standards with their own lessons, and more so, feed off of a multitude of other teachers for lesson ideas. Each teacher will have some nuance or way to explain a concept different from another. These quirks and even tricks can be helpful to be passed on to other educators around the country. And with common core standards being the basis for about 1/8th of the videos hosted on the website, Teaching Channel becomes a great source to learn how these standards guide and impact a lesson plan.

Common-Core lesson plans By Brian Orr

The final tool I researched were examples of common core standard lesson plans. The examples were of lesson plan sources, such as Inspiration, would provide ideas on how to fulfill common core standards in one's classroom. There also was included a list of standards for certain grade levels and courses like Algebra 1, which detail the expectations of the state on what teachers include in their curriculum. I found it a good source for clearing up what the common core standards are and how one might incorporate their requirements and new style of thinking into some of our lessons. The idea of the common core standards system is great for it provides students with the opportunity to be prepared for nationwide jobs, universities, and styles of work that they could experience or interview to be a part of. The program sets lofty goals which teachers aim to commit to, and this website among others is helping ease the transition to this type of thinking in our education.

Edutopia By Laura Hamilton

Edutopia is a website published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF). Founded in 1991 by filmmaker George Lucas and venture capitalist Steve Arnold, the Foundation "celebrates and encourages innovation" in K-12 schools. Edutopia is a place where students and parents, teachers and administrators, policy makers and the people they serve are all empowered to change education for the better; a place where schools provide rigorous project-based learning, social-emotional learning, and access to new technology. Where we can develop 21st-century skills, especially three fundamental skills: how to find information; how to assess the quality of information; how to creatively and effectively use information to accomplish a goals.

I think what many people forget is that Physical Education is not a gym where it is the teachers job to get kids into great shape. That is not possible with the amount of time they see students. They are teaching students how to be physically active for a lifetime; introducing students to a variety of activities that they can do once they are out of school. While we want to be active in our classes and get them up and moving and we do a variety of cardio activities, it is also important to teach the other aspects of physical activity such as recreational activities that may turn students on to being active adults. We also teach current trends in technology so students have the tools needed to stay active in their world. We are teaching for the future not just for today!

PBL Workshop By Laura Hamilton

First let’s talk about what PBL is? Project Based Learning! In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. Rigorous projects help students learn key academic content and practice 21st Century Skills; such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking.

Within the PBL website they offer services, including a Workshop. - http://www.bie.org/services/workshop_menu/

Here they offer a Workshop Menu including:

Three-day PBL 101 workshop- This onsite workshop engages participants in learning the principles for designing, assessing and managing standards-focused projects as well as using performance assessments to judge the relevant work generated by 21st Century learners. Through a combination of direct instruction, video analysis and hands-on collaborative work, participants have the opportunity to plan, design and receive peer feedback on an engaging and rigorous project using the Buck Institute for Education model and tools. Every participant (no more than 35 in any one session) receives a free copy of our PBL 101 Workbook, which includes rubrics, planning forms, activities, readings, etc.
One-day PBL Instructional Coaching follow-ups- We conduct onsite instructional coaching visits as a required element of our sustained support. The content and process of these sessions are based on the needs of the participating teachers. The follow-ups could include additional training, classroom observation, teacher coaching, curriculum review, or a review of student work. We require a minimum of two in the school year following the PBL 101 workshop.
One-day PBL 201- Advanced Practices workshops.These onsite workshops are designed as follow-ups for educators who have taken our PBL 101 workshop and had an opportunity to implement their project. The topics range from PBL and Web 2.0, PBL and RtI, PBL and Differentiated Instruction, PBL and Special Needs Students, etc.
One-day PBL For Leaders workshops- These onsite workshops are designed to provide educational leaders with a toolkit of ideas and best practices that will enable them to create a teaching and learning environment that allows PBL to flourish in their school. Our National Faculty members who currently work as principals in PBL schools facilitate these sessions.

PBL Workshop can even be used in the physical educational field as well. Physical education can be a place where relevant and authentic learning can occur. I think project-based learning (PBL) is one way to not only create this, but to also show others how valuable PE can be. When done well, PBL gives students a relevant and authentic task that they, as a team and as individuals, must explore and solve. Instead of a project that is a curriculum or completed at the end, the standards-based instruction is filtered through this authentic task, which creates a need to know in students. They see why they are learning what they are learning. The students learn and complete the project concurrently, continually revising and producing a product that they will present publicly.

Youtube/Education By Laura Hamilton

YouTube came out with a program with schools that will redirect all YouTube links to educational content onYouTube.com/education. In addition, comments will be disabled and related videos will only be educational, both of which are a source of anxiety around exposing kids to inappropriate content. Each school and district has a different kind of filtering system, but this allows schools that block YouTube at the domain level to access it through YouTube.com/education. Educational videos can be very interactive for kids in learning. Also teaching them to read is key as a parent and teacher. So finding ways to incorporate that in with your technology use is important and very easy to do today in our society.

YouTube/education is a great tool that can even be used in the physical education field. It can not only be available for students to go home and learn more about the lesson that day, teachers can even use it as a tool to teach that lesson of the day.

C4T Blog

Tony Baldasaro: Discuss

I wrote the following in an email today:

Just because kids will work hard and do whatever we ask them to do doesn’t [automatically] mean we should be asking them to do what it is we are asking them to do.


You make a very valid point, but what's wrong with challenging your students to see if that student or them students are the gifted one or ones. Say you give them a worksheet with Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Precalculus, and Calculus. You tell them that it is not a graded paper, but for everyone they get right they get a bonus point on the next test or what ever. I like this quote it speaks a very powerful message.

Tony Baldasaro: Culture of us

I read a lot of “my’s” in the blogs I read. As in:

I look forward to meeting my staff at our first day of school tomorrow.
I can’t wait to meet my kids this year.
My school is up for an award.
My classroom is almost ready for my kids to arrive.

Maybe I’m being picky here, but I do wonder how we build a culture of “us” in our schools if we claim personal ownership of everything.


Personal ownership is one of them things in my opinion that is like a double edge sword. On one side you want to take ownership for all the good things because i mean who isn’t proud of good accomplishments (you have to remember to claim the bad side of things as well). On the other side of the sword though you have the bad stuff from your school like lowest GPA or worst attendance in the district or something. No one ever wants to claim them things. My point is people only want to take credit for the good things and cover up or deny the bad stuff.

Blog #7

1.



In Dr. Strange and Anthony Capp’s video, they talk about how Anthony approaches being a Project Based Learning teacher. Normally when people think about Project Based Learning, they think of projects being something you do after the lesson to show that you’ve learned what you’re supposed to learn. But the goal of Project Based Learning in Anthony’s opinion is that it’s not only a means to show what they have learned, but a means to get them to learn something. Also he believes strongly in getting students excited about learning and being in control of their own learning. The goal of good projects includes having a authentic audience, student interest, community involvement, and students that are driven by content. So what kind of project can I create that will give my students an opportunity to want to know the material I need them to know?


2.



In Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps second conversation, Anthony talked about a project that ended up being is favorite project so far. His class was studying cultures, and his country was Afghanistan. And his goal for his students was for them to write a narrative script, as if they were a child in Afghanistan. They could also record their narrations on their Ipads and then pull pictures from students safe search engines like Discovery Ed to use in their videos. The outcome he says is that students took this project above and beyond. Some students without instruction even did a blend of topics, or even the food and the religions. Well one parent had served in Afghanistan and felt very uncomfortable with the idea that his child was learning about this culture. So as the teacher he had to modify to respect the parents feelings for this one student. This child did a different Science project to replace this certain project. Project Based Learning involves a method to help students learn and take learning to another level. But there is a lot of work and preparation in these projects that take time. Anthony talks about how students really enjoy Project Based Learning projects, because there not trapped in say work sheets, or busy work. Everything they do in the classroom is meaningful and matters.


3.



In the third conversation between Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps, they talk about iCurio. Anthony talks about iCurio being a safe search engine for students to use in the learning aspect. But he also talks about iCurio being a storage capacity for students and teachers to save information and keeping them organized. iCurio allows students to get practice to organize different videos, websites, information and even pictures in the virtual world. Its kid friendly!


4.



Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps fourth video talks about Discovery Ed and its uses. Anthony talks about Discovery Ed being a very helpful tool in the classroom because it gives students a visual tool. And the great part about Discovery Ed is they have information about every subject, from math to science, history or even technology. Discovery Ed can bring professionals or experts on that certain subject into the classroom via video. Anthony uses Discovery Ed to bring different text to life. People remember far more what they hear, but even more when they can see and watch. Dr. Strange believes that students are now listener watchers, they listen and watch far more than they listen and write

5.Summary of videos #6.

By: Sally Gajewski

Think about this: Both of you state it takes Mr. Anthony's third grade class no time at all to learn how to use Imovie I believe that is what you both said. Of coarse it is easy for them with the age or era of technology they live in. Compared to how or where some of your students live Mr. Strange. I know from experience that I didn't grow up with with any of this new technology. You know with the new apps that come out every hour or programs every month. But you both talk like its easy for anyone to just pick it up and go with it. I'm here to tell you not everyone learns at the same rate or the same way. There are people who have to be shown step by step how to do something. Not everyone can read the instructions and do it. But instead of spending time with the student to help them they just get over looked and are told to figure it out. How can the student learn anything if they are struggling. Let me ask you both this group of questions. What is society going to do if the system or systems ever crash? What good will this technological teaching do? How will we as teachers be able to teach if the book we are teaching from is on a tablet or something that has crashed? I do agree technology. Technology is good, and it does make things easier, but i don't think we need to depend on it to help us teach our students. Let them use it, but not depend on it.

6.Summary of Video #5 (Strange Tips for Teachers)

Project Based Learning Robot


By: Brian Orr

The teaching tips made by Anthony and Dr. Strange are the 4 tips, as follows: to be interested in learning yourself in general, to be flexible in the planning and delivery of your lessons, to find a way to motivate students with relevant applications of lesson content or otherwise, and to emphasize how to deliver a presentation or results of one's work. Anthony's point about learning on your own, making learning a hobby of yours, speaks to me more than anything else in the video. He stated that he became a better educator as he researched in his down time some successful techniques or ideas. Teachers, he said, need to be excellent learners before they can be excellent teachers, as that is the #1 skill teachers teach, how to learn effectively. The point about being able to teach in multiple manners is what only some of my teachers understand fully. If one student does not connect with a way you deliver the content, then the teacher needs to explain the concept in another way with various examples or terms to help the student relate. As well as this, Anthony and Dr. Strange suggested teachers to be flexible with techniques used in the classroom, as the environment changes with visitors walking in or students questions changing the pace or direction of the classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed their talk, and I think the last point made about having a student's content available for the world to see is how the classroom is most evolving. Not only the students' work will be available to the globe, but fully developed lectures, explanations, and examples will be free to any student willing to invest time to learn.

7. 7. Additional Thought About Lessons (3:25)

By: Laura Hamilton



Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps Additional conversation talks about lessons. Anthony says that a lesson is at least four layers thick. The first being the year, and how the lesson fits in within your year. In the year you have to think of how all standards will be covered. The second is the unit, how you will unfold the unit and how it will be spaced out. The third is the week, how are you setting up and planning your week, and how to get everything done. And the fourth is the daily lesson. In the daily lesson you need to plan how will you deliver to your students and the information they need to know. And in the end you will have to have something to measure your students on what they’ve learned that day to know how and where to pick up at the next lesson.

Project #13 - Project Based Learning Plan #1

Teachers Name: Sally Gajewski
Name of Project: Element Wanted Poster
Subject/Course:
⦁ Arts-Visual Arts
⦁ Science-Middle School-Life Science; High School-Physical Science

Project Idea: The class will break up into group of four. The groups will be assigned a group of elements. They have to decide who does which element. Each element will be treated like a wanted person. The poster has to have a picture of the element, chemical structure, name of element and any known aliases (Latin, Greek, and Russian), atomic radius atomic mass, distinguishing characteristics, why it is dangerous, cost of element, any other information that you believe might be important to the capture of your element, atomic number, who got credit for the discovery what date it was discovered. Have to cite the references. Then as a group write a collaborative report about your elements.

Driving Question: Why is this element wanted?

21st Century Skills: Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Collaboration, and Tech Literacy.

Major products and Performances:
⦁ Group: The group will have to write a collaborative report about their element.
⦁ Individual: Each student will have to make their own wanted poster on their element.

Resources Needed: www.chemicalelements.com and www.google.com

Project #2 PBL Plan

September Comments

I had my others, but I can't find them. I guess my documents didn't save it or something I don't know. I do remember telling a little girl in her fifth year that she did really good for her age because she got a 63% on a typing test. That she should keep up the good work but I don't remember the links or anything.

http://kidblog.org/MrsLieschkesClass/7b6958e6-f36c-4013-bdf6-a4e66a640c46/talk-like-a-pirate-day/

Josh,
I must agree with you pirate day would be awesome, and dressing up like one well why not do that on the same day. I think it would help keep with the theme you are looking for. I really enjoyed reading your post especially because you spoke like a pirate would.


http://kidblog.org/MrRhodus6thGrade/aba673f7-bad0-4287-a6ca-443e796bbe43/how-much-dose-the-sky-weight/#comment-86

Mary Kate,
Hi! My name is Sally,and I’m a student in EDM310 at University of Southern Alabama. I just read your post and I must say I love the excitement you shared when posting this. I had no idea that the sky weighed so much. Could you imagine the pain we would go through if that weight was pressing on us all. I’m glad to see that your blogging at your age its alot of fun isn’t it. It’s new to me, but I’m doing my best with it keep up the good work, and never stop living for the day.

Blog #6

Asking questions: What is the right questions and when do you ask them?

In Questioning Styles and Strategies Dr. Harvey Silver broke down his questioning into a block system called a Comprehension Menu. It has four main topics Mastery, Understanding, Interpersonal, and Self-Expressive. I enjoyed watching the students answer his questions it was good to see that Dr. Silver allowed them to be themselves. He asked the class questions about a book called Bridge to Terabithia.

His first question he asked was he asked the class to describe Terabithia. Under each question he had teaching techniques come across the screen. The first technique he used is called Provisional writing and cueing which allows the children time to answer the question. Then he uses the Think Pair Share which is where he lets the students speak with their fellow classmates about how they would describe Terabithia and if they had something in common they had to check it. After doing that he uses the Random Calling technique just to start off the answering process after the first student answers. He then Surveys the class by asking the class if anyone else has the same thing. Then he uses the Student Calling technique, and instructs her to call on another student so they can tell what they wrote. Again he Surveys the class, then uses the Random Calling technique once again. He gives good feedback to all the students who described what they saw. He then asks the class does anyone else have something that hasn't been mentioned.

The next question Dr. Silver asked was and understanding question and it was. What effect did Terabithia have on Jesse and Leslie’s relationship? He waited a good ten seconds using the technique called Wait Time. He called on a student whom answered the question and because her answer was a bland one. He then used the Probing technique by asking her (in what way?) causing her to explain her answer more. After surveying the class about how well they know another person after spending time with them. He calls on another student, and the student uses a technique called Notice how the student echoes the question.

During the Self-Expressive questioning he asked the class to draw a picture of Terabithia. He gives the class several minutes to draw their pictures. Afterwards he has some students tell what they drew. Listening to them as they tell Dr. Silver what they put on their papers is really cool and fun to listen too I had my children do this after we read the book and I enjoyed their responses got different results but enjoyed it none the less.

While doing the Interpersonal questioning Dr. Silver asked the class what they like best about Terabithia. Using the technique called Learning Log he tells them to write it down in their notebooks. During this he asked if anyone knew what it was like to act different around other people because the student named Jason mentioned that people could be themselves. Using the Clarifying technique. Then he has a student use the Physical Representation technique to show what a creature would look like if they came from Terabithia.

Listening to this was really fun and interesting not just for me but for my children as well. I learned a lot about this strategy and technique when it comes to asking the right questions

Book Trailer

This is My Sentence/Passion

My Icurio

C4T #1 and #2

http://peoplegogy.blogspot.com/2013/07/peoplegogy-tv-your-one-sentence.html?showComment=1379324832632#c4026894045350583447
http://peoplegogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/peoplegogy-tv-interview-with-tracy.html?showComment=1379317636950#c4594827430071221963

You two discussed having a knish I believe is what you called it. I agree with that because it would help you stand out much like using a different colored paper if you was handing it in to the person. But, wouldn’t it really depend on your explanation of it on the resume, or is that something you would have explain in person? What about maybe doing an audio resume if that makes since? How would that look to a recruiter or a principal? I mean I like doing things different and by putting my own spin on things would that help me stand out. I think it would be interesting if when you opened up the email instead of seeing a cover page and then have to read everything you get a song that makes sense and you can understand the words. I think it would definitely be more energetic than the rest.

After listening to you and Mr. Blumegarten and Mrs. Vandergrift’s discussion. I have really become excited to find out what my knish and my sentence might be. I’ve always been energetic and outspoken no matter the topic but I wonder if that could also be my downfall as to what people might think of my approach on things. I’ve never really done the twitter or blog stuff so it is all new to me I have a Facebook. My husband uses it strictly to talk to his family since he lives so far away from them. So the whole social media stuff is new to me and very hard to understand. How can using this stuff become easier and useful to help me in my career and in life?

After watching both of these I agree with everything they are saying. I especially found it interesting that they all has their own knish as they call it. Dr. Will in the interview with Tracy Brisson was told that finding a knish is like having your own way a kind of a stand out thing on the resume is a good thing. He even states after reading her book he did some changes to his own resume. He was also told that there is a huge supply of teachers now a days, so it is good to really sell yourself not only on the resume but even as you continue the process of the interview or whatever.

She also tells you that there are several ways to make your resume easier to understand. She also states that you should put whatever you have more of whether it be education or experience near the top. She also explains how it will help the flow of the resume. My question is this when explaining what your knish might be should you just say what it is on the resume and then explain later when they ask, or should you try to explain it, and let them try to make sense of it?

I’m new to the whole social media stuff I’ve never really used it. Right now I’m kind of struggling to figure it out. In both of these blogs they all speak very highly of the social networking. I still don’t understand it all, but I can agree with them when they say it can help communicate with one another not just as individuals, but as class room to class room so if one class is doing an experiment or something other classes can see it as well.

In the video blog Peoplegogy TV your one sentence they speak of what inspired them. They all agreed that it was the wanting of change and trying to give more help that inspired them to do the things they do and how they do it Jerry “Cybraryman” Blumegarten said “ Everyone should have a mission statement not just the teachers, and the parents, but the students as well.” He goes on to say that at each holiday such as Halloween and Thanksgiving he has the students reevaluate their mission statements to see if things have changed.” They all speak of connection, and how using social tools such as twitter and other means of technology really benefits the teachers now a days because they can communicate with classes and do presentations and things whenever they can’t make it to actual school. It also helps teachers and consultants communicate with each other to find out how certain situations or circumstances can be handled. It lets the teachers talk with one another, and get to know each other before a presentation or something.

Everyone’s sentence is different. Everyone is trying to find their own. Once it is found they discover that as they age it grows and expands with them. When asked if it is better to be focused on one either ADE or google or is it better to be focused on both? Mrs. Vandergrift says” It’s good to have them both in the classroom but as far as out of the classroom the job listing is limited so you should be focused on one or the other she goes on to state her sentence is people she places them first and tablets and apps second she believes in her sentence even though it’s probably backed her into a corner she would rather put people first than anything else. She don’t know it all about either but she does know who to tweet about google or ADE.

Mr. Blumegarten says” have as many skills and abilities as possible knowledge is everything know as much as you can because you never know where it can apply its great to be an expert, but you have to have knowledge in all areas you can’t know everything or be an expert on everything.

Blog Post #4

After reading and listening to the After reading and listening to the Flat Stanley podcast and hearing the excitement coming from the children as they read their story aloud as Flat Stanley but with their names in the place of Stanley’s. It is clear that the children really enjoyed making them. You could really tell the children tried to and did rather well with their grammar and annunciations of the bigger words. I had a lot of fun listening to this not just because of the kids but because of the sound effects. I think it does matter to a six year old who their audience is because they know their parents and their teachers are going to give encouragement enjoy it. they will also be nice as well making sure not to hurt the students feelings but if you ask other students their opinions they will be a little bit more honest not to mention there are students out there who don’t get the positive reinforcement that most do so hearing it from a student is a huge pat on the back. As far as what I got from Long distance story telling is it’s a great way to teach foreign language to younger children and it speaks volumes on the connections that can be made between adults and children in the understanding process of the languages in this story an aunt read with her five yr. old niece over Skype. They had a blast reading the stories together and everything. Now it’s up to the child’s parent to figure out the new things he can do as far as downloading mp3 for his child from her aunt. My children use Skype to speak with their family that live in another state but of course it is supervised by their dad but they can answer calls and type a few words and everything its good for kids to take an initiative as to what they are going to learn but is there such a thing as learning the wrong thing at the wrong time. It’s not about the tools. It’s all about the skills. I understand how it is not about the tools but think of this. Some students don’t have access to the same or similar tools they would at school for example maybe the student has an older computer which has an older operating system on it or it don’t have the memory storage for the program maybe it don’t have the right RAM to run the program I think we need to be focused on the skills first then introduce the tools later.

blog post #3

I am like most people when it comes to peer editing I don’t like upsetting people. But, I believe that if I try to do what they suggested in What is Peer Editing, Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial, and Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes. I have learned that when you are editing someone’s paper the first step you do is give them a compliment on their paper. As in, I liked the way you worded your title to your paper. Then for the second step you just give suggestions to their paper. For example, maybe instead of using the word good you should use the word excellent. Now for the third step you give corrections to the spelling and grammar of the paper. I have also learned that if you edit a paper wrong it will not help the student at all. Instead, it hinders the student in learning how to write a paper. When editing a paper you can edit it very well but, there is a chance your point might not come across the way you meant for it too. Such as the way you word your explanation in why what they are saying will not work. That can confuse a person and it can chop at their ego if they believe they are a good writer. It is like building a knife you have to have a perfect balance of the blade and the hilt otherwise it can throw off the balance of the whole knife. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is like everything else is all in how you perceive the paper you are editing.