Project #9 Final

Posting my success on my PLN. I have loved learning new things in this class. My PLN is just as fun to set up and to learn about. I think the things I've used the most on there would be my twitter account and blogger. It is so interactive and I can reach numerous amount of people in such a short time. With one post or one tweet. I've really enjoyed learning more and more about my PLN.

Final C4T

This week I had Bill Ferriter's blog. His latest post is about Anti-Bullying. He says that technology is the easiest way to get the word about bullying and the dangers out from it spread. He tells us that the idea is Speak up, Salem. "The notion of creating influential visuals ties directly to several of the language arts goals in the sixth grade curriculum -- and learning to use visuals to be persuasive is probably one of the most important skills for grabbing attention in today's information-soaked world."

My comment: Thank you so much for caring about a matter as big as this. I think that it is very grand of you to do something such as this and show the world the dangers and the warning signs of bullying. People think children just have to weak of skin these days but if anything I believe with all the technology and social media sites, bullying is becoming an epidemic. And it must be stopped.

This week I had Bill again. He posted about schools having limited budgets and every time that we make careless spending choices, we tie our own hands behind our backs. He says "As a result, I've worked HARD over the past several years to encourage both teachers and school leaders to think systematically about just what they want to see happening in classrooms before they spend ANYTHING on technology."

My comment: I loved your stories! I loved the idea of this and how we should think before we have to spend money on something we may not need. Thank you!

Blog Post #14

David Streitfeld's Blog Post is about a new digital textbook. The e-book helps the teacher keep a track of the student, almost like a "Big Brother" kinda thing, as joked about in his post. The teacher can check the students "engagement index" which includes opening the textbook, skipping passages, taking notes, or highlighting important things said from the passages. It helps the teacher see why the students aren't doing good on his or her tests, if it's because the student isn't studying or reading or maybe the teacher isn't lecturing enough.



My Thoughts as a Teacher: If I were a teacher I think this would be a good program but I could see it having some problems. As stated in David's post the students could open the textbook every night but do something else while it is open. The student could take notes under a different program. Some students don't have access to a computer at home. I think it could be very productive for the teacher but I could also see a lot of excuses come up as to why their engagement index isn't up to par.

My Thoughts as a Student: If I were a student and this was a program at South Alabama, I think it could help me push myself to be a better engaged student. If EDM310 hasn't taught me that already, then this program could work. But I'm not sure if I like the idea of the teacher really being able to see if I have read or taken notes. Students don't learn the same as others. Some are better at taking notes and some are better at attending lecture and just listening. Some students like to read the whole chapter and some like to just highlight stuff the professor say. I just don't think it would be fair to punish people who learn differently. Some people don't even buy textbooks. It would have it's bugs for sure.

Questions to the Teacher: How well did this program work for you? Did the students complain a lot about this new program? Was it very successful? Was it hard to learn how to use?

Questions to Students: Did you like this program? Did it work well for you? What troubles did it have? Was it complicated to learn? Was it beneficial to you, or would you have had a regular textbook?

Comments: I think there are pros and cons to this program. I think it would indefinably depend on the student to make it work. If all the students didn't like it and decided to not use the program at all then there's not much the teacher can do. Just like if the students don't buy the hardcover books now. I believe it would have it's ups to the teacher and the student but I think it would also have some downfalls as well.

Progress On Final Project

I plan on doing an iBook. I don't have a group, I'm an independent. I have all of my stuff together and I plan on starting and hopefully finishing sometime this week!

Blog Post #13

Mr. Paul Anderson created this video about Blending Learning and the cycle he created to do with it. We have learned about Blended Learning in which teachers take online, mobile, and classroom and joining them. He tells us that the best cycle he uses in his AP science class is Engage-Explore-Explain-Expand-Evaluate. He then goes into detail saying he uses the acronym QUIVERS. QUIVERS stands for: QUestions, Investigation/Inquiry, Video, Elaboration, Review, Summary quiz. He uses an oilers disc and a mirror as his example.


I think this is a very effective way to teach and to learn. I feel like EDM310 is a Blended Learning classroom, even though we spend most of our time out of the classroom. I like using technology and I like being able to teach myself new things everyday and I hope I can do that with my future students. I believe technology is a great thing and every classroom should have some sort of technology in it, whether it be a SmartBoard, an iPad, or the whole classroom taught on computers. We can't escape technology, it's growing everyday, so why not just take advantage of it?

Blog Post #12

For this blog Dr. Strange wants us to make our own assignment. Create a blog, with instructions, and then follow the instructions. Following our subject we plan to teach, of course. And if you haven't realized or you're new to my blog, I plan on specializing in special education. So, here goes nothing.

Blog Instructions:

Go to Top 50 Special Education Blogs. Pick 3 of the 50 to visit. Tell me which blog you went visited. Hyperlink it. Write a couple sentences about what was on the blog. Tell me if it was a sped teacher or a parent of a special needs child or even maybe a student etc etc. Tell me why this blog would be used to help you teach.

"Blog Post"

1. I went to Special Education Strategies. This blog is a blog where teachers and parents come to learn things that can help their student learn at their level. It also has helpful hints about helping the child learn social and emotional growth and strategies. You could use this blog to improve the social behaviors of your students.

2. For my second blog I went to Teaching All Students. This particular blog was under the technology tab so I was really interested in this blog. On here it shows you many apps you can download onto your iPhone or iPad or Smartboard. They range from how to count money to easy typer. This blog would be very useful for the apps and watching videos of how they are used to teach.

3. For my last blog I went to The Shut-Down Learner. Sometimes when students have a disability, whether it be mental, learning, or physical, school and learning can be harder and not fun. This blog helps BOTH parents and teachers to help make learning fun for these students. I think this would be a great site to go to to send homework or just helpful papers home for the parents. Also, you can use the tips in your classroom to make learning for exciting for these students.

C4K March

My first student was Javon. He was in the first grade in Mrs. Vannoy's classroom. Being a first grader he doesn't say much in his blog posts, but I think they are just getting them used to using a blog. Some of his posts just have random letters in them. One in particular says h hc and the students commented on them saying "cool" "awesome". Like I said I think they were just trying to get them used to using blog and comments etc.
My comment: I was unable to leave a comment as the page would never load for me. I will continue to attempt to comment, until then I could not comment.

My second student was Brittany Lee. She is in Mr. Boylen's English Class in Conn. She writes to a question if she believes blogging is important in the classroom and outside of school and if it is a waste of time. She answers "I do think this is worth the time because you get to meet new people and interact with them a you still learn things while doing this blogging. I gain knowledge from this and met new people from a different country and I thought it was cool an also learn about there country and things."
My comment: I left her a comment agreeing with her saying that I was in a blog inspired classroom and even though it is different it teaches me new things every time I go to class.

My third student was Jenna in Mr. Seyfert's 6th grade class in WI. She's a very bright student. She uses her blog for her book reports and describes the book in great details. She has the usual 6th grader posts about Christmas coming and Veteran's Day and what that means to her. She seems to really like puppies!
My Comment: I decided to comment on her post about the differences between non-fiction and fiction books. She was very descriptive and I really enjoyed reading this blog. I thanked her for being such a smart cookie and that I enjoyed her blog a lot.

My fourth student was Tyrese. He is a student from GA. His latest post really warmed my heart. His post is below
Dear, Larry and Tracey you 2 are great men by traveling the world, changing people’s thoughts, and sharing what it is like to have autism. I think it is sad you can only speak a few words. You communicate by typing and sometimes I have to do that because I have asthma and it can effect my throat. The film you made about autistic people was great because you were inspiring people all around the world to have hope, autistic people can be intelligent, and they can be theirselves. At first I really didn’t pay attention to autism but now that you came to Williston Central School, my school now I pay more attention. You inspired me about autism.
My Comment: I told him how special he was for writing this post and how happy it made me to see someone be inspired by people who are usually looked upon as not as high up on the toe-tom pole. Tyrese really warmed my heart.

Blog Post #11

Ms Cassidy's Classroom"

Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Canada. Her first grade students are astounding. They are amazing on computers and especially the internet. She is teaching them how to use technology effectively instead of using the internet just for social media. I respect her for teaching these kids, at such a young age, how to use technology. I really believe in technology in the classroom. Her children are on the same level as some of my peers and myself. She shows them how to use the blog sites, classroom website, and Wikis. I'm still not even sure what a Wiki is. These children are using the blogs as ways of communication and they are learning writing, audio, and visual skills.

She tells us that the students love to use the blogs because they get feedback from all over the world and having an audience other than your teacher is a very exciting thing, especially when you're in the first grade. Honestly, I wish I had a technology class, such as EDM 310, in high-school because when I got into this class I was very lost. But with some self- teaching and self-learning I believe I am doing very well. The only downfall to technology would probably be that sometimes it isn't reliable. Just like our bodies they can shut down for no reason at all. I agree to using technology in the classroom and I respect Ms. Cassidy for proving all her peers wrong.