C4T #3

     A Creative Solution to the Homework Wars. This blog is about homework. Mr. Spencer shares with us that he used to be against homework. As he continued in his career of being teacher he learned the importance of homework if it is done correctly. He gives five ways that he has found for homework to work and be successful with his students. He changed the outlook on homework for his students and parents. Homework became a success and became fun for his students. I commented, "Hi Mr. Spencer. I am currently in college in plans to become a teacher one day.  As a former grade school student I was always against homework and never understood the point. Now that I am an adult and in college I see the importance. I really enjoyed reading this blog and the five ways that helped make homework work for you and your students. My favorite approach would have to be the show and tell approach. This has definitely given me a differently outlook on how homework should be handled in the classroom. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to keeping up with your posts."
For my third comments for teachers assignment, I was assigned to a teacher's blog named John Spencer. John Spencer is a great teacher to learn from. He is inspriring and shares his mistakes and experiences for the readers to learn from. The first post that I read by him was
     The second blog that I read by John Spencer was Why I Do the Same Student Projects Over Again. In this blog Mr. Spencer shares that he used to think that teachers should shred and throw away their lesson plans at the end of the year and start fresh. He wrote this post to explain that his way of thinking was wrong. He learned that we should not throw away past lesson plans or projects, but use them to modify and make the next years better. We should use our past ideas and activities to our advantages. This post was very inspiring and good to learn as a future teacher. I commented, "Hello Mr. Spencer. I am in college and going to school to become a teacher. Thank you again for sharing your blogs and experiences. They are very educating and encouraging to me as a future teacher. I like all of the different projects that you use in your classroom. I totally agree with the fact of not throwing out last years work, but instead modify it to make it better. I do not think we should just throw out lesson plans or projects, but use it to make ourselves better. Thank you for your inspiring and experienced posts!"

Blog Post 11

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

1. Back to the Future by Brian Cosby
     In this speech, Brian Cosby is speaking about a class that he once taught. He shares about a time that he asked his students questions like, "What is your address?", "What state do you live in?", "What country do you live in?", etc. When he asked his students these questions, surprisingly, so many of them did not know the answers. Cosby also knew that he had students in his class that were mostly second language learners. He began to get his students engaged about science through using technology. His student were using project based learning with technology through blog posts and as he called, "High Hopes" projects. Cosby gave a lot of new ideas and thoughts that made me think. He pushed the thought that we can not create passion with creativity. I learned that there are no limitations when it comes to teaching and there are definitely no limitations when it comes to learning. The learning atmosphere and opportunities that he allowed for his students were incredible and I hope I can be a teacher that allows my students to grow and learn.

2. Blended Learning Cycle by Paul Andersen
     Paul Andersen is an A&P biology teacher. He is a teacher that likes to create acronyms for his students to help them remember what they have learned. In this video he uses an euler's disk and spins it on the table. The disk will spin for a long time without stopping and starting again. He uses these acronyms to get his students attention. He then tells teachers to as a question. Make the students' minds wonder and be curious. He calls these questions, investigations, videos, elaborations, reviews, and summary quizzes, "Quivers." He shows the importance of incorporating all of these into daily plans for the classroom. I learned from Paul Andersen that it is okay to use other sources from around the world to incorporate learning into my classroom. Yes, I need to be creative and teach according to my students' needs, but I can use other sources to help me be more successful. I also learned that incorporating quivers, as he calls them, helps my students to learn on a better level. It also helps me to see and know how much they truly absorb and learn. 

3. Making Thinking Visible by Mark Church
     Mark Church and his students in this video created a banner that in a few words described what they already know about human origins at the beginning of class. He allowed them to hang their banners at the front of class and discuss what they know. At the end of class, after they had learned more about the human origins, he allowed them to write another statement on their banner. I like this method of teaching a lot. I learned that teaching with this type of method the students realize they have learned a lot of new information about the topic within a short amount of time. It caused some of them to want to change what they had wrote on their banner at the beginning of class. It is a great way for students to realize that they can always be a learner and that they do not always know everything about everything. 

4. Building Comics by Sam Pane
     Sam Pane in this video is teaching his students how to be safe with and on the internet. Pane has his students create a Digital Citizen Superhero. He wants his students to be a good technology citizen. He wants to teach them to take care and to take pride in what they do. Pane does a great job incorporating other subjects into this one subject. He incorporates language arts into technology. He allows them to do peer reviewing through comics. The students are so engaged and it all seems so fun. I have learned how important it is to create students with good digital citizenship. I want to create this in my classroom one day. I also hope to do fun things such as comics with technology with my students. 

5&6. Project Based Learning by Dean Shareski and Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program 
      Videos five and six are about Project Based Learning. Project Based Learning is a great way to combine learning math, science, language arts, and history all into one place. It is also using technology which is automatically a great way to get students engaged today. In this video, a school in Canada combines these subjects for their students. The teachers quickly realized that their students were understanding and learning so much more because it was joined together. I feel like through these two videos I have expanded my knowledge about Project Based Learning. Over this semester, I have viewed a lot of videos about Project Based Learning. However, I continue to see and learn the importance of it. It keeps the students engaged and brings learning to a whole new level. I cannot wait to incorporate it into my classroom one day.

Project 6 C4K 2

 

   The first student's blog that I read was by Maya. It was called The Fault In Our Stars. Maya read the book The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. She is sharing with us in her post how she thought the book was wonderful. She tells how many pages the book has and that it is a realistic fiction book.  Maya goes on to tell us a few details about the book and does a great job of not being a spoiler with too many details. I commented, "Hi Maya! You did a great job on giving main details of the book without spoiling important details. I have been wanting to read this book as well as see the movie. I enjoy reading the book and then watching the movie to compare the changes made. You are not the first person to recommend this book in such a great way. I will definitely have to find time to read it! Glad you loved the book and keep up the great blog posts!"
     The second student's blog that I read was by Skye.  It was called PLAN Testing. Skye tells us the bold and honest truth about testing. She shares that it is not fun and no one ever wants to go through it. Positively, Skye gives us great ways and tips for preparing for a large test such as a the PLAN test. Her advice is very accurate and are tips that I still use to this day as a college student. I commented, "Hi Skye! I am a student in college and have taken many different types of tests in my school career. You have done a great job of telling others how they should prepare for a test. Taking tests can be very boring and tiring, but they do pay off when you get to do something successful because you prepared correctly. Great post and keep up the great work!"
     The third and final student's blog that I read for this assignment was by Lisa. Lisa's blog was called The House of HadesTh. Lisa was reading a book called The House of HadesTh by Rick Riordan. In this blog, Lisa shares the basic details about the book and its characters. This book has so many characters that she said she could not list them all. She shares that she loved the suspense and adventure of the book.  She recommends it to anyone. I commented, "Hello Lisa! This book sounds very interesting. I love to read and especially like to read new things. The suspension and adventure sound interesting. Thanks for sharing this book and I look forward to reading it."

Blog Post 10

What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

     The first video by Kathy Cassidy that I watched was Little Kids...Big Potential. This video was interesting to me.  She shares with us the many, many different ways that technology can be used in the classroom. She uses all of her technology in such a unique and creative way. She does not use the common classroom technology like SMARTboards and blogs. She uses Nintendo DS's and NintenDogs. I love that she uses these technology tools to teach her students how to work together as a team. 

     There are three part videos to the interview with Dr. Strange and Mrs. Cassidy. The three videos are Interview Part 1, Interview Part 2, and Interview Part 3. In these videos they discuss the importance of technology in the classroom. Mrs. Cassidy gives great ways for beginner teachers to begin with technology. She tells those teachers to begin with the technology that they like or the technology that they are most familiar, such as YouTube or blogging. The techniques that I learned from Mrs. Cassidy on using technology is to simply use technology. I should take advantage of the technology. Technology is not going away and as a future teacher, I must adapt and learn to be creative with it. I really enjoyed watching and learning from Mrs. Cassidy and I look forward to applying technology to my classroom one day!

Blog Post 9

What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning?

1. Seven Essentials to Project Based Learning

     After reading this article I learned seven essentials for project-based learning.  The first essential is called an entry event. This gets the students engaged into the project.  It allows them to start conversations and create interests for the students.  The second essential is called a driving question.  A driving question should be an open ended question that gets students to begin thinking.  The question should be a way to overview what the students are learning at the time.  It should give the students the knowledge and purpose of the project.  It also allows the students to know what information to put into the project.  The third essential for project-based learning is to remember to not give students a limit.  Allow them to explore and be creative in their own ways. We should not tell them exactly what we expect of them, but instead give them the basic guidelines which will allow them to create on their own. The fourth essential is technology.  We should use as well as allow the students to use it.  It's the twenty-first century!  They can use the technology for communicating and exploring. We should not keep them from that.  The fifth essential is to help create students that want to ask their own questions so that they learn more. Teachers should not just tell them information.  We should tell them in a way that gets their minds curious and causes them to ask more questions.  The sixth essential for project-based learning is feedback and revision.  Feedback and revision is important to cause students to become successful at creating quality work.  When they receive feedback and revision on their work, whether positive or negative, they will know what to improve on for the next project.  The seventh and final essential is to publicly present the product.  When students know they have to present work to the class, they want to work harder and make a better product.  Students take pride in their work when they created it and came up with all the ideas.  Allowing them to present their product builds up confidence in them.

2. Project-Based Learning For Teachers

     Project-based learning is important for teachers to incorporate in their classroom because it creates students that are able to be creative and inspired learners.  This video tells teachers that we should not be asking the question of "what" but "how".  Project based learning allows them to think on their own with a driven question from the teacher.  In classrooms today, we expect students to follow specific instructions and follow them exactly.  It seems that students today are not allowed to explore, think, or be creative on their own.  Project-based learning creates and allows those things to be reincorporated into the classroom atmosphere. 

3. PBL: What Motivates Students Today
     After watching this video, I am more concerned about what motivates students and I question if they are really learning.  The student in this video, says that she wants to be  veterinarian when she grows up but seems to be only concerned about her grades.  Are the students today only concerned about make the "A" and only absorbing the knowledge long enough to pass the test which leads to forgetting what they memorized?  As a future educator, I long to create students that genuinely want to learn  as well as want to make good grades, but I do not want the grades to be their main motivation.  Students should be taught so that they learn the knowledge for long term, not just for a test. 

4. High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation
     Project-based learning is for all grades and even for any subject.  Project-based learning is not conformed to a specific way or type.  It can be changed and reformed to fit the needs of the subject of students.  There is not a right or wrong way to create a project assignment for students.  Teachers just need remember to accommodate the requirement and information for the age classroom they are applying it to. Project-based learning can be fun and affective for any grade or any subject but it just needs accommodate for the specific situation for the best results.  

5.  Students Solve the Problem of Watery Ketchup by Designing a New Cap
     This article was unlike any other project-based learning assignment I have ever see or heard.  The students were using a ketchup cap and determining, "what really bugs them."  These students seemed to be engaged in the project.  They seemed to enjoy making their own ketchup cap.  Their driving question was, "it bugs me when."  This question did not limit the students to a specific answer or project, but allowed them to think and create their own project.  This article did a great job at showing that students are capable of more than we give them credit.  As a future educator, I need to remember to ask my students the driving question and then allow them to think and explore on their own - outside the box.

Project 9

Project 13

Is it Magnetic?

Image Source: Texas Watchdog

This project teaches students in second grade the difference between magnetic and nonmagnetic objects. This project also teaches students how to work collaboratively to complete research and writing assignments in a timely manner,

Is it Magnetic? Lesson Plan
Is it Magnetic? Lesson Calendar
Is it Magnetic? Project/Evaluation Rubrics
Is it Magnetic? Project Checklist

VIrtual Poster Sample (Included at end of Lesson Plan)