Final report on PLN

FINAL PLN REPORT

My PLN has not really changed since I posted it before.  I have added a few people from Twitter but not many.  I have added a few new website that I have discovered in doing research for other classes.  I am sure when I begin teaching I will add much much more to my PLN .  I'm glad I learned about the existence of it in this class.

PROGRESS REPORT ON PROJECT # 16

Option C
Either as an individual or a 2 or 3 person person group, create a video of 1-2 minutes that can be used as a part of the fund raising effort surrounding the University of South Alabama’s 50th anniversary. Details of the contest (which  has a prize of 2 iPads for the winning group  - or one iPad if done individually  - 3 IPad minis if done as a 3 person group)   will be available on the EDM310 Class Blog by noon Tuesday  November 11, 2012.



My group and I chose Option C of Project # 16. We have already met and took photographs to use in our presentation. We are planning and communicating well and will have a wonderful presentation for this class as well as a competitive presentation for the University fund raiser upon completion.

BLOG POST # 13

Back To The Future

This video is about active and collaborative learning in and out of the classroom. Mr. Crosby teaches fourth, fifth, and sixth graders and many of them are learning a second language. He tries to build schema within his students by building on their experiences. He has a laptop for every student and all of the students have blogs. One of the experiences with his classroom was an activity where they sent a balloon up in the sky over a thousand feet high. The class met objectives for science, history, and language arts with this activity. They received live application and wrote reflections of the experience and posted pictures. The students wrote hopes for their school, community, and the world and posted it on their blog. This activity allowed them to build their learning network also. They were empowered and motivated to succeed. One of Mr. Crosby's students has leukemia and he used the Skype social network to include her in the class. The little girl was really happy about being included in the class. Mr. Crosby chose great activities for his class that allowed his students to participate in their learning. I believe so many teachers teach to prepare students to pass test and think very little about motivating them to learn. Motivating students to learn is a big accomplishment for a teacher because it is not always easily done. When motivation does occur, students learn... it's as simple as that! School is more interesting when students are motivated to learn using activities rather than listening to someone talk to them and asking for "burp back" information from their students. I hope to someday be one of those teachers that motivate by including activities that are fun while learning is taking place in the classroom.
A Vision of Students Today
This video discusses characteristics of students today. It discusses what their lives are like, what they will be like, what they will become and what they need to learn.  The video illustrated what students think about education. Students want to know what they learn will help them, and why they have to pay for an expensive book that they will never use. They want to know why their teachers are so boring when teaching. Technology is the focus of the average student today.  They spend time social networking, so why shouldn't teachers take advantage of that?
I can understand what the students are saying in the video. While in school you learn "stuff" you will never use and it does seem like a great waste of time. The world changed and I do think some of the teachers stood still during the changed and it missed them.  I want to motivate as a teacher and I want my students to enjoy learning.  While some teachers did change with the times, they are the ones students learn the most from and continue to use what they've learned long after they have left their classrooms.

C4K Summary for November

C4K # 10  Colton's Blog
http://quezadacolton-honorsenglish.blogspot.com/

 Colton writes on his blog about a friend called Melinda relating to the poem called the "Caged Bird." He writes his friend has a secret that she cannot tell anyone because she does not have any friends  She's afraid of what people will think of her if they find out.  She keeps to herself and does not really  fit into a big crowd just as the "caged bird" did in the poem.

Colton was able to relate to the poem because of a real life experience he has with his friend Melinda. He captured exactly how she feels regarding having a secret and not being able to tell anyone. His post was short and on point.  Melinda has a good friend in Colton.


Patrick O's Blog       C4K #9

Patrick is declaring his support of Mitt Romney on his blog post. He states he is voting for Romney in their class elections because he is going to create more jobs,give more taxes to the poor and some to the government. He states Obama is good to vote for too, but he doesn't feel like voting for him. He also said he has been a Republican allhis life but he has been a democrat too. He included a website link on his blog if you are a kid and want to see how student in other schools voted. He provided details on information regarding how Romney will give 40% taxes to the poor,and Obama will raise taxes and give 40% to the government. He also said 40% will go to build bridges and roads, and 20% to the poor.He also predicted Romney to win with 1% more than Obama. His last comment was that he thought Romney's down side was the fact that he was getting rid of PBS.

I responded by saying hello and that I enjoyed reading his blog post. He seems to have some pretty definite views on who he is voting for and why. That's good because he should make up his own mind based on the facts he researched. I told him to stick to his guns! I commented that I believe my political views to be personal and private but that I have the utmost respect for people who actively voice their opinions on a public forum. I also commented that the PBS station will survive no matter who is in the President's office. It's a good and valuable resource for children and good things always survive. Keep blogging!!!!


   C4K #8        Allison's Blog

Allison and her family went on a family vacation. They did not fly, they went in a car. Allison had to share the back seats with her 3 brothers. She was not happy because they were cramped with all their stuff in the car. It was a long trip and Allison was not very patient. Allison was asleep when the trip started and woke up three hours into the drive. They ate at Apple Bees in Nashville, Tenn.and afterwards Allison got sick. They weren't going to stop but they all were tired and ended up stopping at a rest stop to sleep. They were in Atlanta Georgia when they stopped to rest. They arrived at Kissimmee, Florida around 4:00 pm that same day. They were in Florida for 5 days and her parents left them at the hotel to go buy groceries. They went to Universal Studios,SeaWorld, Cocco Beach and to a cool restaurant with a floor that looked like a basketball court. While at see world she had a chance to see the Shamu Whale show. She and her family drove by the Kennedy Space Center but did not go in because it was a 2 hour tour and she and her brothers did not want to spend that much time in the space center. They went to several theme parks, took walking tours and did some shopping. They all had fun.Then it was time to go home and the road trip started all over again. They left one day early because there was news of a storm coming and they did not want to be in it and so they left early that Saturday morning.They stopped at rest stop in Kansas to sleep. They drove all day Sunday and arrived home on Monday morning. Allison never said where she lived in her blog. Allison enjoyed her vacation with her family. They went many places that I have visited in Florida and I could visualize them as she talked about them in her blog. She mentioned swimming in Cocco Beach and I have done that. She mentioned going to Universal Studios and I have been there several times and she mentioned the Kennedy Space Center. She did not go there and yes it is a long tour, but is very interesting. I think she would have enjoyed it. She had a well written blog, with some misspelled words. I told her about using MS Word to type her blog post in so she could take advantage of the spell check feature and that would help. Allison wrote a detailed blog and as a reader, I felt as if I were on the vacation with them and in the car with them on the way to Florida.

C4T # 4

C4T # 4

FOR THE lOVE OF LEARNING...Daddy I want Book Bucks

Joe Bower wrote a blog where he discussed pros and cons of schools using reading incentive programs. On his blog he posted a comment from a concerned parent discussing her views on why she thought the incentive programs have a negative effect on children and their reading habits. The parent stated her daughter Kayla had a healthy attitude towards reading and loved being read to. She thought reading was fun. The parent is not okay with the fact that a program called Book Bucks is competing for her daughter's motivation with incentives such as toys.She talked about the two kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic and how they are inversely related. She feels is you grow someones intrinsic motivation their extrinsic motivation withers away and vice versa. Her daughter Kayla is already interested in reading and there is now evidence that Book Bucks is having a negative effect on Kayla's reading interest. One night while reading to Kayla , after the book was over, Kayla stated she wanted a Book Buck for reading because she gets them at school and can buy toys. That did not make her mom a happy camper! Motivation matters to the parent. There is a big difference between wanting to read a book because the characters are cool and you can't wait to turn the page versus wanting to read a book because you can't wait to get your hands on a rewards or get out of punishment. The parent recognizes that the schools have the best intentions for the students but thinks it's clear that they have a problem. If the school's incentive plan undermines a child's intrinsic desire to go on reading for the sake of reading, what should a parent do?

My Response: There are positives to using incentives and there are dangers as well. Bribing our students to read sends a message that reading is not something you do unless you are getting rewarded to do so. Make reading fun by associating it with fun. Continue to model reading to your child. I think we should read for engagement rather than extrinsic reward. It's a concern for me that reading for pleasure and the knowledge we gain is not enough. Our schools have decided that our children won't read unless they are rewarded. Unfortunately there are some homes where reading is not modeled and there is no shared reading time. In this case, Book Bucks might be the only way to encourage a child to read early on. I don't like reading incentive programs personally. Children should know that being a good reader has nothing to do with how many points or levels they reach. Having said this, I will not discount the incentive programs because I know that for some children, reading to earn a toy , ice cream party or pizza might be the motivation needed that will one day make them readers for a lifetime.

C4K #8

 C4K #8        Allison's Blog

Allison and her family went on a family vacation. They did not fly, they went in a car. Allison had to share the back seats with her 3 brothers. She was not happy because they were cramped with all their stuff in the car. It was a long trip and Allison was not very patient. Allison was asleep when the trip started and woke up three hours into the drive. They ate at Apple Bees in Nashville, Tenn.and afterwards Allison got sick. They weren't going to stop but they all were tired and ended up stopping at a rest stop to sleep. They were in Atlanta Georgia when they stopped to rest. They arrived at Kissimmee, Florida around 4:00 pm that same day. They were in Florida for 5 days and her parents left them at the hotel to go buy groceries. They went to Universal Studios,SeaWorld, Cocco Beach and to a cool restaurant with a floor that looked like a basketball court. While at see world she had a chance to see the Shamu Whale show. She and her family drove by the Kennedy Space Center but did not go in because it was a 2 hour tour and she and her brothers did not want to spend that much time in the space center. They went to several theme parks, took walking tours and did some shopping. They all had fun.Then it was time to go home and the road trip started all over again. They left one day early because there was news of a storm coming and they did not want to be in it and so they left early that Saturday morning.They stopped at rest stop in Kansas to sleep. They drove all day Sunday and arrived home on Monday morning. Allison never said where she lived in her blog. Allison enjoyed her vacation with her family. They went many places that I have visited in Florida and I could visualize them as she talked about them in her blog. She mentioned swimming in Cocco Beach and I have done that. She mentioned going to Universal Studios and I have been there several times and she mentioned the Kennedy Space Center. She did not go there and yes it is a long tour, but is very interesting. I think she would have enjoyed it. She had a well written blog, with some misspelled words. I told her about using MS Word to type her blog post in so she could take advantage of the spell check feature and that would help. Allison wrote a detailed blog and as a reader, I felt as if I were on the vacation with them and in the car with them on the way to Florida.

Special Assignment : A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind

A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind
by Mary Beth Marklein    view article

Sebastian Thurn

Sebastian Thurn is one of Google's Vice President's and an education research professor. He is founder of the company called UDACITY. His vision is to transform education so that learning is fun and free to all. He wants to see education respond to you. He would do away with grades and thinks grades are a failure of the education system. This type of education system would allow students to learn at their own pace and take all the time they need to learn the skill. He doesn't want to take over the traditional system but explains it as a change to the way we learn, not an end to our learning. I think it would be fun to learn using games as a base for learning new skills. 

This strategy would require a new type of teaching for teachers and more training. Learning based on games might cause a problem like getting behind but if it has been researched and well planned, that kind of problem can be taken care of. Group collaboration on projects as the article talks about would probably work very well. The article also suggested opportunities to have instructors all over the world. That would be a great opportunity for students taking online classes...so many different points of view and so many different ideas.  That's an opportunity that comes along once in a lifetime. 

 It's a challenge sometimes to make learning activities fun.  It is a real challenge to make learning free most of the time. I don't know anyone who has a solution for making learning free. Where will the money come from? I am also unable to vision education and learning without structure. Learning can be fun but structure is needed to make that happen. When structure is absent from learning there is complete confusion and disorder!  On the other hand, Mr. Thurn's vision might accommodate education that fits individual ways of learning.

We need changes in educating our children and other ways of evaluating their learning are needed as well. Test are not always good ways to determine if a student is learning.  Some students are just not good test takers. Does passing tests mean you are going to succeed in life?  I think not!  Let's teach our students to succeed in life rather than just pass a test.  Mr. Thurn stated "Failure is not an option."  That's not reality.  Reality is, that failure happens to many people a lot of the time. Those failures should not keep us down but in fact should be a spring board to doing better. We learn from our failures. Mr. Thurn's vision may be a good one for our future, but I don't think it's a good one right now.  I don't think we're ready for it at this time.     

Project # 14 Smart Board demonstration