PROJECT # 10 Symbaloo First Progress Report

Project #10 First Progress Report

I am using Symbaloo as my personal PLN.  I have included social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. These social network sites keep me current on all types of information. This PLN helps me to connect to people with the same interest as I have. I really like using The Learning Network because it covers so many topics.  There is a wealth of information on that website that would be useful to anyone interested in education.  You just have to choose which item to view first. 

My PLN is being updated continuously. I have created additional tabs for  travel, news, and educational information. My PLN will help me in my personal life as well as my professional life. I am enjoying using my PLN and my husband likes it so well he has created one on his laptop too.

Blog Post # 9

What I've Learned This Year by Mr. Joe McClung

The blog post  What I've Learned This Year (2008-2009), written by Joe McClung reflected on his first year of teaching.  Mr. McClung shared many of his first year experiences. He mentioned that teachers sometimes forget to check if their students are actually comprehending information and focus too much on how it is delivered. A student's comprehension of information should be priority for all teachers.

Mr. McClung stated  lessons don't always go the way you plan and that's okay. I believe lessons are planned to guide you while teaching. I also believe that as a guide, if you need to modify that guide based on the need or needs of the students, that's what you do. He also made the point that we should not be afraid to use technology in our classrooms and if we are not comfortable with computers we need to try anyway. I agree with that statement.  Teachers should be willing to try any and everything to reach their students. Our students today grow up with technology and would not be uncomfortable using it in the classroom. It's what they know!  Material presented using technology would motivate students showing little or no interest in class, but we'll never know if we don't try.

 Mr. McClung stated at the end of his post that we should never stop learning.  I certainly agree with that statement.  Learning does not have an age limit and I am living witness to that. I am probably the oldest student in my class and yes, it is a struggle sometimes to keep up and understand new information, but I try and I keep on trying because I am determined! Once I get it... I've got it and that's the attitude we must have when trying to reach all of our students.  Don't give up on them when they are trying and don't let them give up.  We are there to encourage learning and that should be our focus.


What I Learned This Year (2010-2011)

What I Learned This Year was Mr. McClung's third year blog entry.  Joe stated we should center our decisions around the student and not around pleasing other adults. He is simply saying it is okay to want to make adults happy, but our main focus is the student. I like pleasing people. It makes me feel good but that can cause situations where you neglect what's important for something that's really not important at all. I must always be alert so those situations don't occur. Teachers must also be aware of circumstances and situations that are not student centered and stay away from what or who causes that type of situation. Mr. McClung said he stayed away from faculty and other staff and he spent most of his time with his students. This made him an outsider but he was happy with himself as a teacher.

 He reminded us not to get too comfortable because teachers can get into a routine after they have been in a school for many years. I think routines make students stagnate and change keeps students growing.  Joe did not become one of the "boys" at school.  He remained the person he knew himself to be and it was not important what others thought about him. I want to keep my students interested in learning and encourage that inner drive to do so and that will require change...constant change. I don't like routine and I become bored with routine, so why would I think students are not bored with routine? As a teacher, I will make every effort to remember to always center my decisions around my students and to be passionate in my role as their teacher. Joe's personal reflections on his real world experiences have allowed me insight into what I should expect in the classroom and the school environment as a whole.

Blog Post # 8

This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

The videos This Is How We Dream Part 1 This Is How We Dream Part 2 are very good. The technology made them a little hard to follow. Richard Miller is brilliant and exciting. Mr. Miller discusses changes we work with today on our laptops.  We work in groups to produce Youtube products and that is another change in place today. The technological environment is ever changing and multimedia allows us to see these changes currently and the future changes also. We are kept abreast of what lies ahead through this type of technology. Technology that can tell which city is happiest in real time makes you think about how grand technology really is. I am more motivated than ever to learn even more technology because it is the way of the future and a major part of our lives. I will be prepared to use multimedia. I need to use it a lot more to become comfortable with it, but that will come in time. I really want to use the new tools in my classroom someday. Multimedia writing has so many benefits for teachers and our students. The students will learn as they grow up with new technology. We are able to do everything right away when using multimedia. There is no lag time and this is important. It allows for wise use of time in a society that moves really fast or does everything in a hurry. I enjoyed watching the video. Richard Miller has great ideas and after viewing this video , everyone should be aware of how our world is changing and how to prepare for it. The synthesizing of Science and Humanities is an idea I never thought about putting together and it is a good one. We need to do more thinking outside the box.

The Chipper Series
EDM 310 For Dummies

These videos were really fun to watch.The acting was good and the point made very clear. The over all message was EDM 310 is not meant to be big, bad, and scary. The class can be fun and there are many resources to help you. The Chipper Series is about reaching your goals no matter the obstacles before you. I would like to create a video about including art in science units in the classroom. Art inspires creativity and we need lots of creativity in our classrooms to engage students.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

The video Learn to Change, Change to Learn made great arguments that I agree with. All of the educators argue the classrooms are completely outdated. Students hate school because of boredom. If learning was fun children would not mind coming to school. A great way to make learning fun is to encourage creativity. Technology is already a major part of a student's life with phones,texting,Twitter,Facebook, video games, and watching YouTube, so why not use it in the classroom. As students ,the tools they already use would become more than just a social media ,and teachers would be able to assist more with problem solving.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0

I used Polls.io to create this poll.

How many students use a form of technology at home?

0%

laptop computer

0%

iPad

0%

cell phone

0%

desktop computer

0 total votes

 My Space
There are many uses for social platforms in the classroom. Teachers are able to post bulletins for students, announcements and group meeting dates and times as a way for students to stay in touch with one another. Social platforms such as My Space empower students. Empowerment happens when students create interactive media like podcasts. This helps to encourage development within students. Web based calendars are another part of the social platform that can be a great way to help students gain some of the planning skills that educators often see lacking. Social platforms help to build communities around topics of interest. This in turn builds more interest and learning around the topics created by students. Other benefits include student participation and innovation.

Wikis

The video WEB 2.0 Tools for the Classroom is very informative and filled with uses for using the Wiki tool. I have never used this tool and did not know it existed until now. A Wiki is a web page that can be viewed and modified by anybody with a web browser and internet access. Wiki can be used as a discussion medium, and mail system and a collaboration tool. Wikis are able to incorporate sounds, movies and pictures. They are a simple tool for creating multimedia presentations and simple digital stories.

C4T#2 Summary

C4#2
Flipped Coach, Jason Hahnstadt has found many technical apps to make his job easier.  The most recent one "Coach Notes".  Coach Hahnstadt seems to like this app over the others he's tried.  Using this app allows him to communicate information to students and co-workers in a timely fashion. The application frees up time to allocate to other important things. Classroom time is valuable and its always nice when you don't have to spend it lecturing.

The use of classroom technology is definitely making it easier for you to control your teaching time. Technology such as pod casting and video's are benefits to students and teachers.  One advantage for students is the students have a chance to review information early and over and over if they need to and for the teachers, more application time to practice the information is allowed. The apps available to help with this process are incredible. My preference is Drop Box. I like the versatility of this app.  Video's are automatically accessed on all Ipads.  Students can upload anything from documents to video.  I think this is a neat feature. 


The videos on flipping your classrooms are a great way to get your point across.  I would like to use a flipped classroom as a teaching tool because of the time I can engage students.  I do not look forward to spending most of my time lecturing to a class. The students can learn at their own pace, allowing me time to spend with the students who need more one on one assistance and allowing effective remediation through technology are all reasons for using the flipped classroom approach.

The Flipped Coach made Youtube videos in about 15 minutes using his Ipad and his co-teacher for demonstrating test for their fitness program.  He recorded instructions for the test and once class started he was able to show the videos with examples of each test to be performed. He was able to do this the morning of his class.  Great use of technology in the classroom to enhance instruction.

C4K #2

C4K #2

Eric's teacher, Mr. Marks divided his class into girls and boys groups. He told them to start running and Eric got really tired.  He started to sweat and the class was told to start walking around the basketball court.  Everyone was really tired.  Eric did not win first place but he still had fun.  

I told Eric it was good he had fun and I was sorry he was tired but he would feel better after he rested.  I also told Eric I enjoyed reading his post. 

Eric wrote his blog post about his brother Conner's birthday.  His brother was turning 11 years old.  Eric was excited about the gifts Conner received and he describe the food they were having for the birthday dinner.  He also talked about going to McDonald's for Conner's birthday too.

I said hello to Eric and wished his brother a Happy Birthday.  I commented  I was sure he had a great birthday and it was very thoughtful of Eric to write on his blog about his birthday. I told Eric the food he talked about sounds great. I asked if he and Conner ate a lot of the food? I told Eric I have  never had Pavola and asked what is it made of?  Conner got a lot of neat presents and I told Eric I knew his present to him will be a good one too. I told him to have fun at McDonald's!

C4K Summary for September

C4K #1

Today, Sept 21st  was Jordan’s last day of basketball.  He was so sad because he loves basketball. He learned lots of new skills and hated to see it end. learning new skills.  His friend Frank had a birthday on that same day and he would be 10 years old.  He did not have a present for Frank but he did wish Frank a happy birthday.  On that day it was very cold as Jordan and his classmates walked to the basketball court.  It was so cold his trainer asked the class to do a warm up exercise before playing basketball. Jordan said it was so cold there was ice on the grass. Jordan seemed very proud of himself having got the ball in the basket on the first try. When the game was over so did their fun.  They waved goodbye to each other.
 I told Jordan my name, where I live and  that I am a student in college.  I told Jordan I enjoyed reading his post and that he expressed himself very well.  I commented that I was glad the coach did a warm up exercise for them because it was so cold out on the basketball court.  Jordan’s friend Frank had a birthday on the last day of their basketball class and Jordan did not have a gift for him.  He wished him a happy birthday because that was important to him.  I told Jordan it was very nice to wish a happy birthday to Frank and that birthday wishes always made me smile.  I told Jordan I hope he will continue to post so I can hear all about what is going on in his class.

Today, I read a story Jordan wrote called The Passenger.   His story was is about a bus ride home , a mean barking dog that everyone was afraid of called Buster and a talking fish sitting on the seat beside him.  Some imagination...don't you think?  The story was very good and funny.  I was impressed.  There were some misspelled words, but not many.  I did not comment on the misspelled words. Jordan's story was full of imagination and creativity.  I also noticed he included  two hyperlinks in his story.  I commented on the new skill and told him I liked his story very much. His writing improved a great deal since the first post  I commented on .  There were a lot less errors and his sentences were more organized.     

Blog Post # 7

The Networked Student

Teachers are great people to have in networking programs as stated in the videoThe Networked Student. There is a grave need for teachers to be technologically literate so they are able to teach students to their full potential. If teachers don't understand technology, how can they teach our students to use it? Our world revolves around technology and teachers must understand it or our world will never catch up with the rest of the world. Networking is very important for teachers. It is a source that can actually make the lives of teachers and students easier. Networking allows teachers numerous opportunities to increase the learning of their students. Networking apps allow students the opportunity to form a close relationship with their teachers and other students. It provides many sources for research and exploring different cultures. I like to believe networking is a source that can bridge the gap between the arts and the academics of students. There are endless opportunities to hear ideas about specific subjects from so many people. Sources are available to learn what's happening today and keep our students current on new developments. Teachers can meet with parents as often as needed using a networking medium. This promotes good parent teacher relationships and that's good for the students.

The 7th grader in the video is truly impressive. I'm sure this student was trained prior to using the Symbaloo application and not left to figure it out on her own. Her teacher has done an excellent job engaging her in learning. I hope to be able to use Symbaloo as well as she does by the end of this class. I am just starting my PLN and there is no comparison at this time to what she has done.