Blog Post 15

Final Reflection

At the beginning of the semester I knew very few things about my teaching style. I knew I wanted to teach Kindergarten, and I still do. I knew I wanted my students to learn in an interactive style, and hands on projects. I emphasized my will to teach more than just the classroom syllabus such as; the way students view school, social skills, and teamwork. As far as technology in the classroom went, I was pretty naive. I knew that I would incorporate the SmartBoard in my lessons, but I did not realize that I could use technology in any other way. That is where Dr. Strange stepped in!

In my future classroom I will definitely incorporate technology. At the beginning of school year, I will be the one who mostly uses technologies, such as the SmartBoard, Macs, and a classroom blog. After Christmas is when I will have the technology, such as Ipads, more in the hands of my students. My students can use Ipads because of the many learning applications Apple provides. My reasoning for waiting more towards the middle of the school year is because of the age group I will be teaching. I want to make sure my students understand the importance and how to take care of the different types of technology I will open them up to. My plan as of now, is to send home a survey at the beginning of the school year to see what technologies are available to my students and their parents at home. This will help me better my take home assignments and the way I communicate with the parents. If each student/parent has the resources, I will keep a class blog as my only way to communicate with the parents instead of sending home notes with the child. This will not only make it easier for me and the parent, it also helps conserve my classroom resources. Another technology I know I will use in my classroom is a book trailer. I find this as a great way to get my students excited about reading! As you can see, EDM310 has made a huge impact on my teaching style.

Project # 13 Collaboration

Collaboration for Group July 16th

For projects 15 and 16 my group used Face Time, email, Google Doc, and text messages to communicate. At first I was frustrated with this because I felt like my group needed to be face to face to plan our projects. I learned a lot from this assignment. I finally used Face Time for the first time, even though I have had my Iphone for a year. Our group would text to discuss little details and the times to meet. We used email and Google Docs to send the videos we recorded and larger important documents to each other. Overall our group projects went very smoothly.

Final Report on PLN

Final Report on Personal Learning Network

For my Personal Learning Network I use Symbaloo. From Symbaloo I have access to learning tools such as, EDM class blog, Moodle, Alabama Virtual Library, and many more resources. Over the semester, my PLN has grown more than I could have ever hoped. I am following many teachers and principals blogs and twitter that Dr. Strange has introduced me to. I have played around on many blogs and follow ones that I am found myself. I use Symbaloo for school as well. I keep a page for Paws and Sakai. Symbaloo is the first page I see when I open up my internet. This is perfect because I can get to every page I'll need from here.

Blog Post 14

Teacher Knows if You Have Done the E-Reading

In the article, Teacher Knows if You Have Done the E-Reading, it explains a new technology, CourseSmart. It is being tested now at Texas A&M. It gives teachers the age old dream of knowing whether students are reading their textbooks or not. CourseSmart gives teachers the ability to know when students are skipping pages, failing to highlight significant passages, not bothering to take not, or simply not opening the book at all. This can be a good thing and bad for both teachers and students.

As a teacher, I feel like I could benefit and better my students learning by using this tool. I do not like the idea of using this tool in a college setting because I feel at that stage in students lives they should be independent based learners. Yes, they should still go to leachur to enhance their learning, but having a teacher force their reading sounds much too big brotherish to me. Now as a middle school and high school teacher, I believe this could be a very useful tool. Normal secondary students do not enjoy their take home reading, and many to do read constantly. You could focus your leachurs on materials that has a low engagement index and test on reading assignments you gave. This will help enforce study habits.

As a college student, I would feel pressured to make sure I read everything since I know my teacher can tell. All though, I do not read everything as a current student. I focus more on the vocabulary and what the teacher lectures on. I do not like the idea that I could possible have to change my study habits to accommodate this new technology? I also prefer a hard copy of text because I enjoy highlighting material and underlining. The article mentions that students would try to trick the system into beleive they did the reading when they did not. I could see many of my peers attempting this and in the end that would defeat the purpose of the program. As a younger student though, I could really benefit from the obligation of the constant reading. I could get overwhelmed if multiply teachers were requiring me to read all on the same night. This program could become a bit of a hassle.

Questions to ask the teacher:
1. Will you hold students accountable if they do not constantly read?
2. Do you care how often your students are using the textbook if they are still doing well in your class?
3. Will you only confront the students who are not reading and not doing well overall in the class?

Questions to ask the students:
1. Does this program force you to actually read, or did you read before?
2. If this has forced you to start reading, has your grades improved?
3. Do you prefer to have a hard copy of the textbook or use the digital textbooks?

What Comment Would I Leave on this Article?

As a college student or teacher, I do not think I would like this technology. I do not like the responsibility it takes off higher level students to be independent learners. As a secondary level student or teacher, I feel like my students and myself as a student could really benefit from the CourseSmart. I am very interested to see the results from the test trial. I am hoping they will prove me wrong about college level.

C4T April

The Principal's Principles

Mr. Bernia, a middle school principal who strives to make the world a better place, one day at a time. Prior to serving as the Principal, I was an Assistant Principal, Teacher, and School Custodian. I’m currently in my 9th year as an educator, and think it is the most important job in the world.

April 10, "The Era of One has Begun"

In Linchpin, Seth Godin argues that in today’s economy, there has never been higher demand for artists; people that are creative and make goods that are one of a kind. Godin talks about increased demands for customized items and the need for producers to develop goods and services that are tailored to individuals. Corporate America is calling for indispensable workers (Godin’s term) who will reimagine industry. In a manufacturing economy, bells to announce when to move from one class to another or school policy that demanded conformity was virtuous. Schools mass produced students who, as adults, mass produced items in an economy. Technology has changed all of that. Individualism is the new mass production. Are schools preparing students to meet this challenge? I feel part of an over all educational problem is we reward students for correct answers and punish them for wrong answers. What some educators do not do, is encourage critical thinking at all times, even if the student is wrong. This causes students to be more focused on a reward rather than learning.

April 24, "Whatever it Takes"

Mr. Bernia believes going to extra miles for his students. One of his students was having a crisis and explained to him that she lost her cell phone. She remembered having it before lunch, but not after. When talking with friends, one said that she remembered it being in her hand when she went to throw her trash away after eating. After she said that, she uttered the words, “Mr. Bernia, I think I threw my phone in the trash by accident.” She went on to explain that her parents are out of town and that she was participating in the Washington DC trip that weekend. If ever there was a time not to lose a new cell phone, it was then. They grabbed rubber gloves before heading outside to the school dumpster. Midway through my third bag of garbage, Mr. Bernia stumbled upon a pink and white polka dot phone case, and recovered her lost item. After a careful scrub with several antibacterial wipes, her phone was returned, still in working order. It was one of those whatever it takes moments that is a good reminder of how invested we have to be in our students every day. This shows how much the little things matter. This small gesture meant the world to his student.

Smart Board Project 15

Final Group Project 16