Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Progress Report on PLN

At first when I started my PLN I was a little overwhelmed. The more that I do it and experience it, the more I gain confidence. I'm still getting the hang of it and I still get stressed about it. I think the main key to success is time management. Having my own PLN has taught me responsibility and dedication. I think that a PLN should be for older students. I don't think anyone under the 7th grade should participate in a PLN. I think that I'll use a little PLN when I teach my students because I will be teaching high school juniors and seniors.

C4K Summary for February

Alex posted on his blog about Youtube in 1916. It was said that there was a huge war happening and the civilians never came out of their homes because they had Youtube. The post was to inform what those people would be watching on Youtube. Alex said that the video quality and sound would be very poor. It was also said that the airplane was just invented so there would be people on their roofs recording videos of the airplanes. Alex says that the video's would be very popular. When commenting to Alex I replied that I thought the post was very interesting and creative. I agreed that the videos would probably be amateur, not like what we are able to watch today.

Laura's blog was about how much she loved horses and how she wished she had some. I told Laura that I used to have horses when I was younger. I told her that I had to get rid of them when I went to college because I couldn't take care of them properly due to time management and me not living at home. I told her that horses were beautiful animals and that I hoped she got the chance to ride one someday.

I introduced myself to Kevin and told him a little about myself. I welcomed Kevin to his blog and wished him well with everything in his class.

Kaylan had a blog post on her feelings. She said that its easy for someone to tell what kind of mood she is in. She said that if she were in a good mood that she would draw something that represented happiness. She said that if she were in a bad mood her drawings represented sad and dark emotions. She said it is the same when it comes to listening to music too. I introduced myself to Kaylan and told her that I do the same when it comes to music. I always listen to certain music genres depending on the kind of mood I am in.

Blog Post 7

Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch starts his lecture off by telling his audience that his dad always taught him if there is an elephant in the room, introduce it. Randy told the audience that about a month ago, his doctors told him that there are 10 tumors in his liver and he had around 3 to 6 months left of good health. Randy said something that really inspired me. He said that, "we cannot change the cards we are delt, just how we play the hand." I thought that was very interesting and a good way to handle hard times.

Next he told the audience about his childhood dreams. His dreams were: being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk, winning stuffed animals, and being a Disney Imagineer. Randy got the chance to be in zero gravity. He was in a group that won a contest to be able to experience zero gravity. At first, NASA was not going to allow Randy to participate but he negotiated with them and got to fulfill his childhood dream. Another dream of his was to play in the NFL. Randy didn't get to experience this dream and he thinks that it was for the best. Randy believes that football taught him fundamentals and hard work. Randy learned through football that when someone is criticizing you, it only means they are trying to help. But when the criticizing stops, then that just means that they have given up on you. Randy believes that brick walls are there for a reason; to allow us to prove how badly we want things. Another dream was to win stuffed animals. Randy said that when you are young you always see big, buff guys with the stuffed animals walking around the theme parks. Randy made it a goal to win many stuffed animals and brought them on stage to prove it. 


Pausch had techniques like never lose the child-like wonder, help others, have loyalty to others, and never give up. Pausch always wanted to push his students to the best of their abilities. His students surprised him when they turned in their first assignment. He didn't know what to next so he simple told them that their work was good but they could always do better. So every time after that, the students impressed him more. Everything that Pausch's students did was a project-based assignment. He believed that most of what we learn, we learn indirectly or by "head fake".

When first watching Pausch's lecture I was so annoyed that I had to watch an hour long video. But when I really payed attention and got into the video, it was so interesting. The hour lecture flew by and I learned so much from it. I believe in everything Pausch had to say and I try to live by his words everyday. I think that helping others is such an important role in someones life. With becoming a teacher, I will be able to help my students every day. Having loyalty in others in another important technique of Pausch's. I think that being loyal helps the trust between people and can also help someones outlook on life and the every day activities some people perform. The main technique I can relate to of Pausch's is to never give up. I realize that there will be struggles in life and people will always try to stand in my way of succeeding but if I can have my mind set on a certain goal then I know I will succeed as long as I never give up. I think that teaching my students Pausch's techniques then they will have a better chance of succeeding at whatever comes their way as well. Pausch says that if you wait and be patient, then people will surprise you. I need to keep this in mind when teaching my students that way they know that I will support them and help them to never give up.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Project 10

I plan to teach high school English when I graduate from USA. Since I will be teaching high school students I am guessing my students will be involved in the use of technology and Facebook. I would like to create a Facebook group for each of my classes. I want to be able to work with my students outside of class and through something that will catch their interest. I think that having the students participate in an online chat outside of school will help them stay focused on their work. In the group I would have different book sites for them to go on for readings and an open chat for them to discuss between each other and myself.
https://www.facebook.com/

Blog Post 6

The Networking Student
The Networked Student concept map started off explaining there is a high school student who is studying Psychology. It said that the teacher never lectures the class and there is no text book. The students teacher didn't lecture or assign a text book because she believed in Connectivism which is the belief that learning connects within a social network of different diversities. Conectivism connected teachers and students around the world but in order to get connected you had to create a personal learning network. The high school student would look things up on Google and share the information with others and read others information as well. In the video one thing that struck my interest was when it was mentioned on iTunesU that the student was able to hear professors lectures from various schools around the world.

I think that teachers are needed for this type of learning because without the teachers guidance, students would be clueless on how to educate their selves through Connectivism. In the video it said that teachers are needed specifically because they can show guidance when students get stuck, explain how to communicate properly, and ask respectfully for help from others.

After watching The Networked Student I think that teachers are still needed in the classroom. I believe that regardless if the classroom environment is being educated through Connectivism or just old fashioned lecturing, the teacher is a primary source for students to rely on. I do think learning from computers and technology is a great and creative way for students to learn but just because they are learning from a computer doesn't mean that the teacher can't still teach her students. I think that Connectivism is a great way to educate students but just because computers are being used doesn't mean that teachers are suddenly irrelevant.


7th Grade Personal Learning Environment
The 7th grade students PLN seems to be similar to mine in EDM310. I think it's great for students to get use to how to use technology because it seems like technology is advancing every day. Learning has gotten to be more of a routine and I think that is where students lose interest. I believe that by using technology to help educate students today we are showing them that learning can be creative and engaging.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Blog Post 5

1. Mrs. Venosdale is a gifted ed teacher who had a very interesting and entertaining post about what type of school she would build if she had that chance. If I had the chance to build my own type of school it would be a place of escape for students ages 5 to 18. I would have the school sectioned off into age groups and there would be certain common areas for students of all ages. For ages 5-10 the section would have classrooms that would educate the students on whatever they wished to learn about. Their classrooms would be filled with color and lots of candy and drinks as well. For ages 11-15 the classrooms and hallways would be artsy and school spirited. Those classrooms would be enjoyable and educational about whatever they wished to learn. Ages 16-18 classrooms would educate those students on what options they have for their future. The cafeteria would ave every meal you desired and the play ground/ break area would have a huge jungle gym  including water slides and swing sets. The school would be educational but also fun and helpful to each student.

2. The more I learn about technology the more it amazes me. Technology is changing every single day and surprising so many. The virtual choir is unbelievable. Considering none of those people have ever met it just amazes me that their voices can click so well together. With the advancement of technology, maybe this is how music can be made in the near future.


3. I believe that Roberts thinks it means to teach that with the use of technology, students can find out whatever they want, wherever it is, at any time they want, no matter where they are. Roberts thinks its the teachers job to filter what the students are using those resources for and show them the proper ways of using technology. With the fast advancement of technology students may start to believe that they no longer need teachers. What if they are correct in this belief? I think that he is right in believing teachers should maintain and filter what students are learning on their own. Teachers need to keep up with technology use in the classroom and always try to stay right on top of creativeness when educating their students.

4. I think flipping the classroom is a great and creative way to keep students engaged in what they are learning. In watching all of the videos i completely agree that education has become a routine and boring. I believe that by flipping the classroom we can allow our students to maintain a more interesting way of learning and educating their selves. I would definitely flip my classroom if needed and I think that if I ever did, maybe my students would participate more and the classroom environment would be more creative and fresh instead of the usual every day routine.

My Sentence Video

Thursday, February 7, 2013

C4T #1 Summary

This week, I was assigned to comment on the most recent post on The Learning Brain blog. Last week the specific blog that I commented on was about a 20 year old woman who has not grown since age 5. For the past 15 years the doctors haven't been able to figure out what was causing Brooke Greenbergs disorder that has kept her from growing. When commenting on this post I expressed my concern for Brooke. I questioned if she thinks like a 20 year old and is as mature as a 20 year old. I also asked that if the doctors do figure out what has been causing her to not grow, if there could be a cure for it. It was an interesting post to read and I enjoyed it.

This week I was assigned to comment on the most recent post on The Learning Brain blog. The specific blog was about how meditation increases brain size. It said that researchers at Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have scientifically proven that meditation can physically alter the size of your brain. Comments were made in the post about how it would be interesting if there were a tool invented to be able to measure the transformations of the brain during meditation. When I commented on this post it did not show my comment so I re-did another one basically stating the same things. Today when I looked at the post it showed both of my comments, oops! I stated how the human brain is such an amazing thing and that I thought scientist are always coming up with creative ways to surprise people. I also talked about how I've never done meditation but my roommate does yoga and she says that it calms her down and allows her to clear her mind of stress. So, I was wondering if meditation and yoga could possible do the same things to the brain when exercised? It was a very interesting and educational blog.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Special Blog Post #1

Wolfram Alpha Search
When doing the Wolfram Alpha Search about comparing population of India, China and the United States, it proved that China is the highest in population with 1.35 billion people, followed by India with 1.21 billion people, and then the United States with 309 million people. The search proved that the population of the Unites States is much lower than the compared countries. The next thing that I compared was the poverty rate in the United States and Africa. The results were that the United States poverty rate is 12% and Africa is 45.6%. The next search I did was the life expectancy in Brazil and Mexico. The results came out to be that  Brazil's life expectancy is 72 years and Mexico is 76.1 years. When using the Wolfram Alpha search I found it to be very useful and educational. I think that using this search engine in my future classroom would be a great tool for my students to have. The students can use it for any question or interest they have.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Wow. Watching the Social Media Count surprised me. For example, I've always known that Facebook was a popular social media site but I never knew that it could have been that popular. The Media Count shows comments and likes on Facebook, blog posts, apps downloaded, tweets sent to Twitter, ect. that are constantly changing.  Seeing how much the numbers changed really put a reality check on me as to how much things change daily and by the minute.
All of these changes mean that by the time I start teaching that the social media can be so different from what I know of today. I think that change is a good thing if its going to improve the original. These changes mean that by the time I'm teaching my classroom that maybe technology will have a significant improvement. I hope that technology continues to grow and change because I want to educate my students with the latest technology in order to benefit their futures.

Blog Post #4

Langwitches

The Jody Scharf Podcast Collection helped me in understand what a podcast is and how it works exactly. At first I had no idea of what a podcast was. I've heard about them from other students but I've never done one myself. This post helped me in understanding podcasting more and hopefully when it comes time to do one in EDM I won't have any issues.

I chose my second article to be Langwitches Listening- Comprehension- Podcasting. The main purpose was for the students to be able to listen and comprehend their speaking skills. In the post it says that in order for students to learn new vocabulary that they need to hear new words at least 70 times. I listened to their podcast and the students were speaking Hebrew. I don't know anything about that language but listening to all the students speak it in their own way was interesting.

Lastly, I watched the benefits of podcasting in the classroom. I've never thought of using podcasting in the classroom but I think it's a very creative way to teach your students and get them to see learning in a more fun way. When I start my own podcast this semester I hope I can take away useful information that way I can use podcasting in my own classroom one day. I think that teaching students about podcasting in the classroom not only benefits them in school but they can also use it as adults for their jobs.