Sunday, September 28, 2014
C4K
One blog I posted on was Nikita's who lives in Auckland, NZ! Her most recent blog was a video(many of them are videos) of her and some friends dancing and lip syncing to Ugly Heart!
Here is what I told her:
Courtney Lawson said...
Hi Nikita! I am very impressed with your video! It brought a smile to my face! I love the song too! Now every time it plays on the radio I will think of your video! My favorite part was how you involved so many people in it! I will be visiting your blog from now on! Keep learning!
Another blog I posted on was Jaea in Madame Thomas's class. Her post was entitled Stupid Beef where she talked about losing her great grandmother to death briefly and not allowing anger to control your decisions. She was very sad about the loss but used it to challenge other to remember that life is fragile and too short for anger.
Here is the comment I left her:
Courtney Lawson (Guest)
September 21, 2014 at 11:33 PM
I think a this is a good post for a couple of reasons. Everyone has to face these trials at some point or another in life. It is not easy. I like the topic. I like the questions it raises. You may want to check the GRAMMAR once more. Other than that I like the post!
My most recent comment was for Alison in Mrs. Greer's class. She wrote about doing her homework, being home alone and asking her mom to buy her some peppers!
This is my comment to her:
Courtney Lawson (Guest)
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 28, 2014 at 9:33 PM
I like the way the story flows. I like how you talked about your whole afternoon instead of just one part of it. Check your GRAMMAR one more time. This post is rad! Keep writing
Here is what I told her:
Courtney Lawson said...
Hi Nikita! I am very impressed with your video! It brought a smile to my face! I love the song too! Now every time it plays on the radio I will think of your video! My favorite part was how you involved so many people in it! I will be visiting your blog from now on! Keep learning!
Another blog I posted on was Jaea in Madame Thomas's class. Her post was entitled Stupid Beef where she talked about losing her great grandmother to death briefly and not allowing anger to control your decisions. She was very sad about the loss but used it to challenge other to remember that life is fragile and too short for anger.
Here is the comment I left her:
Courtney Lawson (Guest)
September 21, 2014 at 11:33 PM
I think a this is a good post for a couple of reasons. Everyone has to face these trials at some point or another in life. It is not easy. I like the topic. I like the questions it raises. You may want to check the GRAMMAR once more. Other than that I like the post!
My most recent comment was for Alison in Mrs. Greer's class. She wrote about doing her homework, being home alone and asking her mom to buy her some peppers!
This is my comment to her:
Courtney Lawson (Guest)
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 28, 2014 at 9:33 PM
I like the way the story flows. I like how you talked about your whole afternoon instead of just one part of it. Check your GRAMMAR one more time. This post is rad! Keep writing
Blog Post 6
This week we were assigned 7 videos to watch. Each video was an interview with Baldwin County 3rd grade teacher Anthony Capps. We were asked to display what we learned from these videos in Blog Post 6 so I have provided below a copy of the notes I took while watching.
Project Based Learning
What makes a project a good project?
1)content driven- it requires students to use the content that you need them to learn
2)authentic audience- everyone performs better for an audience, give the kids
3)student interest- pick projects they will enjoy
4)involve community- helps them relate it to everyday life, adds value
Never limit your students with your expectations. Keep an open mind and go with the flow. Einstein once said, "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life thinking that it is stupid."
Everyone wins with project based learning. It's a phenomenal method for teachers. It's a fun method for students. It's an effective method for administrators. Students can get excited about the work they do because they know what it accomplishes. No more busy work! Just remember when you are planning that you are planning for four layers: the year, the unit, the week and finally, the day!
Here are some of the tools recommended by both Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps along with their pruposes:
Icurio:
-allows students to safely search internet for educational uses
-teaches virtual organization
Discovery Ed:
-enhances learning in all topics with videos about the topic
Before you go take a quick glance at the list of tips to future educators provided by Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps!
-be a learner
-don't separate work and play, teaching becomes your job and your hobby
-be flexible
-goal is 100% engagement
-audiences provide great opportunities for reflection
All videos by John Strange can be found in his youtube channel !
This picture made possible by TheTeacherGarden Sunday, September 21, 2014
Blog Post #5 My PLN
Having a Personal Learning Network(PLN) is a new concept for me. This will be my first time establishing a PLN. Most of the people who make up my network are professors from the University of South Alabama and some people from ARI and AMSTI that I have met through work. I use Twitter to keep up with them. I look forward to building further and I am very excited to see what I gain from my PLN!
I learn a lot about teaching on twitter but there are many other forms of social media to choose from!
This photo is brought to you by pintrest.com
I learn a lot about teaching on twitter but there are many other forms of social media to choose from!
This photo is brought to you by pintrest.com
Thursday, September 18, 2014
C4T #1
In Teacher Tom's blog post Who's With Me? he discusses the problems with formal education for children these days. He believes and practices what is known as play-based learning. For preschoolers being able to play and move around is essential to the learning process. It usually makes a good foundation to start K-12 education process on too. It is becoming less and less of an effective foundation as kindergarten becomes less and less of a play-based learning area. Obama wants to remove the right to run a play based system not only from K-12 but from preschool as well. As a preschool teacher, parent or student you may think that your input will be taken into consideration when shaping the Common Core but you would be wrong. That is what's wrong with the Common Core today. There are too many people who are not teachers/parents/students making decisions on how we teachers/parents/students should conduct our learning processes.
My comment to him was:
In his blog post My Secrets to Lesson Planning Teacher Tom discusses his lack of use of the formal lesson plan. As a PreK teacher in a play-based learning environment it seems somewhat impossible to plan a lesson. How can a teacher possibly know what a child will learn the next day? We aren't fortune tellers(most of us, anyway). Sometimes lesson planning looks different than that, though. Planning a lesson entails more than just steering a young person's mind. It can be said that making sure you have all of the supplies you need present and accessible is lesson planning. Teacher Tom shows pictures of his supplies and their organization and challenges others to get their's in order too.
My comment to him will be updated once he allows it to show up on his blog!
My comment to him was:
In his blog post My Secrets to Lesson Planning Teacher Tom discusses his lack of use of the formal lesson plan. As a PreK teacher in a play-based learning environment it seems somewhat impossible to plan a lesson. How can a teacher possibly know what a child will learn the next day? We aren't fortune tellers(most of us, anyway). Sometimes lesson planning looks different than that, though. Planning a lesson entails more than just steering a young person's mind. It can be said that making sure you have all of the supplies you need present and accessible is lesson planning. Teacher Tom shows pictures of his supplies and their organization and challenges others to get their's in order too.
My comment to him will be updated once he allows it to show up on his blog!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Project 15
Sphere: This is a great search engine for blog searching. You do, however, have to sign up for it which is kind of a pain in the rear.
sphere.com
AllTheWeb: This one is owned by Yahoo and they share a database. But, Yahoo presents the results in the same way that google does while AllTheWeb presents them a little differently. I would rather use Google.
alltheweb.com
GigaBlast: This is better than Google at narrowing searches down to specifics.
gigablast.com
Alexa Internet: This one is an Amazon company. This one is good for business comparison.
alexa.com
Lycos: This one is ideal for searching entertainment information.
lycos.com
Excite: This site is used for travel option comparisons. It is faster than searching through Google.
excite.com
Yahoo! Search: This site is second to Google in the rankings and in my heart. It works very much the same, however.
yahoo.com
Bing Search: This is Microsoft's contribution to the search engine industry. It presents information differently than google but it's basically the same information.
bing.com
sphere.com
AllTheWeb: This one is owned by Yahoo and they share a database. But, Yahoo presents the results in the same way that google does while AllTheWeb presents them a little differently. I would rather use Google.
alltheweb.com
GigaBlast: This is better than Google at narrowing searches down to specifics.
gigablast.com
Alexa Internet: This one is an Amazon company. This one is good for business comparison.
alexa.com
Lycos: This one is ideal for searching entertainment information.
lycos.com
Excite: This site is used for travel option comparisons. It is faster than searching through Google.
excite.com
Yahoo! Search: This site is second to Google in the rankings and in my heart. It works very much the same, however.
yahoo.com
Bing Search: This is Microsoft's contribution to the search engine industry. It presents information differently than google but it's basically the same information.
bing.com
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Blog Post 4
This photo was found on buzzfeed.com
I never really thought about the impact that asking questions has in the classroom. Asking questions models good thinking skills to your students and really good questions keep your students thinking long after they have been asked. Here are three different types of questions to ask your students.
1)Closed questions: These are questions that only have a certain number of correct answers. This type of question allows you to assess where your students are comprehension-wise. How well do they retain what they've learned?
2)Open questions: These questions have infinite answers and encourage class discussion. This allows students to think without limitation.
3)Managerial questions: These questions just confirm the the students understand what is expected of them in an assignment and that they have the necessary tools to complete it.
Asking the right questions is only half of the battle, though. You must know how to respond too. Give the students time to think and always show that you are interested in what they have to say. You can always asks students to respond not only to your questions but also to one another's questions. Always think about your questions/response before hand. Treat them as part of the lesson plan because that's exactly what they are!
Sources:
https://www.google.com/url?q=http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/strategies/Pages/asking-questions.aspx
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Blog Post 3 Peer Editing
Peer editing is a fantastic topic for teachers. Many of us have heard about peer editing over and over but practice makes perfect and as a teacher you can never be too good at editing! When done correctly, everyone benefits from peer editing. Learning to receive correction graciously is very important. Learning to give correction tactfully and respectfully is infinitely valuable.
If you have never peer edited before don't let it intimidate you. As long as you remember the three steps to successful editing you will be able to help your fellow classmate without fear of harming their self esteem!
1. Compliments! It is always nice to start off with the good news. There is always something nice that can be said. Maybe they had an interesting topic. Perhaps they used a lot fun images or a spectacular vocabulary. What ever you choose to brag on, make it genuine and let the writer know that you are on their side.
2. Suggestions! George Bernard Shaw once said, "If I have an apple and you have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." Long statement short, sharing ideas only gives you more ideas and you can never have too many!
3. Corrections! It happens to the best of us. We all make mistakes ranging from grammar to spelling to pragmatics and on. Gently draw attention to the error. You are doing this to help your peer. Often times if there is an error in the blog it discredits everything else that was said. This should always been done in a tactful way! You are going to be a teacher. You cannot be hateful toward anyone you correct in the classroom and you cannot be hateful toward anyone you correct in EDM310. It's good practice.
These are the tools you need to be successful in peer editing! I hope you enjoyed my post!
This photo made possible by newyorker.tumblr.com
If you have never peer edited before don't let it intimidate you. As long as you remember the three steps to successful editing you will be able to help your fellow classmate without fear of harming their self esteem!
1. Compliments! It is always nice to start off with the good news. There is always something nice that can be said. Maybe they had an interesting topic. Perhaps they used a lot fun images or a spectacular vocabulary. What ever you choose to brag on, make it genuine and let the writer know that you are on their side.
2. Suggestions! George Bernard Shaw once said, "If I have an apple and you have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." Long statement short, sharing ideas only gives you more ideas and you can never have too many!
3. Corrections! It happens to the best of us. We all make mistakes ranging from grammar to spelling to pragmatics and on. Gently draw attention to the error. You are doing this to help your peer. Often times if there is an error in the blog it discredits everything else that was said. This should always been done in a tactful way! You are going to be a teacher. You cannot be hateful toward anyone you correct in the classroom and you cannot be hateful toward anyone you correct in EDM310. It's good practice.
These are the tools you need to be successful in peer editing! I hope you enjoyed my post!
This photo made possible by newyorker.tumblr.com
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