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Blog 11

Back to the Future by: Brian Crosby

  Throughout the video Brian Crosby did a great job at explaining ways on incorporating project based learning in the classroom. The survey was a great way to evaluate students. After all his explanations and projects students were able to answer the same following questions from previous survey. I plan on using this method as a tool to evaluate student's active learning. He also demonstrated that all students have schema, it's just not the same middle class background that most teachers have. As teachers we can provide our students with the schema they need with hands on, real world experiences in the classroom. Brian created a learning environment that was fun and creative to all students. Great video!  

Blended Learning by: Paul Anderson

 I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Paul Anderson explain the ways he incorporated blending learning cycle in his classroom.  I plan on using this same acronym Quivers (Qu- question, I- investigation/ inquiry, E- elaboration, R- review, S-summary) with science lesson and many more lessons. It's a great tool to use to monitor student's progress before moving to the next step, and also a great time for teachers to give one on one feedback to each student.  

Making Thinking Visible by: Mark Church

  Mark Church shared the importance on the depth of students thinking and reasoning. He explained that students can use real life experiences to make connection with lesson to help students understand.

Building Comics by: Sam Pane

 Clever! This is a great example of project based learning. Sam Pane challenged the students to be creative in making a superhero using  the information they received. This also was a great way to capture students' attention by incorporating things that are familiar to students.

Project Based Learning by: Dean Shareski

I love PBL! Project Based Learning (PBL) can be an effective tool on ways to motivate students. PBL helps teachers to provide quality feedback for students. Also, technology and PBL enhance learning significantly.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program

Awesome video that goes in depth on the meaning and benefits of PBL.

What is project based learning PBL?

• In depth learning
• Integrated thematic instruction
• Based on "real world" problems
• Research- based
• Project and presentation

Benefits of project based learning PBL.

• Provides different ways of learning 
• incorporates real-world solving
• Requires public speaking and takes the fear away st young age
• Problem solving

Blog 10

Wow! I am so amazed and fascinated by the ways Ms. Cassidy integrated technology into her classroom. I always knew that you could integrate technology, but I never thought about having the students create a blog, Skype, or play Nintendo DS. She created a classroom where the students were confident in their work and eager to share. I was amused when one of her students said, "Always be careful what you write and say on your blog."  After this comment, I realized that the students valued their work, their comments, and the amount of views they received from others. This was a  great tool for parents, students, and teachers to  navigate students improvements by viewing each blog post.

            To see Ms. Cassidy use Skype in the classroom was a shocker to me. This made me realize I need to catch up with modern day technology. I enjoyed seeing the students conversing with other peers and teachers. Using this tool is a great way to receive feedback and advice on ways to improve and give ideas on new material. This is also a great way to help students gain confidence in public speaking and listening skills.

            I always thought that Nintendo DS were only used to play video games. This activity was an awesome way to capture students’ attention in a way that is familiar to them. Ms. Cassidy explained that this also helped students learn how to share with others.

            From this video I learned that technology can be integrated in the classroom in a variety of ways to capture the students’ attention. I also learned that there are numerous ways to integrate technology other than showing a video, playing games, or using a smart-board. I look forward to using Ms. Cassidy’s tools in my future classroom, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video.

 

Blog 9

    After reading the first required section Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning  I learned the differences between busy work and the effective way to do a project based learning activity. In the article John Larner and John R. Mergendoller, states, “A classroom filled with student posters may suggest that students have engaged in meaningful learning. But it is the process of students' learning and the depth of their cognitive engagement rather than the resulting product that distinguishes projects from busywork.” For teacher to have an effective and meaningful project  first students must perceive the work as personally meaningful, as a task that matters and that they want to do well. Second, a meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose. Well-designed and well-implemented project-based learning is meaningful in both ways. Along with making the project meaningful there are seven steps to project based learning.  The seven steps are: Need to know, Driving Question, Student Voice and Choice, Skills, Inquiry and Innovation, Feedback and Revision, and Present. During the seven process the students will learned the important things in project in the process of completion.

    

        In the second video Project Based Learning for Teachers Tony Vincent explains project based learning as having students working over an extended period of time answering a driving question. The questions are deep and requires students to complete and end product to share their learning. In this video Tony states the students will learn collaboration skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and career and life skills. Students take charge of their learning.  After watching both videos I learned that it’s important for the students to have a voice and choice in their learning during project based learning.  

Three additional videos

 What Motivates Students?

After the video these are some of the reasons the students discuss in the video.

•      Give praise on completion
•        Recognition
•        Career plans
•        Parents
•        To stay out of trouble

In the video the students explained ways teachers gave rewards for good behavior.

·       Money buckets

·       Brownie points

·       Food

·       School supplies

·       A different theme each day throughout the week

Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration in Project Based Learning

Allowing students to network while immersed in project based learning is so important. This could include communication and collaboration student to student, student to teacher, and student to expert. To list a few Wall Wisher, Miscroft Live, and Google Docs.

Project Based Learning and Physical Education

The project can be geared toward any standard and any audience. Its focus can be narrow or broad, and it can last anywhere from several days to several months. The payoff is engagement. Students will see the relevance for their learning in PE through the authentic task of a project based learning project. You must give up power in order to empower your students; empower them in their physical education.

Blog 8

Randy Paush's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo

      This is by far the best video I watched for EDM 310. Randy Paush is such an inspiration to me. Throughout the video he kept a positive attitude even through his health issues. I could feel his passion and dedication while watching the video. I wish I would’ve studied Randy Paush before his last lecture. He never gave up! There is so much I learned that I look forward to using in my daily life and my future classroom. Here is a list of the advice from Randy Paush I look forward to using:

• Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things. Brick wall only stop the people who don’t want it bad enough.
 • John Snoddy, “Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you.” He said “When you’re pissed off at somebody and angry at them you didn’t give them enough time.”
 • Set high standards for your students.
 • Get a feedback loop; and listen to it!
• Don’t bail, the best gold is at the bottom of the barrels.
 • Don’t complain, work harder.
 • Be a role model.
 • We learn from our students.
• Make learning fun.
 • Always have something to bring to the table. It make you more valuable.
 • Never lose site of the children dreams.
 • Never lose the child-like wonder. It what drives us.
 • Loyalty is a two way street
• Lastly, Never give up!!!!!

EDM 310 Parent Video

EDM 310 Students Video

EDM 310 My Passion

EDM 310 My Sentence

Blog 6

After watching the video Project Based Learning Part 1 of a 3rd Grade Teacher and Project Based Learning Part 2 of a 3rd Grade Teacher  and it opened my eyes to realize how important it is to implement project based learning. Anthony Capps shared great ways to incorporate it in the classroom. One of his projects he shared that was interesting to me was the letter the third graders wrote to the Congress man. I can just imagine the students’ reaction to the letter they received back for the state. In majority of his third grade project based learning Anthony connected them to real life connections. After the two videos I can see his dedications and  his pride in all his work. He valued the students’ opinion if the project was meaningful or not and also allow the students to do a student choice with the projects.

Second, my first time hearing about iCurio  was in this video. Now, I know that it is a tool that allow students to surf the internet in a safe environment.  It is also a way  to help teachers and students stay organized while doing work in the classroom. I found this video to be very informative.

Third, Discovery Education is a great tool to help student visual the materials. This is a great way to help students retain the information using some of their senses. First they are able to hear the information and then they are able to see the material being presented.  I like to think of Discover Education as a visual field trip in the classroom.

Fourth, The Anthony- Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1 I found these tips for teaching very useful. I enjoyed the honesty from Anthony Capps about his experiences as a teacher. One thing that I realized he put emphasis on was that teaching requires a lot of work. He also stated that teachers are constant learners and  also shared ways to keep students 100% engaged.

Fifth, Don't Teach Tech- Use It I was surprised to hear that third graders knew how to use technology. I know that using technology is a great way to capture the students’ attention. After watching this I now know that technology plays a tremendous role in the classroom.

Finally, Additional Thought About lesson , a short description of a four layer lesson. This video allowed me to connect this material with my previous course EDU 346 on ways to write an effective descriptive lesson. I look forward to using the four layer lesson plan description. 

Differentiate Your Direct Instruction: Make Content Accessible to All Students

Differentiate Your Direct Instruction: Make Content Accessible to All Students

By: Stacy Davison

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/05/14/differentiate-your-direct-instruction/#comments

            Differentiate Your Direct Instruction: Make Content Accessible to All Students was an informative article on the different ways teachers can deliver information to students. The author, Stacy Davison, states, “Being an educator means you have accepted the challenge of figuring out how to be that bridge. How you deliver your instruction matters and will determine whether or not that content is accessible to all of the diverse learners in your class.” After reading the article and from my past experiences, I have realized that students learn at different rates and by different methods. She gives quick tips for making your direct instruction more accessible to all students: Use a Variety Mode of Communication, Add More Time for Student Talk and Processing Time, Show and Tell, and When in Doubt Sketch It Out. She called the article the new teacher survival guide.

            The first section Variety Mode of Communication, in this section she recommend teachers to use more than one type of communication. Using more than one mode of communication means that your students will have more than one opportunity to understand. If I explain the lesson orally, I’m targeting those auditory learners. Or during a lesson I put some of the key ideas and phrases on the board that’s to help the visual learners and ELL students have a chance of understanding. From this section I realized how important it is to communicate the material that is understandable to all students and their learning behaviors.

            The second section Add More Time for Student Talk and Processing Time, in this section Stacy Davison states, “When planning your direct instruction, try to keep lecturing and teacher talk to a minimum.” Students benefit from having opportunities to share ideas with each other and process information throughout the direct instruction portion of the lesson. One activity I learned in precious course that she also mention was Turn and Talk.  This is an easy method to get students talking and processing during instruction. This is an activity I look forward to using in my future classroom. It’s interesting to listen to the conversations that the students have during turn and talk.

            The third section Show and Tell, some students learn by doing. This is a great section to incorporate a project based learning activity. This will be a great way to help student who learn best doing hands on activities. From this section I will remember that modeling is a powerful teaching tool too!

            The finally section When in Doubt Sketch It Out, Stacy Davison states, “Drawing is a powerful strategy that helps the brain make connections and you don’t have to be a confident artist to make an impact!” Have the student to draw what comes to mind when they hear a word will help them make connections to the new words. I like to think of content clues.

            

          From this article I learned no matter what combination of instructional strategies you choose, you are giving your students more opportunities to build understand and make connections. Differentiation is the process of making information accessible and meaningful to all students and it starts with your direct instruction.

Classroom Management:Is It Okay to Let It Go?

Classroom Management: Is It Okay to Let It Go?

By: Lily Jones

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/02/19/letting-go-of-classroom-management/#more-177074

            During my 20 hours classroom observations for EPY 351, I always said that I wanted to have great classroom management.  After each session and reading over me reflections I noticed that I was so focused on classroom management, that the entire lesson period was spent trying to get students on task. It was exhausting for both the students and me. In the article Lily Jones states that teachers never get a chance to truly teach, and students never get a chance to learn in a situation when the teachers are focused on just classroom management. She gives three tips on ways to balance the class and still getting through the lecture you plan. The three tips are: Choose a Focus: Academic or Management, Use Independent Work Time, and Pick One Strategy and Stick to It.

Choose Focus: Academic or Management, in this tip she states that at times you might have to enforce classroom management or routine. She used the example morning work, this is a period throughout each day that the students practice classroom management doing the things that are required for them to do. Lily Jones also use an example if you are teaching a content heavy lesson that this is a time when teachers need to put their energy towards content and let classroom management take a back seat. After reading that statement I question if that was a great idea to just focus on the lesson. One thing I noticed in my observations in that student reaction off other students. But she clarified why she stated that comment. She states, “This is not to say that you’ll have low expectations during the content heavy lesson. Instead, prioritize making sure students get to experience the content of your lesson. This is a tricky balance. If the class is so out of control that you can’t teach the content, you’ll need to go back to classroom management. But if most of the class is ready to learn and there are minimal distractions, give yourself permission to focus on the content.”

Use Independent Work Time, Lily Jones states sometimes the key to getting students in front of the content is to maximize independent work time. During independent work time, students who are ready to tackle the content can do so on their own, while teachers work one-on-one or in small groups to support students who need extra help. This structure allows teachers the chance to personalize instruction and feedback, while maximizing the time students spend on academic work.  

Pick One Strategy and Stick to It, Lily Jones states when a class is hard to get control of, it can be tempting to try as many strategies you can think of to help them get it together. But instead of trying tool after tool, pick one strategy and stick with it.

           After reading this article, I plan on using this as a guide to reflect on what classroom management strategies worked well and evaluate how much content I will be able to teach.  I also plan on keeping a track of the balance I feel like struck between practicing behavior and learning content. After practicing hopefully the progress will improve more and more towards content area as my students’ master expectations and routines.

Learning from Students' Productive Struggles

Learning from Students’ Productive Struggles

 By: Gretchen Vierstra

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/01/16/learning-from-productive-struggles/#more-173504

When teachers think about getting ready for assessments, it’s important to think about the role students work can play. The way teachers and students can use their work to learn more about their misconceptions, areas of struggle, progress, and successes. The author, Gretchen Vierstra, states, “There is so much we can learn from it, depending on how we look at it. We may be quickly reviewing an exit ticket so we can adjust the next day’s lesson, or we may be looking at their work more deeply during a multi-day formative assessment lesson.” She states parts how to learning from students’ productive struggles.  

The first part is to capture the formative assessment in action. This is the time to reveal and develop the students understanding. In the next part take a closer look at student thinking and work samples from the classroom. See if you see students collaborating on their own work or on another student’s work to deepen and assess their own understanding of the material.

            

It’s wonderful to see students working through the material with their peers. The way the students think and talk about a subject is so rich, and they are not waiting for the teacher to step in and intervene.  They know it is their job to have that productive struggle. By reading this article the students persevere together. Teachers can assess their students’ understanding, note any remaining misconceptions, and plan for the next day’s lesson with those corrections. I look forward to using the information I learned from this article in my future classroom.

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

 Personal Learning Network is a way of describing a group of people or organization you connect with worldwide. Examples of PLN are Facebook, Twitter, Educational Blogs, and many more. Something I learned from my research is that all PLN are not online interactions. As new teacher, I feel PLN is a great way to network with other educators to learn and reflect on their ideas, questions, and references. Teachers build PLNs the same way they build any network: by investing time to find and connect with people they trust, who share similar interests and passions.

 As an educator, I plan to build a PLN to include organizations, communities, and individuals who will help me learn and grow as a professional. My PLN will provide me with a broader perspective on education beyond my classroom, school building, state, and even nation.

 Ways I plan to build my own PLN:

 Create a Blog 
 With creating a Blog this will give me a chance to describe my experience in the classroom, and share and get feedback on other educational practices. This also will allow me to follow other bloggers with the same interest in education. This will be a helpful tool for other PLN and me.

 Attend Conferences/ Workshops 
 As a teacher I look forward to workshops and the conferences. This is a great way to learn new ways to teach, acquire materials and network. This will give me a chance to hear different viewpoints from professions in the educational field.

 Conversing with Experienced Teachers/ Mentors 
 As a new teacher will give me the opportunity to receive feedback and pointers from a teacher who is more experienced in the field. This also will give me a chance to network and build a relationship with the experienced teachers who can share their best practices.

Website/ Pinterest 
 This is a website that could help teachers create lesson plans in a creative way to capture the student’s attention. There are tons of information you can post, repin, and comment on to share information and ideas that we are passionate about.

 Through social networks, emails, videos, and online chats, learners can now connect with and learn from a wider range of people more than ever before. Building a PLN using these tools will helpful and enjoyable both to my bloggers and me.

Project Three

Slide One and Two: On the first slide I introduce myself and the material covered in the presentation.

Slide Three: I introduce the term Project Based Learning, and explain the meaning using two philosophers, John Dewey and Jean Piaget. Both believed that we learn by doing. I believe it's the teacher's responsibility to capture the students' attention in a creative way.

Slide Four: This slide explains the different seven essential categories for Project Based Learning.

Slide Five: The new teachers will watch a video that explains Project Based Learning more in depth.

Slide Six: Introduction to the second portion of the presentation Alabama College and Career Standards (ACCS). This gives the teachers a chance to reflect on their prior knowledge using ACCS.

Slide Seven and Eight: These slides explain what the ACCS standards cover and why they are  important to education.

Slide Nine: The new teachers will watch a video that explains the importance of ACCS

Slide Ten: This slide explains and defines the term Common Core Standards and its importance.

Slide Eleven: The new teachers will watch their last video that  further explains the Common Core Standards.

Prepare them for the Path

From this this blog “Prepare them for the Path” I totally agree with Teri Engelbrecht about the statement, "A good teacher prepares the student for the learning, not the learning for the student." We as teachers have to make learning fun and creative to capture the students’ attention. We have to teach the students that they can do anything that they want to do as long as the put their minds to it. We can’t give them all the answers and expect that they have learned the lesson. They have to understand that everything in life does not come simple and free, however, by learning that can equip them to knowledge for the future.

This blog also reminds me as of an article that I read in EDU 346, in that article it states that there’s no such thing a good teacher but a teacher can have good teaching skills. That’s the same thing Engelbrechtis stating in her blog. Student need teachers who have sensitivity to all the ways in which life experiences can be re- expressed by children. A good teacher needs to bring a fine blend of strength and delicacy to her job. She needs to be a person who is secure within herself that she can function with principles rather than prescriptions, that she exert authority without requiring submission, that she can work experimentally but not at random, that she can admit mistakes without feeling humiliated. This blog informed me on more ways to develop good teaching strategies.

                                                                                                                      

My last and favorite quote from her article is that ”I think a good teacher helps students more by helping them experience what they will really experience on their path through life - problem-solving, figuring it out, failing, trying again, failing some more, and trying some more.”

http://www.crazyteacherlady.com/crazy-thoughts/prepare-them-for-the-path

Make Them Fix It

After reading the blog “Make Them Fix It” by Terie Engelbrecht my view on students’ learning has changed. In her blog she states that, “In order for her students to really learn, they have to learn that fixing what’s wrong is a part of the process.” Now I understand why it’s important for teachers to encourage their students that it is a matter of I’m still learning, and I have to work towards getting it right. We as teacher have to give student the correct feedback in order for them to fix their mistakes.

In her blog she used exits slips as an example to on ways you can check students’ progress. She use it as an example to help her see if students were progressing or going in the wrong direction. This method insures that students are capable of fixing, while understanding their problems. She states that “feedbacks isn’t enough, students have to honor your feedback. They need to be able to act upon it, turn it over, do something with it, and fix whatever is broken in their knowledge.”  I can see myself using this tool as a formative assessment to monitor students’ progress.

I totally felt that this blog was very informative to me as a students and a future educator. Teri Engelbrecht blogs will be something that I always read to check out some skills to help me in my future role as an educator.

http://www.crazyteacherlady.com/crazy-thoughts/make-them-fix-it