Final Post # 15 (Video Reflection)

This is the last blog post for this semester!! Good luck to all the future students taking EDM310!!!

C4T # 4

C4T #4  

Post 1

This week I was assigned to read and comment on Mr. Kemp’s blog post entitled, “The Ebb and Flow of Shift – Thanks @PinkneyMichael.”

In this post Mr. Kemp talks about or comments on a tweet that Michael Pinkley had posted on Twitter.  Mr. Kemp basically summed up in his own words what the tweet meant.  Here Mr. Kemp as well as Mr. Pinkley is talking about there is a shift in teaching or education taking place and that they are not sure where it may be leading them.  They both talked about how what they do in the classroom has changed or has shifted.

My Response:

Mr. Kemp,

I read your post and I have to say that I find it fascinating for someone such as Mr. Pickney to post such a short but useful comment on Twitter.  While reading his comment as well as yours, I started to wonder if I would feel the way you two do, especially when I become an educator.  When you talk about there is a shift in education do you mean technologically or just everything in general?  I interpreted it as a technology shift but I could be wrong.

I do feel like there is a shift being made and teachers have to adapt to it as well as the students.  Teachers are having to constantly learn new methods and use different tools to reach out to the students.  I could see this shift being a positive one.  I guess this just means as future educators we are going to have to work extra hard to try to keep up with this shift. 

Thank you so much for allowing me to read your post as well as comment on it.  Here is a link to my blog page as well as my class blog. Please feel free to check them out!

….visit<a href=http://blantontiffanyedm310.blogspot.com>my blog</a> and check out the <a href=http://edm310.blogspot.com>edm class blog</a>

Post 2

For the second part of the C4T # 4, I was assigned to comment on Mr. Scott Kemp’s blog post entitled, “Well, Duh!”  This post is about an article by Mr. Alfie Kohn about ten (examples) or obvious truths that we should not be ignoring.  Mr. Kohn said, “Some statements are worth noticing because in our school practices and policies we tend to ignore the implications that follow from them. It’s both intellectually interesting and practically important to explore such contradictions: If we all agree that a given principle is true, then why in the world do our schools still function as if it weren’t? “  The ten examples  that he stated include:

1.       Much of the material students are required to memorize is soon forgotten

2.       Just knowing a lot of facts doesn’t mean you’re smart

3.       Students are more likely to learn what they find interesting

4.       Students are less interested in whatever they’re forced to do and more   enthusiastic when they have some say

5.       Just because doing x raises standardized test scores doesn’t mean x should be done

6.      Students are more likely to succeed in a place where they feel known and cared about

7.      We want children to develop in many ways, not just academically

8.      Just because a lesson (or book, or class, or test) is harder doesn't mean it's better

9.      Kids aren’t just short adults

10.    Substance matters more than labels

My Response:

Mr. Kemp,

I really enjoyed reading this article by Alfie Kohn. I also really love the title of the article.  The ten examples listed are or should be very obvious to teachers as well as others.  It should be a "Well Duh" moment but unfortunately that is not always the case.  I do though; find the ten examples to be very true. 

Thank you so much for allowing me to look over your blog and comment on your posts!!!

-Tiffany Blanton

Final Project # 16

C4K Summary #'s 7, 8, 9, and 10

C4K # 7

For this week's assignment, I was required to comment on a specific post by Mr. McClung.  The post was entitled, "Lessons Learned: Lesson Four-March Madness." In his post he talked about the NCAA tournament.  He spoke about how he absolutely loved basketball.  He
also mentioned the term bracket.  I responded to Mr. McClung by saying:

Call me crazy but I do not watch basketball on televison. I would rather watch it in person. My husband on the other hand loves it!  I hate to admit this but I really did not know what a bracket was or maybe I just knew another term fcr it, who knows.  I certainly know what it means now.  Thanks for allowing me to learn something new!!

C4K # 8

The Comment for Kids for week 8, I was assigned to read the blog entitled, "Year 6L:       Keeping up with a connected classroom" and comment on the post entitled, "Week in review 03/03/11." This post was about how a student learned how to make games using the program Scratch.  I responded to this student by saying:

This is a great idea!!  I bet that creating games is so much fun.  I have never heard of a program called Scratch.  I will have to see what that is all about. I wonder if I could create a game. You must be a very creative person to do such a thing.  Good for you!!  Keep up the good work and thank you so much for allowing me to read your blog post.  I also have a blog and you are welcome to explore so here is a link to my blog as well as my class blog..
...visit my blog and check out the edm class blog

C4K # 9

For this week's C4K, I was assigned to explore and comment on Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog.  I was required to leave a response for Mrs. Yollis as well as her student bloggers.  Here is the comment that I left for them:

Dear Mrs. Yollis and Student Bloggers,

My name is Tiffany Blanton and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama under the instruction of Dr. Strange.  This is such a great blog!  It is so nice to be able to read and comment on this blog.  I love how the students are so involved. I have enjoyed checking out this classroom blog and I have learned some very useful techniques. Thank you!  I personally love that the month of April is set aside for Family Blogging.  I love this idea because it allows the parents, grandparents, etc. to get involved.  Keep up the great work!  I certainly will be checking back to see all the great things yet to come.  Thank you Mrs. Yollis, as well as the students’, for allowing me to view as well as comment on your blog.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Blanton

I also was assigned to post a detailed summary about Mrs. Yollis and her blog page then post it on my blog.  Here is just a little summary of what I posted on my blog post assignment.  You can also read the blog post just by scrolling down and then find the post entitled, "Blog Post # 9."  While exploring Mrs. Yollis' blog I clicked on all of the links on her page.  She has some very interesting links.  The tabs included everything from learning how to shoot digital images, the different time zones, to getting to know the bloggers.  Mrs. Yollis had a very interesting blog and I found all of her links and advice or inspiration to be very helpful.  I admire her for learning new ways to reach out to her students and just for going the extra mile.

C4K # 10

For this week's Comment for Kids, I was assigned to read and comment on Mrs. Yollis' third grade student  named Miriam.  Miriam had the opportunity to have her own blog page entitled, "Miriam's Magical Moments" unlike some of the other students' in Mrs. Yollis' class.  The blog post that I was required to read and comment on Miriam's blog was entitled, "Hawaiian Volcanoes."  In Miriam's post she talked about her exciting trips that included her parents.  Miriam and her parents went to visit an active volcano as well as walk through a rain forest.  I responded to Miriam by saying:

I find it truly amazing that you have the opportunity to have your own blog for Mrs. Yollis' class.  I also find it amazing to see that you and your family went to see an active volcano. Wow!!  Your pictures are very good and it looks like that everyone had a great time.  I would absolutely love to walk through a rain forest.  I have always wanted to travel so some day maybe I will get the chance.  Keep exploring and I will keep checking back in to see all the great places you get to visit.  If you would like to view my blog here is a link to it as well as the class blog

..visit My Blog and check out the EDM Class Blog

Final Report on PLN

This is a cropped screen shot of my final PLN. I really enjoyed making my PLN. I made it by using Symbaloo. A PLN is a very useful and time saving tool.  As one can see here, my PLN is filled with many tabs. Some of the tabs, I use on a daily basis as well as tabs that could possibly help me when I become an educator.  Some of tabs I use on a daily basis are South Alabama's email, EDM class blog, my blog, USA online, etc.  When I become an educator, it would be a great idea for me to show students how to create a PLN and they could use it at home and in the classroom.  There is nothing like having a time saving tool especially in today's "always on the go" society.

Blog Post # 14 Special Assignment On Metaphors

Blog Post # 14

1.  Why did you miss the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post, or, if you "hit the nail on the head", why do you think you understood the metaphor and why do you think that others in the class missed the metaphor? I actually thought that this post was little odd but just did it anyway and I totally missed the entire subject.  It never occurred to me that a metaphor was being used here.   I felt so silly that I did not even get the idea of technology being involved.  My light bulb should have went off, I am taking a class dealing with technology not necessarily pencils. Duh me! I believe the reason why I may have misinterpreted this post is maybe I was just looking at the post too seriously or to be honest, maybe I was not putting the effort into this assignment as much as I should have.

2.  What metaphors have you encountered since I asked you to create a log of them? There are so many metaphors that I have encountered but not necessarily since we were asked to make a list. I have been hearing metaphors every since I was a little girl.  I have heard some metaphors that others may not have ever heard before.  Some actually may not make any sense.  Here are a few: Bad to the bone, Jumping for joy, Dead as a doornail, To go the extra mile, To break the ice,  To turn over a new leaf, As old as the hill, Hitting the nail on the head, It’s raining cats and dogs, Falling in love, and Racking our brains, just to name a view.

3.  What other things can we do as educators to help our students to understand and to use metaphors? Well, I myself do not always understand metaphors that are used today.  So what do I do when I hear one that I am not sure about? I Google it to find out.  As an educator I would first find out what it means so I could give the students’ the correct answer or explanation of what the metaphor actually means.  The students’ could also Google them but only with the help of a parent or guardian because there are a few inappropriate ones.

4.  Why do we use metaphors? Maybe we use metaphors to be humorous?  Maybe we are trying to expand our vocabulary and we get tired of saying the same old boring statements? There could be numerous reasons; I guess it just depends on the person using the metaphors.

Blog Post # 13

Personally, I have never been introduced to the ALEX website before now, but I have learned so much just by looking over the webpage.  This is what I have learned so far:

ALEX stands for the Alabama Learning Exchange.  Alex is a project done by the Alabama Department of Education to help current teachers as well as future educators.  The ALEX webpage has many helpful tabs to click on.  The tabs include: courses of study, lesson plans, web links, professional learning, personal workspace, podcast treasury, ALEXville, and search.

The ALEX webpage is very useful for teachers, future educators, as well as parents.   I especially like this webpage because it is a free place to get information on lesson plans and watch podcast.  Another great thing that the ALEX webpage has to offer is that teachers can create their own lesson plan and be able to share with other educators.  I certainly plan to use the ALEX webpage when I become a future educator.

While surfing the ACCESS website I noticed that the word ACCESS stands for: Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide.  What is the purpose of ACCESS? ACCESS ia a Distance Learning Initiative available to any public high school student in the state of Alabama.  On this webpage one will find links that include: Courses, Educators, Resources, Students, Technical Support, and ways to Contact them.  On this site they describe the goal of using ACCESS as well as the future of it. So check it out!! It is a very interesting program.

C4K # 9

Getting to Know Mrs. Yollis:

I must first mention that I would love to travel as well as be a great educator just as Mrs. Yollis.  I admire her for teaching for twenty-four years and how she continues to enjoy every minute of it.  I also admire her for traveling to learn about new ideas to take back to her students.  I especially like what she stated,” I am very fortunate.  I love being a teacher and a lifelong learner too.”  This is exactly what I have stated before, to be a lifelong learner.  When I become an educator, I will be willing to learn about any new technology tools, especially if it means it will benefit my students.  One other important statement that stood out to me was, “Working alongside parents to bring out the best in their children gives me great satisfaction.”  I especially agree that including the parents in on the student(s) education is extremely important.  I personally want to be able to include the parents in on the different activities, assignments, etc., whenever I become a future educator.

The Bloggers:

As I have stated before, seeing young students blogging just amazes me!  Especially, due to me just now learning how to blog.  These third graders probably are better at blogging as well as having much more experience than I do.  While reading about these third graders, I love how Mrs. Yollis listed some of their hobbies.  I am sure that the students’ love this.  I can only imagine how excited these students’ are to see that they can be viewed all around the world.

Video: How to Comment:

I really love that Mrs. Yollis put this helpful video on her blog.  I really like how Mrs. Yollis went into detail and showed specifically where to go and how to leave a comment.  This is a very useful video for parents, students, or any other person for that matter who is unfamiliar with blogging. 

Learn HTML Code:

Mrs. Yollis’ post on HTML codes was exceptionally helpful.  I actually learned a few tricks myself.  I also like how she left a list of the different codes as well as how she posted a video on how to use the HTML codes.  By Mrs. Yollis putting a link on her classroom blog helps the students as well as others reading the blog whenever they may need help in remembering the different codes.  Whenever a student or any person for that matter may forget a HTML code, all one would have to do, is click on Mrs. Yollis’ link on the classroom blog.

Time Zones of Friends:

What a great idea to post the different time zones of the people that Mrs. Yollis as well as her class comes into contact with.  I have never seen any teacher do this on his or her classroom blog page.  I absolutely love this idea!!!

Learn About California:

Here again, I really like how she posted a video of the state in which they live.  By putting this on her classroom blog, this allows others to get to know where the students’ as well as where she is from.  I would love to place a link, "Learning About Alabama,” on my future classroom blog just as Mrs. Yollis has done to allow others to get to know a little about where my future students’ and myself are from. 

Learn How to Shoot Digital Images:

Mrs. Yollis included a link on the top of her classroom blog page for viewers to click on.  The link takes viewers to two videos.  The first video shows some great tips on how to take correct and incorrect pictures as well as videos.  I especially liked how she placed a second video for backup just in case the first video would not work. 

I admire Mrs. Yollis for her exceptional blog, being an educator, as well as being a lifelong learner.  I also love how she includes the parents in on the student’s education.  I found that all of her links that she used on her classroom blog were very helpful for her students’ as well as others.  Just by looking and reading Mrs. Yollis' classroom blog, it looks like she is doing a fabulous job with the third graders.  I hope to carry some of the techniques that Mrs. Yollis uses as well as her encouraging words, with me as I pursue my degree in education. 

Blog Post #12

Blog Post 12 Due 4/17

1.   Darren cannell: You can’t be my teacher (2:09)

      For this week’s blog post 12, you are assigned to watch the video, You can't be my teacher by Darren Cannell. The video is 2 minutes, 9 seconds long.  After watching the video, write two or more paragraphs on your reaction to the video.  Do you agree or disagree? Is it ok to be a technologically illiterate teacher?

    

      Here is my reaction to the post for the assignment I created:

      The video, "You can't be my teacher," was created by a child and his dad.  Mr. Cannell, the dad, explains how technology is a tool that is used for education.  He explains that teachers need to be preparing students for how they are going to live. I found this video to be very important.  I totally agree with the message being stated in this video. 

      In my opinion teachers really need to be technologically literate.  Why do I believe that? Well, the world continues grow technologically and if we has future teachers do not decide to change with it, we are going to be left behind.  We as future teachers must wake up and see that the world is changing and we need to change with it. 

      When I first saw the title for this video, I thought to myself hmm, I should check this out.  As I began watching it, I said to myself that is so true, that little boy is so smart.  This video reminded me of the video or actually the question that Dr. Strange stated at the beginning of the semester, "Should teachers be technologically literate?"  I thought this video went hand in hand with his question. 

Project # 16 Progress Report

Jessica Brown and I having been working on our video for the past couple of weeks for project #16.  We have everything together, our scripts as well as how we are wanting it to end up.  I would explain what the video is about but, then it would not be a surprise.  We are planning on recording this video and putting the clips together this week and will have this video uploaded to our individual blogs, hopefully before the due date, May 1^st.

Project # 15

Special Assignment: Mr. McClung's World

Mr. McClung’s World: Special Assignment

Mr. McClung is a huge supporter of using technology in the schools/classrooms.  He uses his blog for Social Studies as well as his cross country team.  His blog is just one example of how he exemplifies technology in the classroom and out of the classroom. I believe that Mr. McClung uses his blog due to him wanting to include technology in everyday instruction and I believe using his blog does just that.  His class blog is used as a newsletter for parents as well as the students to let everyone know what new assignments or projects are approaching.

Just by reading Mr. McClung’s rules and expectations I believe it speaks very highly of him as an educator.  He expects everyone to come to class with energy and positivity.  He also talks about how he wants his students to speak up in the classroom because he wants his students to learn from each other.  He also expects everyone to listen.  One would think these few things that I mentioned would be the rules but they are just the expectations of his students.  I really like his expectations and hope to carry these with me in my classroom.

I believe that a day planner is needed first and foremost under the Everyone Needs Column because keeping things in order can help eliminate procrastination.  I believe everyone should keep a day planner because it can help students be very organized and keeps them from being scatter brained when their assignments may be due.

 As far as penalty for late work, according to Mr. McClung, each day that the work is late a letter grade is lowered.  If late on the fourth day, it is a failing grade on the assignment.  As specified by Dr. Strange, his penalty for late work is the possibility of an “F” and if consistent late work, results in a “D.”

When looking over the links of Mr. McClung I noticed that all of the links were helpful and used to practice technology.  I noticed that most of the links he had, we have been over and are still going over in EDM310 this semester.  Both Dr. Strange and Mr. McClung are trying to get students introduced and more familiar with technology and these links on Mr. McClung’s site I believe does just that.  Two that stuck out to me were Gmail and also TED: Ideas Worth Spreading.  I am also familiar with both. 

While reading the internet safety rules, I noticed that his rules are not the same as other teacher/students blogs.  I am sure he is just being very secure and really as a teacher one has to be, especially when considering other people’s children are involved.  I really think that his rules are good and are made for students to be secure but are still allowing them to communicate with others.

I was given the opportunity to read and comment on Mr. McClung’s blog post entitled Lessons Learned: March Madness NCAA.   Mr. McClung wrote about his love for basketball.  Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of watching it on television, I would rather watch in person.  Others responded by saying how they loved basketball. The other students commenting were very familiar with all the terms that Mr. McClung talked about when referring back to basketball.  Other categories under “Lessons Learned,” included Spring Break, Talent Show, and 9:23.

Mr. McClung’s blog does differ from other teachers due to him having a syllabus, class rules, expectations, useful links, students work, as well as the computer app available for the teacher, parent, and student.  Mr. McClung is very organized and I believe, has the best interest for his students to become technologically advanced.  He really seems like he has everything together.  Mr. McClung’s blog may be more advanced compared to other teachers maybe because he keeps it up to date or either he has more experience technologically.  To be honest, I am not really sure, there could be many reasons. 

As far as my blog, as of now, really there is nothing that I would not want to change, but if I have a blog when teaching I would like to advance my blog, basically how Mr. McClung’s blog is set up.  Of course mine would be on a elementary level but I would have some of the same little buttons or links at the top. For example, the syllabus, a button for parents to comment or view upcoming assignments, etc.  I really like how his blog is set up and how it is full of information for everyone to read. 

Project #14 Teach Someone

Blog Post # 11

Little Kids…Big Potential

First of all, I have to say, WOW!!! This video is very impressive. I absolutely loved watching this video and seeing these young students being so involved with technology.  I have never seen first graders use Skype, Wikis, Blogs, or just having computers all in the classroom.  Ms. Cassidy obviously is on top of her technology and I hope to follow in her steps when I have my own classroom.  I would love to use Skype, Blogger, or any other technological tool that will benefit my future students.  These first graders are so involved and I love how the little boy said he could go home and look at his blog. I especially liked when he told us that we should be careful what we say because it could hurt people’s feelings.  I thought that was so sweet and very wise.  As far as using blogs, I can see them being very beneficial for the teacher, students, as well as the parents.  Having a blog also allows students to communicate with students all over the world, which in my opinion is a great idea.  The students get to see different approaches to learning and they could possibly see the new technology being used in others classrooms. 

After watching the Skype interview between Ms. Cassidy and Dr. Strange, I noticed that both teachers had the same views about technology.  Both teachers believe that technology is advancing and will continue to advance.  I totally agree with them.  Ms. Cassidy said that the world is constantly changing.  I agree with that too, which in turn should make us future teachers to advance right along with it.  We must continue to learn.  I really loved hearing Ms. Cassidy talk about how her student’s love the idea of using their blogs and how they cannot wait to get the day started.  She talked about how her six year olds loved to stay busy and how it makes them feel important when they have a computer in front of them and know that someone else can comment on their blog.  I really love her use of technology in the classroom and allowing the students be involved.  From the beginning of the semester up till now I have learned how to use numerous technological tools and I thought I was doing so well but these first graders seem to be showing me up.  I am just now learning about the new tools at twenty two years old and they are learning at age six.  This just shows how quick technology is advancing and is being used more and more in the classroom.

Blog Post # 10

An Open Letter To Educators:

I really enjoyed reading Morgan Bayda’s post as well as watching Mr. Brown’s video.  Both Morgan and Dan made some very interesting points.  They talked about how college is so expensive and that one would think that students would learn valuable information and have something to carry with them when they leave the class.   Unfortunately this is not always the case for each class.  I have experienced the effect of being cheated out of an education only in a few of my previous classes, actually one of them.  I paid so much money to attend the class and left out of there feeling as if I learned nothing.  I really hate the idea of this because school is so expensive and something should be learned in the end.  Mr. Brown also talked about how educational institutions seem to be falling behind technologically.  He stated that since the world is advancing so should the institutions.  He said that we as students are paying for an education that we can get for free.  He said that most of the information that we learn in the classroom we can get for free by the simple click of the internet. 

Don’t Let Them Take Pencils Home:

This blog post was very interesting.  In this post the teacher was told not to allow students to take pencils home.  Research was shown that taking pencils home could lower test scores.  I have never heard of this before.  This is something new for me! What I believe this post is about or the moral to it is that the teacher here is worried about the problem but never focusing on the solution.  This should be changed or reversed; not just focusing on the problem but looking for better or positive ways to overcome it.

C4T # 3

Post #1


I was required to read the blog entitled, "21 apples" by: arvind s. grover.  Yes, his name is in all lower case letters.  In the latest blog post by Mr. grover he put a video entitled, “Salman Khan takes to the TED stage to present flipping the classroom is working” and basically it was about this guy named Salman Khan and how he began helping his cousins, basically tutoring them and he began putting up some of the lessons on YouTube.  Eventually the videos became a big hit and people began using the videos for help with various subjects. 


 I responded to Mr. grover by saying how I really enjoyed watching the video and how great it is that someone would post something very useful and helpful for others.   I believe it is a great idea that other teachers like you are producing videos. Some students work better on their own, so to speak.  Like Mr. Khan was saying, some students learn on their own time and with using the videos he or she can rewind, pause, etc. instead of in person having to get frustrated with tutors. He makes some very interesting points.  Thank you so much for putting this video up.  Now, I can share the video with others and it could possibly help students in need with problem subjects.  I also agree with you about the data information he presented being very powerful.


Here is a link to the video

Post # 2

I was required to read and comment on Mr. arvind s. grover’s blog post entitled, “  Nicholas Kristoff does social media, why don't you? The teacher's toolkit.”

In his blog post Mr. Grover said that while reading Nicholas Kristoff’s article he noticed a small clipping of text that caught his attention.  The text read:

"I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook, watch my Youtube videos and follow me on Twitter."

Mr. Grover said he found it interesting that Mr. Nicholas Kristoff uses Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube as a journalist toolkit.  He states that this should be a teacher’s toolkit as well.

I commented to Mr. grover by saying I too agree with you about having a blog, a Facebook page, a YouTube account, and a Twitter account being a journalist's toolkit but just as importantly a teacher's toolkit. Teachers should use Twitter, YouTube, or a blog. This could be very beneficial for the teacher as well as the student. While in my EDM 310 class that requires us to have a blog etc. I have seen that communication is so easy through the use of a blog, Twitter, as well as YouTube.  You make a very good point with just one sentence.  I wish I could sum up what I want to say in one sentence. Thank you so much for allowing me to read your blog as well as comment on it.  Again I will be summarizing your post as well as my comment and posting it on my blog. Here is my blog if you would like to comment or view it..... Thanks again ...visit myblog

Skype Interview Project # 12

C4K Summary 4,5,and 6

C4K #4

Mr. Wolfe’s Class

A student in Mr. Wolfe’s class wrote about orangutans.  She spoke of what orangutans eat and where they reside.  I responded to her by saying that orangutans are so cute!!! They also are very smart creatures.  I would love to visit the forests or the places that they reside or live.  I think it is so strange that orangutans eat bark.  I would think that would hurt their mouths.  Strange creatures, those orangutans!  I also find it interesting that they sleep and hang out in the trees.  That would be like me or you hanging out in a tree house all the time.  That would be pretty neat.  Something else that would be fun is that, if we were an orangutan we would get to travel from tree to tree by swinging on the branches by using our long arms.

C4K # 5

Pt. England School -Mrs. Nua

A student named Kalim in Mrs. Nua’s class wrote a story about him being home a while before his grandmother arrived home.  He described this as a holiday.  I responded to his story by telling him how interesting his story was.  I also told him that I especially liked it due to it being straight from his heart.  His story is something that happened to him which makes it very special. From the very beginning of his story it just made me want to keep reading, so I could see what happened next. I also told him how it seemed like he had a very interesting holiday!

C4K # 6

Ms. Engelhard

A student in Ms. Engelhard’s class named Grace wrote a story about a Dalmatian that went on vacation. I responded to her story by telling her how cute it was and that I really enjoyed reading it.  I told her how I could only imagine that the Dalmatian had quite an adventure.  I also mentioned to her that I was sure at the end of the Dalmatian’s adventure or vacation he or she probably wished it would have stayed home, but everyone needs a vacation sometime.  I told her that at least the Dalmatian got to experience the vacation he or she always wanted to go on.  I gave her encouraging words: to keep up the creative writing and that she did a very good job on her story.

SMARTBoard Presentation Project # 13

Statistics for the SMARTBoard Quiz

Our group consisted of four members and we did our lesson plan or presentation on the four types of clouds.  Each member of the group chose his or her own cloud to represent.  We had an audience with three people observing us and participating throughout the entire presentation.  We included games into the presentation usually located at the end of each cloud lesson. 

After the presentation was complete we handed out a questionnaire about the material that our group had just covered.  The questionnaire consisted of ten questions.  There were four multiple choice, three true/false, two fill in the blank, and the last was a rating response. 

I have included above, a link to the statistics of the questionnaire that the group observing us took.  But here is basically a brief summary of what the audience scored as far as the questionnaire.  Like I mentioned earlier, we had three audience members with ten questions total on the questionnaire.  Each member answered all the multiple choice questions as well as two true/false correctly.  Only one member answered the last true/false incorrectly.  All three members answered the first short answer question correctly.  Only one member correctly answered the last short answer question. 

I really enjoyed working on this project.  I believe it turned out to be successful.  We worked very hard and I am pretty sure our hard worked showed.  I really enjoyed working with the SMARTBoard.  It really made learning fun, especially when we incorporated games with our lesson.  As far as the statistics on the questionnaire I believe our material that we went over was fairly simple and everyone did a great job on it. Yes, some did miss a few questions but did good overall.  I think we got the material across judging by the statistics.  Good job everyone!!!

Blog Post # 9

What I’ve Learned This Year By: Mr. McClung

I really enjoyed reading Mr. McClung’s essay.  He made some very great points! Mr. McClung talked about all the things he had learned throughout his 1^st year of teaching.  He talked about, as being teachers we must be flexible.  Each lesson will not go perfectly as we would hope.  He also talked about how communication is so important to teachers especially in the workplace.  Communication is also important when it comes to students.  The only way to get to know your students is through observation and also communication.  He expressed that we as teachers should not be afraid of technology.  Technology continues to grow and we must learn to follow in order to keep up.  We should not be afraid to learn things especially since we expect students to learn and try new things.  He also said that as teachers we should be good listeners.  It is so important for us teachers to listen to what the students have to say.  The students then will have respect for us or more respect.  He also mentioned that we should be responsible.  All students are going to make mistakes just as all of us do and when students make mistakes we should be there to pick that child up when they fall.  We should lift them up when they are down.   We are there to teach and encourage students and to keep them going forward.