Blog Post # 10

Adventures in Pencil Integration:



This pencil cartoon reminded me a lot about the PC and Mac commercials. Just like PC's Papermate pencils might be cheaper and work for a litte bit, but you won't really be getting all your moneys worth. And in the cartoon the Ticonderoga pencils are more expensive, but they will last longer and will be a better buy with your money. The hipster part of the joke is like talking about how "hipsters" only buy Apple products because it's not what in the "mainstream".

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?:
I love John Spencer's blog Adventures in Pencil Integration ! In his blog post Why Were Your Kids Playing Games? Mr. Spencer shares a story with us on a conversation between him and his school's principal. Mr.Spencer was being questioned as to why when the principal had walked past his classroom, did it look like the children were playing games instead of doing busywork. The talk continues between the two and the principal finally gets down to the point he's trying to make. He wants Mr. Spencer to teach his students how to memorize information, so that the students will just be able to pass their standardized testing. Not so that the students can actually learn. He just wants the students to have "burp back" education.
The second blog post I read from Mr.Spencer is The Con Academy In this blog post Mr. Spencer meets with a man who wants to help "flip" his classroom. What the man was trying to provide for Spencer's classroom worksheets that students could work on outside of his or her classroom and work at their own pace. Mr. Spencer's thoughts of the "flip" is "I just don’t see the appeal of this. It’s a series of worksheets”. The salesman tries to tell Mr.Spencer that he can't give 100% to each child who doesn't understand what he's trying to teach. At the end Mr. Spencer isn't won over and describes the whole idea a "Trojan Horse".

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?:
I want to first say that Scott McLeod's blog post Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? was very funny. I loved his sarcasm throughout the whole post. It was a very creative post. And I agree with the whole thing. His class will be prepared for the future because he is preparing his students. All the other students won't be as prepared or as well rounded.

Mr. McLeod is an author as well as a professor. He also just happens to be a very hilarious blogger about technology issues in the classroom.

Project # 11 Short Green Screen Movie

Project # 14 Smartboard Instruction Part 1

Blog Post # 9

Mr. McClung's World:



This week for EDM 310 I was lucky enough to be able to read "Mr. McClung's World" a teaching blog by Mr. Joe McClung. Mr. McClung started this blog after his first year of teaching and writes about his experience with it. He names these articles "What I've Learned This Year". Mr. McClung talks about the good and bad from what he had gained in each of those school years.

In one of his first blog posts he talks about his very first year of teaching. McClung talks about:

How to read the Crowd-
In this section McClung talks about the importance of keeping his mind student focused. Being a teacher just isn't about yourself. It's about your students. The children you're trying to help teach and grow to become promising adults. You shouldn't worry about if you're the best teacher to just outside your classroom, you need to worry about your students. A great quote from McClung is "In order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction."

Be Flexible-
As everyone knows you can plan ANYTHING down to a tee and think everything will be alright. Then just one tiny thing happens, and POOF there goes all of your articulated planning. As a teacher you need to be ready for that. You also have to learn how to go with it. Or as McClung put it be flexible. As a teacher you might make lesson plans expecting your students to understand and they might not. You'll have to slow down and work with them. And not get into a tizzy because this hiccup wasn't in the lesson plan.

Communicate-
Communication is key. In any kind of relationship you must have great communication. One one can read another persons mind and another person can't expect you to. So even as communication is important outside the workplace it is also important inside the workplace.

Be Reasonable-
As a teacher you want your students to be the best. You want them to grasp everything quickly and efficiently, sometimes that doesn't happen. As McClung talked about your students are just children and they're also just human. Everyone messes up. You have to learn to accept that in your students. Not all of them will be get what you're teaching right off the bat. Be patient.

Don't Be Afraid Of Technology-
As I have learned in EDM 310 the whole World is growing and moving into almost 100% technology for everything. There is no way anyone can protest technology any longer. Technology is here to help you and be your friend. Don't be afraid of it just because it's something you're not use to or isn't the norm.

Lastly... Never Stop Learning-
What McClung wants to get across with never stop learning is that "It’s never too late to change your way of thinking, learning, or style". As humans grow, we find more and more information. Don't just let what you learned in school and college make you stop accepting the new and valuable information this world has to offer.

My second blog post I read from Mr. McClung's is his volume 4 post of "What I Learned This Year"(2011-2012). In this post Mr. McClung talks about:

You Gotta Dance With Who You Came With-
In this part Mr.McClung talks about how he knew how he was as a teacher and how his students saw him. But he never really thought about how his coworkers saw him. He says that even though it is important to get along with your coworkers, you can't please everyone. As long as his students are learning and enjoying his class he's happy. He also states that he's not working for his coworkers. He's working for his students. The students are who matter.

Challenge Yourself-
In this section Mr. McClung talks about how easy it was for him to let the lesson plan teach itself and how easy it was to start losing creativity. Don't let yourself get stuck in to a point where teaching becomes boring. Challenge yourself with new obstacles in the classroom. Be the best teacher that your students need you to be.

Project # 12 Book Trailer

Blog Post # 8

This is how we dream:



This week one of our videos we had to watch was "This Is How We Dream Part 1 and 2" by Dr. Richard Miller. Dr. Miller started off his discussion by talking about how when he was a kid, he wanted to be a writer and publish a book. So he went to college studied and looked up what he needed to look up to write his book. His dream finally came true and he accomplished what he wanted and wrote a book that was published. That would be a proud moment for anyone. But, what Dr. Miller didn't expect as a kid, was the internet. He goes on to say that now you can see his book all over the internent and you're able to buy his book for a very great deal of fifty nine cense. Dr. Miller starts talking about how the world for writing has totally changed. He says that multimedia is the "greatest change in human communication in human history". Think about that for a second. Not in any other time in history, has had what we are fortunate enough to have today. We can get onto our laptops, Iphones, Ipads, and etc and talk, and not just only talk, but SEE the other person we're talking to, and that person could be on a totally different continent! It's a luxury we're so use to today, that we don't even give it a second thought. But for us to know and see how much is out in the world, from just a piece of technology, is a truly amazing accomplishment for the human race.

What Dr. Miller also was talking about, is how easy it is now to just be able to sit at home in one spot and write a whole paper without moving. All you need is a computer and the internet and you basically have the whole world in your hands. Dr. Miller talks about writing and states that writing is "not so much with pencils, paper, and a library. But with laptops". And that statement is 100% true. The only time that I as a student even go to the school campus library is when I need to focus and need some peace and quite. I can't even remember the last time I had to go to the library to actually look up information for a test or a paper. I do all my research from my laptop. The internet has everything if not more than what a library contains. Dr. Miller called the internet the "research riches of the World", and you can't deny it. Everything that is on the internet can be updated in a matter of seconds. You can find all kinds of information. The old ways of writing and researching are out.

I loved what Dr. Miller had to say. And when I become a teacher I will teach my students the importance of how to do research on the interntet. There's so much out in this world to learn from. And as the days go by more and more new findings in technology are made. Who know's maybe the way we write research papers now, will become a way of the past. But for now we need to see the importance of showing and teaching students what technology and the multimedia can do for them. I'll use Martin luther King's speeches for example. You can Youtube ALL of Martin Luther King's speeches. You can still listen and learn from one of the most influential speakers in American history, because of technology. It's an amazing thing.

Carly Pugh's Blog Post:
First I just want to say that I loved Carly's Blog Post #12 ! She talked with such enthusiasm that it was a great post to read. And Carly is just like what Dr. Miller is talking about. She talked about communicating with her students with multimedia. And I loved the idea of making a Youtube playlist. That was such a great idea. The reason the Youtube playlist is such a great idea is because Carly talks about the visual aspect. She's correct on the fact that not everyone can just be told something, and then understand it. So to be able to create a playlist so that visual learners can also keep up and understand, is such a great idea.

EDM 310 Is Different:
I found both The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies hilarious. I found the hair pulling and going crazy totally relatable. There have been plenty of times where I was doing just that, before I got some help.

If I had to create videos I would make mine on procrastination and not asking for help. Those two are very big battles I had and have to deal with. I know Dr. Strange talked about procrastination at the beginning of the semester but the seriousness of that does not hit you until you're still up at 11:30 on a sunday night, trying to finish what needed to be done before 12am. In those moments you tell yourself "This will NOT happen again next week!" So for my video I would show how to successfully accomplish time management so that you can be successful in the future of EDM 310 and also for the rest of your life.

The second video that I would like to create is on asking questions. Asking questions so soooo important in EDM 310. Like the saying goes "no question is a dumb question." and I believe that to be true. Especially in EDM 310. This is a totally different class than any other class you'll take. That's why Dr. Strange has created so many different ways for you to get ahold of someone, inorder to ask a question. Dr. Strange wants you to pass the class, he's not making it easy because he wants you to earn it. So one way in order for you to pass this class you'll have to admit to someone that you don't know what you're doing and be humble and ask for help from someone who knows what he or she is talking about.

Learn To Change, Change To Learn:
The arguments made in the "Learn To Change, Change To Learn" video we're all validated arguments. I agreed with most if not all of the points made.I love the whole idea about teaching with technology. It needs to be incorporated into the school system. One of the best quotes from the video is "Every turned off device, is potentially a turned off child." And that's so true. If our old buildings of mortar and brick aren't efficiently teaching the students of tomorrow, then we need to learn to teach in a way that incorporates technology into the classroom. To teach the students to where they aren't just memorizing for tests, but are becoming more efficient and smarter students and actually learning.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0
1. Comic Strip
View my comic Ms. Buzz!!! Then go and make one at Make Beliefs Comix!

2.Poll
Come take my poll HERE!! Then go create one at PollEverywhere.com!

3. Video Tool
With Animoto you can make your pictures into videos! (Which is pretty cool) some of the features that Animoto has is:
1. You can use it on your mobile phone. You can share and make videos anytime and anywhere!
2. You can add captions and titles to all of your pictures and videos.
3. You can choose over 1000 songs to pair up with your video to make it even better! Who wouldn't like to make a soundtrack of their very own?

Blog Post # 7

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture:



I first want to begin my discussion about Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, is how happy Randy was. He knew everything there was to know about the situation he was in with his Pancreatic Cancer, and how he only had a few more months to live before that his doctor's said he probably would't make it much longer. Most people would be having pity partys or would be depressed. But not Randy. He was so lively and happy in this last lecture video. You would never have guessed, that he would have known that he wouldn't be living much longer. What I learned from Randy is no matter what happens in your life or what you're doing you need to have fun with it. And to me that is so true and perfect. As I've said before I am going to school with a major as Elementary Education. I'll be getting to teach little kids everyday. So the word FUN is going to be an issue with me. It's hard for kids to sit down and concentrate in the first place. They need something that grasps their attention and takes hold. If I make all my lesson plans dull and boring my class won't be having a positive outcome. But! If I can make my class interested in what we're having to study and work on and make it fun to learn in the process, my classroom will be having a very positive outcome. The students will want to participate rather than just sit and wait for the bell to ring and tell them it's time to go home.

Another lesson that I learned from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was, give feedback and listen to any received feedback. That rule will also be perfect to incorporate into my classroom. No one on Earth is perfect. We all mess up at times and we all are better at one thing while others are better at another. As a teacher, I'll be doing great in one department while I may need to work harder on another. So if another teacher comes up to me and tells me I might need to change how I teach something or how I do something, I don't need to see that as if that other teacher is out to get me. I need to be that small portion of society that takes that piece of advice and use it to my advantage to change what needs to be changed and become a better teacher from it. Now, since I am becoming a teacher I will also be giving feedback. As a teacher who will care about her students, I will want them to be the best that they can be. So when I give my feedback on a project or a test, I need to say it in a polite up-beat way. Not in a cynical make my students feel stupid way. When a person does get feedback from another it's not always what he or she wants to hear. So if I put a nice spin to it, my students will more than likely be happy to take that piece of advice and run with it. As Randy perfectly said it "Your critics tell you they love you and care." If you don't have any critics that means the people around you have given up.

A third thing I learned from Randy is to be loyal. Randy had a perfect quote from Jon Snoddy about loyalty, "Wait, and people will surprise you." Being loyal is a huge trait that everyone should want. And as a teacher I need to be loyal to my students and in return they will be loyal to me. Now as I said earlier we are all human beings and are all far from being perfect. If someone isn't doing something you think they need to be doing stick with them. Don't leave them just because you don't like it. Give them time and like Jon Snoddy said they will surprise you. As a teacher, my students will be depending on my to teach them and also make them feel safe while they're at school. If a student has a question and it's the same question that's been repeated over and over. I shouldn't become upset with him or her. They trust me enough to walk up to my desk, or raise their hand in the middle of class for me to explain something to them. They have enough trust and loyalty in me, to answer the question and not embarrass or make them feel stupid in the process.

One of the last things that really caught my attention in Randy's lecture was,
How To Get People To Help You:
1. You can't get there alone, and I believe in Karma
2. Tell the truth
3. Be earnest
4. Apologize when you screwup
5.Focus on others, not yourself
As a teacher I will be needing a lot of help from various different people, and my students will also be needing help from various different people their whole lives. I need to teach my students these five rules. For the first rule "You can't get there alone" that is completely true. My students will need to know about teamwork. Nobody was made to be able to do everything on his or her own. You need people to help you along the way. That it's okay to admit to yourself and to others that, "No. I can't do this by myself." From the time your in K5 all the way to about the day you die, you'll always be having to work with someone or a group of people. Why not teach them at a young age how to efficiently work in groups and build a stronger teamwork? For the second rule "Tell the truth". That is an extremely important trait that someone needs to have. Trust is like loyalty. Once it's broken it's hard to gain back. The third rule I want to teach my students is "Be earnest". Everyone can tell who is actually meaningful and who is not. I want to teach my students that they don't want to be one of those fake people. Life is a gift, and you need to treat people in a way that shows they actually mean something,and they're not just like an old toy they can get tired with and want to throw away. The fourth rule that's important is "Apologize when you screwup". Like I've already said multiple times, we're human. We're bound to make mistakes. If you break something in the classroom, tell me. Don't try to hide it. If you do that, you could ruin your character a little and can also lose a little trust. And last but not least is "Focus on others, not yourself". No one can stand being around someone who is full of him or herself. I need to teach my future students that caring about yourself is no where near as important as caring about others.

And to end my little discussion on Randy, I would like to end on one of my favorite quotes he said in his last lecture.
"Don't bail; the best of the gold is at the bottom of the crap."