Blog Post # 14

Teacher Knows If You Have Done The E-Reading:



This week for EDM 310 we had to read an article "Teacher Knows If You Have Done Your E-Reading" by David Streitfeld. The article was about Texas A&M professors who were worried that their students weren't actually reading their textbooks. The professors know that the students are missing major pieces of information that they need to know. So a way for the professors to know that the information they want the students to read and know, the started using CourseSmart. CourseSmart is a program where students are all put into a computer system, are given their textbooks on E-Readers, and this way the professor can track whether or not the student has or has not read the passages they were suppose to have read. The professor can track to see how many times the book has been opened, and if the student isn't doing so well in the class the professor can show the student evidence as to why he or she might not being doing so well. Some of the people who are in the classes don't mind using the system, but there are others who say it's too much like "Big Brother" and that they are losing their own studying time privacy.

My thoughts on this CourseSmart program from the view as a teacher, is that this could be a great program that could work. As a teacher it would be nice to know wether or not my students actually read what they were suppose to. That way if they didn't understand something and came to ask me a question, I would at least know that they had tried to understand the subject matter themselves before they came to me. Also it would be easier to teach knowing that my students had read the assigned material so they know a little bit about what I am about to cover, compared to the students having no clue what's in for them that day.

My thoughts on this as a student are totally different. To me that is invading privacy. If a student comes to class takes notes and still passes the test without ever opening the book then thats what works for them. Not every student has to read the chapter to know what all is going on. As humans we all learn differently. Some are people who can listen and learn and understand. Others are people who actually do have to open a book and read what the professor will be talking about. So for the professor to just base his or her thoughts on a particular student just by how many time he or she opens a book is not okay. Studying time is for the student, not so the professor can see how many time one of his or her students have opened their textbook.

If I could ask the professors questions about this new program they would be:
1.How can you base a students effort by just looking at how many times he or she has opened a book?
2. Do you not think that your students can learn what they need just from your lectures?
3. Do you not think that this program is a form of invasion of privacy for your students?
4. Has the grade overall average gone up since you started this program?
5. Do you really think that the students will open their books more, just because you can see how many times they have?

If I could ask the students questions about this program they would be:
1. Do you think as a student you should have to read everything in your textbook, or only certain sections?
2. Do you think you need to read the book or can you learn and grasp everything you need to know in your professors lecture?
3. Do you think this new program is a form of invasion of privacy into the studying aspect of your life?
4. Has your grade point average gone up, down, or stayed the same since this new program has started?
5. Will you as a student open your book more because your professor can see it, or will you keep up your same study patterns and not care what the professor sees?

If I had left a comment on the article it would have been to ailun99 from Wisconsin who wrote

"And how does the software know WHO is opening the book and supposedly reading it? Just like students can buy online papers, they can pay someone to "read" their textbooks! I'm a professor and very wary of all of this technology. My best teaching happens person to person where I can see their eyes, interact with them as human beings, adjust my teaching to how they are reacting, and engage them as whole people - not just mere scores on some computer program. And how does the software know WHO is opening the book and supposedly reading it? Just like students can buy online papers, they can pay someone to "read" their textbooks!"

Comment:
I couldn't agree with your statement more! To me all this is doing is trying to make the professors feel better about themselves, seeing how much the students read the material and gives them something that they can blame on if the students don't do well in his or her class. When you have teacher and student face to face it makes it a better learning/teaching experience. You can tell on the students face if what you're saying isn't making sense or isn't getting through.

Final Project # 16

Project # 15 Smart Board Group Project

Blog Post # 13

Brian Crosby:



Brian Crosby's speech in Back To The Future was very interesting to me. He seem's like a great teacher who actually cares about his students and wants them to learn. What I loved most was how interactive he was with his class. He wants to show his students that science can be interesting. How he made them blog and create Wiki's for a science class was different, and I enjoyed it. My favorite part I think was when he made the students act like they were the balloon an describe what they thought what was going to happen to them as the ballon, then after the experiment, go back and write how they would have felt after the experiment.

What really made me like Brian Crosby was how he let his student Celeste who has leukemia, still feel like she was a part of his classroom. Instead of just letting her stay home and not meet any of her classmates, Brian put her on Skype and made her feel like she was apart of the classroom. To me that was a very moving and touching idea. Not all teachers would go out of their way, to make all students feel so special.

Paul Anderson:

In Anderson's video Blended learning Cycle, Anderson talks about how he has started Blended Learning in his classroom. Blended Learning is taking mobile, classroom, online learning and putting all three together. For Anderson's Blended Learning Cycle he created an acronym called "Quivers". For Anderson's "Quivers" he has six arrow's inside the quiver and just like the six arrow's he has six parts to his own learning cycle:



QUestion: To start the lesson Anderson asks a question that will grab hold of the class, so that they will be intrigued and want to pay attention.

Investigation: The next step is to start getting the students to ask questions. Help to get them thinking about what they will be learning.

Video: Anderson then show's visual aid to his students so they can see and gain more information about what they will be studying.

Elaboration: Elaboration is when the students actually go and find the answers out to their own investigations.

Review: For review Anderson sits down with each of his students individually and asks questions to see if student actually understands the lesson.

Summary quiz: The last step in Anderson's "Quivers" is the summery quiz. It's a little quiz that his students take online, so that they can review what they know.

I like Anderson's strategy. What I like most, is his "Review". The idea where you pull the student to the side, and make sure that he/she know's what they are talking about and doing, just one on one is a GREAT idea!I will definitely be using that in my classroom!

Progress Report On Final Project # 16

Final Project Progress Report:


Jarrod Roberts, Ciara Deese, Farrah Deese, and I planned what we will be doing in order to complete our project on time. We met Wednesday and filmed some of the our "Mythbusters" clips that will be in our project. We're meeting again this Tuesday and Wednesday, and have planned to have our Project # 16 completed by Wednesday night!

Blog Post # 12

Blog Post # 12: Music In The Classroom!

Part 1)

1. Go to Music to Manage Your Classroom and read the blog post by Brent Vasicek.

2.Write a post on your opinions about what Brent Vasicek had to say. Do you think playing music in the classroom is a good idea or do you think it could hinder the classroom? Rememebr to follow the requirements in Writing A Quality Blog Post

3. Now here comes the FUN part! Follow the rules that Mr. Vasicek mentioned in Music to Manage Your Classroom. He gave a set of times in which to play music in the classroom and what type/genere to play. What I want you to do is to create a playlist for your future classroom following those rules. Now remember this is going to be played inside your classroom. Do NOT pick songs that would be deemed inappropriate for your age group of students or songs that could reflect poorly on you and your school.

Part 2)

Music to Manage Your Classroom:
I love what Mr. Vasicek said in Music to Manage Your Classroom! I fully believe that music can change a persons attitude. Music is a way to help bring you up and also help soothe you.

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent” ― Victor Hugo

As for putting music in the classroom I AM ALL FOR IT! For my future classroom I want it to be welcoming and inviting. A place where my students want to come and learn. A place where they feel safe away from home for a few hours, five days a week. And a great way to wake my students up and to help get them perked up and ready to learn would be a great upbeat song when they come in! Music can do so much for the soul. Why not teach students the effect it can have early, so they can know that music is an art form that can help them in every possible way.

My Playlist:
Before School — "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves
To Start School — "Dynamite" by Tai Cruz
Lunch Transition- "Hey Soul Sister" by Train (Signals the students that it's time to get lunch bags and line up)
Subject Transition/Switch Classrooms- "Firework" by Katy Perry/ "Lean on Me" by Rockapella (Signals that it's time to line up to go to another classroom or switch to another subject)
As Lessons — Classical Music or Instrumental music for Writing & Testing time
End of Day — "Bye Bye Bye" by *NSYNC (Going with Mr.Vasicek's idea. Such a great way to say goodbye!!)

Blog Post # 11

Ms. Cassidy:



Technology in the classroom as been a huge issue and a debate between teachers and parents for a few years now. And Ms. Cassidy overcomes all those obstacles and proves it in her video Little Kids...Big Potential and also proves how she does all this and how it's accomplished in her Skype Interview with one of the classes in EDM 310. I think the video of her students was just adorable. The children are so enthusiastic about their blogs and how they can do their own research with Wiki's. I loved it and I think that Ms. Cassidy is showing her students a skill that they will be able to use the rest of their lives.

I love the fact that her students are already blogging at such a young age. Ms. Cassidy is helping her students to already learn how to get what they want to say across to other people, and how to correctly say it. It's also let's them shine a little bit and show off their work, and let others from all over the world tell them his or her thoughts on their projects. It helps them gain even more confidence in their own work, and be proud of what they did.

One idea that Ms. Cassidy used in her class that I loved was the use of the Wiki! For first graders to do their own research and find their own answers was awesome. For my future classroom, I will for sure be using this technique in my classroom. I love the idea of teaching children at a young age how to correctly look up information. By the time they're in high school and college they will know exactly what to do.

I think some of the problems that I will encounter I think, might be the parents. A lot of parents might not want his or her children on a networking sight. Hopefully in order to win them over, I can also make a classroom video and show the future parents the positive side of blogging in the classroom.

As for the benefits of using this in the classroom I think it'll make the students gain confidence in themselves and their work. They get to show off what they are doing and present it to the world. Technology shouldn't be shunned fromt the classroom. It's apart of what our world is coming to. There's no need to act like it's not there, or will do harm to our students when in fact it is the total opposite and will open way more doors for future students then the doors they have open for them now.