Final Reflection Post

Final Reflection Post

Summary Post C4T #4

Wesley Fryer

Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Comment #1: Speech Tournament Naps, iPod Policies, Laptop Lockdowns, and Student Inspirations

I really enjoyed reading this post, and watching the videos that had been posted to Wesley Fryer's blog.  Its sad to know that students at Longfellow Middle School, were told to never change the wallpaper.  I believe that creativity is very important, and that all students should have their very own wallpaper of their choice.

Wesley used a quote that I really liked. The quote is by Danny Brown:

"Educators are telling our brightest students that they won’t have a voice in the business world when they leave college, so be quiet, just listen to your superiors, and maybe – just maybe – they’ll get on in their chosen profession...Question everything. Settle for nothing. Even the most common sense answers can always be enhanced through questions and ideas."

I explained how this quote is exactly right!.  I feel that it is very important for future educators to read.  As future educators we must question everything and engage in new ideas with our students!

Comment #2: "Be Kind, Do Your Best, and become a Voracious Reader!"

This post was about Dr. Charlene Kohn, a classroom teacher at Wells Elementary School in Wellsm Maine.  She summed up an approach that we should all take to learning and work!  In her class room she posted clear rules about being kind and doing you best.  In her classroom she also a TON of books for her students to read.  I hope one day as a future educator I will be able to have a fun and exciting learning environment for my students, and resources that they can use everyday to better themselves.  "Be Kind, Do Your Best" is a quote that not only students to abide by, but also educators.  We must learn that we should always try our best to make learning fun for our students.  I really enjoyed looking at Wesley Fryer's blog.  It was very detailed and always had a lot of visuals!

Project 16

FINAL PLN

FINAL PLN

http://www.symbaloo.com/

This is a screen shot of my final PLN.  I really enjoyed making my PLN on symbaloo.  I have links to just about everything!  From souths webpage, to USA online, to friends/classroom blogs, to helpful website.  Ihave created a learning tool that is going to help me stay organized in a quick and orderly fashion!  I have learned so much this semester in this class and my PLN is something I will continue to add to through the duration of school.  My PLN is something I will more than likely use after I graduate, and begin teaching.  I think I will possibly even make my students create a PLN of their on with websites that have visited and learned information from.  I think this will not only help them, but will also give their classmates and myself ideas about website that can be viewed to allow us to engage in more learning!

Summary Post for C4K #8,9, 10, 11

C4K 8-11

#8: My C4K #8 was Wellington 4.0.  It was Wellington's class blog, and the class talked about and came up with different spelling strategies.  The class was REALLY CREATIVE! I explained to them that my goal as a future educator is to make learning fun, and told them that I feel like that is exactly what was going on in their classroom...FUN LEARNING! I told them they were doing a great job,and that I look forward to trying to make my classroom environment fun just like theirs! 


#9 My C4K #9 was Miss Byrne 7th grade class.The student I commented on was Nahtanha!! Her post was about remembering those who have fought for our county.  She also spoke about the importance of showing them respect and honoring them. She added the link to "In Flanders Field" onto her blog, and I told her that was a great idea! I explained to her how it allows readers to be able to get more details about what she was referring to! I also told her how I like how she added pictures to her blog! I told her to keep up all the great work!


#10 My C4K #10 was in 3B Millar blog, and the student I blogged was jcana!  The class was to come up with a creative way to remember the planets in order.  Jcana used a picture with a caption to remember the planets.  I told Jcana that I really like her picture!  I also explained to her that it was a great way to learn the name and order of the planets!  I told her that when I was younger we did the same thing to remember the planets!  I told her the picture looked GREAT, and that the aliens in the picture was very funny!


#11 My C4K #11 was in Mrs. Huebner's Class.  The student I blogged was Danielle's.  He recent post talked about a sleep over she was having with a close friend named Haylee.  I told her how I use to love sleepovers when I was her age! She said they would probably watch a movie, and eat popcorn and M&M's!  I told her that popcorn, movies, and M&M's are always a hit at sleep overs!  I told her I hope she and Haylee had a great night, and didn't stay up to late!


Overall, I have really enjoyed commenting on kids blogs. After seeing the response teacher have wrote to Dr. Strange, I really am glad I have taken the time to comment on these kids blogs this semester!  It really does make their day!

Blog Assignment #13

ALEX: ALABAMA LEARNING EXCHANGE

ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange.  I am familiar with ALEX because I have used this website for other classes.  ALEX is also linked on my PLN.  The ALEX website is designed for aspiring teachers and current educators.  It gives you he course of studies for many subjects.  On the website there are different tabs you can click on.  These tabs are: courses of study, web links, lesson plans, search, personal workshop, professional learning, podcast treasury, and ALEXville.  It also gives lessons plans for subjects for teachers to view.  The web links tab gives you different websites you can go to that can be helpful resources for teachers.  There are links on this website that go to podcasts, a personal workspace, and professional learning websites. Teachers are also able to make their own lesson plans with ALEX and other teachers can view them as well. 

I really think that ALEX is a very useful website for educators.  I am glad that in EDM and in my other classes that my teachers are making sure that their students are familiar with the ALEX website.  I will be interested in viewing how other teachers teach the subject I am teaching.  ALEX is also going to be helpful when making sure that my lesson plans follow the Alabama Course of Study.  ALEX is a website I am SURE I will use when I become an educator!

Additional Assignment #5

Tom Johnson's adventures in Pencil Integration: 

First, I would like to say that I really enjoyed John Spencer's posts.  After reading Sketchy Portraits: 8^th Grade Identity and Pencils, I decided that this would be the post I commented on.  I enjoyed this post.  Middle School students are still in the stage of trying to figure out who they are!  Spencer explains how pencils can be described as a variety of things.  And he used this metaphor to describe middle schools students.  Middle School Students are changing who they are and still trying to figure out who they want to be!

In his next post He Just likes the class for the Pencils, was very touching!  He explains how he how he has and builds respect between himself and for his students!  I hope to one day be a teacher just like him!  He seems to be interested in his students and trying to create a fun and interested classroom environment! Don’t get me wrong I believe technology and computers are very important within a classroom, but it takes a great teacher to keep the students entertained and learning!

I feel that maybe Spencer is using pencils in his classroom to help them explore and figure out who they are, and to help build a positive relationship between the teacher and student.

Project #15: "WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE?"

"WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE?"

Blog Assignment #12

Technology in the Classroom -- Watch this video.  In a paragraph explain how you feel about this video.  Write about your views with using technology within the classroom.

A Faculty Response to A Vision of Students Today -- Before watching this video be sure you have watched Dr.Strange previous assigned blog assignment "A Vision of Students Today". Watch this video, it can be very useful to you as a future educator.  In a paragraph or two express your ideas about this video.  Explain whether or not you agree with the teaching ideas that these teachers tell. In your post tell how you plan to keep your students engaged in what you're teaching.

Technology in the Classroom -- I found that this video was very entertaining. A lot of the drawings were funny in their own way.  My favorite part is when the video told us that "CHANGE IS OK!"  This is true, change is okay and technology in the classroom is OKAY!  We as educators must understand that the society we live in today is all about technology.  We must know the importance of it and how to use it.  Technology within classrooms can be very beneficial.  Students can work together and also be learning about technology. Outside of learning and teaching about technology, it is very important that we understand the importance of safety for our students when it comes to technology.

A Faculty Response to A Vision of Students Today -- I really liked this video.  I feel that it can be very helpful to future educators.  After watching the video "A Vision of Students Today" I agreed to a lot of what the students.  After watching "A Faculty Response to a Vision of Students Today"  I realized that their is hope for future educators.  It is our responsibility to encourage students to engage into our classroom lectures.  It is also our responsibility to make learning for our students interesting and entertaining.  The teachers in this video gave excellent ideas on how we as future educators can make this that kind of learning environment for our students.

Progress Report on Final Project

PROGRESS REPORT ON FINAL PROJECT

I am very excited to be working with a larger group for my final project.  We haven't had the opportunity to meet this week, but we are planning on getting together on Tuesday to discuss what exactly our project will be on.  I like the idea of getting actual students involved.  I believe it would be an excellent learning experience for the students and for my group!  We are all brainstorming this weekend about what we think will be a great final project for EDM 310, and then meeting this week to get started on our project!  More updates to come! :)

Form Results from Project #6

Health Questionnaire Summary and Analysis

I want to first say that Google docs is AWESOME!  I can not believe the results I got and how helpful forms was in creating the different graphs for each question!  I did my questionnaire on Health.  I asked questions about age, weight, and eating habits.  A majority of the people who answered my questionnaire were females between the ages of 15-25.  I wasn't shocked when I saw that a majority of the people who filled out the questionnaire ate out anywhere from 1-4 times a week!  Lunch was the most common meal that was normally ate out.  I knew this number would have been high, because most college students are always short on time, or doesn't really know how to cook.  Although, many of us do eat out frequently, those who took my questionnaire still consider themselves to be some-what healthy.  I imagine this is from daily exercise and walking to and from classes.  Many of the students who took my survey exercise anywhere from 3-5 times a week!  They don't consider themselves over-weight, and eat the average 3 meals a day!  one questions I asked was how important to they think the problem of obesity is on a scale of 1-10.  EVERYONE chose anywhere from 7 to 10!  I have to say that I agree with them.  The problem with obesity is very important, and the obesity rates only get higher every day. 


I had a total of 19 people fill out my survey.  I enjoyed making this survey.  All the different ways you can create questions is very helpful and organized on Google forms.  I am certain I will use this forms program when I become an educator!

Summary Post C4T # 3

Aaron Eyler : Synthesizing Education

Comment 1: 

"Do the Mash: Mixing Tools to Create a Custom Cloud-Based Learning Tool."

The first post I commented on was Mr. Eyler's post "Do the Mash: Mixing Tools to Create a Custom Cloud-Based Learning Tool." I really enjoyed reading this post. It was about all the different website that can be used to create a cloud based learning environment. I explained how I was new to a lot of the websites I have been learning about in Dr. Strange's EDM class. I let Mr. Eyler know that his post gave me lots of helpful websites that I will be useful both inside and outside of the classroom. Some of the websites he mentioned that I am familiar with were: Google, You Tube, Flickr, and Google Docs. Many of the websites he listed I were not familiar with. I told him that I was looking forward to viewing some of the listed websites to learn more about technology and what all is offered that can be used to help create cloud based learning tools. I explained to him that I believe that creating this type of learning environment for students will keep students interested in learning what is being taught! I recommend visiting his site and reading this post, because I feel like this post could be extremely useful for future educators.

Comment #2: 

"Technology As the New Math"

The second post of Mr. Eyler's that I read was called "Technology As the New Math." This post was straight forward and to the point. He talked about how many people say they are "good" at some subject and "bad" at others. He told us how now days many people claim to be "not good" at technology, and most of those people haven't even tried to learn about it. He tells us at the end of the post that this has to be stopped. That we need to stop allowing kids to think they aren't "good" at certain subjects and make them work harder to learn about these subjects.

I admitted to having the mentality of "I am not good at technology" when I first enrolled in EDM 310. After learning many things about technology and how it can be useful my thoughts and opinions about technology have changed. I have learned so much about technology and can not wait to one day incorporate technology into my classroom. I agree with Mr. Eyler! We need to fight this! Student must know that they can not assume that they are “bad” at a certain subject or topic until they have actually tried to learn it! It is our job as future educators to put a stop to this kind of thinking!!

Blog Assignment #11

I think using blogs within the classroom is an excellent idea.  They could be extremely useful for the students and the teachers.  In the video a student made a comment about how his mom and sister commented on his blog!  I think this is great.  What an excellent way to get the entire family involved in a students learning network.  Parents will be able to be updated with exactly what their child is learning in the classroom.  Student blogs will also be beneficial for the teacher.  Teachers could assign assignments daily, and can see whether or not the student understands the material taught.  Students will be able to communicate with one another about assignments, projects, and other things when they are not in the classroom.  Students can also comment on peers blogs about what they think has been posted; like grammar mistakes, misspelling, sentence structure etc.  Blogging can also be helpful when students are sick and aren’t in class.  They can follow the class blog and other student’s blog throughout the day to stay up to date with the material they are missing. 

Ms. Cassidy’s class looks like they have learned so much from blogging.  In a way I feel the same!  I have learned so much in EDM 310.  Ms. Cassidy is doing an excellent job in preparing her students for the future.  Technology is growing more and more every day and technology is something that I feel is very important.  The Skype interview between Ms. Cassidy and Dr. Strange was very interesting.  She brought up a lot of good points.  I really enjoyed watching it.  I am very excited about one day using technology in my classroom, and teaching technology to my students so they are equipped with what they need to succeed in the future.

Project 14: Teach Someone Something

C4K #3-7 Summary Post

COMMENTS FOR KIDS #3-7

I really enjoyed communicating with all the kids!  It has been a great experience getting to talk to them, and visit their blogs! Below is a summary of each C4K:

#3: My C4K #3 was room 2 from England.  I got to watch a video they had created in class.  The movie was excellent!! I loved all the artwork that the class created! Room 2 was a really talented group of students! I encouraged them to keep up all the hard work, and continue to post movies and artwork to their blog!!!

#4: My C4K #4 name was Jordy.  The day I commented on her blog was her birthday!  She told me what all she done on her birthday!  I let her know that I was glad she had a great birthday! I let her know that I get really excited about my birthdays as well! She got some good gifts from her family!  Jordy brought her I classmates some Russian Rudge to class! I told her that I have never had it before, but it sounded really good!

#5: The next C4K was a post she wrote about friendship.  I let her know that I enjoyed reading her post about friendships. I agreed with her about her opinion on friendship characteristics. I told her that trust, being able to have fun, and being nice are very important traits in a friend. She comparing friendship and popularity.  I told her that being popular isn’t always important if you do not have good trustworthy friends! She also told me about her best friend Shakira, and how they had a lot in common!  At the end I let her know she was doing a great job on her blog!

#6: Emma was my C4K #6! I really enjoyed her blog.  She started off  giving us her expectations for her blog, and I let her know that all of the things she had listed are very important expectations to have.

She told me about her family, she has a lot of siblings!  Emma seems to be very interested in sports! I told her how I have never really played basketball, but I love playing sand volleyball at the beach!  I let her know her blog was looking great and she needed to keep up all the hard work!

#7: My final C4K #7 was Alba! Alba was a new blogger just like me!  I told her that I I love the set up of her blog, and that she was off to a great start! I explained to her that I just started blogging in August as a requirement for Dr. Strange's class.  I  let her know how much I have learn a lot about blogging and technology in general thanks to Dr. Strange! I wished her lots of luck on her blog! And let her know that if she ever needed any help with her blog to just ask someone; because there is SO much she can learn!

Smart Board Presentation

Blog Post #10

An Open Letter to Educators:

I enjoyed reading this post by Morgan Bayda.  I too am open to changes and learning as much as I can.  Honestly, I find it hard to stay awake in some of my lecture classes.  Actually, in my lecture classes a majority of my teachers go over Power Points or read straight out of the book, and this is boring for me.  I know as a future educator I DO NOT want my students bored with the lecture I am presenting.  This is why I enjoy learning about technology.  If I can make the learning environment fun for my students, and keep their attention, then I know they will be getting something out of my lecture.  I am not saying that technology is the answer to making learning fun, but if you think about it technology is what the society is based around these days. If I can bring technology into my classroom to keep my students interested and involved in class discussion, then I will!

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home:

I enjoyed reading his post. We should focus more so on solving the problem than just focusing on the problem!  We waste so much time worrying about the problem, and finding the solution becomes so minor.  This should be the exact opposite.

Two Questions that can Change Your Life:

Was I better today than I was yesterday?  This question is a question I want to continue to ask myself every day.  I try to always to better every single day. My sentence was developed from my past.  My fifth grade teacher, Marcy Miller made a HUGE impact on my life.  The reason I have chosen education as my major is because of her!  I hope that my sentence will encourage me to do better and continue to work towards accomplishing my goals and ambitions.

MY SENTENCE:

Though creativity, I will have a fun and motivating learning environment for my students so learning for them will be fun and enjoyable.

Additional Assignment #3

Sir Ken Robinson:

Changing Educational Paradigms

I really enjoyed watching this video!  Sir Ken Robinson tells us about his views on education.  Schools cannot be model from what was done in the past.  School systems and technology has changed tremendously, so it is expected that children will become distracted!  I agree with his view on ADHD.  I feel that being on medication for ADHD is not healthy for the child.  Children who are on medication for ADHD seem to be somewhat zombies.  He also spoke about standardized testing, and showed us pictures of how students are manufactured into lines and put into a grade/level they are suppose to be in.  He made very good point.  Not all students learn the same, not all students work better in larger classrooms, and not all student work well in groups.  Why are we so sure that it is okay to put 24+ students in the same classroom for them to learn?  We aren’t sure; this is just how it has been done for as long as some of us can remember! I believe change is good, and I am a firm believe that change in education is much needed!

I agree with a lot that Sir Ken Robinson tells us in his presentation.   I feel like we are being taught the same as we always have been in the College of Education with a few tweets.  These tweets being learning more about technology, and understanding the importance of technology within the classroom.  The only thing I know to do as a future educator is to understand the learning differences of students in my classroom.  It is a learning process that will continue to change.

I liked this presentation.  The drawings were really creative.  If I had to do a presentation like this with others, I would most likely play the role as the designer or narrator!  Let’s just say my artists skills aren’t the best! J

Blog Assignment #9

What I've Learned This Year

Just from viewing this blog, I knew I would enjoy reading Mr. McClung’s post!  A future teacher can learn a lot from this post.  From walking into the classroom to listening to learning educators must know that their job as an educator comes with many responsibilities.  This post really made me realize there is so much for an educator to learn once they get into the classroom.  Every topic Mr. McClung talks about is very important for future teachers to be aware of.  Some of my favorite things he talked about were being flexible!  I am sure no one has ever had the PERFECT lesson.  We must learn that everything is always going to go according to plan.  Another one of my favorite things talked about was being reasonable.  Teachers do have expectations for their students, and sometimes these expectations are not met.  I loved when Mr. McClung said “Out job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again.”  This is SO TRUE!  Mr. McClung also speaks about technology in his post.  I agree with this, and can honestly say EDM 310 scared the heck out of me the first week!  I have learned many things since then, and can honestly say that technology is extremely helpful when it comes to education.  He is right, taking your time to learn about technology and not giving up so easily is only going to benefit yourself in the long run!  I really enjoyed Mr. McClung’s post and thank him for all the points he has shared with everyone!

http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/ seems like it will be a very helpful blog.  I added it to my PLN!

interview!!!

Blog Assignment #8

This Is How We Dream

Richard Miller talks about fundamental change and incremental change in this video. He tells us how we have the ability to communicate globally and instantly. Richard Miller loved books and dreamed about having a career in working with books. He goes on to explain how the fundamental and incremental change process only takes a few seconds.


It is amazing how our learning lifestyles have changed. Now days we don’t just use pencil and paper for writing. We have computers that allow us to create word documents that express what we are trying to say. Mr. Millers shows us how to make word documents into web documents and showed us how a print document can be made into a web document.


Mr. Miller tells us how the digital environment has been found and how new material can be change right before our eyes. For example, the Internet, something that has an ongoing change can be changed instantly on the Internet. This is not true for something that has been printed in a book. Once a book is printed no changes can be made.


This video was very informative. It really made me think about how important technology is today. Before you know it, everything will be based on the Internet and through technology. Richard Miller did and excellent job in these videos.

Chipper Series

I liked this video. It is very entertaining, and I loved how Jamie Lynn kept going back to Dr. Strange to update him on how she was doing. As a student we must understand too not procrastinate. Procrastination can affect many things for a student. We must remember what is important and stick to trying our best to accomplish things we want to accomplish no matter how tough it gets!

EDM 310 for DUMMIES!

Can I get a copy of this book? HAHA! I loved it! I will admit, my first couple of weeks in this class was tough! I thought I was never going to get the hang of all the things we do in this class. With the help of Jamie Lynn, Anthony, Dr. Strange and my classmates, EDM has seemed to become easier for me. I enjoy learning new things about technology every week. Jamie Lynn and her partner did an excellent job on this video!

Critiques of Smartboards

After reading both of these arguments, I still believe Smartboards are good for a classroom. At Dawes Intermediate, which is a 3-5 grade school that I have had the opportunity of helping out at, there are smartboards in every classroom. I know what you are thinking, that’s a lot of money, but I feel like smartboards keep the students interest and attention. My cousin who is in the 4th grade has a smartboard in his class, and one of the first things he told me about the classroom was about the smartboard. To me a smartboard is completely different than a computer. Also, I believe the smartboard get the students more involved to enhance their learning. There are many pro’s and con’s of having a smartboard in your classroom, for me more pro’s. The website http://www.teacherslovesmartboards.com/art/ that argues the opposite side of having smartboards.

Project #9b: TimeToast Time Line

History of Cell Phones!

Project #11: Short Movie

Project #10: PLN Progress Report

Symbaloo

My Personal Learning Network progress is going great so far. I have added several people and websites that have been useful for my journey through EDM 310.  I add the EDM Class Blog so that I can stay up to date with new post that Dr. Strange post onto the blog.  I also added Jamie Lynn and Anthony’s blog so I can reference their blog and learn from it.  The finally person added to my blog was Sterling Strom.  She is one of my good friends in our EDM class.  When we have questions, and lab is not open we always communicate back and forth to help each other out.  That is one thing I have learned in this class.  Your classmates can be very helpful.  Even though we aren’t required t come to lab I have also learn that coming to lab helps me learn more due to Anthony and Jamie Lynn’s help. 

I also added the ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange).  This website has been extremely helpful in my other classes.  It shows many examples of how to things that I am learning in my classes.  I feel this is website is not just useful now, but will be useful when I become an educator.  The finally thing added to my PLN was At the Teacher’s Desk, this blog has and will continue to help me with my EDM projects.

So far I have really enjoyed using Symbaloo for my PLN.  I am excited about continuing to add websites that will be useful for me, not only as a student and learner, but also as an educator.

Additional Assignment #2

1. What do you think? If learners are motivated, can they teach themselves?
I agree with this. If a learner is motivated about learning then it is very possible for them to teach themselves. Those who WANT to learn WILL!


2. If those motivated learners are kids, can they teach themselves?
I still believe that no matter what age, those who want to learn motivate themselves enough to teach themselves. Granted, not everything is something a child can teach themselves, but that child can begin to learn on their own and ask questions to what they do not understand.


3. What conditions are necessary for kids to teach themselves? For anyone to teach him or herself?
I strongly believe that a learning environment is very important when someone begins to teach themselves. Outside of a learning environment, I believe a student should have confidence in themselves.


4. What role do computers and internet access play in the process?
I think computer play an important role in teaching. I think that computer and internet usage should be monitor at all times when a child is using it. Technology can enhance a students learning in my opinion.


5. What role does motivation, a desire to learn?
To me motivation and desire go hand and hand when it comes to learning. Students have to have a desire to learn in order to motivate them to learn.


6. What roles do a problem, a question or multiple problems or questions play in the process?
I’ve always been told we learn from our mistakes. When we have problems we can’t just give up. We have to find a way to fix these problems. Questions are important in a classroom. Students ask questions because they do not understand something. Something they care to understand. It is the educator’s responsibility to answer their questions, and not just push them aside


7. How do you motivate someone to learn?
I motivate someone to learn by giving encouragement and positive feedback. Letting a student know the importance what they are doing, and why they are learning it is very important.


8. How are you motivated to learn?
I am motivated to learn also by encouragement. Encouragement makes me feel like I am going something good. I also have motivation because I know that teaching is something I am passionate about.


9. Can anyone who is not motivated to learn?
If you make them! I am kidding! Not all students care to learn; therefore they are never motivated when it comes to learning. All we can do as educators is try and help them the best we can when it comes to learning


10. Do you teach yourself? When? Why?
Yes! I do teach myself. When I do not understand something I try my best to teach myself before going to ask for help. Teaching myself doesn’t just apply to school work. I teach myself outside the classroom also. This is a source of accomplishment for me!


11. What role does a teacher (either answer generally or use a specific example) play in your learning?
Teachers are motivators for students. If a teacher can make learning fun then the student is motivated to learn. For example, my fifth grade year was by far the great year growing up. This is because of my teacher, who went above and beyond to make learning fun. She is who has inspired me to pursue a career in teaching.


12. What is the most important idea, question or emotional response you take away with you as a result of watching this video?
It is hard to believe that some children do not have the opportunity to go sit down in a classroom and learn. Some children only have the opportunity to learn by teaching themselves, and this to me is so inspiring.


13. What other questions or issues are raised by this video that should be considered and discussed by aspiring teachers?
I believe every educator should watch this video. This video inspires me as a future educator to be motivational when it comes to teaching!

Blog Assignment #7

What a tearjerker! Randy Pausch’s video was spectacular!  He really made me start to appreciate life more than I ever did!  In the beginning of the video, Randy tells us about his medical background.  He found out he had ten tumors in his liver, and that the doctors gave him three to six months of good health left.  Despite what Randy has had to go through he still sees the positive side of things.    He knows he cannot change anything that has came his way, but instead knows he just has to learn how to deal with it.  He tells us about his childhood, and how he was always smiling when he was younger.  Growing up, you can tell that Randy has always enjoyed life and appreciated it no matter what circumstance were thrown at him.  Randy told us about all the childhood dreams he had for himself.  He went into great detail about them.  One of these dreams was to play in the NFL.  On his first day of football practice his coach did not bring any footballs to practice.  He said he learned the fundamentals of the game, and soon realized how important these fundamentals were.  He said,  "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."  I agree with this comment.  In life, you cannot always get what you want. 

Another one of Randy’s dreams was getting to meet Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk was the most brilliant person on the ship, but he was the leader on it.  This made Randy realize yet another important life lesson about leadership.  In life leadership can be extremely important, and being intelligent was not what always mattered.  This dream that eventually came true lead Randy onto having bigger dreams.  Later, he became a day-a-week consultant for Imagineering for Disney.  The dream of his lasted for an entire ten year.  Randy consulted many things like the Disney Quest and the Virtual Jungle Cruise.  This dream brought about another question for him.  How could he enable the childhood dreams for other children around the world?  These questions lead him to becoming a professor.

Randy said that becoming a professor was a great place to begin to enable childhood dreams.  He listened to his students’ ambitions and dreams.  One of his students named Tommy has had the childhood dream of working on the next Star Wars Film. Tommy dream came true, and he had the opportunity to work on all three of the Star Wars Films.  Randy then began to create a course called Building Virtual Worlds.  This course was made up f fifty students from all the different departments of the university he worked at.  These fifty students were put into groups of four, and began working on all kinds of different projects like putting on productions in front of audiences.  This course soon became a hit at the university, and many people within the departments wanted to be involved with this course.  This course created a Dream Fulfillment Factory; which was yet another big hit for Randy and a guy named Don Martin.  In this, he explained how the success probably came from having two totally different people work together to achieve something so brilliant.   Randy taught this course for over ten years.  The university became a great place that helped many students fulfill their dreams.  You could really tell that this was something Randy really loved doing.  I imagine he enjoyed it so much because he got to see the students grow and achieve ambitions that they enjoy achieving, much like he did when he was a child. 

At the end of the video, Randy tell us about the lessons learn from all of these experiments.  He lets us know that where there is a will there’s a way.  You as an individual can achieve dreams and ambitions that you have.  Parents, teachers, and mentors play a huge role in helping children’s dreams come true, we can just never give up.  I am so happy this was one of our blog post assignments, this video was very inspiring, and I think Randy Pausch for sharing this with us.  This video was amazing, and really made me realize how important I can be in helping young children in believing in themselves to achieve their dreams.  Not only does this apply to children, but it also applies to myself.  I know that sometimes things get tough, but I must remember to stay thankful and appreciate what I have, and most importantly to never give up!

 

Project #9a: TimeToast Project

Summary Post C4T #2

My second teacher I have been following is Michael Kaechele from Michigan, and he is a concrete artist technology teacher. The first post I read was called Sustained Silent Reading On-line. He talked about how many teachers use the term GRAB (Go Read a Book), for sustained silent reading in their classroom. Michael brought up a good point in his post, why do students have to grab a book or bring a book to class for sustained silent reading? Michael tired letting is class go online and read on the computer. His rules for on-line reading are: no games, music, or videos.


I love this idea of you allowing students' to read online. Growing up I remember always having to read books my teachers selected for me. Most of the books I did not enjoy at all. I like how Michael gave his class the opportunity to read something on the internet that interest them. Not only did he give them options to what they read, but he also allowed them to become familiar with the internet. This keeps the students online which is good because learning how to use technology is very important for students today. I believe this on-line reading is an excellent idea, and is something that many other teachers should try.


The second post I read by Michael was called Art Prize. He and his family visited the second annual Art Prize; which is a competition displayed all over Grand Rapids. He showed us many different art pieces from the competition. They found an exhibit of hundreds of ceramic pieces that look like shells on a wood floor, and his son and daughter went straight to playing with these pieces. His son started separating them by his favorite colors, and his daughter spelled out her name. This brought to Michael’s attention that he never had to tell his kids to “go play”, they automatically started doing learning on their own. This idea, is how Michael feels learning in the classroom should be for children.

This post really made me start to think. Why should we force students to learn? Shouldn’t learning be something they enjoy doing, something they do they way they want to and at the pace they feel comfortable? I have learned in this class that not every student learns the same as other students. In his post Michael said, "We don't need to teach students to be creative artists. We need to get out of the way and let them be artists!" This is exactly right. Children can teach us! They can show us the ways they like to learn. Every student is different, and has his or her own learning pace. Michael’s posts were terrific! He gave me many ideas as a future educator. I recommend checking out his blog if you have time, http://concretekax.blogspot.com/