Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
Mr. McLeod made great points in this post about the dangers of technology with children. It is very sad how the same thing that can be used to help children perform better academically (technology) can be used for other non-childlike purposes. Even though the web, social networking and anything else dealing with the internet in technology can be used out of context, it also has its advantages, especially when it comes to improving a child academically. Due to this very reason is why it is so very important for us as future educators to guide our students and to teach them the correct way to use technology.

The iSchool Initiative
Travis Allen really caught my attention with this video. I have always said that technology changes everyday but I would have never thought of iSchool. There was literally an app for every subject. Not only were there apps for every subject, but also an app for simply taking notes for the student and taking attendance for the teacher!
The iSchool will give the student a chance to save his/her money. With every necessity of school in the palm of your hand, there would not be a need to buy expensive supplies such as a graphing calculator, books, globes, etc. The part of the video that really caught me by surprise, was the expenses that would be saved purchasing an iSchool. A student can save up to $600 and spend $150 on the iSchool. You would think the iSchool would be very expensive with all of its features, but surprisingly not. The iSchool has my vote!

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
I was in complete amazement as I watched this video! I have never seen anything like this before! This video was absolutely breath taking and beautiful. How amazing is it that none of those people were in the same room, yet they all created such an awesome sound? "Wow!" was the first word that came to my mind. Once again, this video shows how technology can be used in so many different aspects.

Teaching in the 21st Century
In my opinion, what it means to teach to Kevin Robert is for students to ACTUALLY learn instead of using Google or Facebook for everything. True enough, those tools are very helpful but I have to agree with Kevin; learning is more than just reciting the information that is thrown to you. The information has to be embedded in you. There are certain lessons that I remember from Kindergarten and the reason for that is because my teacher instilled the lesson in my class. Of course we did not have all of the technological resources that are available now when I was in Kindergarten (or even middle school), but my point is that she taught us. There is a huge difference from teaching information versus throwing information. When a teacher teaches his/her class, they learn; when a teacher just gives information to the class, it is recited, not learned. That student has not gained anything from that "lesson". As a future educator, this video has shown me to actually teach (which I already knew) instead of just "giving" information out. My students will be depending on me to teach them and it is my job to make sure I do it correctly.

Reading Rockets
After doing some researching on this site, I absolutely adored the "Aesop's Quest" app. Since my heart is on teaching second grade, this app starts at the second grade level, which is awesome. This particular app allows students to remember certain parts of a story in order to complete the level that they are working on. At the end of the story, the student is awarded puzzle pieces. Once the student achieves this goal in the lesson, the next story begins and the student does the activity all over again. This app will be very beneficial for my class. I can easily put my class into groups and have a story assigned to each group. This would be so much fun!
The next app that I think would be great in my classroom, is the "Professor Garfield Fact or Opinion". Garfield has always made me laugh and I believe this would really catch my students attention. The Garfield app focuses on differentiating between facts and opinions. If a student answers a question on the app with a opinion instead of a fact, Garfield explains the difference and the child continues with the game.

Blog Post #4

The Benefits of Pod-casting in the Classroom
Pod-casting is an effective way to communicate with children outside of the old fashioned teaching in the classroom. With pod-casting, students can work together in groups or even individually. Podcast focuses on Bloom's Taxonomy which is evaluation, synthesis, analysis, application, understanding, and knowledge. This new effective way of learning gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their higher thinking skills in a fun, creative way. Since podcast involves videos, this allows students to visually show what it is that he/she has learned. Instead of explaining word for word, this allow students to have a visual aid in explaining their project or assignment. Even though pod-casting is great for students, it is also beneficial for parents as well. Due to the audio clip that podcast offers, this gives parents the opportunity listen to what has been taught to their child/children.

Judy Scharf What is a Podcast?
Ms. Scharf first explains what the term "podcast" means. She explains that it is between an ipod and a broadcast, making it a radio-style talk show. Ms. Scharf gives a few tips for teachers in succeeding with pod-casting with students. First, she mentions to give students a choice of topics. Children love to try new things on their own, so I completely agree with this tip. Next, is to allow other people (such as the principal, department of chairman, etc.) to come in and watch the presentations. Children enjoy having an audience, especially when it is something that they have really worked hard on.

Langwitches 1st Graders Create Own Read Along Blog

This particular blog shows how exciting pod-casting is to children. They were excited about recording their voices and took real interest in editing their podcast, also. As the lesson continued with using the podcast, the students became more and more comfortable. Their level of confidence increased, which is so very important. I believe that it is very important for a child to be confident in everything they do, especially in school. When your confidence is up, you can conquer more, especially when dealing with challenging situations.

My Sentence

Blog Post #3

Technology in Special Education
At the beginning of the this video, I liked how the old method of teaching was put in black and white, along with the cricket noise. Compared to the new methods of teaching with technology, the old teaching methods are history. Technology is growing more and more not only everyday but even in the same day. Students need something that is going to catch and keep their attention while learning. Near the beginning of the video there was a sign that read, "With out technology life can be difficult for teachers and students". That is so true. Technology not only makes it easier for students to learn, but also easier for teachers to teach it.
Children are just so unique to me. I loved how the student, Chris, was able to communicate with his teacher with his letters and with his computer. He was so excited. What if there were no computers for Chris to use to communicate? Or any other type of high tech source for our special students to learn with? When a child does not understand what the teacher is teaching, sometimes that child becomes agitated and discouraged. When the teacher gives his/her all in making the lesson interesting and fun, it makes it so much better for the student and teacher to connect. How Chris and the other students on the video communicated using their computers is why it is very important to keep up with the rapid growing technology of this world in education.

How The I-Pad Works With Academics for Autism


Braden was amazing with his I-Pad. He really understood how to work it and was doing an awesome job with his lessons his Dad was giving him. Not only was it fun for him, but also educational. Anything that makes noise will definitely catch a child's attention! I stated back in my previous blog of how good it is for children to have so much fun learning that they do not even realize that they are learning. Braden was doing a wonderful job comprehending everything on the I-Pad and all of his answers were right. Children with autism are so unique and precious and they too deserve a fun way of learning, also. I would have never imagined that an I-Pad could be so amazing helping children that have autism.
The app that I found that I believe would be helpful for my classroom is the English Language Arts. English is my favorite subject, and this app will help my students master English at all levels. From learning how to read, studying classic literature, and grammar skills.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count


One word describes this video; WOW! I knew that there were constant uploads in the social media, but I never would have thought that they were changing that rapidly in just a few seconds! This video really showed me just how much there will be to teach my class. Not to mention how much I will have to know in order to teach them. Activities that my students will do in my classroom have not even been invented yet. That is something to really think about. The technology that is not even here yet will have to be taught by us, the upcoming new teachers.

A Vision of Students Today


In this video, I loved the creativity of how the students did not say a word, but still made their points clear. One young lady held up a sign saying that there were 115 students in her class. How is she suppose to get the help that is needed with 114 other students? It is impossible for the professor to go around and assist each student that has questions or concerns. In my opinion, there has to be a connection with the student and teacher in order for the student to achieve his/her best in that particular class. True enough, a university will not spoon feed you all the information that you need, but everyone still needs a little help. Communication is the key in every relationship, even between a teacher and a student.
At the end of the video, one other student held up her sign saying that she did not create the problems of today and another student finished that sentence with her sign stating that they have become her problem. It is amazing how problems and issues that we did not create are now on us. That is why it is so important for us, especially as educators, to do what we can the best way possible. Everything we do falls back on the younger generation. Let us make sure we are doing everything we can for them.

C4T #1 With Ms. Gret Sandler

In my C4T assignment, I was assigned to Ms. Sandler and the first blog that I commented on was titled "Finding My Voice". As I began and continued to read her blog, I found that I too had the same issue with trying to figure out how to say or write what it is that I am feeling. In this particular blog of Ms. Sandler's, she is explaining how at one point she could never find the right words at the right time. She goes on and explains how she would have all of these words swimming around in her head, but for some reason she could not find the correct way to say it. We may know this to be called writer's block.
The more Ms. Sandler got into her teaching and technology, she learned about blogging. Once she started blogging, she said everything started coming out! She did not know exactly where these words were coming from, she was just ecstatic that they were finally coming out! It was nice reading Ms. Sandler's blog.
I responded by saying how awesome it was that she was able to rekindle her passion of writing. For I love to write, so I know how stuck she felt when she could not come up with something. I continued on with saying how new I am with blogging and that I hope to experience the amazement that comes with it. It is amazing to see/read the obstacles that people have overcome in reaching for their success.

The second blog that I commented on from Ms. Sandler was titled "Kids Motivating Other Kids to Blog!". I thought this blog of her students learning how to blog was precious. Ms. Sandler was able to post some of the comments from her students, and as I was reading their comments, you could hear the excitement coming from their voices. Ms. Sandler mentioned how of a treat is was for her to watch and listen to her students learn and teach each other at the same time. I fully agree with her. Seeing a child learn something new and seeing the excitement that comes after it is definitely heart warming. I mentioned in my summary that it sound as if they really enjoyed themselves, and that blogging is a wonderful way for them to receive positive feedback from their teacher as well as their peers.

Angelic Angela

Blog Post #2

Did You Know?
 I found this video very interesting and knowledgeable. I had no clue that India was so far ahead of us! I knew that the U.S. was a little far back in education, but I did not know it was that bad. The facts that were brought out in the video really woke me up on some things. For instance, it is embarrassing  for only the highest I.Q.'s in India, which is 25%, to  outnumber the ENTIRE population in the United States. If anything, this video really made me think about just how important my role as a teacher is. There is so much to absorb in this fast developing world and we as future educators need to make sure that we are prepared in handling teaching the correct information that our students need to know.
 Every minute, technology is changing. There are always new things to be taught and learned. For example, I had no idea that 1,097,220 videos were watched on YouTube in one minute,or that 1,393,519 searches were made on Google every minute. If YouTube, Google, and all the other websites receive that much action, imagine how it will be when we step into our classrooms to teach. There is a lot to take into consideration at this day and age when becoming an educator. I may not, nor will I ever have the answers to EVERYTHING, but I will gain as much knowledge as I possibly can for my students.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
This video had a good moral to it and yet entertaining. The message of the video makes you think. Even though a whole lot in the world has changed, the one thing that is the most important which is education has not. On the other hand, the way that a teacher teaches has. Technology is changing everyday and as an educator, the teacher should know how to teach; not just getting in front of a classroom and talking all day, but making it interesting and getting the children involved.
 One hundred years ago, there were no high tech computers or smart boards or anything of that nature, so the teacher had to teach with what he/she had that was appropriate for that time. Now, there are numerous of ways to teach the classroom. As technology changes in school, so should the way of teaching.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
 This video was very enjoyable. Mr. Robinson made some very good points of how schools do basically ignore the arts. Every subject is very important so that means each subject needs to be treated importantly. Each child may not like the same subjects as other children; there will be children who find English more interesting than Math, others find Math more interesting than English and the list goes on. By each child not liking the exact same thing, brings me to say that each child has his/her strengths and weaknesses in different subjects.
 One of many good points that Mr. Robinson made was that educators are suppose to prepare children for the future. The teacher does not know how the world will be or look like in five years, but imagine that the teacher has to prepare this younger generation for the many years that are ahead of us. That is a major responsibility on the teacher's hands. Bringing out the creativity in students is also apart of the many duties the teacher has to do. For how a child does his/her work or how they participate in the classroom starts with their creativity. One of the many interesting statements that Mr. Robinson said was that if "you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original", and that is so true. Some children are afraid to make mistakes because of how harsh some adults make it seem. Mistakes are going to be made because that is the way a person learns.
 I love how at the end of Mr. Robinson's lecture he told the story of Jillian Lynn. That was a perfect example of how each child is different and how everyone has a special, unique gift. Teachers need to keep that in mind. Just because a child may not learn or cooperate like another child, does not mean that they are less of anybody. Each child is very unique in his/her own way and Jillian Lynn is proof of that fact.

 A Vision for 21st Century Learning
 Just imagining that our world is changing every minute is amazing. How technology was a few years ago compared to now is completely different. The main argument that caught my attention in this video was the old way of learning versus the new way of learning. With technology being so wide spread more now than what it has ever been, it gives students an opportunity to learn at a faster paste. The new technology that's available now for learning should make it so much fun that the students will not even realize that they are learning.

 Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smart
What I enjoyed the most of this video was how Ms. Davis was teaching her students to learn. She made it possible to guide them into teaching themselves. I agree completely with what she said about how sometimes paper and pencil is not enough; how some, if not all students need more. When your sources are limited to how you can learn, it creates a challenge for some students.
 I liked what Ms. Davis refers to herself as; a "teacherprenuer". She mentioned that instead of giving her students a vocabulary list, she gives them the word and they have to look up the definition their selves. I love that. The only way anybody is going to learn is if they do their own work. I enjoyed watching her methods and I hope that I can apply them in my own classroom one day.