Blog Post 10

         This week we watched a video called Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, by Randy Pausch. Prof. Pausch brought tears to my eyes in his last lecture, where he talked about achieving your childhood dreams. Prof. Pausch had ten tumors in his liver, and on this lecture date had two more months to live. This lecture was not one that was looking for pity, but to show people that anything is possible. Prof. Pausch was able to make all his childhood dreams come true, because of hard work and the determination to never give up. He talked a lot about brick walls and I learned the reason why they were important. Brick walls are put in front of people to make you prove how badly you want something. The brick walls separate those people who are serious and show dedication and those people who do not. I also learned about teaching and learning from Prof. Pausch.

          One thing about teaching is that you should never limit your students. If you have students that exceed your expectations, you should encourage them, but also let them know that they could do better. I also learned that the best gift an educator can give is the gift of making your students self-reflective. A student that can point out and criticize their own flaws is one that has many more roads open to them in the future.

          Prof. Pausch also taught about learning to learn. He talked about how teachers should get a feedback loop, this lets the teacher and the students learn about the class and themselves, if they are willing to listen. He said that people will tell you what you need to hear, but the hard part is listening, learning, and not making up excuses. As a future teacher, I need to cherish what people are telling me, and not take it offensively. One statement that really stood out to me, was when Prof. Pausch said that you should be happy when someone criticizes you, because it means they care. However, if no one is criticizing you, that means they have given up on you. This statement is very eye opening and made me think twice.

          As a future educator, my job will not only be to teach, but also to learn. Prof. Pausch taught me many things in this video, which I will not soon forget. He taught me to focus on others and not on yourself; he taught me to be good at something, because it is what makes you valuable; and he taught me to find the best in everyone, no matter how long it takes. Life is too short not to teach, and learn from the experiences around you!

Project 14, Lesson Plan #2

Blog Post 9

Back to the Future
By Linda Check and Meagan Freeman

         In the first video we watched, Back to the Future, we met Mr. Brian Crosby. Brian Crosby is a 4th-6th grade teacher at Agnes Risley Elementary School in Nevada. The video begins when Crosby tells the audience that 90% of his students are second language learners in poverty level homes. He also explained how less than half the class knew what city, country, and state they lived in. This shows how little his students are exposed to, both in school and in life itself. Crosby opens up a whole new world to his class, though. Oh, he makes sure to cover the state standards, but he takes it a step further by not only teaching the material, but also letting his students teach, invent, and witness the class material.

         Crosby’s class has a one-on-one laptop/student ratio, which the students use to make individual blogs, Skype with students all over the world, and conduct additional research of the topics gone over in class. All of us wish to have an opportunity like this in our future classroom. These students, who live in poverty, are able to teach lessons to kids in New Zealand, because their teacher encourages and gives them the opportunity to do so. This video showed us that you cannot judge a student’s ability to learn by where they come from. We all agree that Brian Crosby is an excellent educator and his classroom has no limits! We learned how to become more efficient teachers, thanks to this video!

Blended Learning Cycle
By Linda Check and Meagan Freeman

          In the second video,Blended Learning Cycle, Paul Andersen explains blended learning. He tells us that blended learning is taking compelling parts of online, classroom, and mobile learning and blending them all together in the classroom. This comes together with the learning cycle, which has “five E’s”. They include starting with an Engaging question, then students are able to Explore, then the teacher Explains the phenomenon, the class Expands upon the question, and last the class Evaluates what happened. The learning cycle helps present material and ensure it is learned. Putting those two together creates the Blended Learning Cycle. Paul gave us an acronym to remember this, “quivers”. His blended learning cycle contains six parts.

1. Question- Something to really get the students attention.
2. Investigation/Inquiry- experiment and use inquiry learning.
3. Video- use learning through video instead of just classroom lecture.
4. Elaboration- give your students reasoning/diagrams.
5. Review- meet students individually and check their understanding.
6. Summary Quiz- students will take a quiz on the lesson.

After the students have a few “quivers” learning cycles, the students will have a unit test to show what they know. Paul explains this as a type of mastery learning.

         We both agree that blended learning should be used in the classroom. Blended learning helps students become more engaged and retain the material easier than other types of lessons. Paul did a great job of explaining blended learning piece by piece. We agree that starting lessons with an engaging question not only draws students in, but helps get them thinking. Letting students explore is important. It gives them freedom and a chance to learn by his or herself. The acronym Paul uses is a creative way to remember the six parts to his blended learning cycle, which we agree is a great cycle. We love the idea of the individual reviews. It is crucial for each student to comprehend the lesson for it to be successful. This video was very informative!

C4T #2

The purpose of the English major

         For this C4T I was assigned Mary Worrell’s to the blog See Mary Teach. Ms. Worrell is an American newspaper reporter-turned-teacher living in The Netherlands. The first blog post I read was one titled The purpose of the English major, which had a link to The Decline and Fall of the English Major and, that is what Ms. Worrell’s blog post was about. Ms. Worrell said the article made he think about her job as a teacher of English and, more specifically, a teacher of thinking and communicating.

         The Decline and Fall of the English Major is an article about how the humanities have fallen into hard times. Parents worry when their children want to become an English major, because “what is an English major good for?” The article also tells of how students can assemble strings of jargon, but they cannot write clearly, simply, with attention and openness to their own thoughts and emotions and the world around them. It says that writing is a fundamental principle of the humanities, but it does not get credit where it is due.

My comment on the blog post:

         Hello! My name is Linda Check and I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM310. Reading the article you linked with your blog post, made me stop and think a moment. As a future educator, I hope to instill the knowledge in my students that literature and writing are powerful tools for life. I have seen parents shake their heads when my friends have told them they want to be English majors, but what the parents do not realize is that their children will change lives. As a bookworm, I have had pieces of literature open my eyes and change my view on many different topics. The gift that humanities bring to people is “clear thinking, clear writing, and a lifelong engagement with literature.” I agree with this statement and hope that more people can see just how important the humanities are. If interested, my blog page is http://checklindaedm310.blogspot.com/, and I would love for you to take a look!

When boundaries don’t protect

         The second blog post I read on See Mary Teach, was titled When boundaries don’t protect. This was a very enlightening blog post that Ms. Worrell wrote about the boundaries that teachers draw between their students and themselves. She said that at her first teaching job she did not let her students see her human side. She said that people told her to not make friends with the students, suspect all students being friendly, because they were just trying to take advantage of her, and to even wear high heels, because she was shorter than some students were. She said she was guarded and she could tell students knew that she was not being honest with them. Ms. Worrell said as a result, she never connected with the students.

         Now, however, she is being herself in the classrooms. She is a funny-weirdo that has a deeper connection with he students, than ever before. She said, “I’ve revealed my human side in an appropriate way without compromising my professionalism and I am a better teacher – and person – because of it.”

My comment on the blog post:

         Hello! I have always been told that I am a pushover. People joke that when I finally get into a classroom, my students will run the class, not me. I have a fear that there is some truth in this, so during my classroom observations I try to be guarded with my true personality around the students. I know there is a boundary that you have to create when you are a teacher and I am scared to death of crossing that boundary. As you said, though, I think the best teachers are ones that show their human side to the students, but in an appropriate way.

Project #9

Blog Post 8

View2Do
By Linda Check

         When I graduate, I plan to teach Special Education. Through EDM310, I have learned of many valuable resources that I intend to use when I get to my classroom. This week, though, we were instructed to find a 21st century learning and communicating tool not covered in class. I found Do2Learn, and in this website I discovered an evidence-based visual learning support tool called View2Do.

         First, Do2Learn is a website that is phenomenal for Special Education teachers! It provides thousands of free pages with social skills and behavioral regulation activities. It also has songs and games, communication cards, and academic material that teachers could access easily and use in the classroom. In addition, this website has an endless amount of information on the different types of disabilities and strategies on how to help a child learn to their fullest potential. Do2Learn is an awesome resource for both teachers and parents.

         Now for the learning tool I chose, View2Do. View2Do is an online program that lets teachers and parents create customized teaching aids for visual learners. The program can be accessed on any Macs, PCs, IPad, Android Tablets, and Cell Phones. It allows teacher and parents to create and edit individualized schedules, visual supports, graphic organizers, homework assignments, and to do list for each student on an easy drag-and-drop template.

         This program, also, allows students with special needs to receive constant visual support when doing schoolwork at home, immediate feedback on their work, and allows teachers to evaluate their student’s progress with real-time interactions and offer help when needed. Learning does not end when school is over and View2Do makes sure the students have the support needed at home to succeed.

         I could use View2Do to enhance my classroom for those students with learning and communication differences in many different ways. One way I would apply View2Do, is by creating a template with the class routine, so the students know what to expect each day. Another way this program will help improve my classroom, is by allowing me to use View2Do’s Image Library to create a folder that permits the students, who cannot speak, to choose an image that expresses what it is they need/want. Lastly, the program will allow me to organize, print, and save files I find useful for the class. Having all the files I need on View2Do will save me valuable class time and paper, because I can share lesson worksheets with the students via their View2Do account.

         I expect great outcomes will result in the use of View2Do. I expect homework to help the student, rather than add stress to the student, because they will be able to receive help whenever they need it. I expect the students will be more at ease in school, because they will always know what to expect next. Finally, I expect those students with no voice to find their voice, thanks to View2Do!

         After looking through many websites and talking to several Special Education teachers, I decided that View2Do had something for everyone, and that is why I chose this learning and communication tool. Overall, it is user friendly, it allows parents and teachers to work together to find what works best for a particular student, it has big, colorful pictures that make it engaging for the student, and helps the students with special needs reach their full potential. Being a future Special Education teacher, this 21st century technology is one that I will definitely put to use in my classroom!

Here is a short video that shows iPads giving students with autism a voice by using different apps that allow the child to select pictures, just like View2Do allows students to do.
iPad class gives voice to kids with autism


GoTalk
by Meagan Freeman

         I will be teaching Special Education after I graduate, so I thought about what types of technology my students would work best with. . I used Symbaloo to begin searching for the type of technology that I felt would be most beneficial in my classroom. I found a website called Fun and Function which an endless amount of categories for special needs. I found an AAC device called “GoTalk 9+”. AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This device enables people to communicate. The GoTalk is shaped like an iPad, except you can slide a picture board into it. The GoTalk comes with 5 different picture boards, including 12 pictures on each board. The GoTalk has 5 levels, so each level correlates with 1-5 of the soundboards. There are 3 core messages which stay the same no matter which level you are on. Each picture can have a phrase recorded up to 10 seconds long. For example: the phrase “I am hungry, may I have a snack please?” may be played when the picture of grapes is pressed. A helper will decide what phrases will be most useful in the GoTalk user’s daily activities. The recordings can be easily changed. The GoTalk comes with a handle, storage compartment for each picture board, and volume level. Here is a link to the website. It includes a desbription of the product and a video tutorial:GoTalk.

         I would use this in my classroom because it will give my students who can’t speak, an opportunity to have a voice. The GoTalk will greatly help students with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Speech Disorder, and children who are just plain stubborn.. Many times I have seen children left out of activities, or not have a choice just because they are non-verbal. People who are non verbal still have an opinion and know what they want. The GoTalk lets them express their thoughts and feelings in a way they cannot do on their own. It not only helps children express themselves, but it also motivates them to try and speak. Also, touching the pictures helps increase fine motor skills. I would use the GoTalk for everyday activities. It is only necessary that I give children who are nonverbal or who have a speech deficit the same opportunity to speak as every other child. My hopes would be that I could have more than one in my classroom, because I expect to have more than one student with a speech deficit. The GoTalk gives endless possibilities.



        Instead of the videos you provided, I found one for my field of study. It is about a little girl named Lianna who has Cerebral Palsy. She is not able to control her movement, therefore cannot use the GoTalk device. She uses a C12 Speech Generating Device. The device also has pictures with phrases just like GoTalk, but her device is slightly different. There is a camera on the device which follows her eye movement. The camera detects when she looks at for a specified length of time. Her device also has pre programmed and customized page settings. Her device also has “word power pages” which ensures her language development is continuing. The video features a few “gross” poems that Lianna wrote, which are funny. I think everyone should watch this video. It is just one example of why you never underestimate people with special needs. Lianna’s teacher Mrs. Fink asks Lianna “What are some things you would like people to know about you?” With her C12 Speech Generating Device, Lianna answers “I really do like it when you talk with me, but please don’t use baby talk with me. I like it best when you just speak with me like you do to the other 9yr old kids you know.” This says so much! Never treat people with special needs differently because you assume they do not understand. These devices are amazing and should be used as much as possible. Lianna Speaks

Project 13

Our lesson plan is called Draw Me the Music. It is for a self-contained Special Education classroom. The lesson plan addresses art, literature, and music. The link below contains the lesson plan:

Draw Me the Music

Here is the schedule we will use for the project:

Schedule for the week

Project 2

      I choose to use Symbaloo for my PLN. After watching A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment and Building Your PLN - A Primer for Anyone, I understood what PLNs were used for and how they can help the learning process in the classroom. After creating my PLN, I played around and found out that organizing and adding tiles was bot hard at all! Right now I have very few tiles, but as I progress through the course I will add more tiles, as I need them. Currently, I have two main categories which are personal(pink) and school related(turquoise). Symbaloo is user friendly, and I am excited to see what all I can do with it!

C4K Summary for September

C4K #1

This I Believe- Summary

For my first C4K, I was assigned to Pelma who is a 10th grader. She wrote a paper called, “This I Believe.” Pelma believes in commitment because of all her years in dance. She said that dance has taught her to always commit to everything you do. She said that commitment is the key to life.

My reply:

In my comment, I told Pelma who I was and what school I went to. I told her that I really liked her paper and she did an awesome job writing it. I said that I have never taken dance, but I played soccer and commitment needed for that, too.

C4K #2

OUCH! Brain Freeeeeezee- Summary

For my second C4K, I was assigned to Aidan who is Year 5 in Mrs. Lieschke class. Aidan wrote about brain freezes and how annoying they are. He said they affect the roof of his mouth and the back of his head. He then asked if it annoys you and where does it affect you.

My reply:

Hi, Aiden! My name is Linda Check and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama! I know exactly what you mean with the brain freeze! I get them all the time, because I am a fast eater. Those brain freezes come out of nowhere and hit you! They effect right on the side of my head. They do not last too long, but they are horrible for the few seconds you have them!

C4K #3

Skype

For my third C4K, I was assigned to Promise a year 5 student at Pt England School. Promise posted a video of him and his friend skyping. Promise was mostly listening to his friend, and not a lot of information was given. You could not hear his friend, either.

My reply:

Hi, Promise! My name is Linda and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I really liked your video of you talking to your friend! You also did an awesome job getting the video on your blog!

C4K #4

HOW MUCH DOSE THE SKY WEIGH?

For my fourth C4K, I was assigned to Macie who is in 6th grade. Macie wrote about how much the sky weighs. She told us that meteorologist estimate that air weighs 5 million billion tons or more. She also said that it you walk up Mt. Everest, the higher you go, the harder it is to breathe.

My reply:

Hi, Macie! My name is Linda and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. That is crazy about the sky! I never would have imagined that air would weighed so much! I knew that the higher you go the more pressure you have on you, but to think air weighs 5 million billion tons is mind blowing! Awesome post and keep up the good work!

Blog Post 7

Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher
By Meagan Freeman and Linda Check
      In Project Based Learning Part 1, Anthony Capps told how Project Based Learning (PBL) are not only projects that teachers give at the end of a lesson to check the student’s understanding, but are a means to get the students to learn something. Anthony said a good project involves having an authentic audience, keeping the students interest in mind, involves the community, and most importantly it is driven by content. The example project he told us about was a project he had his third grade class do, which involved writing letters to Congressman Jo Bonner. Anthony told his class about a recent decision that allows women to serve in open combat and the project was, using iCurio, to find a female or minority history figure that demonstrated success when it was uncommon. Then, using this information, write Congressman Jo Bonner and state whether they thought it was appropriate for women to fight in open combat, or not. They informally interviewed family and friends that served in the military and helped critique their classmates letters. They chose eight to send and got a stock reply, which the students were very excited about! The project was content driven and community involved. The project even covered ACCRS standards for writing, reading, and social studies. We learned that PBL is not only to show whether the students know the material or not, but to help teach the material in a fun and exciting way. Anthony Capps told us how to create a PBL project and how to get the best results!

Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher
By Meagan Freeman and Linda Check
      In Project Based Learning Part 2, Anthony spoke about a project he gave his third graders. After studying Afghanistan, his students wrote as if they were a child in afghanistan, then made an imovie of the script. The project was a huge success among the class, parents, and administrators. The students went above and beyond what was expected of them. All of the parents were amazed by the movies the third graders created. Through Project Based Learning we have learned that assignments are given meaning. Students see how PBL relates to the real world and are more excited to learn. We think that project based learning allows students to become more engaged in assignments and projects. They feel as if they have freedom with learning instead of a right or wrong answer. PBL encourages students to search for new knowledge and they excited to show it off.

iCurio
By Meagan Freeman and Linda Check
      In iCurio Anthony, Anthony discussed the features of iCurio. We learned that iCurio is an online search tool that serves a few different purposes. The first, and main, purpose is to allow students to search websites, videos, images, and online media that have been pulled and filtered for educational use. The things the students are looking at have been deemed appropriate by a responsible figure, so the teacher does not have to worry about anything inappropriate popping up. The second feature is a storage capacity that allows teachers and students to store different content they find that is valuable. It also allows students to practice their virtual organization skills. The third feature Anthony mentioned was the historical figures feature. This feature allows students to search by criteria. It is a directory that helps the students find specific topics they are looking for, an example being 1960 African American male. The last feature is one that we really liked and would find very useful, being special education majors. It is a read-along feature that reads the text of an article aloud. This is very valuable to students with special needs. They are able to use the information the text gives, even if they are not able to read it. We learned iCurio is very helpful is the classroom, and we plan to make great use of it in the future!

Discovery Education
By Meagan Freeman and Linda Check
      Discovery Ed- In Discovery Ed Anthony, Anthony mentioned Discovery Ed is important because students retain a lot more about information about text when it has visual elements. Discovery Ed gives students the opportunity to add background knowledge and illustration along with text. It makes learning fun, instead of most children looking at it as a chore. We agree that visual cues are much more effective in remembering material than just reading by itself. Our group feels that Discovery Ed is a great resource for PBL . The goal of PBL is t to engage the students and make them feel more connected to the learning process, which is exactly what Discovery Ed does.

The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1
By Linda Check
      In The Anthony - Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1, Dr. Strange and Anthony taught me that teachers just starting need to prepare for a wide variety of obstacles in the classroom. The first piece of advice I learned, was that if you are not a constant learner, you will not be a successful educator. Learning does not stop once your eight-hour day ends, you are always learning from experience then, taking what you learned and using it in the classroom. The next thing I learned was that teaching is hard work, yet fun at the same time. Teaching is constant and very rewarding, if you let it be. I, also, learned that you must be very flexible as a teacher. Lessons will not always go as planned, and when this happens, you need to take what you got a roll with it. If you are planning to use the computers for a lesson, but the servers are down, figure out another way the students will still learn what you need them to, just with a different activity. Another piece of advice I took was that you need to plan lessons that get students engaged. Create projects that are shareable and get the students excited to learn the objectives you need them to. The last thing I learned was that reflection and self-evaluation are a huge part of the learning process. If the student’s are sharing their assignments to an audience, they become more serious about revising and reflecting on their work. Students can, also, take critiques from the audience to make their work better.       I took many things away from this video. I learned that becoming a teacher comes with many obstacles, once you get into the classroom. You have to be prepared for all kind of hiccups in the road and events to not play out perfectly. Learning is a constant job and if you are constant learner, you will be successful in your teaching career.

Use Tech- Don’t Teach It
By Meagan Freeman
      In UseTech- Don't Teach It, Anthony said that you should not teach technology, just introduce it. He said don’t have a list of technology that should be learned, instead go through technology in small steps. Eventually the steps can be combined and the students will be much more savvy with technology. He mentions that educators should allow students to get excited about technology and let them use it to share their ideas. Anthony made a good point when saying don’t teach technology, just introduce it. I also think that technology can’t be taught, and you just have experiment with it. I like that Anthony said not to focus on mistakes, and just give your students and opportunity to learn. Technology can be harder for some to catch on to than others, and it is always changing. There is so much PBL that can be done using technology and I think it will only help our students advance.