Blog #10

Adventures in Pencil Integration: I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga.

Pencil
Let me start this by saying I'm obviously not a hipster because I had never heard of a ticonderoga pencil before now. I'm not really sure what his point to this particular cartoon was but, I think in reading his other blogs I get it. A pencil is a pencil. However if use know how to use it and use it well,it could be something really special. Maybe my logic is faulty here but I'm going with it.

Playing Games
Mr. Spencer use dialogues to get his point across. I like this as you can really see both sides to the issues at hand.Mr. Spencer the free thinker and the obstinate "institution."If we are going to have a graduating class of critical thinkers and problem solvers we must stop the mass production of memorizers.
If games get the kids to interact, think, problem solve and OMG! learning too, then why wouldn't we play? Our kids really do learn by doing, not by memorizing and "burping back". There is way to much politicizing of our systems. We have to do what works best for OUR students. Which in the end may not be suitable for others and that's o.k. too. We have to teach our students to be thinkers and doers.

Don't Teach...
Dr. Mcleod has used his sarcasm to make a point. Technology can promote so many ways to learn, collaborate and integrate. Of course there are things to beware and watch out for but this is the case every time we let the kids out the front door. But this is why we teach them caution, respect, awareness,and boundaries. This goes with any new tool they learn to use. There is a time and place for all of it. We should be integrating technology into their lessons they will have to use it in their everyday lives no matter what they do. Even the "whopperfloppers" have have to use a computerized cash register and order system.

Scott Mcleod
Scott McLeod has A Masters degree in education from William and Mary. He also has a doctorate in Educational Administration from university of Iowa. He is currently Director of Innovation in Pocahontas, Iowa at Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency. He is a staunch advocate for utilizing technology properly in the classroom. Technology can be such a wonderful tool and should be advocated. He has a blog called Dangerously Irrelevant. You should check it out he has some really neat insights. I like the way he thinks. He has sarcastic tone often which is often the way I think as well.

Book Trailer Project #12

Smart Board Project #14

Project #11

Blog #9

I read Mr. McClung's post volumes 3 and 4. I like what he has to say. I really like the idea of writing a reflection on the past year. It could be helpful. What did I learn? Where did I miss a step? Are the kids still enjoying the lessons? This is a really good way to make sure the lesson plans stay fresh and interesting. In his blog he talks about how to answer these questions.

Mr. McClung says stay true to yourself. The people we as educators should concern ourselves with most is our students. This may seem like a no-brainer but, a little reminder from time to time couldn't hurt. Don't try to serve the agenda of the administrations need but rather the students. Ask ourselves are they having fun? If not don't be afraid to make a change. In fact, embrace it. Change stimulates growth and growth is vital.

We must grow to learn. We have to also learn to stand back sometimes so our kids can learn. We can't always step in. This is how they get to grow. Sometime it takes making a mistake to see the whole picture. And often as teachers we will want to step in and guide them when in reality we are hindering them. It's like a plant, it needs water to grow, but if we give it to much it will die. Same thing with kids, make sure they have enough to grow but not too much or they'll never really learn.

Post #8

This is How We Dream
I watched the presentation form Dr. Miller. This guy is really dull. However, the information he is presenting has the potential to be fascinating. It is exciting to think about the progression of things where writing is concerned. Being able to write an entire article or research paper without walking into a library. No research books, imagine that.
Every day I am impressed with all the information that is readily available to me with a thought or question and a click. So much has changed just in the last few years. It is exciting to see it in motion.
The ideas and thought of "the world" being tracked is a little creepy. Yet I would imagine this kind of data would be highly useful to advertising executives. It's too much like big brother to me. It's being watched without ones consent. But in fairness if you are putting it out on the internet anyone can see it they just have to know where to look.

Carly's Post
A lot of thought and work went into this post! This could actually be several assignments. I love the idea of a video list. All of these are great. I also like the thoughts she had about encouraging creativity and getting kids to rewrite the ending to their favorite books.
I like her thoughts on differences and disabilities. As the parent of a disables child, I can appreciate this. I am always telling my child she is not disables just differently-abled.
Carly is going to be an excellent teacher because she has fire and passion about it.

Chipper Series
These video snippets were a great example of what not to do. I am a procrastinator myself. In the words of famous comedian Ellen DeGeneres "Procrastinate Now Don't Wait." My video however would probably be on organization and the importance of it. Without organization nothing gets accomplished. I would start with little things like a notebook and bookbag and move to bigger things like projects and research paper. Organization is essentially to the success of any endeavor.

Learn to Change. Change to Learn.
I absolutely agree that school should be moving away from vending machine thinkers. Our school must move into the realm of teaching children how to find information. Then, once they have found this info,what can you do with it. Can you validate it? Can you integrate it? We have to teach our children to be able to think for themselves and have an opinion of their own even if it isn't ours. They must be able to think for themselves. If they can't think they can't create. Creativity and free thinking is key!!! Nothing gets created by memorization.
Br/>Scavenger Hunt
The social platform tool I found is called Ecto. It allows you to create a profile of yourself. It has a place called upcoming events. This could be used for assignments due or upcoming tests. There is a place to message you openly or send a private message. There is also a place to add a link to a blog.

Comic


Poll
pollshack

Project #9 Post1&Final Summary

I started out building my PLN page on Symbaloosymbaloopln today. I really like the way it puts all the "folders" at a glance. A student could make folders for each class/subject, respectively so could a teacher. I started out by eliminating things that could cause distractions for me like ebay and amazon. I did keep netflix because it could be useful. I am working on building a network with twitter as I am a new user. I really think this could be a very useful tool. Especially for parents of children with special needs. I am really excited to learn more.
As I have used this I have enjoyed it. It makes for a very useful homepage. Everything is all there in one place. For example blogger, USA's homepage etc. I think this could really be a very useful tool for students, and teachers alike. The way it can be added to and suggestions are neat. For students places that they go for their classes,for teachers they could use things like smart exchangeSMARTExchangeI like that the "tiles" are large and can be color coded. I like that I can manipulate and group them the way I would want to use them. PLN's Could be an amazing tool if used wisely and purposefully. So many resources can be added to use it to its full potential.

Blog#7

In watching this lecture I kept thing this is basically a autobiography. How is this going to apply? Mr. Pausch talks about his childhood dreams. I thought well ok, he is going to tell us his life story and how he lived happily ever after. But he had some interesting anecdotes to tell. He gave a list of things/dreams he wanted to accomplish and how he set out to get it all done. In doing so he gives some pretty good advice. As he speaks we learn he has terminal cancer. This fact is glazed over a few times in the lecture but is not the focus.

He talks about how he not only taught students but what he learned from them as well.It rather reminded me of a book I once read and the slipcover's little blurb. The book was "All I Really Need To Know I learned In Kindergarten" By Robert Fulghum
Buy it at Amazon
These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten):1.Share everything. 2. Play fair. 3. Don't hit people. 4. Put things back where you found them. 5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS. 6. Don't take things that aren't yours. 7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody. 8. Wash your hands before you eat. 9. Flush. 10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. 11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some. 12. Take a nap every afternoon. 13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. 14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. 15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. 16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

I'm not sure if he read the book or not but the two men surely share the same ideas. Mr. Pausch encourages us to take chances, "Don't lose that child-like wonder." The tips he gave and received through his "journey" are perfect especially in the teaching world. Kids are always watching even when we think they are not they hear and often repeat EVERYTHING. So set an example "Don't be afraid to dream out loud." ( I love that one)

He spoke of how others influenced his life. The advice here was great. Don't always see the bad, sometimes you may have to wait a while to see the good. But it's there just wait and see. When someone gives you feedback: listen, cherish, and use it. It is important to focus on others and help them achieve their dreams. As this can be just as if not more rewarding than achieving your own.

C4K February

#1
The student whose blog post I read had a post however, it seemed to be a book report of sorts. The directions were calling for the subject matter to be on WWI. I am sure this was also assigned work but I don't think it was the post I was intended to comment on. In saying that, I went ahead and commented on the report titled "Halfway there." It was as it stated a "halfway there" book report the student gave a synopsis of what had happened so far in the book he was reading. There was a lot information and at times he seemed to ramble. He did gave a good foundation with information on the main character, his likes and hobbies, about his family and what was going on in the world.
I like this idea of doing a book report in stages. This way the reader can refer back to each stage for the final product. This is also a way to make sure no one is failing to read the entire book and not just cliffnotes. It gives the student more opportunities to improve their writing skills as well, and putting it in a blog allows them to get feedback other than from the teacher.

#2
I visited Ms. Balestrin's (2nd grade) class blog. She has instructed her students to begin blogging, get familiar with all the settings,control panel and such. This will have been their very first blog. The student I was instructed to comment on had a very short blog titled My fervent things. This should have been "favorite" but I noticed her teacher did not correct this mistake so I did not either. I told the student that I liked some of the things she liked as well and hoped she would keep blogging so I could learn more about her.

#3
The students this post are 5 and 6 years old. I was given 2 students to comment on and the blogged separately. The assignment was to draw picture and tell a short story about it. William told a story about a cat that was too fat to fit in the door. I told him to keep practicing. Arthur was next. He told a story of fishing with his dad. I told him to keep up the good work.

#4
The student this post is in a 10th grade English class. The post was word of the day, use it in a sentence kind of thing. Even here I could tell this girl had spunk. so i went back a couple of posts. One of which she titles Ten lies they tell you at BSHS.It was just a list but a really bold one. She really spoke out about how she felt. This is what I comment to her about. I told to speak her mind. But be sure to use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation so people will take her seriously.

Summary
These are a just a few ways in which a blog can be used in the classroom and homework setting. I like the idea of submitting work this way it can be a useful tool for those student who have poor organization skills. No one can say they lost the work. I really like the idea of a class blog so parents can help and kids can keep tabs on what is due and when. no excuses for not knowing what to do. A link to contact the teacher with questions is a very good tool as well. I had to wait until Monday if had a question about an assignment. I think I am going to like this blog thing after all. It will be an excellent tool to help the kids exceed their potential.