Blog Assignment 10

Do You Teach or Do You Educate?

This video was very interesting to me. I had never thought about the difference in teaching and educating before. This video states that to teach is to show or explain how to do something, give information about or instruction in, and cause someone to learn or understand something. It then states that to educate is to give intellectual, moral, and social instruction. It also says an educator is someone who guides and shows the way.
While completing some observation hours this week, one of the 2nd graders in the class asked me "Mrs. Howard, why do you want to be a teacher?". I wasn't sure how to answer her at first because I have never really thought about why I actually chose this profession other than my usual answer "I love kids". After a lot of thought, I have concluded that I want to be a teacher because I love children and I love helping them learn and grow. Being a teacher, I will be helping them in many ways. I will be teaching them things and helping them grow as people. I will be helping them learn what is write and wrong, how to work well with others, and how do things. The reasons I have just listed pretty much fall under the educator category. While teaching them the different subjects I will also be educating them and helping them learn good morals and social skills. Teaching is not just about making sure that they learn about science, math, and history, it is about guiding them in the right direction and showing them the way.

Tom Johnson's Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home!

I really enjoyed reading this blog post by Mr. Johnson. This post is an actual conversation between Tom and Gertrude about students who take home pencil and paper. Gertrude is arguing that students should not be taking home pencils because an article stated that the students that take home pencils have lower standardized test scores.
Throughout the conversation Tom is coming up with solutions to the problem. He argues that the pencil and paper homework is not what is making the student score lower on standardized tests, it's what they are actually doing with the pencil at home. The kids were being assigned with boring homework which was leading them to play games with their pencils which kept them from learning as much. Therefore, when the kids were taking their standardized tests with pencils they were playing with their pencils rather than paying attention to the test which caused their scores to go down. Tom then explained to Gertrude that he assigns homework that should interest students, but in the end what they do with their pencil is ultimately up to them.
This blog post shows how someone can read information and completely take it the wrong way. There are always different conditions and circumstances that should be taken into consideration when reading information about things. It is important to always take every circumstance into consideration when coming across new information.

C4T #3

C4T comment 1 on Dorothy Burt's blog Manaiakalani
Do Shoes Help us Learn?

On Dorothy's blog she posted a post titled "Do shoes help us learn?" In this post she mentions that she was thinking about the wearing of shoes and not wearing of shoes being an indicator of students learning. She then states that she did not wear shoes to primary school except on days when it was "frosty", but in highs school she was required to wear shoes as part of the uniform. She ended her post with asking this question "What was your experience with shoes and school, and how do you think they influence student learning?"
I commented on her post saying that I was required to wear shoes with my school uniform, but I think it would be really neat to get to experience school without having to wear shoes. I then said that I always liked wearing uniforms to school because I never had to worry about what I was going to wear the next day. Uniforms are also a good idea because everyone wears the same thing and the students see each other as the same.

C4T comment 2 on Dorothy Burt's blog Manaiakalani
Teacher Dashboard and Google Apps for Education.

This post was about Teacher Dashboard and Google apps that are used for education. In this post there was a video that showed how Teacher Dashboard is used and how Google Apps are used. I enjoyed watching this video because it showed me how helpful these things can be when it comes to teaching. I commented on this post saying that I was first introduced to Google Docs this semester in EDM310 and I love it. I also said that I did not realize how much Google had to offer until I read this post. I ended my comment with saying that the teacher dashboard looks awesome and very helpful. It seems to be a big help in staying organized and keeping up with students and their work. Teacher Dashboard will definitely benefit me in my future as a teacher.

Project 13

Blog Assignment 9

What I've Learned This Year (2008-09)
By: Mr. McClung

This post by Mr. McClung was written in regards to his first year of teaching. He starts off by talking about how he was not sure what to expect because he was young and inexperienced. He then states that after his first year of teaching he learned a lot and also matured as a person and teacher. Mr. McClung says that while he was in college he developed a mindset that everything was always about him (the teacher). He says that many people have that mindset and lose touch of what they are actually doing and that is helping students learn. I think that many teachers do that and get so caught up in their lesson and how they are doing as a teacher that they lose sight of the children. Our goal is to help them learn and comprehend things. It is not about how we give the lesson, but about making sure the students understand. Mr. McClung also talks about being flexible. He states that "NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN IS ALWAYS DIFFERENT." He is so true when he says that. Teachers plan out their lessons and want things to go exactly how they planned, but a lot of times things come up and plans need to be changed. It is key to not make a huge deal about small mistakes and teach the lesson the best way that you can. Mr. McClung also talks about being responsible and expectations that teachers have regarding their students. He points out that many teachers set high expectations for their students, but when they fail to meet them they get upset with the students. This is the worst thing teachers can do. Students are in school to learn. If they are being scolded for not understanding things then they will become discouraged. I love what Mr. McClung says when he says this "Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again." He is so right. We as teachers should always encourage our students to keep trying. The next thing Mr. McClung talks about is technology. He says that many adults are afraid of technology. Technology really isn't a bad thing. It can be very helpful. One thing I have learned in Dr. Strange's class is that we are all lifelong learners. We should never be afraid of new technological advances. We should always be willing to try new things because technology can only help. The last thing that Mr. McClung talks about his never stop learning. Like I said just before. We are all lifelong learners and should always be open to new ideas.

What I've Learned This Year (2010-11)
By: Mr. McClung

This post by Mr. McClung was written in regards to his third year of teaching but his first year to teach at the same school for more than a year. Mr. McClung starts off by talking about many new experiences he had during during the '10-'11 school year. These experiences are his first time being a head coach, coaching cross country, and first experience as a computer applications teacher. He then talks about knowing who your boss is. He says that many times teachers lose sight of what we are trying to do and that is teach students. Often times we start trying to please adults when instead we should be focusing on our students. He also touches on the fact that no matter what we have going on in our personal lives, we must never let if affect our job as a teacher. The point is we should always be student focused and we should always make sure that we do our best job as a teacher so that our students can learn and grow. Mr. McClung then talks about change and not expecting others to be as excited about change as you are. He says that he is the type of person that gets excited about new ideas and new things but there are also those people that do not care one bit about new ideas and would prefer to not have to learn about them. He then states that the moral of this lesson is that you can't let others get in the way of your excitement and joy about new ideas. I agree with him. If you are excited about something but a teacher you know thinks it is stupid, you shouldn't let their opinion bother you and bring you down. You should stick to what you believe in and what you think will help you teach. He then talks about not being afraid to be an outsider. This goes along with the previous topic. He says to be true to yourself and don't be afraid to be an outsider. It's okay to be different. It is okay to think differently than other teachers. Be the teacher that you want to be not the teacher that others want you to be. The next thing that he talks about is something I totally agree with. He talks about when a student has a problem understanding something, we as teachers often take over and do the task for them. We should not do that. Like Mr. McClung said, if we take over and do it for them, the student will never truly learn how to master the skill. If we keep encouraging them and helping them they will figure it out and in the end they will excel. The last thing that Mr. McClung talks about his not getting comfortable. Many teahers after a few years get into a routine. He says that he began to pick up new tasks and joined committees that prevented him from developing a routine. This is a really good idea. We should be willing to try new things and move forward.

I really enjoyed reading both of these blog posts by Mr. McClung. He makes a lot of good points and I have definitely learned a lot from reading these.

Project 11

Project 12

Blog Assignment 8

This Is How We Dream Part 1 and Part 2
By: Richard Miller

In part one, Richard Miller begins his video with talking about his love for books and how he "dreamed of a career working with books". He did end up writing a book that is sold on amazon.com for 59 cents. He then begins to talk about how things are changing. We do not use pen, paper, and libraries anymore, we use our computers or laptops to write things, look up books, and do research. Everything is on the internet. Miller was asked to write an article in response to the one year anniversary of the killings at Virginia Tech. He says that he was able to find all of his information on the internet, he never had to step foot in a library. Everything we want to know is on the internet. The internet is constantly being updated with new information. Miller talks about the fact that without the internet his lectures may not be published for another two years, but thanks to the internet, it can be published and made public in a matter of hours.
In part two, he speaks about the building that he has taught in for the past 16 years. He says that it was designed for the automobile because the parking lot is in the center of all of the buildings. He then talks about building a "green building" that unites the best of the humanities and the best of the sciences. The building would be a green building that is solar powered. His building looks cool and sounds cool, but it takes up the entire parking lot. He wants to build a green building, but where are the students going to park? How are they going to get to school if they can not drive to school? Maybe he has another plan for transportation that was not mentioned.
Technology has come a long way and will continue to do so. The possibilities are endless. The internet has made it very easy to get access to all kinds of information. For students, the internet and technology can be very beneficial. I still believe that paper and pencil should still be used in the classroom but, I think that technology can be beneficial also.

Blog Post # 12
By: Carly Pugh

I really liked how Carly Pugh did this blog post. It really shows her creativity. She makes an assignment that requires students to create a YouTube playlist that consists of 10 videos. She then creates her own playlist and states that "good teachers teach by example". Throughout her post she links several videos that better explain why she made the assignment. This post is like Richard Miller's ideas because it shows how we can use the internet to learn about things.
Carly Pugh ends her post with talking about how videos and projects can make learning more interesting. I agree with her. I love doing projects. I have enjoyed doing the videos for EDM310. It is a great way for people to show their creativity. In middle and high school I did several video projects such as a Veggie Tales movie and a history movie called Chapter 10. I enjoyed making each of them. As an elementary teacher I'm not sure how I would be able to get students to do a video project on their own, but I could do in class video projects with them.

The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies

I really enjoyed watching both of these videos. I really enjoy making videos, I think they can be really fun. I really want to make a cooking show video. I was hoping to be able to do that for Project # 11 the short movie project, but unfortunately I don't think that I will have time. I also think a good idea would be to make a video of a children's book. Not like the book trailer but actually make the book into a movie.
Both of these videos are great videos for EDM310. Edm310 can be very challenging and overwhelming at times. Procrastination is a huge no no when it comes to this class!

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

I enjoyed watching this video. There are several points made that I agree with. I think that there needs to be some changes in schools. A classroom should be more fun. Students need to be encouraged to be creative. Being in a classroom is for more than just learning. It helps students become responsible and it helps them work better with other children. They need to be in a school where they can gain social skills and understand how to get along with others. I believe that everyone should have a good well rounded knowledge of history and other subjects. People should not rely on the internet when they need to know something.
This video had some very good points. Yes, there needs to be some change in the classroom.

Blog Assignment 7

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch is very inspiring. I personally could not have done what he did when he gave his last lecture. He led a very fulfilling life and he accomplished many things. After watching this video, he is someone that I admire and look up to.
Mr. Pausch starts off with telling us his childhood dreams. He then begins by telling us how he achieved all of his childhood dreams. One of his dreams was to play in the NFL. Although that dream did not come true, he did get the chance to play football throughout his childhood. Mr. Pausch learned a lot of valuable lessons from playing football. In the beginning of his lecture he shares many reasons why it is a good idea for children to play on sports teams at school. It doesn't matter if the child is great at the sport, by playing the sport they can learn good sportsman ship, how to get along well with others, how to work in groups/teams, and how to work hard towards goals. Mr. Pausch calls this 'head fake' learning. His definition of "head fake" learning is indirect learning, for example, playing a sport because it's fun, but then, gaining a better knowledge of how to get along well with others. I have never thought about "head fake" learning before, I think that it is a great to get children involved in things that will also teach them valuable lessons.
Later during his lecture, Mr. Pausch talks about some of his experiences involving "brick walls". He explains that "brick walls are not there to hold us back but to show us how bad we want something" I have never thought of brick walls in that sense. Mr. Pausch makes a very good point though, don't give up because one thing gets in the way, keep trying as hard as you can and you will eventually get to where you wanna be. One of his personal "brick walls" that he dealt with was when he was trying to become an Imagineer for Disney. When he first tried to pursue this dream he was initially turned down. However, a little later in his life he was able to have this dream and he was given the opportunity to work on a virtual reality project for Disney. Mr. Pausch had a dream and he never gave up, because he never gave up he was able to have his dream come true. He is a great example to all of us with dreams.
Mr. Pausch also speaks about how he was trying to get sabbatical so that he could go and do the project with Disney. When he was trying to do this, he went to the Dean of his department. When he first asked about it, his Dean was angry and rude to Mr. Pausch because he did not know anything about it or what he was talking about. After talking with him he then went to the Dean of Sponsored Research who also knew nothing about what he was talking about. However, the Dean of Sponsored Research was very open minded and wanted to learn more about the project with Disney. There is a huge lesson that can be learned from this. Just because you may not know something, do not be close minded about it, be open minded and want to learn about it. I will admit that I myself can be a little close minded at times. I was a little close minded about this class when it first started. I thought "oh this class isn't going to help me, this class is stupid". I was VERY wrong. This class has taught me A LOT and I take back everything I initially thought. I am very open minded to all of the things in this class because I know that they will help me in my future as a teacher.
Mr. Pausch ends his lecture with stating that there are two "head fakes" to learn from this lecture. The first "head fake" was that the lecture is "not about how to achieve your dreams but how to lead your life", I was a little surprised when he said that because what I got form his lecture was ways on how to achieve my dreams. After hearing that, I thought about it and realized that he is right. This lecture is definitely about how to lead your life, Mr. Pausch says that "if you lead your life the right way then your dreams will come true". Lead your life by excelling in whatever you do and never giving up. He then revealed the second "head fake" which was that "this talk wasn't for you, it was for my kids". When he said that I was really "wowed" Mr. Pausch obviously cares for is family very much. This lecture is about his life, his dreams, and his achievements. His children will learn a lot of valuable things from their dad when they watch this lecture. In my eyes, Mr. Pausch is an awesome person. He achieved a lot of amazing things in his life.

I am a HUGE Cinderella fan. Since I was a little kid I have always loved her and the movie. This quote is one of my all time favorite quotes. :)

My PLN Post 1

For my PLN I used Symbaloo. Symbaloo really made it easy for me to add all of my favorite websites. For my PLN I added the websites I use on a weekly basis. These websites include, Google, Dictionary.com, USA Online, and some others. I added a link to the Pinterest website. Pinterest is a neat website. It lets you "pin" things that you like and things that you are interested in, it also lets you upload your own personal pins. I also added a link to a blog that I love, this blog is Keiko Lynn. Her blog is about fashion, makeup and clothes. It keeps me up to date with with the latest trends. My PLN is pretty simple right now but I definitely plan to keep adding to it.

C4T #2

C4T Comment 1 on Eva Buyuksimkesyan's Blog A Journey in TEFL

On Eva's blog she hosted a Blog Carnival. From what I read, I think a blog carnival is when many people share share different links and different ideas. For this blog carnival she asked for ideas for activities to do in the first week of school. I commented on her blog post saying that I loved the idea. There were many great ideas that I hope to use one day.

C4T Comment 2

On Eva's blog she did a post of a photoblog challenge. She posted 2 similar pictures with a cat in them and 3 tasks regarding the pictures.

Tasks:
Find at least 5 similarities between the pictures.
How are the cats different from each other?
Which of these cats would you take as a pet? Give your reasons.

I commented on her blog saying that I had never heard of a photoblog challenge because I am still very new to blogging. I also said that it looks fun and interesting and that it has given me ideas of things I can do with blogs in my future as a teacher.

Timetoast Timeline Instruction Project #9B