Sunday, September 29, 2013

Project #8 Book Trailer

The Rainbow Fish

Blog Post #6

Questions in the Classroom

Man sitting on question mark
Asking effective questions in the classroom is a vital tool for any teacher. In order to get the students really thinking about the lesson, the teacher has to ask the right questions. Simple yes and no questions are not going to engage your students. You have to dig into the lesson, and find ways to make them think. Critical thinking is a very valuable skill that these students will use for the rest of their lives. So as teachers, we have to foster an environment that encourages critical thinking, and we do that by asking questions. In an article by Ben Johnson, he discusses the fact that once students learn their typical "roles" in the classroom, they tend not to stray from that role. The brainy kids will always raise their hands, the class clowns will chuck paper planes across the room, and the kids that don't care will space out. We have to bring them all back to the lesson at hand by managing our classrooms. A key way of doing so is by asking questions! In Ben's article, he mentions something that I had never thought of before. When asking a class any type of question, if you lead with the name of the student you are asking, everyone else will hear that name and go "Phew! Not me! Back to doodling on my paper." I know because I've done it! We wait to see if we are the one on the hook, then breathe a sigh of relief and stop paying attention. By asking the question first, pausing, and then naming a student, you've kept everyone on their toes because they don't know if they will be called upon! Now that they're all thinking about the question, you may call on someone. At this point, they will pay attention just to see if this other person answered the same way they would have! Congratulations, you've managed your classroom well!

Questions are more important than answers!

The questions you ask are more important than the answers you get. To my mind, this equates to the saying "It is not the destination that matters, only the journey." In essence, the road your students take to get to the answer is more important than the answer itself. The process is what is important. And this applies to all studies and all walks of life. Even math! Why do we have to show our work when doing math problems? We are demonstrating the process we took to get our answer. If our answer is wrong, than we can go back to the process and see where we made a mistake. As we ask questions, it is important to keep the concepts we are reinforcing in mind. Design your questions so that they point your students in the right direction, but at the same time, you want them to draw their own conclusions. Don't ask leading questions. Your students won't get a chance to think about anything if you've already given them the answer! And likewise, give them time to think about your question before you start calling on anyone. They will fumble with their answer and try to spit it out as fast as possible. As a result, they may not get to think as much about the question as they need to to properly answer it. Another thing to keep in mind while asking questions is to make sure that everyone's input feels respected. What I mean by that is, if a student answers exactly the way you would, and you just have a field day about their answer, other students who weren't thinking that way are going to feel inferior and keep to themselves. Congratulate the student on a good answer, but don't make a huge deal out of it. And on the flip side of that, if a student answers and they are so far off base that you don't even know how they got there, don't be irritated. Instead, try to find how the student arrived at that answer! They may surprise you! Everyone has different points of view, and maybe your student considered something that you never thought of. Or they could have misinterpreted a piece of important information. If that be the case, gently correct them and lead them back to where they should be. A student should never feel embarrassed for speaking their mind. I think the best thing to keep in mind is that everyone is different. People may agree on certain things, but nobody on this earth thinks exactly the same way that you do. So ask your questions! Just be prepared to be surprised by the answers.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Blog Post #4

Imagine a simple audio clip. It can have one person speaking, or three, or twenty! In its barest form, this is a Podcast. An audio file that has been recorded and then shared over the web. The word Podcast is actually a combination of iPod and broadcast. Since the iPod utterly dominated the MP3 market, when people began creating these downloadable broadcasts, the broadcasts became synonymous with iPods, giving us the term Podcast. That doesn't mean that Podcasts only work on iPods though. They are a digital media that can be accessed from any device with access to the web.

iPod Nano Rainbow


Why Podcasts?

In the classroom, Podcasts have a great deal of applications. According to Langwitch's blog, a number of skills are expanded upon with Podcasts, including; "listening, speaking, presenting, comprehension, storytelling, performance, voice acting, oral fluency, media, and technology." It engages students on so many different levels, I don't know why Podcasts aren't a part of every classroom! Hearing themselves being recorded, the children were motivated to go back and make it perfect, without any prompting from the teacher. Being able to critique your own speech from an outside perspective is much more effective than being told "You pronounced dinosaur wrong." Doing so also creates a greater self-awareness, which instills confidence. And in the classroom, confidence is key. If a student is confident, than they will try harder. When a confident student makes a mistake, they shrug it off, learn from it, and keep on going. Students that aren't confident tend to withdraw when they make mistakes, which interferes with the learning process. The old saying "Get back on the horse that threw you" comes to mind.

How do we do a Podcast?

Fortunately, Podcasts are simple in that you only need three things to create one; a recording device, an editing program, and a voice! The possibilities are endless beyond those three things. Their application in the classroom can be anything from mock interviews, to reading a book, to testing a person's speech! The Podcasts I listened to were adorable. How excited the children were at being recorded carried, very obviously, into their recordings. Listening to them, I also realized that sound effects made the Podcast so much more interesting. And that being descriptive is a must! With a Podcast being strictly audio media, bringing the other senses in with additional descriptions made it a much more captivating experience.

I think the Podcast is an under-utilized tool that will gain popularity in the future. As my generation of classmates assume the mantle of teacher, we will take these new teaching methods and technologies and revolutionize the classroom in ways that right now, I cannot even begin to fathom.

Project #3 Presentation

Comments4Teachers #1 and 2

Dr. Paige Vitulli is a teacher of the arts at the University of South Alabama, and she also happens to be my "Arts in the Elementary School" instructor. Her blog, Pondering Paige is a place where she posts about happenings in the art world, her classroom, and the way that education is changing.

One of the posts she made, which is about Interest Driven Learning includes a video that talks about how education needs to move forward. If the teacher capitalizes on the student's interest in certain subjects, and motivates them to continue learning about the things they love, than the student will go above and beyond the norm. Encouragement is vital in the classroom, and allowing the children to learn about the things that they actually want to learn about will give them a sense of accomplishment. When learning is forced, it isn't effective. In the video, there is a learning center in New York called The New Youth City Learning Network, that includes about a dozen places such as museums and digital learning activities. Ms. Rhoten is an organizational sociologist who believes that encouraging existing interests, and sparking new ones with digital media is the future of education. Basically taking the things that students love, and incorporating them into the classroom. My comment to Dr. Vitulli simply agreed with her. I also looked up interest driven learning and discovered that the U.S. Department of Education's Deputy Director has stated that their focus is shifting to interest driven learning. In the video, Ms. Rhoten mentions that digital media is the future of the classroom, and yet smartphones are banned in classrooms in New York. I asked Dr. Vitulli if she thought that smartphones would ever become commonplace, or even required in the classroom.

A class with the Dot Quilt

This is my class with the Dot Quilt

The second post I commented on was regarding International Dot Day, and the "Dot Quilt" her students, myself included, have made. She discusses the background of how Dot Day got started, and is now an international phenomenon. She includes pictures of the quilt that all of her students have created, and tells the reader how it was made. Using an 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 square of paper, students were encouraged to draw a dot, or a series of dots, using various colors in crayon. Once they were finished coloring the dot, they crumpled the paper. Smashing and unraveling the paper over and over again gave it a cloth-like texture. Then all of the dots were hole-punched and tied together, creating a very large "Dot Quilt". I told Dr. Vitulli that I loved the quilt! The way that the paper practically changed composition fascinates me. I even said "Your brain is telling you that this is paper, but it doesn't feel that way at all!" I added that I enjoyed making my own square, and explained my use of contrasting colors to make it stand out. The thought process behind Dot Day is "Make your mark and see where it takes you!" That phrase, and the corresponding project is a great way to encourage children and adults alike. Dr. Vitulli mentioned in class that the man who wrote the book The Dot, Peter Reynolds, actually retweeted their "Dot Quilt" pictures last year. So I asked her if he had done that yet. After that, I merely stated that I would be creating this post today! Dr. Vitulli's blog is very interesting and I will continue to follow it, especially since I am in her class!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Blog Post #3

Paper with corrections and red pen
Peer editing is tricky business. You have to be respectful of their work and stay positive, but still offer meaningful criticism. Starting out with a compliment will put your peer in a happy state of mind. They will feel good about what they have written, which is a good thing! This sort of paves the way for what follows, the suggestion. You have to use positive language to offer advice on things they ought to change. Telling them, "This sentence would sound better when worded differently," is much nicer than, "Your sentence doesn't make any sense. Fix it." Finally comes the hard part, the corrections. You are telling them that they have made a mistake. Naturally, you should approach this nicely, and to my mind, privately. I don't want the whole world to know that I made a mistake!

This is why, as far as I'm concerned, the corrections should be done privately. When a student is called out in class for making a mistake, they generally aren't happy about it. Why is peer editing any different? As a teacher, I am not going to announce mistakes to the class. It embarrasses the student! I know that I am embarrassed when it happens to me! Why should my students, or my peers, suffer that same embarrassment? If the issue can be handled privately, than it should be.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Blog Post #2

Our Thoughts on Mr. Dancealot


The youtube video Mr.Dancealot honestly made the three of us laugh. Mr. Dancealot obviously does not plan on his students "dancing a lot" after they complete his Social Dance course! How could Mr. Dancealot expect his students to learn how to dance when his feet were hidden behind a table and he did not allow students to mimic the dance moves he was teaching the class? Yes, Mr. Dancealot had a powerpoint that instructed the students on how to properly do the dance moves, but that simply was not enough instruction for a student to learn how to dance. Mr. Dancealot completely lost the students' attention due to his poor teaching techniques. The main message our group collaboratively got from Mr. Dancealot was that you have to learn by doing. After watching this video, we were reminded the importance of interactive learning. Students go to school to learn. In order for students to learn, teachers need to give students opportunities to learn. If Mr. Dancealot would have allowed his students to mimic the steps he was teaching the class, the students would have remembered how to do these steps come time for their final exam. Not only would the students remember the steps for the final exam, they would remember the steps for many years to come.

My thoughts on "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts"



Ms. Davis’s use of technology in the classroom is able to connect her class to other students around the world. She also employs a tactic that I feel very strongly about, which is allowing students to teach each other. Having to explain a concept to your peers is a wonderful way to make the lesson stick. She stated in the video that some of the students were figuring things out on their own, and showing what they learned to her! In this day and age, it seems like a lot of young people seem to have an innate knowledge of technology. Utilizing this knowledge and building on it, Ms. Davis is creating a unique classroom environment. By stepping aside and letting students teach the class, and using project based learning, she creates a greater sense of community within the student body. As a class, they will be a more effective unit because they have all taught each other. Students communicate with each other better than a teacher can, so they will all be on the same wavelength with the lessons. This also plays into having them communicate with other students around the world. They create their own networks, which will be very valuable resources as they get older. Being able to make friends digitally is a valuable skill in this day and age, because the human race is now a global community. Having those outside connections will be very helpful for them in the long run, and the self-teaching skills they will use for the rest of their lives.

Brylyn Cowling’s Thoughts on Teaching in the 21st Century



Teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge in the 21st century classroom according to Kevin Roberts. Students have virtually limitless information and can find information on anything, anywhere, at anytime. If teachers can provide content, facts, formulas, dates, research, stories, theories, and information then a teacher's role in the lives of students in the 21st century classroom is obsolete. Teaching in the 21st century means to provide learning experiences for students. Ask students to solve problems that require them to find out information with the tools they use every day such as iPads, iPods, iPhones, Google, YouTube, or blogs. Kevin Roberts' thoughts on how he sees teaching changing are more than accurate. Teachers and students live in a technology driven society and in order for students to be prepared for his or her future outside of the classroom they need be given opportunities in the classroom to solve problems independently using the tools they have at their fingertips. The technology driven society we live in will have a huge affect on me as an educator. Daily I need to asses myself and ask, "Is this lesson going to prepare my students for his or her future outside of my classroom?" And if not, "How can I manipulate this lesson to give my students an opportunity to dig deeper and gain knowledge on the subject matter through the tools I have in my classroom?" As an educator, I will need to constantly educate myself on the current technological tools so I can then provide my students with opportunities to gain knowledge by exploring these new tools as well.

Courtney Brown’s Reactions To “The Networking Student”

While watching the video towards the beginning I asked myself, "What will the teacher do?" There was no lecture, no books, and only one class with the teacher. As I continued to watch it became more clear. The concept of networking to research your topics could be better than having a teacher. As I continued to watch it became even more clear. Networking provides access to people from all different walks of life. You can encounter people that have had first hand experience with the topics you are researching, for example, experts on the topic and people just expressing their opinions. You are allowed to see different perspectives, including some you might have never considered. When you're forced to look at something from a different view, it gets your mind going and makes you ask more questions. The more questions you ask, the more answers you have to research. It becomes an ongoing cycle of information you get to absorb. You then become your own teacher. Once I understood the full concept, I was able to answer my own question. What will the teacher do? The teacher will be a regulator. She will make sure the students know the rules to follow in order for the students to teach themselves efficiently.