Blog Post #10

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He was in the department of computer science and taught a class that made up virtual realities. It seemed very fascinating. His class consisted of small groups that were required to have five projects a semester, no books but just technology. His last lecture video, which is also a published, best seller book, is so inspirational. As a future teacher, I feel as though I learned a lot from him. I did not just feel as though I just learned how to teach or teaching methods from him, like a lot of other teachers I've watched. I learned more of how to really make a difference in a child's life and how to be a great teacher. I liked how he first told the audience and viewers about how he achieved his childhood dreams. He achieved something as small as winning large stuffed animals to being in zero gravity with NASA. I thought that really made a big impact. It shows that he was so set on making all of his childhood dreams come true, and that he had so much motivation to make it happen for him. Then, to make it happen for his students. He instilled motivation into his students to achieve their dreams, which is something important for teachers or professors. He had such a great outlook on life and was so upbeat in his last lecture. He only had a few months to live, but he portrayed to his students and others to enjoy life and not to fret about things you can not change. I liked how he paired his students together to work. He says in the video" Using video gamish technology to teach people useful things", he referred to this as edutainment. I thought it was great he could take something as simple as video games and combine with the fire department and other places and things to help and teach. I learned a lot about teaching from Randy. It ranged from how to have a great attitude towards life, your goals, and how to motivate students.

Project #12

Project #9

Blog Post #9

Project #10

Blog Post #8

Mark Church's Making Thinking Visible video to explain his book is very helpful. After watching the video, it made me interested in reading the book. I felt like I learned a good bit about learning and teaching from his video. I really like his approach; it helped create independent learning from the teacher but also incorporated group discussion with your classmates and learning from them. I felt like he really brought his title "Making Learning Visible" to life. I enjoyed how he formed the children into small groups. He asked them to sum up a headline for what they had been learning about. They made up a headline and then he hung them up on a board. Later on, he then would get them to form another headline after thinking and learning more about the topic to see how the headlines would change. I thought it was a great idea how they all formed a group and had to think about a headline, and their thinking was out loud; it really supported the phrase of making thinking visible. His video taught me about how children can learn together from saying there thoughts out loud in a group. I appreciated his approach to teaching and learning.

Grace Hofer: Watching Back To the Future, I was impressed by how Brian Crosby taught his class. One of the things I noticed was how much participation was being done by the class. The students were the ones doing activities and projects and not just being shown an activity, but playing a part in doing it. I think by letting the students participate, let them become more interested in what was being taught. Students in this class also had a blog that they would write anything and everything they have learned. Blogging offered students to be connected to people from multiple countries and let them learn a little about these countries as well. These blog post by students contained pictures and videos that the students took themselves. The class also had a flickr page that contained pictures taken by the students of the whole class. 
I think the way Brian Crosby is teaching his class in an excellent way. The involvement he is offering his students in activities is letting the students be excited about the learning experience. Having students excited about learning I think is what most, if not all, teachers would be thrilled about. Some of the things these students learned was how to maintain blogs, put videos up on their blogs, video chat with a fellow student as well as people from around the world all while learning academically by projects and activities. Using a blog improved their writing and reading skills as well. It is great that his class is excited to learn. I think a way for my future students to be excited about learning, would be to take on the tools Brian Crosby is using in his classroom.

Chasity Heubach: I had no idea how much technology had taken over the classroom. However, not only do I now realize that it plays a key role in the classroom, I understand that it is important in the learning process. I viewed theBozemanscience website which is run by Mr. Paul Anderson. Mr Anderson has been a science teacher for about 19 years. Currently, he is a science teacher and technology specialist at Bozeman High School. For approximately three of the 19 years, he has been teaching science on youtube, where he has created hundreds of science videos. These videos have reached millions of teachers and students worldwide. One video I watched was entitled, Blended Learning Cycle. In this video Mr. Anderson gives instruction on how to incorporate the Blended Learning Cycle into the classroom. He starts by introducing the cycle. He states that first, as a teacher, one must combine online, mobile, and classroom learning into the classroom. He explains that next the teacher would introduce the learning cycle, which consists of engaging, exploring, explaining, expanding, and evaluating a subject. He then discusses an acronym he uses called quivers when teaching his students. He starts with a good QUestion. He then allows his students to Investigate/inquiry about the question. He offers Videos to his students , and then allows for Elaboration. Following that he requires a Review. He sits down with each student and through questioning, he evaluates their understanding before allowing them to move forward. Finally, they are given a Summary quiz, which allows the students to check their understanding for themselves. This method of teaching introduced by Mr. Anderson is very effective. It shows the power of technology, because otherwise he would not be capable of educating the world. I have learned a lot from this site. I learned that teaching any subject can be more effective with the use of technology. 

C4T #2

Post #1 Steven Anderson's blog post Going Global-Tips and Resources for Global Collaboration is a very useful post to check out! I thought it was great that the students were connected with the content by getting to talk to someone about the uprising in Northern Africa first hand. I never realized there were so many resources out there that could help you go global and chat with people all around the world so easily. I found it cool that you can simply include a hashtag on twitter and maybe find someone half way around the world in five seconds. I really like the fact that he gave you ideas and the tools you would need to go global like twitter, skype, google hangout, and etc. He also gave us four useful links to check out to go global: Teacher's Guide to International Collaboration on the Internet, QuadBlogging, Skype Classroom, and Guide to Management. His blog post was very detailed and easy to follow.


My comment: Hi, my name is Brittany Allemand. I am a student at the University of South Alabama, and I was assigned to your blog. I really enjoyed reading it and found it to be very helpful. I will be a teacher in a couple years and the links and ideas you posted in this blog post will help me a lot in the future. I thought it was a great idea to connect the students to the content by going global.
Post #2  Steve Anderson's most recent blog post 5 Leadership Questions to Finish (and Start) the School Year With  was very helpful. As a future teacher, I felt like he really helps you learn how to be up to date with the technology. His blog is very useful for learning how to integrate the technology into your classroom also. This blog discussed 5 questions to ask so you could see how technology integration was taking over in schools and districts. 

My comment: Your blog post is very helpful with letting teachers and future teachers know how to integrate technology into the classroom. My EDM 310 class is preparing me for technology in my classroom, and I feel like your blog helps out a lot. Thanks for the useful information. 

PLN Progress Report 1

I used Symbaloo to create my PLN. I like how you can personalize it with different wallpapers,colors, and text. I like how it has all the important sites I use and need, like youtube and twitter.

Blog Post #7

      Denise Robinson's Video Teaching Mom What Her Deaf/Blind Students are Learning on the Ipad was a pleasure to watch. I feel as though these technologies help the students who are impaired to be at the same pace as the other students, which is how they should be. I remember being in school and having a couple students who were handicapped and visually impaired in my classes. Technology was nowhere near as advanced as today, and they did not get to participate fully or as much in some of the things we did because they did not have the tools too. I was impressed after watching the video by Denise with the Ipad. I never knew that the IPad could be a tool to accompany the deaf or blind. It was easy to use and follow. The voice was at a great speed and easy to understand. Also, the directions were so clear.I loved how all you had to do was slide your finger across the screen and it read out all the apps and how to open them. This would be a great tool to use in my future classroom.
      After watching this video, I went to the internet to try to find some tools I could use in my classroom for the future that weren't listed in our manual.I came across a page written by Jeanette Dodds, Assistive Technology for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing, it listed some devices and assistants that can be used to help the deaf in the classroom or in life with just communicating with others. She tells about ways to make clocks and phones easier to use for the deaf or hard of hearing. You can use a strobe light, blinker, vibrator, or flash. I thought this could be useful in the classroom when trying to teach or show something is right or wrong, you could use a light or flash to indicate whether correct or not. Green lights could be used for correct and red for wrong. Also, she mentions FM stations which is an assisted listening device. This works well in the classroom. The way it works is the teacher wears a transmitter, that is connected to a microphone, and the student wears the receiver. FM stations send radio waves from a transmitter to a receiver. The student receives the message from the teacher with the microphone by plugging the receiver into headphones, hearing aids, or other devices. I really liked this because this way everything the teacher says is sent directly to the student and it is way easier to hear.

Grace Hofer:
After watching Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children, I was very impressed with the video. I have known people who are vision impaired but I never thought of how much a struggle it could be in a classroom without assistive technologies. This video shows a few different tools that could help these students. Screen magnifiers, flip cameras, and text to speech devices to name a few. I also found a tool that could be useful called WordQ + SpeakQ. This tool offers an audio proofreading so someone who is vision impaired would be able to hear what the text contains. It also offers a speakQ which lets one speak through a microphone and will be picked up and typed out. The tool also offers the user to change words to similar words like a built in thesaurus. This tool could be very helpful for students to learn how to better speak, write, and strengthen their vocabulary. Another tool that is great for vision impaired people is The Mountbatten. The Mountbatten is a braille write, it can offer audio feedback so the person knows that is being typed. This tool is able to save, transfer, as well as receive files from another computer. With this tool being able to have print and braille results, it allows the teacher as well as fellow students to understand. With everyone understanding, it lets everyone to be included in a project. I do not know if I will for a fact be using these tools in my classroom. But if used, the ones mentioned above could be very helpful. Teachers should be well prepared for all types of students, rather impaired or not, and be able to teach them the way that is best fit for them. It will be exciting to see what the future will hold in my future classroom.

Chasity Heubach:
I am officially excited that EDM 310 is a required course. I say this because I had no idea there were so many resources for disabled students. I would have to say the videos I watched are two of the most informative sources I have encountered so far. The first video I watched was Teaching Math to the Blind. In the video a professor at the University of San Francisco, Art Karshmer, introduces a system he created, using blocks and a grid, to aid blind students in solving math problems. He explains that braille is not read in two dimensions, so where a seeing person would line an addition problem one number on top of the other and add from right to left to solve the problem, a blind person reading braille will line the numbers straight across from left to right. This makes simple math problems, such as addition, difficult for the visually impaired. Professor Karshmer explains in the video how the systems works. The students scans the blocks, with braille and a visual number on the front, with a barcode scanner. Then a computer will read the number aloud. The student then places the block in the grid to properly set up the math problem. After watching this video I researched more tools to aid blind students with solving math problems. I came across a site, Science Daily, that introduces a new system being developed specifically with elementary aged students in mind. The site states that "nearly one in 20 pre-school aged children and about 12.1 million children ages 6-17 have visual impairments, according to the Braille Institute." Sheila Schneider a senior at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Illinois, under the supervision of Professor Deana McDonagh, is creating small sculptures with mathematical equations imprinted with braille. The equations will be written in a form of Braille known as Nemeth Code, which is used for mathematical and scientific symbols. They were designed from the view point of a child and are intended for children ages 7-10. The second video I watched was entitled iPad Usage For the Blind. In this video Wesley Majerus, Access Specialist for the National Federation for the Blind, gives a presentation on how the iPad is set up to help the blind navigate through its system. As he is demonstrating you can hear the iPad voice-over telling him the programs and how to access them. The iPad even enables the blind to read books. Wesley explains that being able to but and read books is very liberating. These tools designed to aid the visually impaired student, are excellent tools to remember as a future teacher. Especially since the "No Student Left Behind" system has physically and mentally disabled students in the same classrooms as non-disabled students. I imagine that the tools are also empowering for and person with visual impairments. I found this encouraging as both a student and a future teacher. 

Project #8

Blog Post #6

Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

Ben Johnson's blog post The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom points out some good facts. It addresses the how do we ask part of asking questions as a teacher. After reading this post it dawned on me that what he says is probably true of most teachers. I remember this being true with most of my teachers in elementary and high school. We all know the famous question teachers ask "Does everybody understand?". Ben stated a point that I agree with, because I remember being this way in school, that question is useless. The truth is some students are not even listening when the teacher ask this question, some just nod yes to move on to something else, and some are not even aware that they do not understand fully. The question is a yes or no question,and students will just say what the teacher wants to hear. I can remember sitting in my desk in high school and the teacher asking that questions and 1/3 of the class not even answering. However, the teacher would hear a few yeses and that was conformation to move on. The question is useless. Ben mentions how to use a simple effective approach to asking questions by Mary Budd Rowe. The approach is to ask a specific question. For example, instead of "Does everyone understand?" ask "How do the planets rotate?". Also, after asking a specific question pause three seconds for a response then call on someone. This way is effective because everyone will be thinking of an answer, and only when someone is called on will they be relieved. Everyone will be randomly called on so the students will be prompted to pay more attention and think of an answer to the questions.

Asking Questions to Improve Learning really helped me with the question of "What questions do we ask?" I learned about a few different types of questions and how to properly ask them. Leading questions are questions that suggest the answer and cause students to not think of one on their own, we should avoid these. It is easy to guess correctly to a yes or no question, so it is best to ask an additional question after that. For example, after answering yes or no ask them why is it yes or why is it no. Make sure your questions are clear, specific, and asked one at a time. I learned about three types of questions: open questions, closed questions, and managerial questions. Open questions are questions that are good for discussion and active learning because they bring about multiple or conflicting answers. Closed questions are good at testing comprehension and showing if a student has retained the information well because they have only a limited amount of correct answers. Managerial questions are used to make sure the students have the needed materials and are understanding. This website also helped with how to ask them students questions too. We need to make sure we ask students and give them a reasonable amount of time to respond to our question. Ask and then wait for their response for 5-10 seconds.Make sure not to interrupt the student will they are answering. Show the students that you are listening and are interested in their answers, whether right or wrong. Help the students see what was incorrect about their answer if it is wrong.

The videoQuestioning Style and Strategies is very useful for learning how and what questions to ask also. The teacher provides four questions with one in each learning style. This is useful because it covers comprehension for all types of learners. He uses techniques with each question. He uses the techniques of: provisional writing and cueing, think pair share, random calling, surveying, student calling, value feedback,extending, wait time, and many more. I really liked the techniques because it made the students very alert. They were all waiting to be called on or listening to their classmates answering. He had the whole classroom involved in the discussion and questioning. He not only was calling on students but was getting other students to call out one of their classmates for their answers or discussions.

In conclusion, I learned that as teachers it is extremely important as to how and what questions we ask. Questions are the core of teaching and learning. Teachers should always remember to ask specific and clear questions and one at a time. It is important how you ask students. They need positive feedback whether their answer is right or wrong. Be sure to mix up the types of questions and to randomly call on each student to make sure everyone gets a turn to be asked.

Project #7

This is My Sentence..




This is my Passion..

Blog Assignment #5

Langwitches blog Podcasting With the First Grade really opened my eyes to how great of an idea this was that he did. He began reading to them Vacation under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne. The purpose of the podcast was to let the students act as though they were interviewing the main characters Jack and Annie. I thought this was very useful in many ways. It not only allowed them to be creative, but also encouraged them to pay more attention to the book so they could know about the characters and what to ask them.The blog told about how shy and quiet students were coming out of their shells during the pod cast. I liked how it also encouraged them to speak to other students and be creative. They also were very attentive with the videoing Langswitch claims. I thought it was amazing that first graders were so into pod casting and also editing the podcast. When I am a future teacher, I want to do a podcast with my students because I feel like it not only helps incorporate technology but social skills.

Langwitches blog Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting was very interesting to read. It was impressive that children who did not speak Hebrew learned how to speak a sentence of it. I thought it was a great idea to give each a student a sentence and then to add everyone's together to tell the story. It was a good way for everyone to contribute and work together. I liked how they did not put them in order so the students had to pay attention and learn where to put their sentence. I also liked how they could play, pause, or edit there sentence because this incorporated the use of a smartboard. It taught them numerous things and uses of different technology tools just by recording a sentence. The project was not about producing a podcast but about teaching the students how to collaborate,listen, and speak a new language. I think that this was a great activity.

Joe Dale's blog post The Benefits of PodCasting in the Classroom was very informal. It provided numerous benefits to prove how useful podcasting is: its an effective way of interacting with students outside of the classroom,its a form of learning students of today are familiar with and therefore makes it relevant to them, it allows for differentiation and project based learning,students can access the higher order thinking skills in Bloom's taxonomy, it promotes creativity and innovation, it can offer distance learning opportunities for absent students,the process of creating and uploading audio files is easy,students can record role plays in character making their learning more memorable, and parents can see and hear what their children are doing at school. I liked how he put students in the video showing first hand how they are benefiting and using it. The podcasting allows students to learn and go back to rewatch what they learned whenever they need or want too, which I really liked most. Joe also included two useful links into the blog to visit. He provided links that help you podcast using GarageBand and links that show you how to podcast.

Project #3 Presentation

C4T #1

Post #1: Angela Maiera's blog post the Best Ways to Let People Know They Matter was a pleasure to read. I like her Choose2Matter call of action. I believe whether your students are young or old, everyone needs to know that they matter. Especially with younger children, I believe this action of letting people know they matter should be enforced. Young children need to be encouraged and let known that they are special and matter because they are still growing up and developing. It is extra important to enforce that to them at a young age, so they have good self worth and value when they are older. I like the steps that she shared to follow: " You See Them, You Listen Earnestly, You Ask Meaningful Questions, You Believe They Can, You Dwell in Possibility, You Celebrate Them, You Do Small Things With Great Love, You Show Up, and You Choose2Matter ." All of these, I agree, will help someone know they matter. They provide the person with attention and respect to let them know you are interested in their life and they matter. 

My comment: Hello, my name is Brittany Allemand. I am a student at the university of South Alabama, and I'm in the class EDM 310. I have been assigned your blog, and I hope you will visit mine and let me know your opinions on my posts. I enjoyed this post and I agree with the points that you posted that let people know they matter. Being an elementary teacher, I believe that letting the children know they matter is extremely important. Your post was great and helpful, thanks!

                                                         

Post #2: Angela Maiera's most recent blog post " Two Days I'll Never Forget" was such an inspiring blog post. The post had me wanting to read more. The post was about her enforcing her Choose2Matter program with a group of sophomores at S.T.E.M academy. She told about how she asked the students how many thought they could change the world. The results were shocking. Only six out of three hundred students thought they could change the world. She then showed how she used the steps she discussed in the earlier post about how to let people know they matter, and she said the children started to sit up and listen to the speech after she told them they were geniuses and the world needed their contributions. After words of encouragement, the students began to form groups for suicide prevention, cancer patients, animal abuse, and other important issues in the world. After just one day they began tweeting inspirational quotes and trying to make a difference in the world. It was shocking how much just words of encouragement and letting them know they were needed and mattered lit the fire inside them and changed their view. On the last day she was at the school, they then asked the students again if they could change the world, and almost every student in the room stood. I really enjoyed her blog,and it made me a believer of just how much a simple "You matter" can mean to a student.


My Comment: Wow. This is a very inspiring blog post. I am the student from South Alabama that was assigned to your blog, and I am very thankful to be able to read such a great post. I would love to incorporate this program into my school whenever I am a future teacher. Glad we have someone out there that wants to incorporate such a positive program into the schools.

   **   Visit her blog!

Blog Post #4

When I graduate in a couple years with my degree in elementary education, I want to be well prepared and trained in technology. I believe that in a couple years classrooms will be filled with more smart boards, computers, or iPads than books, pencils, and paper. After reading this blog post assignment, I immediately turned to the internet and technology to help me research a good topic. After looking around on Google and numerous websites, one technology tool stood out to me the most. I learned about an eportfolio tool for young elementary students to create. They can create a whole portfolio with tabs for all subjects, like math social studies, and science. The website I visited, tech4learning.com,showed an example of a third graders portfolio and how it could look. They had tabs for all subjects, and videos and pictures of her work. I really enjoyed this tool because it said it was a good way to show a child's progress, which is just as important as their products. The portfolios provide a collection of the students work, drawings, reflections, and numerous other things. I really like how the website described the portfolio and its use:"Because portfolios include a collection of performances that demonstrate growth and include student reflections, they provide additional assessment information beyond what can be gleaned from a traditional letter grade." I really like this technology tool and feel as though it will be useful to us as future teachers in EDM 310. You can visit the website above for an overview of what the portofolio is and does. I feel as though this will help the students work computer and other technology tools also. They will learn how to build a preview of all their work.


Chasity Heubach
To no surprise, I began my research on 21st Century Learning tools with the help of Google. I found many tools for learning that would be very helpful to elementary school teachers. Two tools in particular stood out to me. One was a resource called Smart Lab. This is a learning lab that uses technology to inspire hands on learning for students of all ages. While reviewing the usefulness of the Smart Lab technology, I discovered a program called STEM. This program is a comprehensive system with a focus on science,technology, engineering, and mathematics. The STEM website discusses how the program will help improve "an understanding of scientific and mathematical principals, a working knowledge of computer hardware and software, and problem solving skills". The smart lab learning labs aid in the STEM process. The site for smart lab claims that "SmartLabs are fully-integrated classroom systems that include hardware, software, scientific and media equipment, hands-on construction kits and flexible furniture systems. The Smartlab program, I my opinion would be a great thing to introduce in elementary schools throughout the nation. 
Another tool I discovered in my research, and the one I am most excited about, is the program Pixie. Pixie is a system designed to help integrate technology into the elementary classrooms. It is a project based learning system that will, according to the website, help children of all learning styles develop the skills to navigate their way through 21st century technology. I found that another great thing about this program is it aids the teacher in meeting the Common Core Standards.Pixie allows students to create as well as share their own work which instills a sense of pride, resulting in a will to learn. The pixie program in my opinion in a highly motivating program and would be a perfect addition to any elementary classroom. I also believe this would be a good tool to help teachers evaluate a students progress, which would help in eliminating testing in classrooms. The children produce their own work to better show they understand a subject. 
Both the Smartlab and the Pixie programs are excellent tools to better prepare students for 21st century learning and I look forward to one day being able to introduce these programs to students of my own. 

Edheads - Grace Hofer 
Technology will be used in many if not all classrooms before we know it. Trying to find websites that would be great for teaching and for students learning was an adventure. As I came across some that just seemed okay, I came across Edheads which I think is fantastic. This website can be used for fun or for teaching which I love. Edheads offers games and activities that involve mathematics and sciences to promote critical thinking in the user. To tell you the truth, after I discovered this website, I spent about an hour playing around on it before remembering that I was working on an assignment for this class. Once arriving to Edheads, you have the opportunity to pick an activity that you would like to do. Some of these activities are designing a cell phone, to weather activities, to virtual surgeries. After selecting which activity you would like to do, it becomes like a computer game. You are assigned to do different tasks as the game walks you through each step. Doing one of these games, it asked why might you do a step. You are then given about five options to chose the answer. I liked this because it offers not only a fun environment, but a learning one as well. Because Edheads offers the user to do a few activities to do virtual surgeries and such, if I used this site for my students, I would offer it to older students. However, I think any age could learn something from this site. When I was playing around on it I even learned something. I picked this website because of the amount of learning experience it can offer to any user. It gives the learning experience in a way that the users feel like they are just playing a game. The game environment will have a better chance of having students enjoy learning I believe. I think this is a great site to use in a teaching/learning field. I enjoyed it so much that I will probably revisit the page to explore some more of the activities it offers.

Blog Post #3

The video What is Peer Editing? and the slideshow Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial teaches you almost everything you need to know in order to do a good peer review. They give numerous helpful tips and let you know the three most important steps to include in your peer edit: compliment, suggestion, and correction. People can sometimes take comments the wrong way which is why you should compliment the things they did right also. You need to compliment the work, and not just point out the errors. A simple compliment as " I really loved your topic" can change the whole tone of your post. Secondly, it is important to make suggestions. This means make suggestions to the writer on how to improve or make their writing better. For example, a suggestion would be " If you change your wording in the last sentence, it would make the sentence more clear." Lastly, make corrections on their work.These corrections could be about numerous difference things like punctuation, grammar, or spelling. Some good tips the slideshow provided was to be specific, positive, and to follow the three steps of complimenting,suggesting, and correcting. Be specific when you are peer editing so the writer knows exactly what to correct and how to make the writing better. Make sure to be positive when editing, so the writer knows you are trying to help and not embarrass them or say bad things about their writing. For a laugh and a few ways to see how not to peer edit check out the video Writing Peer Review Ten Mistakes. Also, It shows one person who is defensive which is another reason to stay positive!

When I am peer editing a writers work, I like to comment on the post. I feel as though it is more effective and it is easier to just scroll up and down to see the comments an corrections on the same page. I usually do not find many mistakes in the peer edits I have done, so I feel like a short comment is efficient. However, if a peer did have a post that was a complete mess, I would probably email them so I did not correct the whole post for everyone to see. I understand that people would not like everyone to see all the comments. I always try to say something good about the peers writing then make the corrections, so they realize I am not just interested in bringing up their errors.

Blog Post assignment #2

Mr. Dancealot

       This video demonstrates exactly what I do not want to do when I become a teacher. During the entire video, you could see the confused and puzzled looks on all the students faces. He did not demonstrate well how to do any of the dances. For starters, he demonstrated how to do the dances without a partner and behind a desk where you could not even see his feet. Mr. Dancealot then told the student to sit down when he tried to get up and see over the desk that blocked everyone's view. He read straight from the power point and did not elaborate on anything. He should have broken the class up into partners and let them practice and learn hands on. For the final exam, he did not even bother to stay in the room with the students. He simply recorded the exam and never stayed to offer help or answer any questions. He did not care about the process or if they learned how to do it, just if they could preform for the final. A lot of teachers have his mentality. They teach and just expect memorization instead of learning the process, this reminded me of one of the motos for this class "No burp back education". He definitely did not follow this moto. He should have demonstrated and got out from behind the desk. He should have taken them to the dance room and shown them the dances and gave them practices there before the exam. This video did a good job of showing the confusion your students could experience if you don't take the time to explain and demonstrate. It's not always best to present the material and expect the students to memorize it.

The Networked Student

        To view this video by Wendy Drexler titled the Networked student, Click here. The networked student video informs us how to learn with a method called connectivism. This method claims that learning takes places through a large network of many diverse connections and ties. The teacher shows her class how to create a blog online and connect with their classmates and professionals all around the world. This video pretty much describes what we are doing in EDM 310. The students search the web for answers and write about things that they have found or need to discuss. The video informs us about a huge networking system that connects people in a helpful way that promotes learning. The huge network is made possible by the technology we have. This network helps students read other information from students and teachers around the world. Even though the blogs are opinions and not facts, the students can comment and get or give more information. The student can email professors and have video conferences, promoting one on one learning with each other. The networking site can open numerous doors for learning and numerous ways it can occur.
        Why does the networked student even need a teacher? There are several valid answers to that question. Teachers are there to promote learning and to help their students. Although her students may not have a textbook or lecture sections, she is still needed there for guidance. The students need to know how to navigate through the blogs and how to create it. She is there to show them how to build this 21st century learning network and how to learn from it. She is there to provide help when the students get lost or stuck on something online. She shows them how to properly communicate with other people and how to get useful information from them. She shows him how to pick which information is useful and which is just fluff or false. She shows him how to search properly and efficiently. Without the teachers guidance the students would not know how to build or navigate this blog.
        I agree with this video and what it is promoting. I believe that all students need to take a course with connectivism. The 21st century is filled with technology and less of textbooks and lectures. Students need to open the door of learning through technology and communicating with people. Even though I will only be an elementary teacher, I would still want to incorporate technology use in my classes. The 21st century student needs to be skilled in learning through technology. I believe this is important because the process is just as important as the material. Students need to learn how to do something and not just memorize information. This networking blog will help you search and find answers. It will also help you learn through other people and not just through a book with pages.

Teaching in the 21st century: Grace Hofer

The way Kevin Roberts presented his thoughts was a great way to challenge people. Roberts is correct that technology is changing and the younger generations will be more capable of using technology than we have been. The video makes you question of what the teachers job is if any information can be found at anytime by the students. The purpose of teachers is to teach students how to use these technological tools so they can know how to do it on their own. For example, what if you went up to a kid who has never even seen a computer in their life and told them to find out the population of a city. They would have no clue how to even begin. This is where teachers would come in, to show the kid how one would even begin to find information and how to arrive to the conclusion. This should challenge students who plan to one day teach to become familiar with all different types of technology and how to use them. If one does not know how to work a device, how are they expected to teach someone else how to use it? The next generation may be very familiar with devices the past generation may of known nothing about. Teachers and future teachers need to be on top of all knowledge about these devices the future generation will know, so we can teach them something they do not know. 




Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts: ChasityHeubach

What Vicki Davis has done to encourage her students to learn is remarkable. She has not only taught them technological skills that they will be able to use long after leaving her class, she has taught them how to learn through teaching themselves. She explains that most class rooms "use only paper and only pencils" and because of that only certain students will succeed. She says that she is teaching her students to learn how to learn. She seems to have given her students a sense of responsibility for their own success, rather than allow them to be fully reliant on her to flood them with information. She gives them resources to find answers for themselves. In the video she talks about how she gives definitions and lets them research the answer. She has found a way to motivate students to want to learn by allowing them the freedom to discover the ways of learning best suited for them. I think her example of teaching is one every teacher should follow. The best way to learn, is to do. I also noticed in her video that she actually has more class participation than a typical teacher would. By typical teacher, I mean one who has strict rules and guidelines that the students must follow and if they get of that straight and narrow path they are scorned. I can not begin to tell you how many teachers, especially in college, that I have encountered who force their views of a subject onto their students. And if your ideas don't match theirs you fail. That is not what teaching is about. Teaching is about giving a student the opportunity to develop their own ideas and learn for themselves. Ms. Davis has really inspired me and they way I would like to teach. 
 Check out Ms. Davis video here. http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis-video