Skype Interview

While a short interview, I enjoyed it. If you ever get a chance to speak with her, I highly suggest it.

Blog Post #9

What I've Learned This Year

I think this post is absolutely amazing. I'm glad to see that Mr. McClung learned these things and within his first year of teaching too.

While I understand that everyone in the world hopes to have everything perfect, it's really not going to happen. It's impossible. And the sooner you realize that, the better off you are. You won't stress yourself more than you need to. Besides, going with he flow of things is not only easier, but it tends to be a little more interesting and not quite so boring.

I also think that teachers need to really listen to their students. I've had so many classes where teachers don't want to hear what you have to say. They don't want to listen to anything unless you're answering a question or asking one, sometimes not even then. Too many of them don't allow students to challenge them (respectfully) and explore with their words. Sometimes this can make a teacher scary and unapproachable.

As for communicating, do it! Communicate in personal relationships like marriages and friendships, but also communicate in professional relationships. There are going to be times when you're going to need help and who better to help you than your co-workers?

I think a lot of the points Mr. McClung made are common sense, or ought to be anyway.

Comments for Kids 4, 5, and 6

The first blog I commented on belonged to a student named Unaloto. His most recent blog post discussed the movie Megamind and the movie Despicable Me. Unaloto was asking for opinions on which one people thought was better and he used great pictures in the post.



The second student, a boy named Junior, wrote a blog post on how he wanted to become a doctor. I think it's wonderful that he knows what he wants to do already. I personally changed my mind at least a hundred times by the time I got into college.


The third student, Shawnee, wrote a post about how to get rid of hiccups and even included a link to a video on the subject. I thought her post was very helpful, since I hate hiccups; they tend to hurt when I get them.

C4T #3

The Power of Educational Technology

For this C4T assignment, I was told to look over Liz B. Davis' blog. Well, the first post I came across was a short one talking briefly about Edcamp Boston. Well, I got curious and Googled Edcamp Boston. What I found out was that Edcamp Boston is an unconference to addresses issues in education and throw around ideas on how to fix them or to just give ideas in general. So, what's an unconference? I had to Google that too. An unconference is a gathering that tries to avoid certain aspects of the normal conference, like high fees, and is participant-driven. It seems Edcamp Boston has succeeded in being a successful unconference. It's free to attend and it's sponsors offer free breakfast and coffee and free lunch, along with free entry. However, what marks it as even more successful is the fact that the limited number of spots filled up within about a week. I think perhaps teachers should attend one of these education unconferences; it's always good to get other opinions.

The second post I read through and commented on talked about how Belmont Hill School faculty have made amazing progress, but Davis wondered if she should push them even further before the school year lets out. However, she was curious as to whether this was the right choice or not, and frankly, I don't think so. I understand her enthusiasm and her want for the school to improve further when it comes to using technology, but changing everything all at once isn't necessarily the best choice. Sometimes it's better to introduce things slowly and allow people to get accustomed to the changes. But I do have to say that it is great that she is so enthusiastic about making more changes.

Blog Post #8

This Is How We Dream

I believe I'm prepared to write with multimedia and I do intend on teaching my students how to do the same. Though I may sound a little redundant, it's important that today's and tomorrow's students are prepared for the future. And that future includes technology.

I think it's amazing that all the information we could possibly need for anything can be found on the internet and can also be gathered from sources using video conferencing. These two things have made it possible for people to gather all of their information without having to meet with people face-to-face, which is growing increasingly harder as work-loads grow. Not to mention they allow people to access everything from home. The age of using giant, old, and dusty books for research seems to be coming to an end. At least, very slowly.

I think things like novels and comic books may be around a lot longer, but they too may be going out of style, since things like the Kindle have been created. But my point is, I need to be able to keep up with things like this and I need to be able to use them effectively in order to teach my students how to use them. And I certainly plan on keeping up with technology.

The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies

The Chipper Series was a great video. It really drives home the importance of striving for excellence and not taking shortcuts. As for the EDM 310 for Dummies video, that one was great too. It was very creative and entertaining.

I would personally love to make a video that is English/ Language Arts related. I think it would be on the importance of reading, or the importance of using proper English. Those are two things I think are the biggest issues when it comes to teaching students English/ Language Arts.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

I agree with the arguments made in this video. People are swept up in exploring the world through cell phones, iPods, iPads, laptops, etc. However, many schools have BANNED these things so students are forced to force themselves to learn by reading their notes and textbooks. The old fashioned way isn't always effective because 1) it's boring and 2) some students learn better through doing or seeing, not reading. Which means, the technologies and the "nuisances" ought to be incorporated into classrooms and lesson plans. Yes, teachers will still struggle with those students who use the devices to play games while in class, but overall it would be beneficial.

The Secret Powers of Time by Philip
Zambardo

This video basically breaks down people and time. It says that there are three different types of people, future oriented, past oriented, and present oriented. Future oriented people are those that "work harder" than others. They aren't stuck on what happened in the past.

I think this particular message pertains to education in that past oriented people are too busy with what happened to pay enough attention to what they -should- be working for, like an education and a better future. And the present oriented people are too consumed with what's happening now to pay attention to what they should be working for too. So, being future oriented would be the better choice. They are the people who work for what they think should happen; they work for the better education and better future.


Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by David Pink

This video discusses what motivates people and I found it odd that the more money that's offered as a reward for a complicated task, the poorer the job is done. However, it makes sense. Yes, people like being rewarded for what they do, but people like independence even more and it all ties in perfectly with education. Students do tend to prefer to teach themselves things and just ask for help if and when they need it. There have been plenty of literature classes where my teachers has had the class read things out loud or the teacher does it and I'm silently screaming "Stop!! I want to do the work and the reading on my OWN!" Drove me insane since I usually worked a good deal faster than everyone else. Rewards only go so far, but allow people to work independently and you'll be surprised at what they can accomplish and learn.

Project #13

PLN Progress Report

At first it was a little difficult figuring out what I ought to include in my PLN. However, as I got to thinking, I realized it wasn't that hard. So, the point of EDM 310 is to prepare future teachers for using technology in their classrooms and the point of being in college period is to prepare for being (in our cases) teachers. So, why not create a PLN that has to do with my future job? It might not be useful to the fullest extent, but it does allow me to research things and start at least thinking about my future lesson plans. Not to mention it can help me create connections with other teachers who can in turn help me. One great thing I found to help me connect with other teachers was a list of teachers who use Twitter. It gives their name, their subject, the grade the teach, where they are located, and their Twitter name. Definitely going to make use of this list.

Short Movie Project