Thursday, April 23, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Blog Post 5 Part 2
For this blog post assignment we are to summarize our Personal Learning Network thus far. Since beginning my Personal Learning Network, It has grown dramatically. Most of this growth has been via twitter. I now follow a handful of twitter accounts that do a great job at keeping me updated with the changes of the educational world.
These accounts are as listed below:
Edudemic
TeachersPayTeachers
edutopia
Mark Clark: Author of the Princess Fables
Michael Fawcett
Google For Education
Rochford On Demand
All of these twitter accounts listed are very informational. They also post great ideas on their twitter accounts that can be used in future classrooms. Not only has using twitter broadened my Personal Learning Network, but being in EDM 310 groups has also helped me make new life-long teaching friends. I now have friends that I can study with and depend on when it comes to keeping each other informed on what is going on in class. I am a firm believer that you cannot make it through college without friends to help you along the way.
As far as my future classroom, I would like to encourage my students to broaden there Personal Learning Network. It is important for them to learn how to work with a group, and to learn how to work as a team. Many occupations now require you to work "as a team"; there are very few jobs that allow you to work by yourself.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
C4K Summary for April
The first student I was assigned to for the month of April was Lauren R from Mrs. Lombard's 7th grade english class in Oklahoma. I commented on Lauren's "The Anatomy of Grey's" post. In this post Lauren talked about the show that she is currently watching on Netflix, Grey's Anatomy. She compared what season she was on to the current season that is now being shown on TV. She also explained some of her favorite things about this show, and highly recommended everyone to watch it. I told Lauren about the current show that I was watching on Netflix, and I also gave her some back ground information on the setting of the show.
Below is my comment to Lauren:
My name is Kaley McManus and I am a student at the
University of South Alabama. I love Netflix!! I have not gotten into Grey's
Anatomy yet. That may be the next show that I start. I am currently watching
The Hart of Dixie. I love it, mostly because the setting is in "Blue
Bell", Alabama. "Blue Bell" is a fictional town, but its
location in the show is where the city of Fairhope, Alabama really is. It is also just fun to relate to some of the
scenes in the show. I do feel that the show does exaggerate southern tradition
to the extreme though. My favorite shows
so far have been Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. Great post and keep up the
great work!
Here is a link to direct you to the home page of Fairhope,
Alabama:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcmanus_kaley
Gmail: kaleymcmanus2016@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com
URL for my class blog: http://mcmanuskaleyedm310.blogspot.com
The second student that I was assigned to was Laurin from Ms. Thomas's class from John Hanson French Immersion School in Prince Georges, MD. I commented on Laurin's "How to fit in" post. In this post Laurin tells her readers that she has never fit in. She encourages her readers to just be themselves, and that true friends will eventually come. I agree with Laurin, and also gave her some additional advice on why it doesn't matter if you "fit in."
Below is my comment to Laurin:
My name is Kaley McManus, and I am a
student from the University of South Alabama. Wonderful advice for others on
how to "fit in." It is important to just always be yourself. If we
were all alike, then this world would be a boring place. It is not important if
you fit in or not, especially in school. Trust me, you will never see a lot of
people that you graduated in high school with ever again. My sister is 11 years
old, and I always try to give her advice on why "fitting in" is not
important. Just be yourself, and give 100% at everything you do in life. Keep
up the great work!
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mcmanus_kaley
Gmail: kaleymcmanus2016@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com
The third and final student I was assigned to was Tyson Mr. Webbauro's Room 3 class at Auroa School in South Taranaki, New Zealand. In Tyson's "Aurora School Drive-in Movie Night", Tyson discussed his school's drive-in movie night. He explained how their will be lollies and other movie goods at this movie night. He also tells his readers that they will be watching the movie off of a movie trailer. I enjoyed Tyson's blog post. I told him about our "movie event" at the high school that I attended.
Below is my comment to Tyson:
My name is Kaley McManus, and I attend the University of
South Alabama located in Mobile, Alabama in the United States. A drive in movie
night sounds really great. One year my school sponsored a movie night, but it
was located on the football field. Students and parents laid their blankets out
on the 50-yard line, and we watched the movie on our new jumbotron. I looked
through the slideshow provided on your teacher's blog. It looks like y'all had
a great time. Good post and keep up the great work!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcmanus_kaley
Gmail: kaleymcmanus2016@gmail.com
URL for class blog: http://edm310.blogspot.com
Monday, April 13, 2015
Blog Post #13
In this blog post assignment, we were asked to create our own blog post assignment that we thought our instructor should have included in this course regarding our area of specialty. As an elementary education major, I think it is really important to focus on a parent-teacher relationship. It is important for elementary teachers to keep the parents informed and updated on what is going on in the classroom.
My blog post assignment question is:
What ways can teachers use technology to promote a parent-teacher relationship? Give 3 or more examples and explain why you as a teacher would use these certain devices, apps, or websites. Also, how would using this technology help keep your parents informed of what is going on in the classroom?
Links that can be used for this assignment:
Here is a list of tools you can use to enhance a parent-teacher relationship:
1. Swivl
The Swivl is a robot that uses your iPad to record your classroom lectures. It moves when you move, and it even knows to lift and tilt the iPad when you decide to bend down and work with a student individually. This device can be used to enhance a parent-teacher relationship by always keeping parents informed of what is going on in the classroom by letting them watch video recorded lectures. It gives the parent a "seat in the classroom." As a future educator, I would use this device to keep my parents updated on how we learn certain standards. A lot of parents have trouble with the common core. This device could watch this videos so that they could help their kids with the tricky math homework at home. This device could also be used to help students "make-up" work. If they missed a certain lecture, they could just go to the certain location that I have these files stored and watch the video. It's like they didn't even miss class.
2. ClassDojo
The classdojo is a way to encourage positive classroom behavior. It also encourages a parent-teacher relationship by being able to inform parents of child behavior instantly. You can engage parents by easily communicating through class dojo's messaging system. It allows students to reflect on their own progress. The students can also create their own avatar when using classdojo, so this encourages creativity. As a future educator, would use the ClassDojo to help encourage positive student behavior. We will also reflect on student's Dojo points weekly, and I will give a reward to the student with the most Dojo points.
Dash4Teachers gives us a deeper look into classroom behavior. It can be set aside for the more in-depth conversations with parents regarding student behavior. Dash4Teachers requires a little set-up, but once you have downloaded individual student documents; you are set to go. You can then download the app, and start tracking student behavior. It also helps the teacher keep track of teacher-parent conversations. This would help keep parents on track with student-teacher interactions. As a future educator, I would use this to help document all my parent-teacher interactions regarding their child.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Blog Post #11
For this particular blog post we were assigned the question, "what can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?" The first video assigned was Back to the Future, a video by Mr. Brian Crosby. In this video Mr. Crosby starts his lecture off by explaining the negative effects of having a narrow curriculum. Mr. Crosby believes that a narrow curriculum prevents kids from building a world schema. This lack of "world schema" makes it hard for kids to imagine what could be, if they don't know what it is even about. Mr. Crosby also proposes the question "if you don't have imagination or creativity, then where do you build passion from?" Mr. Crosby goes on to encourage actively engaging students into each lesson. He teaches his viewers that you can take one idea, and build a variety of lessons off of that idea. For example, science experiments can be turned into history lessons, and can also be used to work on language arts/reading skills. Mr. Crosby also included that his students blog, and that student blogging encourages collaboration and student learning. He also includes that motivational and meaning content captures the student's attention and makes them feel a sense of empowerment. Mr. Crosby sums up his lecture by stating, "we can't keep racing kids through school, we have to provide an opportunity for them to build world schema."
In Mr. Paul Andersen's Blending Learning Cycle video, he explains his blended classroom. He starts out by defining the blending classroom as a blend of online, mobile, and classroom experiences. He also introduces the 5 e's, which are engage, explore, explain, expand and evaluate. Mr. Andersen then explains his "blending learning cycle" by introducing an acronym. Below is Mr. Andersen's "Quivers" acronym.Six Components of the Blended Learning Cycle:
QUIVERS
Start off with a good Question
Investigation/Inquiry
Video
Elaboration
Review
Summary Quiz
In Making Thinking Visible, Mark Church focuses on documenting student thinking. He thinks that teachers should work on connecting, exploring, and moving certain ideas forward so observers have the opportunity to assess thinking. He explains that teachers need to work to make student thinking visible by either documenting or recording their thoughts. He explains how it is not only important for the students to see these ideas, but to carry these ideas forward.
In Sam Pane 4th Grade, Sam Pane explains to his class how to use the internet safely. He focuses on the strategy of letting his students discuss within their groups, and then answering the question out loud. He explains how to build their own digital super hero. He takes time to explain how to build a super hero and then he gives his students the opportunity to build themselves. He then turns this into a language arts/reading lesson and allows his students to build comics with their own digital super hero. Mr. Pane encourages teachers to strive to always make the lesson more personal and meaningful. Mr. Pane then had each student to go around to the other student's computers and take a look at their peers digital super hero. Below are ELA take aways as seen in this video.ELA Take Aways:
- Write narratives to develop imagined experiences or events
- Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to text
- Ask and answer questions
In the video Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program, Ms. Trish Taylor explains project based learning as in depth learning that integrates thematic instruction and something that is based on a "real-world" problem. She also includes that Project Based learning is research based. She explains that PBL teaches students on how to think for themselves. PBL lesson really shows that the student really understands a certain concept. PBL is a great learning environment for students. It also encourages public speaking at a very early age. Mrs. Taylor explains that PBL is all about student choice, and that it gives the students a sense of empowerment. She also explains that when using PBL that students learn real-world skills and/or 21st century skills. PBL teaches students how to work independently, and it also encourages students to work corporately together by working in groups. PBL also encourages community involvement. PBL focuses on differentiation in the classroom and incorporates multiple intelligences and learning styles.
Overall, these videos teach us all about Project based learning and student engagement. It introduces to us the different concepts of Project Based learning, and the different styles of teaching that use this method of project based learning. All of these videos cover the importance of student engagement, student choice, and revision. All things change with time, and that includes education.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
C4T #3
For my comment for teachers post five and six I was assigned Mr. John T. Spencer's blog called Education Rethink. For assignment 5 this blog was titled Seven Strategies for Avoiding Burn Out. In this blog post Mr. Spencer gave his readers insight on ways to avoid burn out. The seven strategies that Mr. Spencer covered are listed below.
Seven Strategies for Avoiding Burnout:
Strategy #1: Teach out of your identity.
Strategy #2: Choose a better story.
Strategy #3: Define success as faithfulness and growth rather than results or perfection.
Strategy #4: Set boundaries and stick to them.
Strategy #5: Be realistic but be grateful.
Strategy #6: Embrace a community of trusted friends, where you can be open and vulnerable.
Strategy #7: Understand the phases of your career and the potential burnout in each phase.
Below is my comment to Mr. Spencer:
My name is Kaley McManus
and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. As a future educator, I
really enjoyed reading your post. I find the 7 ways that you listed to avoid
burn out to be very inspirational. I currently live with a
"first-year" elementary teacher, and I have seen the good, the bad,
and the ugly. I will make sure to share these points with her to lift her
spirits, and provide her with effective advice on how to avoid
"burn-out". I feel like so many teachers lose sight of "why they
became teachers," because of frustration and stress faced throughout their
career. Again, this is a wonderful post. Thanks for sharing!
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mcmanus_kaley
Gmail:
kaleymcmanus2016@gmail.com
URL for class blog:
http://edm310.blogspot.com
URL for my class blog: http://mcmanuskaleyedm310.blogspot.com
For assignment six I commented on Mr. Spencer's blog titled Thinking Creatively About Student Blogging. In this blog post Mr. Spencer provided multiple links for his readers. He also provided very beneficial information for improving "student blogging." Mr. Spencer also provided session and workshops that he himself does, and he also provided his readers with his email address.
Below is the links that Mr. Spencer provided:
Five Ways to Fix Student Blogging
Geek Out Projects
How Should My Students Approach Blogging?
Ten Thoughts on Visual Writing Ideas
The Story Behind Write About
Thirteen Thoughts on Student Blogging
Ways to Reach Reluctant Writers
What Do We Mean by Authentic Audience?
Writing Ideas for the First Week of School
Below is my comment to Mr. Spencer:
My name is Kaley McManus
and I am a student from the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed
reading this post, and I found the links you provided very helpful. I also
really like the slide show that you provided. As a future educator this post is
very helpful because I want to make sure to incorporate student blogging into
my classroom. I think it is really great that you also offer session and
workshops to your readers. Thanks for the read!
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mcmanus_kaley
Gmail:
kaleymcmanus2016@gmail.com
URL for class blog:
http://edm310.blogspot.com
URL for my class blog:
http://mcmanuskaleyedm310.blogspot.com
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