C4T #3 Summary

I wasn't assigned Mr. Robo's Blog, "The PE Geek".
In Mr. Robo's post, 10-25-2011, "Discussion Starters" he talks about the use of SMS messaging for educational purposes. Students will receive one 160 character message per day. Sometimes the message would need an immediate response, and other times it may contain the topic of discussion for the next class.

My comment:
Hi, my name is Lindsey Gipson and I am student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class and was assigned to read, comment, and summarize two of your blog posts. I think that the use of SMS messaging for educational purposes is a great idea. My only concern would be for the students who do not have access. I know that in our technologically advanced society the majority of students, have cell phones and their own personal computer. I wish there was a way to ensure that all students had access, and could reap the benefits of technology.

In Mr. Robo's post, 10-17-2011, "Time Lapsed PE", he uses iMotion HD to video his PE class. With this program he is able to capture an image every 5 seconds for the entire 80 minute class. The results are impressive. If you check out the video embedded in his post you will see that movement and physical activity are his number one priorities. I noticed in one of the comments left on this post that another teacher used iMotion HD in their classroom to explain the process of energy production by using stop motion techniques and a whiteboard.

My comment:
What a great way to use iMotion HD! You can definitely tell by the video that movement and physical activity is your number one priority. My creative juices are flowing, thinking of how I will be able to use this for activities in my classroom as well.

Blog Post #10

1. Do You Teach or Do You Educate? By: Joshua B. Bloom

I believe there is some grey area with most people when it comes to knowing the difference between Teaching and Educating? I would venture to say that most use the two words interchangeably. When the fact is that they are indeed different. I have heard teacher's say phrases like this, "I spent two extra days teaching that lesson and the majority still did poorly on the test!" What I want to say is, "You may have stood in front of the class and "taught", but apparently not very many student's were educated after you finished."

I especially like the definition given in the video that an educator equals an experienced trusted adviser. That is what I want to be, I want more than anything to be an ally to my students. I want to provide an atmosphere and experience that makes them want to learn. I want to take away the fear of making mistakes, and teach them how to use their mistakes as a learning experience.

2.Don't Let Them Take Home Pencils By: Tom Johnson

Goodness, I know that we are all going to encounter the dreaded "Gertrudes" in life. The foot tapping, stuck in their ways, know it alls. There has been one at all of my past jobs and I know there is at least one in every school. (It's inevitable.) After reading a few of Mr. Johnson's blogs Gertrude is the "human brick wall" that he seems to hit at every turn. She is more focused on standardized test scores than on "educating" her students. Her reputation is more important than the student's education. This is going to be one of my greatest challenges as a teacher, the forced focus on standardized tests. I know that we have to focus on it, but we have to work extra hard to not let it be our main focus.

In this particular post Gertrude is after Mr. Johnson for letting his students take home "pencils". Because we all know that research shows that students that take home "pencils" score lower on standardized tests. Oh, and heaven forbid if a student was caught playing a game with a "pencil", their level of intelligence is sure to be doomed. Of course the word pencil in this post is substituted for computer. Mr. Johnson was caught allowing students to take computer's home. This is a "No, No!" according to Gertrude, the School Curriculum Instructional Interventionist Academic Specialist. I despise the way that she basically states that low income areas don't have access, and don't understand how to use technology for educational purposes so just leave it that way. That's terrible, they will never move forward if someone doesn't educate them. It is going to take a lot more Mr. Johnson's to make a difference. He has started a program that brings the parents in and educates them on how to use the computers. The majority of the parents in these areas do not use computers on their jobs, and they never used them in school. They appreciate the opportunity to learn. I know that it is hard/expensive to provide access to computers for all students. But, it is now more than ever becoming a necessity. I also like Mr. Johnson's point that if they go home and use the computer to play a game, it's ok. It is safe to say that some form of learning is happening while they are playing. This is an awesome blog, definitely one that I am excited about following.

Blog Post # 9

In Mr. Joe Clung's summary of what he learned from his first year of teaching,
May 27, 2009, he touches a few subjects that really hit home with me. First, he mentions you must learn how to read the crowd. He explains that in your first year it is easy to forget who your audience is. We are used to creating lessons to please our instructors. It's easy to forget that our audience (especially if teaching elementary school) "struggles remembering what they brought for lunch that day". This also leads to his points on being flexible. It's ok if you plan the "perfect" lesson and things just don't go exactly like you planned. You may get started and realize that your teaching the gravy and your class hasn't even gotten the potatoes yet. This may set you back a little, but don't panic. Communication, this is a big one, we must be able to communicate not only with students but with parents and fellow faculty members. Create some allies (friends), make your own little support system. There will be times you will need it and you have to have good communication skills to do this.

Be REASONABLE, I encountered this kind of situation the other day, when I read this I knew exactly what he meant. I was at a school week before last, the name of the school is not important and neither is the name of the teacher, the class was having an ice cream party for the students that had reached 90% on their AR (accelerated reader) goals for first quarter. Every student in this class had reached 90% except one, she had only made it to 89%. Therefore, she was not able to attend the ice cream party. Not only was she not able to attend the party, but while the other students were at the party she was in another teacher's class working on the computer trying to get to 90%. After the party all of the students came back to class including the 89% student. The teacher asked her if she had reached her goal, "No, mam... still 89%", she said. The teacher said, "Well sweetie, ya know, I just don't get it.... I mean you're just gonna have to try harder.. there is absolutely no reason why everybody else can get to 90% and above and you just can't get past 89%." This conversation was not only in front of me but in front of the entire class, that still had chocolate syrup in the corner of their mouths from the ice cream party. I thought to myself, first of all, there may very well be a reason why she can't get past 89%. It's great that everyone else is at 90% and above but she may not be able to get there, and that's ok. Talk to her, find out what it is... and don't forget that is the goal that you the teacher set for her. Remember 89% is not bad, it's a good score, it's above average. Look at what her score was on the first test, has she improved? Because if she took the first test and made 75% then ending the quarter at 89% is AWESOME, and deserves a reward.
He also touches on not being afraid of technology, we have EDM310 to get us ready for this one! His next piece of advice is to listen to your students. This is so important, you need to know where your kids are coming from. Everyone, I repeat everyone has a different story, get to know them. You don't have to be nosey, just listen. When my daughter was in K4, we went on a field trip to the pumkin patch. This sweet lady read a story around the fire place to the kids. At the end she was asking questions to them in reflection of the story. She asked, "How many of you have someone that loves you?" of course they all raised their hands. Then, she pointed to some of them and asked the question, "Who loves, you?". I'll never forget when she pointed at one of the little ones, he replied, "Mrs. Davis, I know she loves me." He looked up at his teacher and smiled. He had always been the wildest one in the bunch, but then it kind of made sense. Listen to 'em....
The last thing he mentions is never stop learning, hopefully we all know why this is important. We need to be excited about learning if we want our students to be excited about learning. Not to mention things are changing everyday, we need to make sure we stay up to speed.

In his post after his second year of teaching "What I have learned" June 15, 2010.
He talks about how things didn't go as smooth his second year as they did his first year. He had to learn to adapt, when he was switched from sixth grade to eighth grade. He was also teaching a history class when he was used to teaching science. Science involves a lot of "fun" learning through discovery, and he learned that it was hard to make history "fun" to learn. He also mentions to find a school mom, someone with experience, who knows how things work. She will help you when you get into a jam. Also, even if you are having problems with fellow faculty or admistration, make sure that this does not affect your teaching. It's not your students fault there is a problem, so don't let it affect their education. He closes with "It's what you learn after you know it all that matters." Think about that statement for a moment... It's huge!! It is very important that we remember, that when we graduate we will walk away with our chest out. Because we are college graduates, and we are educated! Don't forget to be humble, keep learning you will NEVER know it all.

Project #13 - Smart Board Instruction

Short Movie

Book Trailer "Woolbur"

Blog Post #8

1. This Is How We Dream By: Richard E. Miller

Dr. Miller is a Professor of Rutgers University. In this lecture he is explaining how the literary world is changing with technology. One of the main incremental changes is less use of pens, paper, and books. Fewer and fewer people utilize the library as their main source of information. This makes sense due to the abundance of information that is virtually at our fingertips. It is not only extremely easy to access but it saves time and money. Dr. Miller refers to the ability to post documents on the web as, "Sharing knowledge infinitely". Versus using a library where once a book is checked out it is no longer available for anyone else until it is returned. I wonder what a teacher thirty years ago would have said if he/she had been told about these changes... That soon teachers from all over the world would not only be able to communicate at the touch of a button but they would be able to collaborate and work on projects together virtually face to face.

Dr. Miller acknowledges there are factors such as access and availability that at this point in time make it difficult for us to use technology to its full potential. I like how Dr. Miller states, "That the limits and the restrictions are largely ones that we put on ourselves." But he does for see a day that it will a way of life. We already have information that's updated and available to us 24 hours a day. He refers to technology as being a way to push ideas into our culture. The web gives us the opportunity to share our ideas and opinions with the entire world. The door to success is so much larger than it ever has been. Can you imagine how far we will be when our students are our age? This is putting into perspective just how much we do need to have technology in the classroom. Our students are going to need to know how to use these tools in order to reach ultimate success. Notice how I said, "tools", today's youth is well aware of how to use technology for entertainment, which is a start. We need to be able to show them how to use it to succeed. In the world of technology the sky is the limit.

2. Blog Post # 12 By: Carly Pugh


Carly's playlist is a perfect example of how what Mr. Miller is lecturing about. It proves how much you can learn with the click of a mouse. It also shows how you can use this to teach with little or no paper, pens, books, etc. The idea and the post were amazing.

3.The Chipper Series and EDM 310 For Dummies

These videos are great! I especially love the EDM 310 For Dummies video. It makes me feel like I am not alone. I have gotten frustrated with some of the assignments but I know that they are useful and I am excited for the opportunity to learn. Making videos takes getting used to. I think the hardest part for me is getting used to seeing myself on camera. I am still not comfortable with that I can stand up and talk all day, but I don't particularly like looking at myself. I think this is why I enjoyed the podcast so much. I will most certainly use this in my classroom. I will record lessons and post them for students who are absent or for students to go back and listen for studying.

4. Learn to Change, Change to Learn

This video is stating the fact that the educational system HAS to accept technology! In order to reach today's students, we have to stop banning the use of technology in school and embrace it. School doesn't have to be boring, it's ok to have fun learning. I think some people are afraid that if students are having fun then they can't be learning. This couldn't be further from the truth. If you enjoy what you are doing, you will want to do it more often. Wouldn't it be awesome if a student was having such a good time researching and working on a visual presentation for Biology that they couldn't wait to get home and finish working on it? Don't be afraid of technology and don't be afraid to have fun learning!!

Project #6

C4T #2 Summary

I have been following the blog "Blend My Learning". This blog comes from the Envision Academy in Oakland, CA. The instructors at the Envision Academy are tired of listening to everyone's thoughts and theories on how technology will effect education. They have taken the next step and decided to dig in and test it out. These guys are shaking up the traditional form of education, and having a great time while they work. They experiment with different online classes and curriculum and document their students learning.

This brings me to the first post that I commented on:
"The Results" posted on August 31, 2011. The main experiment that they are currently focusing on is the benefit of using Google Chromebooks and the Khan Academy Website to enhance the education process. They did this experiment by splitting up an algebra summer school class. Students were randomly separated, half of them were placed in a traditional algebra remediation summer school course and the rest were in a Khan Academy course. The students were given a pre and post assessment to measure their individual progress, now the results are in......

First, it's important to know that the data collected will not be recognized by any statistician. The pilot was too short and the sample size was too small. Also, the students knew they were being studied, this can have an effect on the results. The information is just to give a general idea of the pros and cons of using the Khan Academy education system.

Here are the results quoted by "Blend My Learning":

"Among the students in the study who had valid scores on the pre and post course assessment, the results were similar for the treatment and the control group. Students in the “control” or traditional summer school course, on average, increased their percentage of correct answers by 5.2% over the five-week period. Students in the “treatment” or Khan class, on average, increased their percentage of correct answers 6.4%. For example, a student who started the summer knowing 60% of the correct answers in the traditional class ended the five weeks knowing 65.2% of the correct answers. The same student in the Khan class would, on average, be able to answer 66.4% of the answers correctly at the end of the same period."


I also read the post: "What's In the Data? The Value of Feedback". There was not a new post so I just chose the post just before "The Results" post.
This post shows the polls taken by students, on how much they like or dislike blended learning style of teaching. It also states that one of the high points of blended learning is that it forces students to be accountable. They can't just drift through high school, they are forced to learn. I recommend checking this blog out I have read a lot of the posts and it is very interesting and exciting to see where technology is taking us.
My comment:
"I think that blended learning in high school will be of great use. Forcing accountability is awesome! It is way too easy to just glide through high school, never setting or reaching any substantial goals. To be honest I was one of the high school students who made good grades and never opened a book. I listened enough in class to take the test and make an "A". The problem was I never really learned anything. Of course some things just stuck with me, but the majority of the things I couldn't tell you an hour after the test. This is what made me want to become a teacher. I know I can't change the world, but I can help as many students as possible LEARN and APPLY what they learn. If you understand why you are learning something and how to apply to your life, you have succeeded. I am interested to see the results when the Kahn University Website is used on a larger sample size."

Instructional Timeline

Blog Post 7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

After watching Dr. Pauch's Last Lecture, I had so many thoughts I wasn't sure where to begin. My first feeling was of great respect for Dr. Pauch. Even though he is dieing of cancer, he is standing up with his head high. You don't feel a since of gloom and doom, and he is definitely not suffering from poor pitiful me syndrome. It's sad but I know people who let something as simple as catching too many red lights on the way to work ruin their entire day. Unknowingly, his introduction has a life lesson that we all need, he makes you think about your own outlook on life.

He leads into his childhood dreams, and for the most part how he made them come true. It amazed me how he went through each one of his dreams and made them a reality. He made it seem so simple, "set your goal and reach it". So many times we feel like our childhood dreams are unreachable, and we should settle for what is reasonable. I think the fear of failure or not knowing what would happen if we didn't succeed makes the majority of people take the safest route. There is also the group of people that try to reach their dreams but hit what Dr. Pausch calls a "brick wall". He tells us that brick walls are there for a reason, they show us how bad we want things. I think that sometimes fear also plays a part in this. If we give it our all and smack into a brick wall, a lot of time even though we want it we are just scared to try again or we start to believe that it's just not feasible.

One of the childhood goals he mentions was his dream of being in the NFL. He played on a football team and was the smallest player on the team. He had an exceptional coach, I think he called him "old school". He knew the importance of learning the fundamentals before learning the fancy stuff. That can be applied to everything in life. It's kind of the crawl before you walk way of learning. So many times we want to skip to the fancy fun stuff but when doing this we forget the basics. Or even worse we don't know why we do the fancy stuff. This can be applied to the questions we have been answering about bringing technology into the classroom. Technology would be the fancy stuff. If a student can't explain in their own words why they are using the technology, or they can't tell you how to get the answer without it then there is a fundamental issue. I also like what the assistant coach told him after he had been chewed out repeatedly during practice, he tells him that it's good because when you're messing up and nobody says anything to you, it means that they have given up on you. That's a worse position to be in. Pausch lets us know that even though he didn't actually get into the NFL, he learned the most from the pursuit of this dream. It is interesting that throughout his life he was most comfortable on the football field and even tossed a football around when he was thinking about something.

Pausch made it his life goal to enable the dreams of others. I would venture to say he reached that goal and then some, he has touched the lives of many. He started a new department at Carnegie Mellon University. In this department they paired an artist and an engineer and through virtual reality they helped students from all different majors believe in and work towards their goals/dreams. He mentions a class of students in his program that did wonderful work, they met all his expectations. He wasn't sure the best way to approach this, so he asked his mentor. He told him to tell them that their work was good, but he knew they could do better...... and they did! This way of thinking makes so much sense, I will use this with not only my classroom but also with my children. If we start thinking we have met the expectations and we are finished, then we just might be missing out on some awesome accomplishments. We should push forward, stay positive but know you can always do better.

His closure is about his mentors and parents. He tells how they influenced his life and encouraged him to be the person he had become. His parents supported him through and through. I am making it my goal to keep the child-like wonder alive in myself, and I will pass it on to my children and hopefully to my students!

Blog Post 6

In the video, "The Networked Student", by: Wendy Drexler, a 21st century high school student is getting his education through "Network Learning". He attends class three days a week, and the other two days he takes online classes. There are no long boring lectures that we all know so well, and there is no textbook for this class. This teacher believes in connectivism, which is using a social network to learn. Her students use the internet to research and study what they are learning.

"Does a network student even need a teacher?" I think this a fear of all teachers entering such a technical world. We all wonder if we are going to be needed as technology starts to take over the classroom and the learning experience. Of course we will still need teachers, there has to be someone there to guide students through this learning process. They have to be taught how to build a social network. We will also be the filter, someone has to teach them to sort out the fiction from nonfiction. The internet is a wonderful source of information, but you have to know the difference between opinions and facts. And as teachers we will be that filter. Teachers will also have to make sure students stay focused and are meeting the learning objectives for their course. Just because you give a student a computer and access to the internet doesn't mean they are going to learn anything. There has to be someone monitoring the students progress and making sure they are meeting the expectations for the course they are taking.

In the video "A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment", a student takes us through her network learning experience. I think that it is awesome to see how much she has learned, and how she has learned to use the computer to document her research. The student also states that she enjoys learning this way because of the freedom. Not because she can choose not do her work but because she can do it on her time and the finished product is amazing. I had never seen a blogster, what an awesome project. This Personal Learning Environment is much like the one in EDM 310. We use our blog to document what we have learned and we are able to work on our projects on our time as long as we get them done. Although I have definitely had to make some adjustments in my way of learning/thinking, I am starting to enjoy learning this way as well.

C4K: Summary

I was assigned to Emilee, a year seven student at Pt. England School. The post that I commented on was her "Black Out Day" post. Pt. England School's rugby team had just won a championship game. The students were wearing all black in support of their team. I commended her on her school spirit. I explained how having a good team is great but when a good team has a strong support system it makes them even better. I closed with a congratulations to her and her school.

I also had the opportunity to vote in a debate on the design of New Zealand's new flag. This debate post is being held by "Kids With A View".
I posted that I like the more traditional flag. The other choice is a black and silver flag with a feather that has "New Zealand" printed on it. I think I would like the black and silver one better if it did not have New Zealand on it, if it just was black with the silver feather. But, my favorite is still the traditional flag.

Unfortunately, I did not keep the link to the other students blog that I posted on. I will be more organized in the future and save a file with each of the links and posts for my students. I remember in this post my student posted one of his paintings of a wolf. He is a very talented artist, painted the wolf red to symbolize the blood lost when animals are abused. He hoped that his painting would make people think before they abuse animals. I commented on not only his great talent but his wonderful use of symbolism.