Blog Post #15 Final Reflection

Final Report on PLN

My final PLN is completely filled. I included several tiles from  my learning experience in EDM310. The tiles include Gmail, EDM310 Class Blog, Wolfram Alpha, Google Squared, Twitter, Education, ALEX, ACCESS, University of South Alabama, YouTube, Tech/Gadgets, John Spencer, Brian Crosby, Sir Ken Robinson, Mr. Chamberlain, and Wordle. I also add a few of my personal tiles.

Final Project by: Talisa Swain and Trieu Tran

Summary Post C4K 8-11

#8 – Shawshaw24

Shawshaw talked about the novel she read called “Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver. The story is about two separate cultures, American and Congolese. There are many differences between the American and the Congolese, from religious views to clothing choice. The only similarity between two cultures is the fact that both childhoods try to prepare the kids for adulthood. In the end Shawshaw said, “This is a very telling fact, and it leads me back to education and its importance. Education fosters excitement, exploration, questioning, and discovery. Can anyone argue the benefits that that would bring to a society? Imagine how much third world countries would prosper if education was accessible and promoted to all.”
So sum up the story, it is like comparing apples and oranges.

#9 – ajenk

Ajenk’s class is learning about the planets. So, he created a Kerpoof picture to help him remember the order of the planets. What is a Kerpoof? A Kerpoof is all about having fun, discovering things, and being creative. Examples come in different forms such as making picture, movie, drawing, card, story or spelling a picture. Here is a picture of Ajenk’s Kerpoof that is full of creativity.

#10 – Little Voices, Little Scholars

Looking Out For the Best from KPE TV on Vimeo.
Mrs. Jenny She is the teacher of Room 7 from Pt. England School in Auckland, New Zealand. Mrs. She from Room 7 made a video for the Manaiakalani film festival which is held annually. Room 7 did an outstanding job! I could not stop smiling when I watched this video. Dancing is so contagious; it makes everyone want to dance along. Dancing also makes people fit and healthy, happy, and expresses one’s own style.

#11 – Mrs. Haugen’s Sixth Grade

Katie from Mrs. Haugen’s 6^th grade class read a book called A Year Down Yonder. She said it is an interesting story about a 15 year old girl named Mary Alice, from Chicago, who takes the train to spend a year with her grandma Dowdel. Grandma Dowdel is a woman well known for shaking up her neighbors and everyone else. The reason why Mary Alice has to live with grandma Dowdel is because the Great Depression hit the Dowdel family hard. Mary Alice arrives by train in September with her beloved cat Bootsie and a radio. Together they will share funny and exciting adventures in a small town in central Illinois.

Summary Post C4T Teacher #4

The first post was about how Jason Bedell posted his friend’s presentation for the Learning and the Brain Conference. Here is the link in PDF form he shared with us.

http://jasontbedell.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/LearningBrain2010.pdf

Dr. Kevin Washburn did a great job with the presentation. The pictures look so realistic! The presentation talks about the core process of learning, experience, application, etc. While I was reading the slides, I thought of how it resembles Bloom’s Taxonomy. What do think?

The second post was about detoxing education. Jason Bedell has been thinking about how to stimulate change and progress in schools. He says social media helps bring great ideas to the world. People are being exposed to incredible ideas and including them into their own classrooms. While motion is slowly building, a lack of understanding of how to use new tools prevents the progression. One of the reasons why we do things the same is because we follow the steps of the generation before us. It provides a sense of security and stability whereas constant change can be devastating for others. A major problem is that the majority of teachers have little time for collaboration. He said, “Without that, how can they be exposed to all of the great ideas that are available to them?” Jason loves the thought of Teacher Reboot Camp, where teachers would come together to share ideas and go through school with a new viewpoint. He commented back to a student which said, “Never stop looking for opportunities to learn; it is one of the most powerful things you can do as a teacher.”

I am glad he is one of those teachers who constantly think of ways to improve the school system. There are pros and cons about the summer camp. The pros are teachers working with one another to share knowledge from different perspectives. It is a great way to reboot educators over the summer break. Teachers working together for summer camp would be a great idea, but what about the teachers who would like to attend? Some has to stay back to teach summer school. When summer break is over, teachers have to prepare for the upcoming school year. It can get messy if teachers try to juggle everything all at once. The reason why I think the school system is slowly changing is because of the fund they receive. How are schools supposed to improve if resources decrease every year?

Additional Assignment #5

Tom Johnson's Adventures in Pencil Integration: 

Just Teach Them to Solve for X

Metaphors may be hard to understand at first but you have to think in another perspective. He pointed out that teachers only know teaching skills which is basic. Most people stick to the basics because it is simple and does not require much effort. They need to have another way of teaching the lesson instead of doing it the past generation. Challenge and ingenuity is the success to overcome basic methods.

Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and Pencils

Each student has their own individual personality and full of mixed emotions. They are trying to figure out who they are and what they categorize themselves as. Mr. Spencer said, “They are testing the boundaries of humor and social interaction” that is why they act the way they do in certain circumstances. Teachers understand their students from one viewpoint while Mr. Spencer learns to handle students in a different perspective that both will see eye to eye.

He Just Likes the Class for the Pencils

Teachers make mistakes and that is perfectly normal. The reason why students enjoy his class is because of the mutual respect they give to one another. It is essential to have a good relationship with your students. It is not right for teachers to undermine students in public. If the teacher and student talk in private, then the teacher would understand more about that individual. The point of this post was that Mr. Spencer actually listens to his student’s opinions and gives reverence.

                                              
The Medium Shapes the Learning

Students prefer the type of learning that does not contain putting much effort into it. Mr. Spencer wants his students to understand that he does not give assignments for no reason; there is always a purpose behind it all. Not all new tools will enhance learning or will benefit us. We just have to recognize if it is effective.

Blog Post #13

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is created by the ALEX Team to provide only the top resources to meet the needs of teachers, administrators, parents, and students. Their slogan "Quality for Every Facet of Learning" basically describes what they provide for us in link forms. They provide Courses of study, Web Links, Lesson Plans, Search, Personal Workspace, Professional Learning, Podcast Treasury, and ALEXville.

I will list eight resources to help with any uncertainty for those who are unfamiliar to ALEX, like me.

Courses of Study is a link that you can access by grade levels of each subjects from K-12^th grade.

Web Links are web resources for teachers, administrators, and students.

Lesson Plans allow you to create your very own personal lesson or view examples from authors and schools that have already made one.

Search narrows your description in the ALEX database.

Personal Workspace is where you create and edit your account.

Professional Learning offer training opportunities, view presentations, and grants. They also show a variety of tips and tutorials for applications.

Podcast Treasury allows you to view podcast from an assortment of subjects.

ALEXville keeps you updated with news and a place to converse with associates and colleagues.

By using ALEX, teachers and viewers gain beneficial knowledge to become successful for future reference. ALEX is not absolute because it is gradually progressing and improving based on our input. ALEX is filled with valuable information for education majors and easy to access.

Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS). ACCESS goal is to provide fairness with additional educational for all Alabama public high school students. It also contains high quality instructions for students to improve. ACCESS has 12 objectives.

Objective 1:  Meets objectives of the first year by expanding the availability of ACCESS Distance Learning to all public high schools in the state.

Objective 2:  Gives high school student the opportunity to take at least one distance learning course.

Objective 3:  Influence the experience of the 24 sites by establishing new data in Alabama high school.

Objective 4:  Provide administrative oversight, management, and support through the State Department of Education and support centers.

Objective 5:  Provide students with additional courses and electives needed to meet educational goals.

Objective 6:  Develop pedagogy involved in ACCESS Distance Learning.

Objective 7:  Develop a blended model that focuses on the needs to ensure the success of every student.

Objective 8:  Assess initial technology skills of students to provide the appropriate level of support to the student.

Objective 9:  Develop a comprehensive learning object for the development of model courses and modules.

Objective 10: Develop a comprehensive plan for communications of growth for Web-based, IVC, and  delivery of distance learning courses.

Objective 11: Develop an oversight and management structure to ensure that activities and budgets are   associated with the ACCESS Distance Learning Plan.

Objective 12: Strengthen high schools through ACCESS Distance Learning.

I liked the fact that they provided a document form of the ACCESS Plan. We need to keep a copy of the document incase of any confusions.

Project #15

Created by: Talisa Swain and Trieu Tran

We chose to create the video based on the Dillon's Style Presentation.

Roles: Talisa - Idea generator, director, text writer, and script writer

          Trieu - Idea generator, artist, music, editor

Credits: Song: Trieu Tran (The Fray - How to Save a Life )
            Story: Talisa Swain
            Pictures: Trieu Tran
            Facts: Talisa Swain     
            Assembled the video: Talisa Swain and Trieu Tran

Post progress report on Final Project

So far, I have a partner for the final report. We are thinking about using Skype, CamStudio, and Symbaloo to create a PLN. We are trying to help students in managing favorite sites and organization all in one. With the PLN, students will always remain updated. We will incorporate more ideas as soon as we get started.

Form Results for Project #6

 

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewanalytics?formkey=dC02eUZQdUM0V09RT3lqOUtqZnlOZEE6MQ#gid=0

I sent a physical activity survey to my classmates to see how physically fit they are. By collecting data, the students that took the survey were 85% female and 75% ranged from age 18-25. 95% of the female students perform cardiovascular exercise each week. The average time spent exercising is 35 minutes to an hour long. I am really glad that everyone averages about four to seven hours of sleep each night. 85% of the classmates said they are too busy to exercise regularly and the rest of the percentages are from exhaustion and injuries. Over half of the students enjoy exercising with friends. I asked how they perceive their self as being physically fit on a scale of one to five. Majority said they are about average.

I made this survey to observe if the students are taking advantage of the new recreation. I found out that everyone is too busy to even think about going there. So I assumed that the elliptical, rowing machines, treadmills, stationery bikes, etc. are frequently used in the recreation center. It is a great suggestion to bring a friend along to work out so they can help with motivation. If a person feels great or energized after a workout that means they did not over exhort themselves. A sign of unhealthy exercise is when a person is tired after the exercising. There has been an increase of 14% on school tuition. Part of that percent went to the new recreation center. My point is to inform students to make their money worthwhile and become physically fit. For those who said they were average is wasting their money. Get what you put in and go beyond average.

Blog Post #12

“Mobile County students who fail a test must be allowed to retake it” by Rena Havner Philips, Press Register

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/mobile_county_students_who_fai.html

Instructions: Read this article and explain in details if this is a great idea or a bad idea. You should have two to three paragraphs on your selection. You must also read the comments that teachers and parents have posted. Feel free to put write your opinions in the comment box.

In my opinion, I think it is a careless decision to allow students to retake a test. Students will not try as hard on the first test because they know they can retake it. How will students ever learn to push their intellectual skill into the next level? The people who came up with this idea must have been part of the government or political group. They should not be involved in educational issues because they are not even on school campus to know what is going on in school. Most teachers think the idea is ridiculous because they it puts more work on the teacher and it is unfair to expect teachers to go along with it without any notifications. 

Their excuse for allowing students to retake a test was that too many students are dropping out and failing. The main reason why students fail or drop out is because they do not attempt to do their homework or take advantage of after school tutoring. The parents are also part of a student falling behind because they need to take notice if their child is passing or failing. The decision was not thoroughly thought out. It has created chaos in the schools. High school is a place to prepare the students for college and the real world. When students go into the business world, they may assume that their jobs would give them another chance just like what the schools have thought them. How will student ever be serious if they cannot take their first chance seriously?

Additional Assignment #4

Teach Someone Project #14

Here is my demonstration on how to create a Wordle. I recorded this demonstration using CamStudio. I must really thank Talisa Swain for introducing it to me. Can you believe I was actually going to hold a camera in from of my laptop while demonstrating? Camstudio saved me from my dilemma.

Blog Post #11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy’s Class

This was a great inspiring video for all education majors. I am extremely surprised that the students are in first grade. I remembered when I was in first grade, I was learning how to read and write sentences. This is the first time in my life that a student looks happy learning something complex. They are having fun while learning. These students prove that you are never too young to learn modernized technology. Since the Smart board is the new chalk board, I want the students utilize the smart board so they can familiarize themselves with a little taste of update. I encourage students do their class assignments and projects using computers or laptops. One of the assignments is to assign journal blogs. On their blog they can write about their day, how they are feeling, or anything that comes to mind. Assigning work on the computer or laptop is a great idea because it helps students fix spelling errors. I would create a homepage for the classroom so the students can navigate to other educational websites. Ms. Cassidy is an outstanding teacher for educating students, literally. I am the type that is willing to follow Ms. Cassidy’s footstep, but will have to take want it a step at a time because I would like to first familiarize myself with the classroom. I definitely will introduce my students to Skype and Symbaloo. Skype is great to talk to schools from different county, state, or even country. Symbaloo is to help the students get organized. I do not know if I would allow Nintendo DS, but I will consider it. I want to incorporate a game called Sudoku. It enhances the students thinking skills. In the video, Ms. Cassidy agreed that teachers should be technological literate because she said, “Technology is not going away, and it’s here to stay. I agree with her because my I tried to introduce an Itouch to my parents, they think I am talking in a foreign language. If we ever want to be in the technology era, then the school needs to teach more than word processing and spread sheets in class. I have never used twitter before because I did not think it was useful and was just not for me. Ms. Cassidy said it is a great tool for resources and to keep up with people who are interested with the update of technology. With the influence of Dr. Strange’s encouraging words, I will try to use twitter and see how it goes. He said, “I don’t know, let’s find out”. It has made me changed my way of thinking. I hope that more and more teachers learn from this video like I have and will begin applying these methods in their classroom as well.