Blog Post 10

Do You Teach or Do You Educate?
I think this video is very eye opening, and if you are wanting to be a teacher you should definitely watch this. The main thing it does in my eyes is that it shows the differences of being a teacher and being an educator. It shows that if you are going into the field of education that you need to be an educator and not just go through the motions because you are so much to these student. I chose to go into the education field to make a difference in the younger generations life and to hopefully guide them in the right direction because after all, they are the future of our great country.
When we go into the education field we are so much more than just teachers as the video suggests. The students look at us not only as teachers, but also as advisors and role models. We all need to make sure we are educators to provide our students with real world scenarios.


The second part is Tom Johnson's Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home. This is where Mr. Spencer uses code for technology in saying that they are pencils. In our past it is said that if you allowed students to bring their pencils home then they would score lower on their standardized tests because they would not be able to focus on the use of the pencil. In many ways a person could make the same accusation about technology. Yes, it is a very useful tool that is used for learning, but if the student uses it for other things instead of learning then it could cause great dismay.

I feel like he wants the students to be able to have pencils to use as an education tool, and trust that they will do the right thing. The main issue I had is that it just reminds us how much society focuses on standardized test scores when half the time it doesn't even show what a student can really do. In everyday life how many times are there test? Hardly ever. So, I think that this was a great way to show the solution to a problem instead of looking for something wrong with it.

C4T # 3

I was assigned to Amanda Ooten and her blog is Science Teaching for the Future. The first thing that I commented on was what she explained as Catch-22 of the flip. The first part of this is that she talks about a girl "suzie" who does all her work, studies, stays up to date with all of her assignments but is struggling trying to figure out how to study in the AP class. She explains how she talks to her mom and finds out that she spends too much time trying to catch all of the other students up who don't do their work, and so she tells the other students that its on them to keep up with the material. She goes on to compare it to college which I think is great because she says college is not spoon fed, so she doesn't need to do that to her students. I like how she tells that we as educators its not our job to do it for them, but to give them the tools they need to succeed.
The next post was on The Nuts and Bolts of Flipping. This is how she explains to flip your classroom as a teacher. She tells us not to be afraid of a change because ultimately it should help the students. It has a online learning experience and it includes many videos, but it isn't just about all the videos.The main thing that this flip is aiming to accomplish is the end goal is to be able to get more one on one time with your students, and to be able to assess them as well. I would highly recommend looking at her page because she does such a great job explaining how to flip your classroom as well as giving such great advice on becoming an educator.

Blog Post 9

In Mr. McClung's What I Learned This Year (2010-11) he explains what happens after his third year of teaching and how there were many changes such as; first time to spend more than one year at the same school, first time head coach, first experience with cross country, and being a computer applications teacher. One thing he mentions that meant a lot to me is to know who your boss is. What he explains here is that it is important to know who is above you, but it is more important to service our children. One quote that stuck out to me was "Our decision making process should always be student centered and not centered around pleasing adults."
Another thing he mentions is that he is an optimistic about new ideas and if we are the same way we don't need to expect other people to be that way. I think that relates to this class, and specifically to me. I did not want to try new things and this class has opened up my eyes to new ideas such as learning and teaching strategies. The next thing he mentions is to not be afraid to be an outsider. Basically, he tells us not to be afraid to be set apart from the rest of the staff. I know I have been giving quotes but this one really explains how I feel as a future educator, "I would much rather be the person that is an outsider because of my focus on my students than someone that seeks approval from other teachers in my building."
The next thing he talked about is to 'Not touch the keyboard'. What this means is don't take over a project for a student. Instead give them the tools needed to succeed and set them up for success. The last thing is to 'Not to get to comfortable' and what this means is to not get too settled in your ways and coast on what your doing as a teacher.
In What I Learned This Year (2008-09) Mr. McClung talks about what happened after his first year of teaching. The first important lesson that he talks about is 'learning to read the crowd.' What he means is that instead of trying to impress the other teachers with the content of the lesson, we as teachers should be "reading the crowd" (students) to see if they actually understand what you are presenting. The next important thing he explains is to remember that no lesson is ever perfect and that we should be flexible and open-minded to change.
The next important thing he talks about is to communicate. Not only with your fellow teachers, but with your students as well. Another thing is to never put your expectations too high for your students. I can agree with this because if you do that, then more than likely you are just setting them up to fail. The next thing he says is to not be afraid of technology, and I believe that is what the hardest part for me will be. Honestly, I am starting to enjoy it. The last thing he talks about I think goes hand-in-hand and that is to listen to your students, and never stop learning. By listening to our student it helps us to learn and it also helps us think of more effective ways of teaching. Also, just because when we become teachers that does not mean we know everything, so we need to be open minded and willing to learn.

Project 13

Project 11

Blog Post 8

http://english.rutgers.edu/faculty/facultyprofiles/293-rmiller.html

In This is how we dream part 1 In part one Dr. Miller explains that he grew up in a home that was filled with books and that he wanted to pursue a career that involved working with books. He says that times are changing and publishing is as well, and that more and more things are being offered online so we need to adapt. Dr. Miller also mentions how multimedia will be the basis of learning and how he did a report on the Virginia Tech shootings without stepping foot into a library. We need to learn to do all of these new things because soon all of that will be a thing of the past.

In This is how we dream part 2 Dr. Miller talks about how we are entering into a new type of environment where information changes right before our eyes. He says we as educators, must be in the business of sharing ideas freely. He talks about how using the internet we can more quickly put our ideas into society. He talks about how there is no way to teach what he is talking about, and that it needs to be invented. He talks about how the internet is a way for the books to live on forever.

I think that Dr. Miller makes very valid points in teaching about multimedia. I think its important that we know how to use it to be effective teachers. He talks about how we can let books live on forever through the use of the internet and I could not agree more with that. I do not think that I am ready to use all the multimedia in my classroom, but I hope that through the help of this class I will be ready to use it and be able to effectively to make a difference with my students.

In Carly Pugh's Blog Post 12 she talks about how she thought it was important to create her own teaching style. I think that its important for all of us future educators that we find our own way to be effective teachers. She talks about a playlist that she made for inspiration in her teaching, and I thought that was a genius idea because anytime you start to doubt yourself as a teacher you can always look there for inspiration.

The Chipper Series is about a student who is extremely lazy and does not want to work hard for anything, and is looking for the "quick fix" to succeed in life. Once coming up short in this "quick fix" the student decides that she must go back to school and work hard to earn a spot in life. It is very important that we as educators work hard to be just that, educators. We are going to be the ones educating the future leaders of our great country, so we need to take pride in that and work hard.

EDM 310 for dummies talks about how at first people could easily get frustrated with edm 310 because it is a shock at first if your not used to all of the technology. Edm is a very useful tool though because it does help you get started as a teacher because it requires you to follow educators and to learn from them. I think edm is great already because any help you need at any time day or night is available and that is great about this class.

I could not agree more with the video Learn to Change, Change to Learn because it speaks what we have to do as teachers. One of the teachers mentioned that if we want the students to be connected globally, then she as an educator must first familiarize the teachers with how to do that. I think this video is great because it talks about change, and change in the classroom. The video sums up exactly what it is about, and that we have to learn to change so we can learn. By doing this we can learn more effectively.

It does criticize schooling we know today and especially standardized testing. I do not believe that standardized testing does all that much, because there is so many things that it does not measure like the will to succeed.

Blog Post 7

Our blog post assignment this week was on Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. To begin with I would like to say that Randy Pausch was a completely amazing speaker. He was very humorous that got the most out of life and really enjoyed what he did for a living and wanted to make sure that everyone else got enjoyment out of learning just as he did. What I thought was interesting about him was the fact that at the beginning of the video he comes out and says that he has cancer and he is completely upbeat about it which makes me look up to him. I really hate that he is not around to give such amazing advice. RIP Randy.

One of the things that he talks about in the video is "brick walls". What he says about brick walls is that they are put there for a reason; they let us know how badly we want things. I think that is key because it lets us know, "this is what it's going to take to accomplish your goal. Are you willing to do what it takes?" By having dreams we are automatically going to have brick walls, and the only thing that matters is how we react to these brick walls. This relates to not only myself, but also my students. I should want them to dream and help them as much as I possibly can to help them accomplish their dreams. Another thing he says about this is even if you aren't able to accomplish a dream is "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted which I think is very important.

The next important claim he makes is that our students can surprise us. He tells us that if we wait long enough people will surprise and impress you. The reason he says this is because he knows nobody really wants to let you down. In the video he talks about a project he made his students do and they didn't live up to what he thought they should do, so what he tells us to do is to not set certain bars for expectations. Another thing he speaks of is giving our students a "head fake" which means give your students the idea that you want one thing, but they end up impressing you in the end because they just want to be successful in your eyes.

This video has opened my eyes to life in general. Dr. Randy Pausch had cancer and he met it head on and wasn't scared of it, embraced it, and enjoyed the time he had left. The main thing that he left in my mind was the whole idea about "brick walls". If we persevere we can accomplish anything, because all they are there for is to see how bad we really want something. Some of the advice that I really enjoyed from him was what he said at the end of the video. That was to never lose childlike wonder, help others, to let brick walls show our dedication, don't bail, when you do the right thing good things will happen, cherish and use feedback, and finally to not complain and work harder. I think that right there sums up Dr. Randy Pausch.

Time Toast Timeline 9B

1st Progress Report PLN

For my PLN I decided to go with symbaloo. I liked how it was set up and it was just really easy to use. I started getting into what I wanted to do with my blocks and kind of got carried away with all the stuff you can do with it. It really is a one stop shop to anything you need on the internet and great for a home page!

C4T post

I followed Heidi Siwak and she talked about how we as teachers can make learning easier for every student. What she talks about is that most students are very reluctant to raise their hand and tell the teacher that they are not learning anything, but she makes a point that if we are on a personal level then it makes it easier for them to tell the us teachers. In the post she also talks about how she had a group of students earlier in their academic career, and had them again later. She says that its easier for them to talk to her because they fell comfortable with her that she will not get mad at what they have to say.

Blog Post 6

The Networked Student
In this first assignment it talks about the 21st century student. Basically, what Wendy Drexler is trying to explain in the video is that in this day and age student must be networked and not completely rely on professors and teachers to do that for them. In the video there is a student who had a teacher that basically relied on technology to get the teaching done because he didn't have a book and he always did social networking because that is how she wanted it done. He also had something called iTunesU, and what this does is it gives you music, but it also gives you access to tons of different material scholastically.
In this they ask, Why do we need teachers if we have all of this technology? The reply to that is fairly simple, the teacher is the one who guides the student to learn. The teacher helps the student be ready for the world without doing everything for them, by just preparing them the best way they can.
I agree with all of this for the most part. I believe technology is important, but I also feel like face time with your teacher is important as well. To answer the questions in the blog post assignment, I am not entirely sure if I am ready to be a technological teacher like Dr. Strange asked, but I do know that I will work hard to prepare myself to be ready. He also mentioned how she will do this with middle school age students, and I am not sure how I feel about all of that with all the technologically savvy children, but then again it might not be a bad idea?
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
The first thing I have to say about this is that I was completely in awe that a 7th grader was already doing all of this different stuff on the computer. It completely blew my mind, because when I was growing up that was not the case to have my own home page of material and have a paperless classroom. To compare her learning style to mine I would have to say that they are completely different because even today being in college I still rely heavily on taking my own notes and I just do not see how you can rely on just a computer, but if you can then more power to you.

C4K summary post

My summary posts were done on a couple of students. The first was Morgan who was really excited about going to camp, and the other was Raven who had just finished reading the book Charlotte's Web and compared the movie directly to the book.