Project #15 Smartboard Lesson

Project #13 Collaboration without being face-to-face

The G.I.T. group chose to use Facebook as a means of collaborating without meeting face-to-face by sheer accident. On April 6th, Trina inboxed the group to set up a time that we could meet via OOVOO, in order to collaborate and discuss upcoming projects 15 and 16. All members of the group, within minutes, got in on the discussion and before you know it, we were all online and communicating. What basically, started out as a disagreement on how and when, ended up as the completion of Project #13.

Blog Post 13 Am I a techno junkie?

I have been tasked to see if I can go 24 hours without using any electrons or electrical appliances for a period of 24 hours. I began Blog Post 13's assignment on Tuesday April 24th. As I started the clock, I began to think about how I'm going to accomplish this task. My biggest hurdle is going to be my cell phone, especially in the car. I am so accustomed to merely pushing an accept button to receive calls. In order to avoid any mishaps, the first thing I will do is turn off my cell phone. The time starts now.....(2:45p.m.) 4:18p.m.- My first start over just occur. It took this long for me to realize that I'm in rush hour traffic with the radio on at full blast. I've also caught myself several times reaching for my cell phone to check for messages and to break up an irritating silence during my commute home. 4:35p.m.- I arrived home, entered my bedroom, and immediately reached for the remote to turn on the television. I caught myself. 8:00p.m.- On the way home from my 6:00 class at USA, I thought about dinner. I couldn't remember all of my many restrictions in this assignment but I knew I couldn't use the microwave. I decided to stop by my mother's house to eat what she prepared. I procrastinated for an hour in order to keep from having to spend so much time in a completely quiet house. My son is a student attending Alabama State University. This is usually the time I call or text him and also confirm that he has received the weekly money transfer to his pre-paid card. Daniel will just have to wait another day for this but, what if I could never have these types of transactions with him. I'd have to ask my parents what they did because really, just the thought has me baffled. 4:00a.m.- Normally, I am awakened by the alarm on my cell phone, set for 4:30a.m. My phone was still powered off and luckily for me, the sound of the garbage truck woke me up 30 minutes earlier. Although I had a 30 minute jump start, I left the house 18 minutes later than usual. Normally,I get dressed while I listen to the news. This helps me to stay on schedule and get out the door by 6:00a.m. Yet, without the television, even with a 30 minute head start, I was running 18 minutes behind schedule. 7:15a.m.-3:00p.m.- During the course of my work day, I am required to use the computer to post attendance and enter grades. This was unavoidable. Rather than leaving work at 3;00P.M., I stayed until 4:00p.m. By the time I arrived home, the torture was over. I succeeded!!!! As I reflect on the last 24 hours, I feel very proud of myself for getting through it. I am glad it was just a trial and not a reality. I didn't worry too much about giving up the use of Face Book because I had recently fasted for 21 days where FB was my sacrifice. The other hours spent without the use of electronics, I found to be crucifying. I often times felt detached from society. Some may call the use of electronics an addiction, especially the cell phone. I agree that talking and texting is an addiction for me but the new smart phone features that have been added in the last 5 years, such as online banking, scheduling and messaging, are totally necessary in order to function in this new age of technology. Am I a techno junkie? I'm not a junkie if I'm not over indulging, right?

Special Blog Post #12A Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts

Education is the key to our ever changing future. As educators, we are having to go through this huge transformation in order to meet the needs of our children and what it takes to teach in an age of technology. By it being an age of technology, creativity and curiosity of the educators, the students, and the parents is a necessary collaboration. Without it, the learning process is not taking place in our classrooms. The system is the blame for being oblivious to the need and hindering our children from learning in a way they will meet the educational needs of the future.

Let me begin by defining creativity and curiosity. Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. Curiosity is an emotion related to natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration. If you examine the definitions closely, you'll find that they are emotional skills they feed off of each other. By creativity being an intrapersonal emotional skill and curiosity being interpersonal, it brings me to the assumption that both skills are responsible for stimulating the learning process. A student may be prone to use or is better at using one more than the other, however, we as educators, are responsible for incorporating their use in the classroom and identifying specific qualities and preferred ways of capturing information.

How has the school systems in the United States inhibited the development of curiosity and creativity in the students?
The "No Child Left Behind" and the introduction of standardized testing has caused activity in the classroom to be limited to the Educators teaching the test. Test scores are the measures used to determine if a student has met the standards, regardless if any learning has actually taken place or not. Suppose the student is not a passive learner and relies on hands on and imaginative skills in order to learn. Are these types of students rendered SpecialEd? Probably so.

The key to putting the two C's into the curriculum is through the use of technology. When developing a curriculum that increases curiosity in students,it is best to assign task that are only basic objectives with very few guidelines and perimeters. These assignments would,however require extensive research and there would be no right or wrong answers. The grading criteria would be measured by the final product and the creativity involved. The key components are the use of various websites, creating blogs, establishing collaborates outside the classroom, and allowing individualism.

The teacher's primary objective should be to stir up curiosity within the students. I, personally, would create a mound of curiosity in my lectures. Once they are winded with curiosity, I would have them to write down 3 questions on the topic and have them to research the answers. Later, have each student share their findings with the class through a given project. This will unleash their creativeness.

As a teacher, its sometimes hard to go outside of the box in order to promote curiosity and creativity in a student. In Mobile County, teachers are required to teach a subject within a timed cycle of instruction. The cycle is as follows:
Bell ringer or icebreaker introducing the topic 10 minutes
An Essential Question is posted but not answered until the end of class
Essential vocabulary words are defined 10 minutes
Lecture 20 minutes
Student engagement 20 minutes
Evaluation of Learning or Assessment(At this time the essential question is answered) 5 minutes
Each class, regardless the subject has to be taught in this manner. If an administrator comes into the classroom during the first 10 minutes of the class, the students are expected to be engaged in the bell ringer. It makes it very difficult and quite uninteresting at times for a "Curious George" in that type of classroom setting.

How to break the cycle as a teacher? I can't answer that question, but it is always a thought in the back of my mind.

ELLI- The Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory- the 7 dimensions of learning power (qualities and dispositions that enable students to learn now and throughout life) For more information about ELLI go to:
http://www.beds.ac.uk/bridgescetl/through/reports/elli

Progress Report for Final Project

http://StovallJeniedm310.blogspot.com/

C4T #4 Do We Learn Most Of All By Our Mistakes by Denise Krebs

In this article Ms Krebs asks the question, "Do we learn most of all by our mistakes?"
She uses the examples of her learning to cook, and very vividly describes some of the mistakes she made while learning. Ultimately, Ms Krebs concedes that now, after many mistakes, she is a "pretty good cook". Her assignment is not one of herself, but that of others who enjoy her cooking.
I am a firm believer that students actually do learn from their mistakes. The reason I say this is because I don't believe that the learning process is actually taking place unless they are allowed to exercise creativity and curiousity. So often we discourage our children by punishing them for failure to follow instructions to the letter. My question to Ms Krebs is, are the students assessed on how they arrived to the finished product(as if required to learn a mathematical equation) or only the finish product itself?

Blog Post #11 First graders in Ms Cassidy's Class

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPZtTej0jQLittle Kids Big PotentialLittle Kids Big Potential
Ms Cassidy teaches a first grade class in an elementary school in Canada. She has developed a very effective way of using technology in her classroom. It wasn't clear, but I don't think Ms Cassidy is using any traditional methods at all. Her primary reasons for teaching using technology is, it improves their reading and writing skills, improves their spelling, and they are learning proper etiquette in writing. Listed below are some of the ways she is using technology to teach a first grade class.
Her class has a class webpage which contains a choice of lessons of various subjects. The key to this being a effective way of teaching is that the children can choose what it is they want to learn. This further proves the theory that children enjoy learning, it's what sparks their interest we, as teachers, need to be aware of.
Wikis is a system of collaborating with other students in creating particular projects.
Making group videos also is used in her classroom, and once again, the children are collaborating, and working as a team to learn. She also incorporated collaborating with subject matter experts through research and blogging.
Lastly, the use of Nintendo DS was used for sharing and problem solving through words.
Basically, Ms Cassidy has shown that the use of technology creates the ability to reach far outside the classroom to gain knowledge. By giving the children choices of what they are most interested in and allowing them to be creative while doing so, makes this a total success.
To start, I would choose creating a class webpage of various assignments and objectives. I would not require that all assignments are completed, but a percentage, thus giving the children a choice. This would inspire them to do their best. All of the assignments would require research, lots of reading and writing, group work, and the meeting of deadlines. Although, my subject would be focused on Health, I would often cross the curriculum by incorporating mathematical word problems, to stimulate group collaboration with their fellow students and teachers.
My largest pitfall would be having enough computers in my classroom for this to be a routine atmosphere, therefore, most of my assignments found on the webpage would be special projects. I would plan for special projects and group collaboration to be done in the classroom 3 days out of the week. the other two days would be for lecture on a particular subject area.
My thoughts:
Ms Cassidy has really set the bar for the classrooms of the future. I truly believe that by teaching using the techniques in which we were taught, we are some how loosing our children's interests and stunting their growth in their ability to learn. Their little brains are functional, but in a much different way then ours. We as teachers have to get on board this educational train. Ms Cassidy is certainly already one of the conductors and well on her way.

Interested in Professional Development hours?....See what MCPSS is offering this summer

The Summer 2012 Semester, our 18th, begins with four courses on May 2nd and gets into high gear with 40 more courses starting on June 6th.

For those folks who need PD hours before the June 30 deadline, we have four 6-week courses earning 30 hours each beginning May 2nd ...

EDU4452

Assessment in 21st Century Classrooms


EDU4456

Teaching Students to Think Critically with Data

EDU4458

Collaboration in the Digital Classroom


EDU4459

Project Based Learning






We are piloting some brand new and some revised courses, also in the 21st Century classroom genre ...

EDU4422

Classroom Management in the 21st Century

EDU4435

Digital Citizenship for the 21st C. Student

EDU4473

Twitter and Facebook





As always we will offer our eight 6-week EDU55xx series of courses; each of which can earn an ACLD-approved PLU with additional work.

Please check our COURSE LISTING page for the complete schedule and our new SEARCH ENGINE for category and keyword searches. Complete instructions for enrolling using STIPD can be found on our REGISTRATION page.

Thanks to all the support we have received, we will be closing out our 6th year of eLearning course offerings this summer and preparing for our 7th year beginning this fall!

Blog Post #12 The Benefits of Drinking Water

To get started you must first Register as a Orato user
Read the article under Health Science (Reader's Choice) titled Health & Diet Benefits of Drinking Water by Sophie Lyle. After reading the article,
Write a brief summary of the article.
Explain each beneficial effect that water has on the body.
What were some helpful tips to drinking water and enjoying it?
What were your thoughts on the article?
Be sure to leave a comment after reading the article. Let Sophie Lyle know what you thought about the article. Mark your comment edm310 so I can see your comments.
http://www.orato.com/health-science/health-diet-benefits-of-drinking-water

Project: Create a new article for Orato. You may enter s short article in the subjects of Buisness and careers, Entertainment, Food and Drink, Health Sciences, Home and family, Self help, Sports, Games, Travel, and World Affairs.
Be sure to use correct sentence structure, grammar, and check your spelling before submitting your article.
To get started, just click on the Write for Orato tab and follow the steps. Good Luck!

Post # 10 Do You Teach Or Do You Educate

Wow! What an amazing message.

My thoughts:
After watching this video, it really caused me to think about the impact I intended to have in the classroom.
I concluded after watching this video that: A teacher is a person who has the same effect as talking to an empty chair. Often times a teacher talks to or talks at his or her students, rather than talking with. A teacher delivers information without receiving very little feedback.
An educator, on the other hand, engages the mind, instills knowledge, communicates with the student, and leaves a lasting impression.
A Teacher prepares the student for the future....an Educator creates the future.

I vow to be an Educator

Post# 10 Don't Let Them Take The Pencils Home by Tom Johnson

Mr. Johnson's argument was actually a counter towards the idea that students who use pencil's at home have lower standardized test scores. Due to his opposition against standardized testing, he argued that students and their parents of low income status, are unaware of what a pencil should be used for. They have a misconception that pencils are something to play with;a toy.

Mr. Johnson developed a workshop (Parent Pencil Program)with the parents to teach them the same pencil skills their children are taught in school. The argument was made that there wasn't a measure of accountability. Mr. Johnson conceded but countered by explaining he uses no measures for accountability but instead assigns projects of interest. He further suggested that whatever the students did with the pencils outside of his project could possibly involve a learning process, something that we as teachers are probably unaware of.

My thoughts:
After reading this post several times, I am assuming that "the pencils" is the use of technology. A laptop or I-Pad maybe?....I'm asking.

C4T #3 Post #4 Dare to Care by Denise Krebs

Dare To Care by Denise Krebs

Denise Krebs initiated a project on improving the writing skills of a class of 8th graders. Her primary objectives were focused on what I call the 6 Cs for writing and at the same time, are still having fun. They are:
Creating
Contributing
communicating
Connecting
Collaborating
and Curating
I decided to use this concept with
my 9th grade class in a lesson plan for "Creating Better Speeches"
I still have to come up with a criteria for grading this project, but in the meantime...
Let me know what you think.


Teacher: Arrington, Cynthia Denise ST101203 Section: 452404.08 L/F/Success Period(s): 1, 2
Date Weekday Category Activity

4/9/2012 Monday Creating Better Speeches
Attribute Text
Bell ringer Read the speech titled "The Truth about Caffeine"

Essential Vocabulary
Articulate
Commemorative
Demographics
Descriptive
Eye contact
Impromptu
Logical
Modulation
Operational
Persuasive
Statement
Tone
Vocal qualities
Volume


Objectives:

1) Identify ways to create interesting speeches

2) Compare types of speeches and the different occasions for which speeches are used

3) Describe how to organize effective speeches
Page

Evaluation The student is given a speech of an assigned type/ topic
(The following objectives were taken from Diane Kreb’s Dare To Care Project)

During the course of two class periods, the students are to complete a rough draft of their speech
Once the rough drafts are completed, students are to exchange their draft with another student for phasing.
Phase#1- Editing (1 class period). The students are to proofread, make corrections of grammatical and spelling errors. It is important that during this phase, the student collaborates with the writer so as not to change the desired effect.

Phase# 2 (1 class period)-Producing a final draft

Phase#3- The final drafts are returned to the writers for presentation (after a brief period of prep)

LeFlore JROTC Students Prepping for the Future

LeFlore JROTC Students Prepping for the Future

Teaching Billie the functions of the SmartBoard

Mr McClung's What I've Learned This Year" Blog Post #9

During Mr McClung's first years of teaching he was faced with obstacles and fears of being a good and effective teacher. Some lessons he learned are as follows:


2008-09 Staying Positive
1) How to read the crowd- A lesson should be delivered in a manner in which the students are actually interested and are learning. The manner of delivery must be audience driven.
2) Be Flexible- The lesson you teach and the one you planned to teach are always different. There are no perfect lessons.
3) Communication- Communication is the hardest skill to develop. Build a strong relationship with other teachers and students through communication.
4) Be reasonable with expectations and standards. We often set standards too high and get upset when they are not met. Standards should be set according to the audience and should always be age appropriate.
5) Don't be afraid of technology- The students are up on just about everything. It may be the only way to keep their interests.
6) Never stop learning
7) Listen
2009-10
Adaptation to change became an important challenge for Mr. McClung in 2009-10. He was moved to a larger district, assigned classes with older children, and had to teach 3 unfamiliar subjects in on e year. He concluded that, on a path least traveled, you must check your ego at the door, and don't be a control freak

My thoughts:
I agree with every conclusion Mr. McClung came up with.
A lesson plan should be just a guideline. It's ok to stray way from the set plan. It all depends on the needs of the audience.
Effective listening is the most important communication skill there is, yet it is the least used.
In setting standards and expectations, i believe a baseline should be established for each objective prior to setting the standard.
A student's perception of a teacher that listens is that they really do care. I know that was the way I judged my teachers when I was in high school.
It is important that a teacher knows their strengths and weaknesses and there is always room to learn more.
Students in junior high or early high school years have the tendency to make everything about themselves. At times, when talking about current events in comparison to past events (History), they don't always get the jest. You have to find a way to make things relevant to their everyday lives. That often times can be difficult.
Lastly,having an attitude of being superior and a control freak usually doesn't go over well with children, especially in a classroom setting. The objective is to get them to learn. You don't want them to shut you out. We as teachers can choose to fight that battle, and possibly even win, however, it makes for a stressful journey. I think Mr. McClung would agree.