C4T #4

Comment 1

This week I am assigned to the blog At the Teacher's Desk. If you are in EDM 310 you might remember this as being the blog for our blog assignment #9 where we read Joe McClung's blogs about his first 3 years of teaching. I am commenting on the post Exemplar of Students Work with Video. This was posted by Myles Webb, a teacher at Melville Intermediate School in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand.

This blog post is about a student made video in Mr. Webb's class. The students' assignment was to make a video of what they had been assigned to help out with around the school. These two students' job was to feed MIS worms with discarded/leftover food. They are the "MIS worm agents". One of the students in the video is legally blind, but they still allowed him to participate in this activity. I really enjoyed his presence. His energy and liveliness made the video so amazing.
My comment:
"Hello Mr. Webb! My name is Carly Willoughby, and I'm a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be posting a summary of your blog post onto my blog. This video is priceless! This is one of the reasons I want to become an elementary teacher. I want to be able to help students learn what is important like taking care of the earth by doing their "environmental jobs". I also love that you gave Carlton an opportunity to be in a video even though he has a handicap. I will be incorporating everyone in my classes as much as I can so everyone gets the same chance to participate in the fun activities. Carlton was the talker in this video, and without him I don't think it would seem as alive as it was. His presence was needed. I am so glad that you shared this video with me! I really enjoyed it. I hope you and your students have a great rest of the school year! Sincerely, Carly Willoughby"

Comment #2

There was no new post on my assigned blog this week. So I commented on the blog post before the one I commented on last time. This post is Reflections on #EdCampStL 2012 by William Chamberlain. He lives in Noel, Missouri and works in the McDonald County R-1 school district. His blog post was about his experience at EdCamp. I didn't know what this was, so of course I went to handy, dandy, GOOGLE! I found the website Introduction to Edcamp: A New Conference Model Built on Collaboration and it informed me that it is a conference where educators come together and share their new ideas. In Mr. Chamberlain's post he stated that it is a place to form professional relationships and learn from one another. He says, "The more people you meet, the better your experience will be."

My comment:

"Hello Mr. Chamberlain! My name is Carly Willoughby and I'm a student at the University of South Alabama. I will be publishing a summary of your blog post on my blog tonight.
I understand why you say going to something with people you know might be a barrier. When you go to an event with friends, you tend to stay secluded with them and attend the same events as them even if you are interested in different things. I believe that is why it is a good thing to go somewhere and meet new people who are at the same sessions as you because then you will make a new friend in that area. This will contribute to what you say about meeting people and making new relationships where you can share and learn from each other.
This was a very informative post. Thank you for sharing it with me. I will keep these tips in mind when I attend conferences.
Sincerely,
Carly Willoughby"

Blog Assignment #13

For this weeks blog assignment Dr. Strange asked us to go 24 hours without technology. This means everything that runs on batteries or electricity. I knew this would be a challenge for me because I use my cell phone, laptop, iPod Touch, and TV everyday. During this 24 hour period I couldn't go without texting. This isn't because of texting, it's because I am in a long distance relationship with my fiance, and I haven't gone 24 hours without talking to him before. I also live on campus so I don't have a land line I could call him from.

While I couldn't use technology, It was hard to not be bored. I went to the movies with my roommate to see The Lucky One. I also read a book, and worked on some homework. I didn't like not being able to listen to music. If I don't have the TV on I have music playing on either my iPod or my laptop. So it was a quiet 24 hours.

Final Report on PLN

I haven't updated my PLN with anything except my C4T links. I think these will help me in the future by giving me advice and ways to integrate certain topics in my classroom.I have been added on Google+ by one of the teachers from my C4K. I have added her to my PLN also because she seemed to be very excited about having students from around the world take notice of her students' blogs.

Project #15

Progress Report on Final Project

Our group has decided to make a video showing how the tools and concepts we have learned in EDM 310 can be used in the classroom. We will show this by role play as teachers and students. Each of us will use one concept and use it in our "classroom" and have our "students" demonstrate how our future students could use it and benefit from it.

C4K Summary for April

C4K #8

We are dong a world blog now in class for the C4K posts. This post is from the same kid as C4K #8. This week he has posted a picture of a sunset. That is why this post is named Sun Set. It's a very pretty picture.
My comment:
"Hello again! This picture of the sun setting is very beautiful! Did you find this picture on the internet or do you know who took it? I wonder where that picture was taken. It looks like a very nice place to visit. I rarely get to watch the sun set because I'm always doing something inside. Maybe this weekend I will take the time to slow down and enjoy watching the sun set somewhere peaceful. Thank you for posting this picture and inspiring me to slow down and enjoy life! Keep up the great blogging!"

C4K #9

This week my kid posted a picture of a land fill. This student knows what a landfill could do to the earth. They state that the problem with them is that they just get bigger and bigger, and that it's not good for the environment. They think using cloth bags instead of plastic bags at the grocery store will help eliminate some of the waste in landfills. "One person can start and just tell another and it will just get bigger and bigger until every one uses cloth bags." This is a very big statement from a young student. Maybe they will be able to help the earth in a major way when they grow up.
My comment:
"This post is very inspiring to help save the earth. Hopefully no one wants to hurt our planet, but not many people think about the fact that plastic bags don't decompose. This is a big factor in why the landfills get bigger and bigger. The things we pile up on top of each other don't go away. I like that you are wanting to help save the earth. Maybe one day you will be able to do something big for our planet that will bring us one step closer to making everything good for the environment. Keep up the good work! You are a great blogger!"

C4K #10

This week I have been assigned to the blog Little Voices, Little Scholars. This blog is by Mrs. Jenny She. She is a second grade teacher at Pt. England School in Auckland, New Zealand. This blog is made for her class of mostly age 6 students. The blog post I have commented on is Charles Wrote a Story about his Easter Egg. This post shows a picture of the Easter egg Charles drew using the Kid Pix program. He recorded his story using video format. His story is that he has many Easter eggs. They are beautiful to look at and yummy to eat.

My comment:
"Hello Charles! My name is Carly Willoughby, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I will be publishing a summary of your post on my blog today. Please feel free to visit and comment! Your Easter egg looks really cool. It's very colorful, and blue is one of my favorite colors. Your story is very well written. Did you see and eat a lot of beautiful eggs on Easter? I did. It's one of my favorite holidays! Thank you for sharing your story with me, and keep up the great work!"

Blog Assignment #11

For this assignment Dr. Strange had us watch the videos Little Kids...Bit Potential and Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy. The first video was put together by Ms. Cassidy using her first grade students and what they have learned in her class. This class seems very similar to what we are doing in EDM 310. She is teaching her students how to blog and use the internet for sources for the classroom. The students in the video tell how blogging has taught them to be more careful with their writing skills. They like blogging more than writing in notebooks because people from all over the world can see them and comment on them. One of the students said that you never ever say mean stuff in comments because you might hurt someones feelings. Always say nice things. They know how to get to games where they learn about subjects or the alphabet. They can even access their blogs at home. They also learned how to make videos about learning and Skype to talk to other classes and teachers. They also use Nintendo DS to play games for learning.
The second video is a Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy by Dr. Strange. She started using technology in her classroom 10 years ago because she was given 5 computers in her classroom. She learned how to make webpages and blogs to help the students study on the computers. She's had a classroom blog for 5 years. She said the parents like to be able to see their child's work easily. She uses the blogs as an online portfolio for the students that is easier to see than having to set up an appointment with the teacher. The parents can just go online whenever they have an opportunity to see their child's progress. Ms. Cassidy says the world would go on without blogging, but the one thing the students get when blogging that they don't get with a pencil and paper is an audience. The students get writing, video, and media training all in one in her class. They are learning to communicate with students around the world rather than just the students they see in the classroom. Ms. Cassidy's answer to "do you think every teacher needs to be technology literate?" she said absolutely! She said just knowing word processors isn't technology literate. That's not enough to know for teaching students how to use technology in the classroom. I like how she said that getting information off other people's blogs isn't cheating, it's collaborating.

I would use the blogging in my classroom as a substitute for writing papers. That would give the students some time using technology, but not so much that technology is taking over the classroom. I still think they need to have some work sheets because writing by hand is really important too. I think the only downfall to students using the internet at school is trying to get them focused on what they are supposed to be working on. I know when I took computer classes I would pull up games and play them while the teacher wasn't looking instead of doing my work. I have a feeling students now know how to use a computer for games before they even get into a classroom.

Blog Assignment #10

1. The video Do You Teach or Do You Educate? does a good job of explaining the difference between a teacher and an educator. According to this video, a teacher just shows or explains how to do something, gives information or instructs, and causes someone to learn or understand something. An educator is someone who gives intellectual, moral, and spiritual instruction. They are a mentor and a guide. I found this quote in the video very inspiring: "Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave." from Peter Brougham.
I intend to educate rather than teach by being everything a student needs. I will guide them to a place they feel comfortable in the world. I will be a mentor to them by giving them advice on how to be themselves and to do the right thing in any situation. This quote by Martin Luther King is true in every way: "Intelligence plus character ... that is the goal of true education."

2. In the blog post Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home, Mr. Spencer tells his dialog between him and the "School Curriculum Instructional Interventionist Academic Specialist" about why students shouldn't take pencils home. Her reasoning is that it results in lower test scores. Mr. Spencer retaliates this statement by saying that the results were yielded from only bubble –in multiple choice tests. This doesn’t really measure authentic learning. They argue back and forth about who is right, and in the end Mr. Spencer comes on top by saying he has talked to the students and their parents about using effective studying strategies at home with paper and pencil. These strategies are made fun or interesting for the students so they will want to do them.
I really like the message of this blog post. It shows that some teachers care about the students actually learning and not just about the test scores. Of course if students truly learn, their test scores should reflect that level of academic achievement. Mr. Spencer took what he knew about his students and their parents and made something useful for them to make studying more enjoyable and easier to do. Just because students know how to use pencils for fun and games doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t have fun and learn at the same time. I really enjoyed this post. I learning a lifelong message from it: don’t underestimate the power of an overlooked item.

Blog Assignment #9

On Joe McClung's blog post What I've learned This Year (2008-2009) he writes about his experiences in his classroom his first year of being a teacher. One of the things he learned his first year is to be more student centered. He learned that being a teacher wasn't about him, it was about how the students came out of his class. Did they come out learning all they could from Mr McClung? This is a question I need to keep in mind when I become a teacher. I need not worry about me and how will I be at the end of the school year, but rather what will my students have learned from me throughout the year.

He also told about how he learned to be flexible. He started teaching by trying to stay exactly to his lesson plan. He says, "NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT". I'm assuming these are all capitalized because he found out that it's really important to know. I will make sure I keep this in mind too. I'm a perfectionist. I get very irritated when things don't go as planned. Of course having a fiance who likes to be spontaneous, (a planners worst nightmare!) I have learned flexibility. But I thought having my own classroom would give me the structure I wanted ... I guess I thought wrong! My composition teacher my first year of college told me that when he first started teaching that he had a plan for the class that he wanted to stick to, but now he knows that the best way for students to learn is to let them take the discussion in the classroom where they needed. That's how they learned the most.

He tells us that he learned about communication. That it is the best way to resolve any issue in the work place. It is also the way to build relationships with co-workers and students. I find this fact very obvious, but none-the-less I am great at communicating and will keep this in mind too for my future.

Being reasonable is his next thing he talks about. Don't set the students up for failure by having unreasonable expectations for them, and don't scold them if they don't reach the expectations. He says, "Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again." This is something I won't have to work hard for. I like to think I am very good at encouraging people to do their best and helping them back up if they fail.

This is one point I believe Dr. Strange is very pleased about hearing: don't be afraid of technology. I hope to use many of the technology skills learned in EDM 310 in my future classroom. I like technology, and I'm not afraid to use it!

His last two points on this post are listen to your students and never stop learning. I'm putting these two together because, to me, they are the most obvious, but I do appreciate him listing them because they may not be obvious to everyone.

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In Mr. McClung's blog post What I Learned This Year (2010-2011) he states that this was his first year of being head coach, coaching cross country, and being a computer applications teacher. So it's his third year of being a teacher, but it still holds a lot of "firsts". Hmmm ... this sounds like a hint of some sort that not all teachers do the same thing in the same place year after year.

His first thing he learned is know who your boss is. He says teachers need to focus on the students and not trying to please co-workers. The students are the main priority and they need all of their teachers attention. He says that teachers should never let the emotions of personal or professional life affect how they interact with their students. This shouldn't be a struggle for me because being in a classroom makes me happy. I love being able to help students and that will distract me (until the last bell of the day rings) from anything happening outside of the classroom. I can't say that I will always keep my emotions in check. Everyone makes mistakes. I just hope I can try my hardest to.

His next tip is don't expect other to be as excited about change as you are. He says that he found out during this school year that his optimism came to be a fault of his. He says he really enjoys the professional development sessions because he looks forward to see what new stuff are being presented. He catches sight of the pessimists who sit in the corner and don't really care about what's being presented and don't really think it'll change anything. He said they once might have been just like him, all excited, and somewhere down the road they lost the fire that drove them to be excited. But he didn't let them get him down. I will probably start off all excited about new things, and then lose my fire too. I'm not one for change. I like routines, but if I have to change what I like to become a teacher, then so be it!

Don't be afraid to be an outsider. First off I have to say that I've been an outsider most of my life. I don't fit in with any one crowd, so I hang out with several different ones. I spend most of my time alone, but that doesn't bother me. I would like to be like Mr. McClung and focus more time on my students than trying to make friends with adults.

His next tip is to never touch the keyboard. His "classroom mom" told him she worked at an airline, and one of the things they made sure they didn't do when training someone was touch the keyboard. If the person training typed something in, that's something the trainee missed out on learning. This is something I learned working in a fast food restaurant. The very first day of my senior year in high school I started my second job at a local fast food restaurant. The person who was training me was someone I had known for years. Instead of telling me what to push and letting me learn where things were on the touch screen, she got annoyed at how long it took me to find buttons and she started pushing them for me. So when I had to train my replacement before I left, I knew how to train her. Let her do the pushing. If she didn't know where something was, I'd look at where she was at and tell her what to push until she got to the screen she needed. I will definitely be able to do the same in my classroom.

His last tip on this post is don't get comfortable. "While routines are good in the sense they allow me to be more effective, they can also be bad because they can foster apathy." I love that he said this because I need to hear it. I love having a routine, but I don't want it to become my teaching career for me. I will do like he did and volunteer for different activities and attend professional development sessions.

C4T #3

Comment 1

My teacher for this post is Tom Schimmer. He is from Penticton, British Columbia (Canada). After spending several years as a teacher, he then became an administrator. He has also been a vice-principal and a district principal. All of this combined, he has spent 20 years in the education system. He is the author of Ten Things that Matter from Assessment to Grading. He is now an independent education consultant.
Mr. Schimmer has been posting several blog posts on the idea of "implementation plans and why some are successful and why some are not". This week I have commented on the post Implement THAT! (Part 6) – The Acceptance of a New Idea. This is his first audio podcast.
This podcast is about leadership for the acceptance of a new idea. He uses something from the book Virus of the Mind by Richard Brodie to help us visualize how ideas spread. They spread like viruses by penetrating a weak spot, duplicating itself, and spreading. This sounds like something not good, but it is used in positive ways also. There are four stages to accepting a new idea: marginalization (people don't really pay attention), ridicule, criticism, and acceptance. But the idea isn't the one doing the moving, it's the people moving in relation to the idea. He gives guidelines for leaders for each of these stages. At marginalization the leader needs to keep the new idea up front and center. At ridicule the leader needs to respond with respect. At criticism the leader doesn't need to match the level of intensity as the people. This will only cite confrontation. At acceptance the leader needs to support, support, support.
My comment:
"Mr. Schimmer, My name is Carly Willoughby, and I'm a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be posting a summary of your podcast on my blog. This is the first blog post I have been to that is an audio podcast. It is more personal this way because I can listen to you, but I have ADD and wish I had something to read along with it. It's like when I'm in church; if I don't have something to look at and read along with the pastor, I get side tracked by what's in front of me and end up not paying any attention to what's being said. On the topic of your podcast, I really liked what you had to say. Most people don't know how to accept a new idea. They decide to respond in ridicule, making fun of it and the people who came up with it. This is the stage I see the most for new ideas. I like how you said that an idea doesn't move in stages, but rather the people move in relation to the idea. This caught my attention because I usually think that it's the idea that moves into different categories (new, gaining interest, popular, etc.), but it's really the people who are in different categories. I also love that you gave guidelines for the leaders for each stage. I really enjoyed this podcast! Thank you for allowing me the pleasure of listening to it! Sincerely, Carly Willoughby"

Comment 2

In Mr. Schimmer's most recent post Implement THAT! (Part 7) – Take YOU off the table, he talks about challenges for new ideas. The biggest challenge is the way they are being brought forward. The problem wasn't the idea, it was the messenger. This is where "take YOU off the table" comes from. There are two ways to make issues with a new idea: discredit someones experience and put people on the defensive. When a leader hears someone else give their experience, they need to just realize they are sharing a new idea with them. Don't tell them they are wrong. Find common ground and discuss how they are different. New ideas already put older ideas on the defensive, but getting personal doesn't open people's minds. One thing Mr. Schimmer said was, "telling people they are wrong doesn't make you right." I love this quote because my fiance and I always argue over who is right. I will argue with him until he proves me wrong or vice versa. Sometimes we come to find out we are both wrong, and that makes us feel like jerks. We thought we were right because we thought the other was wrong. These ideas can kill great ideas. He said these ideas reminds him of a quote, "if you have to be an ass to get things done, then you're not a leader, you're just an ass."
My comment:
"Hello Mr. Schimmer! I will be publishing my post about your blogs on my blog as soon as I publish this comment if you would like to take a look at it. I listened to this podcast twice so I could really pay attention to what you were saying, and I have to agree that sometimes I don't like a new idea because of the way they are being brought forward. I don't like pushy people, so if someone tries to push me to look at their new stuff, I tend to not care about it. I have to say my favorite part of your podcast was when you said, "telling people they are wrong doesn't make you right." I love this quote because my fiance and I always argue over who is right. I will argue with him until he proves me wrong or vice versa. Sometimes we come to find out we are both wrong, and that makes us feel like jerks. We thought we were right because we thought the other was wrong. I will most likely think about this quote the next time we start arguing over something. Thank you again for your wonderful podcast! Your blog is being added to my PLN (personal learning network) so I can follow your posts and find new things to think about in the future. Carly Willoughby"

C4K Summary for March

C4K #5

On the blog Miriam Lord 100 Word Challenge, the students have to write a story using only 100 words, plus the extra words the teacher requires them to place in their story. This weeks words were, "the weather changed for the worst". Zara wrote about a girl named Amnesia who lives in Hawaii where there was a very active volcano. She was planning her birthday party and had invited all of her friends. One day when she came home, her mom told her that her that her party had to be cancelled because the weather had changed for the worst ... the volcano was about to blow!

My Comment:
"My name is Carly Willoughby, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I will be posting a summary of this post on my blog. This is a very interesting story. It also sounds scary! I've never been near a volcano, so I can only imagine what it would be like to live near one that was about to erupt. The end of the story makes me want more. What happened to the girl and her family? Did they get away from the volcano before it erupted? How were they able to celebrate her birthday instead of the party? This was a great story to illustrate the subject of "the weather has changed for the worst". Thank you for allowing me to read such a great story written in 100 words. I enjoyed it! I always love a good suspenseful story."

C4K #6

This week I commented on the same blog Miriam Lord 100 Word Challenge, but this time the words were white, spiders, carefully, pushed, and fifty. Zahra wrote about a girl named Amy who went camping with her parents. Her dad had to go to work so she and her mom were left sleeping in the tent. When Amy woke up, she saw she was surrounded by "fifty little spiders which looked like white cotton buds". She carefully woke up her mom, and they called her dad to come get them.
My comment:
"Hi Zahra! My name is Carly Willoughby, and I'm a student at the University of South Alabama. I love how you tell the story from Amy's point-of-view. It feels a little more personal. I love to go camping, but I hate bugs! Especially spiders. If I find one in my house, I have to get someone else to kill it for me because I'm too freaked out to go near it! This is a really good story and most people could say they feel the same way about spiders. Thank you for allowing me to read your great story! Continue doing great work in school!"

C4K #7

My C4K this week has posted a list of things about him. He likes to play Call of Duty on the Wii. He lives in Vermont. He likes RC trucks and buggies.

My comment:
"Hello! My name is Carly Willoughby, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I will be commenting on your blog for the next 3 weeks for my EDM 310 class and making a summary of your post on my blog. My little brother plays Call of Duty on his xBox. My boyfriend doesn't have the game, but he loves to play it when he visits his friends' houses. I've played it a couple of times, but I don't like the blood and killing. That's not my kind of game. I like racing games. I haven't been to Vermont. The farthest North I have been is Washington D.C. Have you ever been to New York City? That's somewhere I really want to visit, but it's too far away from Alabama. I don't have the money to take that trip right now. I look forward to commenting on your blog! Keep up the blogging!"