Blog Post 13

My Teacher is An App is an article written by Stephanie Banchero and Stephanie Simon that is featured in the Wall Street Journal. The article focuses on the topic of public school students from kindergarten to twelfth grade receiving their education online. The students can take one or more of their classes online. This gives the students the flexibility to complete their assignments at their own pace, without giving the students too much freedom where they will not complete their work. For example, Noah, a student mentioned in the article, is able to take a break from his online classes to grab himself a snack, yet he realizes he must complete a quiz in the next 3 hours. He is given freedom to get food, yet he still has a specific time frame in which he has to complete assignments so he is not given too much freedom.

I can see why a lot of students would like to have the freedom to take one or more of their classes online. For Allison, her online history class has renewed her love of history. She does not have to deal with boring history lectures again. I am not sure that I agree with grade school children taking all of their classed online though. I feel if students were required to take all of their classes online, they would become too dependent on technology. The students would also face a decrease in human interaction, which I do not find healthy. I like how Florida implements online schooling in moderation. Florida requires all of it's public high school students to take at least one class online. I feel like this is a genius idea to introduce online schooling, but moderation is key in its success.

Project 15

Final Project Progress Report

I am working in a group with Katelyn Callahan and Jessica Walker for our Final Project in EDM 310. We have decided to create a video for EDM 310 that will show future students what they have to look forward to in the class. The video acts as an introduction to EDM 310. The video will reference the following topics that are important in EDM 310: blogging, podcasts, Timetoast, Delicious, YouTube, and much more. We have done most of the filming for our final project. We just need to work on the final edits and our project will be completed.

C4K3

Jabez is a year 5 student at Pt England School in Auckland, New Zealand. He wrote about the Immersion Assemble his school hosted where the theme was "Outta This World." The assembly seemed to be a lot of fun! There was a rap about the planets, stories of constellations, and teachers dressing up and performing "Twinkle, Twinkle Litte Star." This is such an entertaining way to explore and learn about topics that deal with space. I commented on Jabez post by saying it sounds like everyone had a blast at the assembly. I also mentioned that it was awesome that two of the teachers dressed up in tutus and that the picture of the teachers in the post was very amusing. I let Jabez know that he is a very descriptive and interesting writer, and that I hope he keeps the great work up.

Blog Post 11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class

Ms. Cassidy teaches a first grade class in Moose Jaw, Canada. Right at the beginning of the video, you are shown many of the various ways that her class uses technology. Her students love to work on their blogs. The student's blogs are used as an online portfolio of their work. These children are very skilled when it comes to using technology to help strengthen their education. For example, Ms. Cassidy's class knows how to use Wikis to find out about the topic of traditions and rituals. The students received answers from people all around the world who helped contribute their knowledge and defintions to aid this class with their learning. This is a technique that I would like to use in the classroom because it provides a wide variety of answers from those all over the world. By being provided a variety of answers, the class can be shown how a definition might differ between cultures.

I also like how the children use skype to talk to experts to learn about various subjects in the classroom. The only difficulty I see with utilizing this in my classroom is getting into contact with the experts and getting the expert to agree to a Skype Interview. Ms. Cassidy's class uses videos a lot as well, and I think that is such a fun and creative way to get the student's excited to learn about a subject. The student can demontrate their knowledge of the content they are learning by creating a video and demonstrating the topic at hand. The only difficulty I see with implementing this in my classroom is getting consent forms signed for the children to be allowed to be in the videos.

A Skype interview was conducted between Dr. Strange, a part of his class, and Ms. Cassidy which can be seen here: Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy. This interview covers the topic of technology being used in Ms. Cassidy's classroom. I think that it is very smart not to force the children to ignore technology when in the classroom. As you can see in the video I talked about before this interview, technology has contributed so much to the learning of Ms. Cassidy's first grade class. I am glad that they were given the opportunity to learn so much in her classroom, because the skills they are learning will benefit them greatly later in life.

Project 14- Skype Interview

Blog Post 12

For this assignment we had to create our own blog post that we thought should have been an assignment for EDM 310. I decided to look for articles that dealt with the topic of teachers using Facebook and how teachers have gotten in trouble using the social media site.

Some states have actually set restrictions on the use of Social Networking sites used by teachers: Missouri Teacher Law Banning FB

Be sure to also answer the following questions:
1. Do you have a facebook or other type of Social Networking site?
2. Do you have material that may get you in trouble with your employers/future employers? (cursing, inappropriate pictures, etc)
3. Do you have privacy settings on your facebook page?
I suggest that everyone takes the time to actually look at their facebook thoroughly. This will be beneficial for you in the long run. Some people may think that their antics will not get them in trouble, but you would be surprised at the how often teachers get in trouble for things that they post online. You want to appear professional at all times. You are leaving an intellectual trail, as we are always told in this class, so do not post something that you would not want everyone to see.

Now, take a look at these two articles. Please summarize your thoughts on the articles, including your thoughts and opinions on what you read. 1.) Eight Ways Teachers Can Get In Trouble Because Of Facebook. These are all ways that you can get into trouble by using a social networking site.
2.) Ten Ways Teachers Can Use Facebook To Connect To Students This article focuses on the positive ways teachers can use Facebook to improve their classroom.

My answer to the assignment:
I do have a Facebook account of my own. I also have a Twitter account. I make sure that I do not post anything that is obscene on my Facebook. I try to make sure that I use clean language and that none of my pictures are controversial. My Facebook profile is private. Only my friends can view what I post online. Even though I have privacy settings, I make sure that I keep my Facebook clean because I want my facebook to be a proper reflection of who I am as a person. The first article deals with ways that teachers can get into trouble by using Facebook. I found it horrible that teachers were using facebook to make fun of or to complain about their students. Students are supposed to look up to you as an educator and not feel bullied by their teachers. As I continue to read the article I am horrified at the actions of some of these teachers. One thing that I am truly disturbed about in particular is that a teacher made fun of a student's death on facebook. Death is not a laughing matter and it is just sad that a teacher would go to such lengths to joke about a tragic loss of life. I see a consistent theme of the teachers in this article making a mockery of themselves and their schools. I believe that Social Networking can be used for good, but we need to use the networks professionally. We are supposed to be role models for our students, so we need to act in a manner that is respectable.

The second article explains how Facebook can be used in a positive and educational manner within the classroom. Facebook is a tool that can be used by teachers to connect with their students. I especially like how the article mentions that Facebook allows teachers to connect with their students in a manner that students are familiar with. Students are well versed in the ways of technology, so having a teacher that understands things that student's are accustomed to is important. Facebook can also be used by the students to keep up with their assignments. Overall, Facebook can be used in a positive manner. It is just up to the teachers to use the social media site in a way that is benefitial and not harmful towards the students.

I found two other articles on facebook that future educators might find interesting. I would suggest that you take a look at the following links:
1.) Facebook in First Grade
2.) Complete Guide To Facebook For Educators

Additional Post 1

Metaphors: What They Are and Why We Use Them
1. Why did you miss the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post, or, if you "hit the nail on the head", why do you think you understood the metaphor and why do you think that others in the class missed the metaphor?
I believe that I missed the metaphor because I did not read Tom Johnson's article closely enough. I should have done some more research around the blog to try and find more clues to show me that the pencils that are talked about in the article are a metaphor for technology. Now that I look over the article again, it does seem a little far-fetched that someone would be making such a big deal about tools such as pencils.

2. What metaphors have you encountered since I asked you to create a log of them?
I have seen metaphors in many of my other classes, such as my American Literature class this semester. Metaphors are very common in figurative language, so it is not shocking that I have stumbled upon many metaphors in the books and poems that I have read.

3. What other things can we do as educators to help our students to understand and to use metaphors?
First of all, I think it is important that teachers teach their students what a metaphor is and how to identify them when they are used. I also think that it is important to emphasize the importance of reading things closely and slowly. Many times people try to speed read their assignments because they want to be done as soon as possible. When people do this though, often they miss important things such as metaphors and the true meaning of the peice of work they are reading. I will make sure that I ask my students to read their assignments carefully. I want them to be able to understand the true meaning of assignments they are given.

4. Why do we use metaphors?
We use metaphors to create writing that is rich and full of life. Metaphors are a fun and creative way to compare one thing to another thing in the world. Metaphors allow you to draw connections between two things. Metaphors also make writing more interesting to read.

C4K 2

For my first C4k, I was assigned Dykio. We were asked to say hello and present an interesting fact addressed to our student about the United States. I wrote that if you look on a map, Alaska is typically drawn to a scale that is smaller than Texas. In reality though, Alaska is at least two times the size of Texas. I learned this from a teacher I had in Elementary School.

Madison is in period 5 of Mrs. Gregory's 6th grade class. Madison wrote about the origins behind many of the various halloween traditions we still practice today. She went over topics such as why costumes are worn, the tale behind a Jack-o-Lantern, and why people may bob for apples on this holiday. I never really thought about the history behind the holiday. I commented on her post saying that she really captured my interest with all the stories she shared. I also mentioned that it I found it remarkable how the people in the past worked so hard to ward off being possessed by a spirit. I told her to keep up the great work since she taught me so much about the holiday.

Rachel is also in period 5 of Mrs. Greogory's 6th grade class. Unlike being assigned to comment on Madison's post, I used the name generator on Mrs. Greogory's class blog and Rachel's name was randomly selected. Rachel wrote about cancer. She covered topics such as what cancer is, habits that can increase the risk of cancer, and the most common types of cancer. Her post was incredibly informative. I commented and let Rachel know that I really liked was how she made an appeal to her audience to try and live healthy. She asked those who were smokers to reconsider their habit because it could seriously harm them. I let her know that I am not a smoker, and I do not plan to start smoking because I know how smoking seriously harms the body. I also let Rachel know that I liked the picture she included in her blog.

Jordi is a student in 2KM at Leopold Primary School in Victoria, Australia. In her post, Jordi wrote all about her love of athletics. She is very involved in athletics at her school. She has done the 800 meter run and she came in third place in an activity called “the walk.” Jordi has included many visuals in her blog, which I really enjoy. I commented on Jordi’s blog and congratulated her for her success with her athletics. I told her that I loved how she included so many graphics and pictures within her post, and that I hope she keeps up with her great work in the future.

Michael is a student in Room 9 at Pt England School which is located in Auckland, New Zealand. In his post, Michael created a very neat animation of the Australian Outback! His animation is very impressive. I commented on his animation by saying that I enjoyed how colorful he made the animation and how he included music in the background. I told him that he is very gifted and that he should be proud of what he has created.

Mike Gwaltney teaches a high school history class in Portland, Oregon called the Age of Exploration.This week I read The Power of Research, which is a blog post written by his student named Elliot. Elliot realizes that the skills he learns in this class will be helpful later in life. He talks about becoming a life-long learner, which is something that I want to be as well. I commented on his post by saying that it is apparent that he has learned a lot about himself as a scholar. The flexibility of the project allowed Elliot to discover his strengths and weaknesses when it comes to research. I told Elliot that I love when I am given the opportunity to create a project of my choosing, because I do not like for my creativity to be stifled by the rigidness of guidelines. I ended my comment by saying that I hope Elliot keeps his thirst for knowledge.