Here is my Pecha Kutcha I made for T4T and presented in class.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
March 25: Reflection on "Orientation in Second Life"
Second Life is a virtual world. One type is the Virtally Linked: London Community. In this video, the folks at London Metropolitan University explain how they have designed ways to introduce the system to new users.
First, they tried handouts, but those were ineffective. Next, they tried allowing students to explore the system completly on their own, but this did not work either. Finally, what has proven effective is providing orientation in a similar way game designers introduce new players, by guiding the user to infer what to do.
As Deborah Butler said, some, such as myself, see this as a bit far fetched, strange, and involving privacy issues. Honestly, I don't know what to do with this in my classroom! It seems silly to me. Can students create historical characters and allow them to interact with each other? Can they create avatars that accuratly resemble the real people, or at least come close? If anyone has suggestions, please let me know.
Out of curiosity, I visited the London in Second Life website and found some reasons for which they believe people can use virtual spaces. For example, users can plan a real trip to London and meet people from the city before going, users can share ideas and hopes, and to interact like a real community. But, I am still not sure how to use this to enhance learning in the classroom.
First, they tried handouts, but those were ineffective. Next, they tried allowing students to explore the system completly on their own, but this did not work either. Finally, what has proven effective is providing orientation in a similar way game designers introduce new players, by guiding the user to infer what to do.
As Deborah Butler said, some, such as myself, see this as a bit far fetched, strange, and involving privacy issues. Honestly, I don't know what to do with this in my classroom! It seems silly to me. Can students create historical characters and allow them to interact with each other? Can they create avatars that accuratly resemble the real people, or at least come close? If anyone has suggestions, please let me know.
Out of curiosity, I visited the London in Second Life website and found some reasons for which they believe people can use virtual spaces. For example, users can plan a real trip to London and meet people from the city before going, users can share ideas and hopes, and to interact like a real community. But, I am still not sure how to use this to enhance learning in the classroom.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Results From My Classmates Eating Habits Survey
In class on Wed. March 10,2010, our class made surveys for each other to take. My survey set out to find the dining out habits of my classmates, and the results were interesting.
Out of 8 completed surveys, I found most prefer to eat Mexican food when dining out, while my favorite, Italian, was not once mentioned.
Also, 7 out of 8 responded they would order either a dessert or appetizer when eating out. From these, 4 out of 7 would order both appetizer and dessert, while 2 out of 7 would order only dessert, and 1 out of 7 would order only an appetizer. This suprised me because I rarely order either.
Out of 8 completed surveys, I found most prefer to eat Mexican food when dining out, while my favorite, Italian, was not once mentioned.
Also, 7 out of 8 responded they would order either a dessert or appetizer when eating out. From these, 4 out of 7 would order both appetizer and dessert, while 2 out of 7 would order only dessert, and 1 out of 7 would order only an appetizer. This suprised me because I rarely order either.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
March 4: Relection on Sam's Digital Youth Portrait
Sam is a 13 year-old girl who is comfortable playing with technology. She is good at math and music, and is very creative according to her peers, parents, and teachers.
She is able to use technology to help her in school. In English class, she had to read a book, but did not understand it, so she downloaded it to her phone, and by doing so, the book was read to her and she could better understand it. I'm not sure how I feel about this. If she is struggling to understand, yes, she needs to find help. I'm sure she isn't having a book read to her all the time, but that could be a bad habit to get into. Everyone needs to be able to read text, analyze it, and come to some conclusion. If you have it read to you all the time, you become dependent on the person or device reading. I would encourage asking help from the teacher or form a student study group where everyone reads the book, understand what you can, and contribute what you can to the group.
Sam also used technology in Science class by creating a weather report from another planet using a video software. Sam really enjoys making videos. She said she has had a camera since she was a child. She enjoys directing her friends in creating a story.
Sam uses a virtual piano online to teach her how to play the piano. I thought that was awesome! Sam seems to be good at teaching herself.
Sam said that digital media allows her freedom of expression and to be someone else. She learns teamwork, problem-solving, and strategy from a game she plays online with other people.
I think the biggest take-away for me was just how much Sam uses technology to help her in her classes; it helps her improve, and to be creative.
I would like to reach out to the students in my class who like to create. I did a project in high school in history class where we had to make a video with other students about an event we had learned in class. My group chose the anti-Vietnam War protests during the 1970s. We had a lot of fun. We had to research the topic and then get together to make a video. I think that is a great way to learn about an event in history, to learn teamwork and collaboration, and to practice with technology.
She is able to use technology to help her in school. In English class, she had to read a book, but did not understand it, so she downloaded it to her phone, and by doing so, the book was read to her and she could better understand it. I'm not sure how I feel about this. If she is struggling to understand, yes, she needs to find help. I'm sure she isn't having a book read to her all the time, but that could be a bad habit to get into. Everyone needs to be able to read text, analyze it, and come to some conclusion. If you have it read to you all the time, you become dependent on the person or device reading. I would encourage asking help from the teacher or form a student study group where everyone reads the book, understand what you can, and contribute what you can to the group.
Sam also used technology in Science class by creating a weather report from another planet using a video software. Sam really enjoys making videos. She said she has had a camera since she was a child. She enjoys directing her friends in creating a story.
Sam uses a virtual piano online to teach her how to play the piano. I thought that was awesome! Sam seems to be good at teaching herself.
Sam said that digital media allows her freedom of expression and to be someone else. She learns teamwork, problem-solving, and strategy from a game she plays online with other people.
I think the biggest take-away for me was just how much Sam uses technology to help her in her classes; it helps her improve, and to be creative.
I would like to reach out to the students in my class who like to create. I did a project in high school in history class where we had to make a video with other students about an event we had learned in class. My group chose the anti-Vietnam War protests during the 1970s. We had a lot of fun. We had to research the topic and then get together to make a video. I think that is a great way to learn about an event in history, to learn teamwork and collaboration, and to practice with technology.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Feb.26: Reflection on Paula White's "Parallel Play or Collaboration: Leveraging the Wiki Platform for High Quality Work"
Here, Paula, a 5th grade teacher, introduces her wiki called WikiThink, which raises some very interesting questions about deep collaboration, creation in the classroom, and meaningful interaction between students and teachers such as... What is collaboration? What is the purpose of a wiki? Which are best? What are kids doing on them? Are they regurgitating or creating? Working alone or collectively?
I am always curious how to get students engaged. And, what exactly does it mean to be engaged? Paula mentions the 8 Qualities of Engaging Work, which include personal experience, choice, novelty/variety, learning with others, sense of audience, clear/modeled expectations, and more. The students, she said, have to want to be connected. It needs to be more than teacher-created structures and more student-created structures or groups collaborating on their own and not because the teacher told them to. This has been the greatest takeaway for me. Along with this, she says, "relationships built on honor and respect between people coupled with quality tasks is the formula for engagement." This is, of course, something I would like to foster in my own classroom. I want students to be able to work with other students and use their own strengths to research and create something meaningful. After all, I believe it is those lessons learn that mean the most to us, that we learn the most from. We, as teachers, have to not "play school" but teach our kids how to retain information and then apply what they have learned. " School is not the point, but a path."
I am always curious how to get students engaged. And, what exactly does it mean to be engaged? Paula mentions the 8 Qualities of Engaging Work, which include personal experience, choice, novelty/variety, learning with others, sense of audience, clear/modeled expectations, and more. The students, she said, have to want to be connected. It needs to be more than teacher-created structures and more student-created structures or groups collaborating on their own and not because the teacher told them to. This has been the greatest takeaway for me. Along with this, she says, "relationships built on honor and respect between people coupled with quality tasks is the formula for engagement." This is, of course, something I would like to foster in my own classroom. I want students to be able to work with other students and use their own strengths to research and create something meaningful. After all, I believe it is those lessons learn that mean the most to us, that we learn the most from. We, as teachers, have to not "play school" but teach our kids how to retain information and then apply what they have learned. " School is not the point, but a path."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Feb.17: Reflection on Joyce Valenza's "Wizard of Apps"
First, I want to say what a great job the Theatre II class did on making that video! It was funny, creative, and informative!
High school students and their librarian make a parody of the "Wizard of Oz "to help us learn about Ethical Digital Citizenship, Research Apps, Triangulation, PLN, Presenting to an Audience, and Communication/Collaboration.
In the digital citizenship segment, "Glenda" told us about transformative thinking in deciding which sites are good and which are bad. She mentioned noodletools. This is a site I have used several times for making works cited pages in high school. I would recommend it to my students. Some of the research apps "Glenda" mentioned would be very helpful in my own history classes. For example, wikis and blogs (both of which I intend to use extensively in my own classroom), Google's many search options, online database widgets (Ebsco, Gale, Proquest, JSTOR, NYTimes)- all of which are essential to historical research and which I plan to make use of in teaching students how to research. I could put these widgets on a classroom blog and that way the students could have easy access to all their research materials. She presented Google News Timelines, for example. I browsed this. I like it, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as a first line of defense because there are way too many ads cluttering the screen...distracting!
She also mentioned triangulation, a word of which I have never heard. It is basically a filter for garbage (GIGO: garbage in, garbage out). She advises to ask questions of the sources found online.
She provided a dozen creative websites from which students could find pictures, make movies, play with words, etc... I could use voicethread as a tool in the classroom by allowing students to create reviews of chapters on voicethread, or even to present a chapter or part of a chapter, to the class. The best way to learn is to teach others.
"Glenda" also told us about communication and collaboration. One of my favorite tools she introduced here was the idea of Skyping an author. What a great idea! I think it would be more exciting for librarians, English teachers, or elementary teachers. But, I could use it as a French teacher, perhaps.
All in all, "Glenda" presented a great collection of resources. I'm still browsing them all. There are so many! One site I looked into, out of curiosity, was wordle.net. Here, students and teachers can play with words to create some interesting configurations. I played it myself, and I thought it was cool. In brainstorming how to use this, I thought of: students could use it in presentations, I could use it for an introduction into a new unit, or better yet a review of a unit. The students can see all the key words to study.
Great video!
High school students and their librarian make a parody of the "Wizard of Oz "to help us learn about Ethical Digital Citizenship, Research Apps, Triangulation, PLN, Presenting to an Audience, and Communication/Collaboration.
In the digital citizenship segment, "Glenda" told us about transformative thinking in deciding which sites are good and which are bad. She mentioned noodletools. This is a site I have used several times for making works cited pages in high school. I would recommend it to my students. Some of the research apps "Glenda" mentioned would be very helpful in my own history classes. For example, wikis and blogs (both of which I intend to use extensively in my own classroom), Google's many search options, online database widgets (Ebsco, Gale, Proquest, JSTOR, NYTimes)- all of which are essential to historical research and which I plan to make use of in teaching students how to research. I could put these widgets on a classroom blog and that way the students could have easy access to all their research materials. She presented Google News Timelines, for example. I browsed this. I like it, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as a first line of defense because there are way too many ads cluttering the screen...distracting!
She also mentioned triangulation, a word of which I have never heard. It is basically a filter for garbage (GIGO: garbage in, garbage out). She advises to ask questions of the sources found online.
She provided a dozen creative websites from which students could find pictures, make movies, play with words, etc... I could use voicethread as a tool in the classroom by allowing students to create reviews of chapters on voicethread, or even to present a chapter or part of a chapter, to the class. The best way to learn is to teach others.
"Glenda" also told us about communication and collaboration. One of my favorite tools she introduced here was the idea of Skyping an author. What a great idea! I think it would be more exciting for librarians, English teachers, or elementary teachers. But, I could use it as a French teacher, perhaps.
All in all, "Glenda" presented a great collection of resources. I'm still browsing them all. There are so many! One site I looked into, out of curiosity, was wordle.net. Here, students and teachers can play with words to create some interesting configurations. I played it myself, and I thought it was cool. In brainstorming how to use this, I thought of: students could use it in presentations, I could use it for an introduction into a new unit, or better yet a review of a unit. The students can see all the key words to study.
Great video!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Feb.5: Talking with Students
Here is a link to a comment I left on a student video project called "Share Our Knowledge With the World" about gender stereotypes...
https://21globalleadership.wikispaces.com/message/view/Alix/19818363
https://21globalleadership.wikispaces.com/message/view/Alix/19818363
Feb. 5: Talking with Classmates
Here are two links to classmate blogs on which I have commented:
http://sewardfelisha.blogspot.com/2010/02/video-project-learning-overview.html
|
| http://kirstiyvonne.blogspot.com/2010/02/stereortype-slaves.html
http://sewardfelisha.blogspot.com/2010/02/video-project-learning-overview.html
|
| http://kirstiyvonne.blogspot.com/2010/02/stereortype-slaves.html
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
"Story in 5 Photos"
by (Creative Commons License: Attribution)
by (Creative Commons License: Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike)
by (Creative Commons License: Attribution, Share-Alike)
by (Creative Commons License: Attribution, Non-Commercial)
by (Creative Commons License: Attribution, Non-Commercial)Here is a story about flying in an airplane in 5 photos.
1) A group of people board the airplane (in this case an Austrian airline).
2)Say hello to the pilots. Hey they're happy to see us! I hope they get us to our destination safely.
3)Of course, we have to wait in line before take off.
4)Now, we are landing
5)Hey, buddy, will you grab my bag?
I hope you enjoyed this riveting tale.
Feb.3: Reflection on Digiteens: Digital Citizenship by Digital Teenagers
In this video, teens collaborated to address things such as saftey on the internet, cyberbullying, and health/wellness issues related to digtial media. Each group designed a short film to address each issue. My two favorites were "Driving While Texting," and "Stealing Pictures."
In "Driving While Texting," I learned DWI kills more than DUI, 37% of all wrecks are from a result of DWI, including 22,000 teens. The video was very emotional, informative, and creative.
"Stealing Pictures" was also a very creative look at issues such as identity theft and common mistakes with copyright online.
At the end, the students said having the internet in the classroom is a great way to learn how to use it properly, productively, and it also allowed them to expand their cultural horizons, and communication skills. The students liked that the Digiteen project allowed them to work with other students and to learn on their own. And, it was fun!
Again, project-based learning is very beneficial to the students, especially when you (as an educator) allow them to research topics which affect their demographic (such as DUI, DWI, internet safety/security, teen pregnancy, etc...).
Because I will be working with pre-teens and teens, I took this video to heart. I would like to allow my students to create using technology to learn about history, current events, other cultures,etc... This will further engage the students and also, as the teacher in the intro of this video said, effect behavior in the classroom. If the students aren't bored out of their minds, they will learn, participate, and have fun!
In "Driving While Texting," I learned DWI kills more than DUI, 37% of all wrecks are from a result of DWI, including 22,000 teens. The video was very emotional, informative, and creative.
"Stealing Pictures" was also a very creative look at issues such as identity theft and common mistakes with copyright online.
At the end, the students said having the internet in the classroom is a great way to learn how to use it properly, productively, and it also allowed them to expand their cultural horizons, and communication skills. The students liked that the Digiteen project allowed them to work with other students and to learn on their own. And, it was fun!
Again, project-based learning is very beneficial to the students, especially when you (as an educator) allow them to research topics which affect their demographic (such as DUI, DWI, internet safety/security, teen pregnancy, etc...).
Because I will be working with pre-teens and teens, I took this video to heart. I would like to allow my students to create using technology to learn about history, current events, other cultures,etc... This will further engage the students and also, as the teacher in the intro of this video said, effect behavior in the classroom. If the students aren't bored out of their minds, they will learn, participate, and have fun!
Feb.3: Project Learning Reflection
Project learning has always been something I have been excited about. I believe it is an excellent way for students to get hands-on knowledge about a variety of things. Plus, it's fun! Students are able to solve real-life problems, in real time, with real resources, with real outcomes/solutions.
Seymour Pepert, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says putting students at the center of learning is the key to changing the current education system. I agree with this existentialist point of view, but I also think there is a set of basic knowledge in all the basic subjects (history, math, science, English) that need to be emphasized as well. They need some amount of book study in order to practice in using books as a research tool, and also to give them knowledge that can be helpful once they begin their project, or even outside the classroom when their knowledge truly gets tested.
Speaking of testing, how does an educator assess knowledge learned if the class is only taught using projects? It becomes more difficult. There needs to be projects AND lecture AND book study AND field trips.
It is great to have students collaborate to find solutions to issues about which they are concerned. This teaches teamwork, leadership, resourcefulness, how to be a consumer of information, and the actual topic they are researching...all are valuable lessons to learn for life.
This approach to learning is something I plan to incorporate into my history and French classes. History is written by the victors, so who knows if what we read in textbooks is entirely accurate. It's not! In order to gain a better understanding of historical events, a student needs to have an understanding also of the times in which the event happened and research an event themselves. This can happen by reading newspapers or journals/diaries written at that time. In my class, project learning will incorporate 60% of my plans. Along with projects, there will be readings, group discussions, and lecture. But, in history, the project, the research, is key.
In French, I would love to have the students research francophone nations (I did that in high school and I really enjoyed it). Projects can help language learners a lot. Projects may include: writing assignments, oral presentations on research,etc...
Seymour Pepert, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says putting students at the center of learning is the key to changing the current education system. I agree with this existentialist point of view, but I also think there is a set of basic knowledge in all the basic subjects (history, math, science, English) that need to be emphasized as well. They need some amount of book study in order to practice in using books as a research tool, and also to give them knowledge that can be helpful once they begin their project, or even outside the classroom when their knowledge truly gets tested.
Speaking of testing, how does an educator assess knowledge learned if the class is only taught using projects? It becomes more difficult. There needs to be projects AND lecture AND book study AND field trips.
It is great to have students collaborate to find solutions to issues about which they are concerned. This teaches teamwork, leadership, resourcefulness, how to be a consumer of information, and the actual topic they are researching...all are valuable lessons to learn for life.
This approach to learning is something I plan to incorporate into my history and French classes. History is written by the victors, so who knows if what we read in textbooks is entirely accurate. It's not! In order to gain a better understanding of historical events, a student needs to have an understanding also of the times in which the event happened and research an event themselves. This can happen by reading newspapers or journals/diaries written at that time. In my class, project learning will incorporate 60% of my plans. Along with projects, there will be readings, group discussions, and lecture. But, in history, the project, the research, is key.
In French, I would love to have the students research francophone nations (I did that in high school and I really enjoyed it). Projects can help language learners a lot. Projects may include: writing assignments, oral presentations on research,etc...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Classroom Blogging Buddy
I found Mr. Goerend's Language Arts and Social Studies classroom blog. They are from Waukee, Iowa.
One comment I left is located here. The class was learning about poetry.
You can also find Ms. Sarah D's poem called "Time" here, along with the comment I left for her. I am "traveler22."
One comment I left is located here. The class was learning about poetry.
You can also find Ms. Sarah D's poem called "Time" here, along with the comment I left for her. I am "traveler22."
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Jan.27: Reflection on Luis' Video
I was really impressed with how Luis has become familiar with technology and used it to find a possible career path for himself, to help his community, and his family. He is proficient in emailing and social networking.
Luis learned about computers by simply taking them apart and looking inside, and also online how-to videos. He has used this knowledge to help his parents, who are immigrants from Mexico, pay their bills online, and his mom is able to watch Spanish soap operas on youtube. That made me laugh!!
Luis is involved in Tech Wizards, a program at his high school which targets underrepresented youth in introducing them to careers in math, science, and engineering. With this team, he was able to use technology such as video camers,and GIS to take inventory of trees in their city, and report it to the city government. Then, his group was invited to give a presentation in Chile! How awesome is that! He and his friends learned that they were competent in technology and learned what kind of oppurtunities are out there for them.
He also helps his community by tutoring elementary school children in technolgy. He teaches them how to build robots.
Luis is excited that he is the first person in his family to even think of going to college. I hope that works for him...I'm sure it will.
Luis learned about computers by simply taking them apart and looking inside, and also online how-to videos. He has used this knowledge to help his parents, who are immigrants from Mexico, pay their bills online, and his mom is able to watch Spanish soap operas on youtube. That made me laugh!!
Luis is involved in Tech Wizards, a program at his high school which targets underrepresented youth in introducing them to careers in math, science, and engineering. With this team, he was able to use technology such as video camers,and GIS to take inventory of trees in their city, and report it to the city government. Then, his group was invited to give a presentation in Chile! How awesome is that! He and his friends learned that they were competent in technology and learned what kind of oppurtunities are out there for them.
He also helps his community by tutoring elementary school children in technolgy. He teaches them how to build robots.
Luis is excited that he is the first person in his family to even think of going to college. I hope that works for him...I'm sure it will.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Jan.22: Reflection on Nafiza
Nafiza is like many other teenagers today. She uses her cell phone as an alarm clock, she always has her iPod in her pocket, and she is really into cyber learning.
The video explains how she is working on a Virtual Video Project, which helps youth become digitally literate, which can help them be more civilly engaged in their society, according to their teacher. I think it is important for youth to participate in such cyber learning because whether, as their parents or teachers, we like it or not, the future has not only arrived, but will continue to progress. Students need to be prepared for their future while they are in school. Hey, why not?!
I also think it is great that the group is using their tech saviness to address current events, to share their opinions, and even to make the world a better place by bringing awareness to global social conditions (ex. in the video they mentioned Darfur and Tibet, both hot topics).
I would like to implement the technology with which students are already familiar, and introduce them to new systems in the classroom that can prepare them for their future. If a student goes into business or medicine, those seem like two fields that could really benefit from an education in technology, I think it would be great to incorporate tech with current events (I will be teaching history, so that will be relevant). Students, teenagers in particular, want to be part of the solution, not the problem. I would love to see my students engage in sharing opinions on the world as a whole, whether it be in research, presentation, state/national competitions (are there any?), they can use technology in a myriad of ways to accomplish their goals.
The video explains how she is working on a Virtual Video Project, which helps youth become digitally literate, which can help them be more civilly engaged in their society, according to their teacher. I think it is important for youth to participate in such cyber learning because whether, as their parents or teachers, we like it or not, the future has not only arrived, but will continue to progress. Students need to be prepared for their future while they are in school. Hey, why not?!
I also think it is great that the group is using their tech saviness to address current events, to share their opinions, and even to make the world a better place by bringing awareness to global social conditions (ex. in the video they mentioned Darfur and Tibet, both hot topics).
I would like to implement the technology with which students are already familiar, and introduce them to new systems in the classroom that can prepare them for their future. If a student goes into business or medicine, those seem like two fields that could really benefit from an education in technology, I think it would be great to incorporate tech with current events (I will be teaching history, so that will be relevant). Students, teenagers in particular, want to be part of the solution, not the problem. I would love to see my students engage in sharing opinions on the world as a whole, whether it be in research, presentation, state/national competitions (are there any?), they can use technology in a myriad of ways to accomplish their goals.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Jan. 15: About Me
I am currently a senior at UCO. My major is history education and my minor is French.
I prefer to teach middle/high school students. I don't think I could handle elementary school kids. I love their enthusiasm for learning, but I would prefer to teach at the upper levels. They too can be enthusiastic if the classroom environment is structured in a way that allows teenagers to feel like they are part of something good. I once read somewhere that if you structure a learning environment where the students feel they are part of the solution, and not the problem, the teacher will be doing the student a great favor. Often people shy away from what may be more challenging and go straight to what is easy, but if the challenges are never confronted, neither the person nor situation can ever be improved.
My passions include traveling, cooking, studying languages and cultures (anything European, really), singing and dancing, and spending time with my little sister (she's my best friend...and when I say little, I mean she is only 3 years younger than me). I traveled to Italy, France, and Monaco about 6 years ago. I absolutely loved it!! I would love to return to Europe soon (my passport expires in 4 years!). I am interested in the study trip to southern Spain UCO is doing in May, but I don't know Spanish very well, and I would need to come up with some funds, but would love to go!
I attend Victory Christian Center in OKC. I have been going there for about 7 years. I love my church! My sister and I volunteer there in various capacities (music, children, greeting). I really enjoy talking to people about Jesus Christ and sharing my faith. I feel that it is God who has really directed me into the field of teaching.
I am a little nervous about the class. Despite my age (22) I'm not really into the latest technology and gadgets that are out. But I'm willing to learn and I'm excited about the class.
I prefer to teach middle/high school students. I don't think I could handle elementary school kids. I love their enthusiasm for learning, but I would prefer to teach at the upper levels. They too can be enthusiastic if the classroom environment is structured in a way that allows teenagers to feel like they are part of something good. I once read somewhere that if you structure a learning environment where the students feel they are part of the solution, and not the problem, the teacher will be doing the student a great favor. Often people shy away from what may be more challenging and go straight to what is easy, but if the challenges are never confronted, neither the person nor situation can ever be improved.
My passions include traveling, cooking, studying languages and cultures (anything European, really), singing and dancing, and spending time with my little sister (she's my best friend...and when I say little, I mean she is only 3 years younger than me). I traveled to Italy, France, and Monaco about 6 years ago. I absolutely loved it!! I would love to return to Europe soon (my passport expires in 4 years!). I am interested in the study trip to southern Spain UCO is doing in May, but I don't know Spanish very well, and I would need to come up with some funds, but would love to go!
I attend Victory Christian Center in OKC. I have been going there for about 7 years. I love my church! My sister and I volunteer there in various capacities (music, children, greeting). I really enjoy talking to people about Jesus Christ and sharing my faith. I feel that it is God who has really directed me into the field of teaching.
I am a little nervous about the class. Despite my age (22) I'm not really into the latest technology and gadgets that are out. But I'm willing to learn and I'm excited about the class.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Reflection on "We Like Our Blogging Buddies"
In the video, "We Like Our Blogging Buddies: The Write Stuff with Blogging Mentors, " a university professional teaching professor and a first grade teacher paired up to answer their research question... can first graders improve their techincal understanding of writing and how to write for an audience if they blogged with college students. The answer was an overwhleming YES!
The first graders learned correct punctuation, spelling, capitalization, spacing, and how to sound out words when they posted a blog and a college student responded. The grade school children, according to their teacher, were so excited about the project and were motivated to write well because they had an audience, they knew someone, besides their teacher, would read their post and leave a comment.
One of the significant findings of the research is there is a positive correlation between attitude and achievement with the young students. Because the students had a positive attitude toward blogging, the quality of their writing improved.
This reminds me of a humanities class I took at Oklahoma City Community College a few years ago. It was an online class, so part of our weekly assignments were to, essentially, write a blog about that weeks' reading assignment. Other students and the teacher left comments and sometimes really long discussions on fine art and what kind of dome Brunaschelli used in the Florence Duomo ensued. It was a lot of fun!
The project discussed in the video inspires me to use a similar format in my high school history class. I think it would be beneficial to the students to make use of this technology most teenagers seem to know already...blogging. I could put chapter summaries online, and students could leave comments and/or questions of which some I could answer online and some that maybe require more depth we could discuss in class. That may save classroom time for other things. I don't know...just thoughts.
The first graders learned correct punctuation, spelling, capitalization, spacing, and how to sound out words when they posted a blog and a college student responded. The grade school children, according to their teacher, were so excited about the project and were motivated to write well because they had an audience, they knew someone, besides their teacher, would read their post and leave a comment.
One of the significant findings of the research is there is a positive correlation between attitude and achievement with the young students. Because the students had a positive attitude toward blogging, the quality of their writing improved.
This reminds me of a humanities class I took at Oklahoma City Community College a few years ago. It was an online class, so part of our weekly assignments were to, essentially, write a blog about that weeks' reading assignment. Other students and the teacher left comments and sometimes really long discussions on fine art and what kind of dome Brunaschelli used in the Florence Duomo ensued. It was a lot of fun!
The project discussed in the video inspires me to use a similar format in my high school history class. I think it would be beneficial to the students to make use of this technology most teenagers seem to know already...blogging. I could put chapter summaries online, and students could leave comments and/or questions of which some I could answer online and some that maybe require more depth we could discuss in class. That may save classroom time for other things. I don't know...just thoughts.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Jan.13: Reflection on Cameron's Video
The most suprising thing to me from Cameron's video was just how competent the eleven year old is in using technology. Like his dad said, it's great that he is because it helps his son learn problem-solving. Wow! He even wakes up at 5:30 in the morning. What eleven year old does that? I sure didn't!! I do not know anyone who has had a similar experinece to Cameron's. I like coming up with ideas, but mine are much more low-tech.
In my own classroom, I recognize it will be filled with teenagers from the next generation, which are much more tech-savy than my generation. So, this class will be very helpful in that respect. I also realize it would be wise if I incorporate more technology into my own classroom in order to further engage my students because those are the media they use. No longer is it just pen and paper and textbook... it's powerpoints, emails, TV, videos, etc...
Cameron's dad gave good advice- don't be afraid to allow students to teach us something, or to help present lessons. Don't be afraid to learn from the students too. It was so funny to see him in the Apple store demonstrating his knowledge to the sales rep...what a great kid!!
In my own classroom, I recognize it will be filled with teenagers from the next generation, which are much more tech-savy than my generation. So, this class will be very helpful in that respect. I also realize it would be wise if I incorporate more technology into my own classroom in order to further engage my students because those are the media they use. No longer is it just pen and paper and textbook... it's powerpoints, emails, TV, videos, etc...
Cameron's dad gave good advice- don't be afraid to allow students to teach us something, or to help present lessons. Don't be afraid to learn from the students too. It was so funny to see him in the Apple store demonstrating his knowledge to the sales rep...what a great kid!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
