Sunday, February 23, 2014
Blog Post # 6
What are personal learning Networks? How can they help you as a teacher?
How are they formed? How can you create your own PLN? Who will be the
first additions to your PLN?
Personal learning networks are a network of resources students and teachers can use to learn and grow. According to Steven Anderson, PLN's are a way for teachers and students to take the typical school based (PLC) or personal learning communities and expanding them to a global scale, including a virtual panel of experts from around the world. Learning will never again be confined to the limits within the four walls of a classroom/school.
In the future, a teacher will be a facilitator for children to connect and learn from professionals in any country. Teaching will get better as we as professionals become comfortable with the process of learning to make those valuable connections and utilize our ability to network with in our field and beyond. The possibilities are endless, given this new wave of technological applications for people to research, learn, and gain resources in an instant. The way teaching and learning is conducted will be changed for those willing to open the lines for communicating within the global stage. Children today are using this way of communicating everyday depending on which social media sites they are on or how frequently they use search engines. It will be the duty of the teacher to require they make good use of the internet and the plethora of resources increasingly available to us all. Michael Fawcett, throws down the gauntlet, challenges all teachers to maximize their potential for growth using PLN’s.
I plan on developing my PLN using the Twittersphere, Delicious, Symbaloo, PortaPortal and Blogger to connect to educators and participate in workshops/conferences around the globe. Twitter is a very convenient networking tool because there are recommendations based upon who a person follows. Said recommendations can provide users with an endless supply of possibilities for authentic opportunities for collaboration and instruction. Information can then be saved and stored in one place for quick access with technologies like Delicious and PortaPortal. What a wealth of knowledge we are privy to, all we have to do is show up!
Personal learning networks are a network of resources students and teachers can use to learn and grow. According to Steven Anderson, PLN's are a way for teachers and students to take the typical school based (PLC) or personal learning communities and expanding them to a global scale, including a virtual panel of experts from around the world. Learning will never again be confined to the limits within the four walls of a classroom/school.
In the future, a teacher will be a facilitator for children to connect and learn from professionals in any country. Teaching will get better as we as professionals become comfortable with the process of learning to make those valuable connections and utilize our ability to network with in our field and beyond. The possibilities are endless, given this new wave of technological applications for people to research, learn, and gain resources in an instant. The way teaching and learning is conducted will be changed for those willing to open the lines for communicating within the global stage. Children today are using this way of communicating everyday depending on which social media sites they are on or how frequently they use search engines. It will be the duty of the teacher to require they make good use of the internet and the plethora of resources increasingly available to us all. Michael Fawcett, throws down the gauntlet, challenges all teachers to maximize their potential for growth using PLN’s.
I plan on developing my PLN using the Twittersphere, Delicious, Symbaloo, PortaPortal and Blogger to connect to educators and participate in workshops/conferences around the globe. Twitter is a very convenient networking tool because there are recommendations based upon who a person follows. Said recommendations can provide users with an endless supply of possibilities for authentic opportunities for collaboration and instruction. Information can then be saved and stored in one place for quick access with technologies like Delicious and PortaPortal. What a wealth of knowledge we are privy to, all we have to do is show up!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Blog Post #5
What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?
Anthony Capps is a third grade teacher, who has been successfully experimenting with technology and Project Based Learning in the past year, which also happens to be his first year teaching. There is a wealth of knowledge to be obtained from the conversations Mr. Capps and Dr. Strange posted. Project Based Learning is a tool for educators to use but also a learning process, for the teacher as well as the student. Children who are involved in this learning process are engaged and excited about what they are studying. One of the most important things I gained from this set of videos is that the students are engaged and happy to learn while using PBL, which are authentic experiences we as educators are trying to achieve as our ultimate goal.
The next part of the series of clips contains information about an important tool for the children when they are researching and creating using technology called icurio.This resource offers a safe way to view information when researching topics, as well as store work created during the learning process. No jump drive or pencil and paper required! The safe search engine can be utilized by the teacher to ensure material is appropriate and aligned with curriculum standards. Discovery Ed is another valuable resource discussed in these clips and it can be viewed at:I have used Discovery Streaming in the past for video clips on just about every topic you can think of in just about every content area. Children today are much more apt to tune in to a visual on the Smart Board, rather than have the teacher drone on about any given topic.
Finally Dr. Strange and Mr. Capps offer these essential tips for future teachers: 1. Teachers must be constant learners. 2. Teaching never ends its hard work but very rewarding. 3. Always be flexible because the unexpected will happen. 4. Start with the goal in mind. 5. Engage 100% of kids, 100% of the time on 100% of the projects. 6. Reflect, revise and share the work with an audience. I learned after viewing the interviews with Anthony Capps that the way children learn is evolving and educators today must learn to scaffold our lessons to allow for each child to discover and use technology to gain information about the world because the knowledge is already out there waiting for us to explore.
Anthony Capps is a third grade teacher, who has been successfully experimenting with technology and Project Based Learning in the past year, which also happens to be his first year teaching. There is a wealth of knowledge to be obtained from the conversations Mr. Capps and Dr. Strange posted. Project Based Learning is a tool for educators to use but also a learning process, for the teacher as well as the student. Children who are involved in this learning process are engaged and excited about what they are studying. One of the most important things I gained from this set of videos is that the students are engaged and happy to learn while using PBL, which are authentic experiences we as educators are trying to achieve as our ultimate goal.
The next part of the series of clips contains information about an important tool for the children when they are researching and creating using technology called icurio.This resource offers a safe way to view information when researching topics, as well as store work created during the learning process. No jump drive or pencil and paper required! The safe search engine can be utilized by the teacher to ensure material is appropriate and aligned with curriculum standards. Discovery Ed is another valuable resource discussed in these clips and it can be viewed at:I have used Discovery Streaming in the past for video clips on just about every topic you can think of in just about every content area. Children today are much more apt to tune in to a visual on the Smart Board, rather than have the teacher drone on about any given topic.
Finally Dr. Strange and Mr. Capps offer these essential tips for future teachers: 1. Teachers must be constant learners. 2. Teaching never ends its hard work but very rewarding. 3. Always be flexible because the unexpected will happen. 4. Start with the goal in mind. 5. Engage 100% of kids, 100% of the time on 100% of the projects. 6. Reflect, revise and share the work with an audience. I learned after viewing the interviews with Anthony Capps that the way children learn is evolving and educators today must learn to scaffold our lessons to allow for each child to discover and use technology to gain information about the world because the knowledge is already out there waiting for us to explore.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
C4T # 1 Post # 1 Summary
I commented on the everevolvingteacher.blogspot.com, Mr. Mike McDowell responded to my comment. The blog post was about the Educreations app. The app seemed to allow the children to go on a scavenger hunt and included practice with the skill, main idea and details. Mr. McDowell informed me in his response to my question about classroom management, “I would say first and foremost, a discussion on expectations and lesson objectives needs to be implemented prior to any activity taking place.” I fully understand this is an aspect of teaching that should not be overlooked, especially in the lower grades. After using this app most of the children were able to master the concept and utilize this skill using regular old pencil and paper. What a great real world concept! My second comment was about the use of QR codes, an app that can be utilized for even the youngest of children. The codes were used while counting money. This tool is an easy way for the teacher to check for mastery, and it seems very easy to use. I plan on researching the best lessons to include this technology with because it appears to practically be effortless to integrate this app.
Blog Post # 4
Asking questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?
Good questions are one of the most important aspects of teaching. Not only are questions vital in order to assess learning but they are essential while implementing lessons in virtually any subject. Asking questions can frame the lesson as well as set children up for success when testing must take place. There must be opportunities daily for every single child in the classroom to share ideas and contribute to the conversations taking place during the teaching and learning process. Many times children who are shy or feel they do not have anything profound to add to the lesson will ultimately just keep quiet. This is a bad habit that must be broken. Children will disengage and become inactive observers instead of eager participants. There must be rules and procedures emplace because good conversations will not become a part of the daily routine if the proper measures have not been take to allow for it to be so. Children should be respectful, patient, thoughtful and appropriate when a teacher presents the type of question needed for investigations of the topic at hand.
What type of questions should we ask? I think the typical questions that include a yes or no answer are useful in some settings like mathematics and science; however, when teaching reading and language arts an open ended question will most likely be important. In the video titled: Asking better questions in the classroom pt. 1, Joanne Chesley reminds us about the benefits of using open ended questions, allowing the student to delve into the subject matter more completely rather than closed ended question.
Another resource I found useful was the very informative video about the way questions should be posed in the classroom. Questioning styles and strategies, demonstrates the process for effective questioning and sample student responses. Student understanding is shown and the lesson flows quite well. Student learning will be exponentially improved if we, as educators, can harness achievement through the use of effective questioning and quality answers.
Good questions are one of the most important aspects of teaching. Not only are questions vital in order to assess learning but they are essential while implementing lessons in virtually any subject. Asking questions can frame the lesson as well as set children up for success when testing must take place. There must be opportunities daily for every single child in the classroom to share ideas and contribute to the conversations taking place during the teaching and learning process. Many times children who are shy or feel they do not have anything profound to add to the lesson will ultimately just keep quiet. This is a bad habit that must be broken. Children will disengage and become inactive observers instead of eager participants. There must be rules and procedures emplace because good conversations will not become a part of the daily routine if the proper measures have not been take to allow for it to be so. Children should be respectful, patient, thoughtful and appropriate when a teacher presents the type of question needed for investigations of the topic at hand.
What type of questions should we ask? I think the typical questions that include a yes or no answer are useful in some settings like mathematics and science; however, when teaching reading and language arts an open ended question will most likely be important. In the video titled: Asking better questions in the classroom pt. 1, Joanne Chesley reminds us about the benefits of using open ended questions, allowing the student to delve into the subject matter more completely rather than closed ended question.
Another resource I found useful was the very informative video about the way questions should be posed in the classroom. Questioning styles and strategies, demonstrates the process for effective questioning and sample student responses. Student understanding is shown and the lesson flows quite well. Student learning will be exponentially improved if we, as educators, can harness achievement through the use of effective questioning and quality answers.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Blog Post # 3
How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?
Feedback is an essential tool used by professionals in every career you can think of, especially teaching. How can anyone expect to grow if they are never shown how effective their methods are when completing tasks within their profession? Evaluations, assessments, scores, critiques and the like are useful when judging the work of another. The trick is to evaluate with tact. Professionalism demands appropriate use of feedback, so as not to offend, in order to guide the individual to conclusions about how to improve. As teacher’s we will be called to evaluate the work of our students as well as our peers, so it is very important to get the message across without being hateful or trying to embarrass those we are critiquing. Paige Ellis states in her blog about the topic,
To find out more about providing meaningful feedback to your peers, students were asked to view some very informative links. In the simple presentation by nrpatric, Peer Editing, our memory is refreshed on the responsible way one must approach editing our peers using, “suggestions, comments, compliments and changes.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yXerR7O-Lc&feature=player_detailpage
Another resource listed was Adriana Zardini, who presented a slide show on peer editing. The author reminds us to “Always start your peer editing with compliments!” a very important positive approach to evaluating writing. In the teaching profession, starting an evaluation off on a positive note is a method that should be practiced repeatedly. Students, parents and peers will be more open to whatever message you are trying to convey after you compliment them on their accomplishments. http://www.slideshare.net/aszardini/tutorial-peer-editing-113187
Lastly in the video by Tim Bedley’s students, Writing a Peer review (Peer Critique) Top 10 Mistakes, there are ten scenarios presented for ways in which mistakes can be made while reviewing writing. The short film illustrates negative styles for critiquing. Students are pretty convincing as they act out all the ways reviewers can be cruel, inappropriately critical and ineffective while judging the quality of each others writing. As a final note, when you judge another persons work, do so in a respectful manner, they will reciprocate your kindness and should learn from their mistakes. Evaluations are essential but kindness is key. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuq4qgRhCc&feature=player_detailpage
Feedback is an essential tool used by professionals in every career you can think of, especially teaching. How can anyone expect to grow if they are never shown how effective their methods are when completing tasks within their profession? Evaluations, assessments, scores, critiques and the like are useful when judging the work of another. The trick is to evaluate with tact. Professionalism demands appropriate use of feedback, so as not to offend, in order to guide the individual to conclusions about how to improve. As teacher’s we will be called to evaluate the work of our students as well as our peers, so it is very important to get the message across without being hateful or trying to embarrass those we are critiquing. Paige Ellis states in her blog about the topic,
“Like communication, to be effective, it takes practice to master this skill.”http://ellispaigeedm310.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-assignment-12.html
To find out more about providing meaningful feedback to your peers, students were asked to view some very informative links. In the simple presentation by nrpatric, Peer Editing, our memory is refreshed on the responsible way one must approach editing our peers using, “suggestions, comments, compliments and changes.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yXerR7O-Lc&feature=player_detailpage
Another resource listed was Adriana Zardini, who presented a slide show on peer editing. The author reminds us to “Always start your peer editing with compliments!” a very important positive approach to evaluating writing. In the teaching profession, starting an evaluation off on a positive note is a method that should be practiced repeatedly. Students, parents and peers will be more open to whatever message you are trying to convey after you compliment them on their accomplishments. http://www.slideshare.net/aszardini/tutorial-peer-editing-113187
Lastly in the video by Tim Bedley’s students, Writing a Peer review (Peer Critique) Top 10 Mistakes, there are ten scenarios presented for ways in which mistakes can be made while reviewing writing. The short film illustrates negative styles for critiquing. Students are pretty convincing as they act out all the ways reviewers can be cruel, inappropriately critical and ineffective while judging the quality of each others writing. As a final note, when you judge another persons work, do so in a respectful manner, they will reciprocate your kindness and should learn from their mistakes. Evaluations are essential but kindness is key. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuq4qgRhCc&feature=player_detailpage
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