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email: Melissa Neese
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Sunday, July 13, 2014

C4Tp

Copyright Flowchart: Can I Use it? Yes? No? If This…..Then…..


In this blog post by Ms. Sylvia Tolisano, she mentions that it is the responsibility of all educators to model good digital citizenship. Teachers are to teach their students the correct way to use copyright when it comes to the Internet. It is the teachers responsibility to teach students digital rights and responsibilities. The teachers must know how to do all of this so that they can teach it correctly to their students.


Copyright Flowchart






Building Good C.U.L.T.U.R.E.

In this blog post by Ms. Tolisano, she mentions that Dan McCabe mentioned her in a tweet. The tweet was what culture stands for. They came up with Collaborate, Understand, Love, Trust, Unite, Respect, and Empower. All of these qualities are important for educators to have. But it is so much more important to be able to teach or help our students to have them as well.


Building A good C.U.L.T.U.R.E.





Syvia Tolisano

C4Ta

Companies and People Must Adapt in the Social Age


In this blog post by Angela Maiers, she discusses the book “A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive”, by Ted Coine and Mark Babbitt. Ms. Maiers had an interview with both Ted Coine and Mark Babbitt, where she asked them how they would define this new age and what it means for individuals and organizations. They said that the Social Age is not the Technology Age. Even though technology is important, it is simply a tool to communicate. What is the Social Age is our changing interactions. The way students are taught has changed. Students are taught in a way that will prepare them for careers. Socializing is key to being able to prosper in the work field. The Social Age benefits us because it gives us the opportunities to be a voice. We are able to communicate because of the web. We find people with similar interests. But technology is just the tool we use to be able to communicate.


#ISTE14 is Over but the Learning is Just Getting Started

In this blog post Angela Maiers discusses the things she experienced at the ISTE Conference in Atlanta from June 28 thru July 1, 2014. She shares her top ten WOW moments that she had while there. Number one was human connections where people were able to meet new and interesting people. Some will be lasting friendships. Her second WOW moment was just being able to see her friends shine in their expertise. Number three is that all the people in the room discussed “You Matter” when it comes to education. Every staff and member would get a “You Matter” t-shirt. For her number four Wow moment, Ms. Maiers was able to give her first ‘Naked Keynote’. She would not have been able to do that if her friends had not pushed her in the right direction. Number five was that there was a room full and they were honoring student passion and genius. Number six, Ms. Maiers took her first selfie. Number seven was that the food was great (chicken and waffles). WOW moment number 8 was that Twitter was very active. Number nine was “YOU Matter” is the most important words in education. WOW moment number ten is the effort the community puts in to keeping learning alive.

Angela Maiers

Angela Maiers

Blog Posts #14 and #15

Blog Post #14
What do you have to do in the next year and a half (or the time before you graduate) to get ready to be a teacher using Project Based approaches to learning in situations where students have the tools they need to participate effectively in such instruction?

I think the main thing anyone needs to do when they are unsure of something that they have to work with is practice, practice, practice.... A lot of things in my EDM 310 class were all new to me when I started class back in May. Through trial and error and a lot of practice, I was able to learn so much. Some of the things we were able to use were so much fun. That is the key to most things we like, it is fun! I have to admit I have not always been a big fan of working in a group setting. Especially when I have to depend on someone else to help me earn a grade for an assignment. However, I do like the idea of each member in the group being able to fill out a rubric for each member in the group. I will have to prepare myself to help students when it comes to working in groups. I am sure I am not the only one that has issues with group assignments. As for all technology and programs that are available and will come available between now and the time I become a teacher, I will always have a reason to learn something new. Students are not the only ones that learn, teachers have to continue to learn everyday. I look forward to learning new things and using some of the things I have learned this semester in EDM 310.

Blog Post #15
How to Make an Audio QR Code

In this video by Michelle Bennett, she discusses two websites that can help you make an audio QR and also can record a students voice as he/she reads. The web site that will record a student's voice is www.recordmp3.org. The teacher could record their voice as they read a book. It's just like the teacher is tutoring the students. After you click record, you will want to wait a second to begin talking. Then you would hit stop when you are done. Play it back and if you like how it sounds then hit save recording or hit start over if you do not like it. When you are done it will generate a URL. The site www.qrcode-monkey.com will help create a QR code. Hit the button set for URL.Then copy and paste the URL from www.recordmp3.org as your URL in the box on the web site www.qrcode-monkey.com. Hit create a QR Code. Then you will open Word Doc. and copy and paste the QR code into Word. You can then make the image smaller and type the student's name. You can make a copy for yourself and one for the student or the student's parents. Parents can get a free QR Scanner App and download it.

iPad Reading Center


In this video by Michelle Bennett, she discussed how Ms. Ginger Tuck, a Kindergarten teacher at Gulf Shores Elementary School, made a center in her classroom where the iPad records the student reading. Then the child can replay the recording as they follow along in the text. This gives the student the chance to see if they made any mistakes.

Poplet with Ginger Tuck

This is a free app that you can download. It makes squares and when you pick a word, you can make a web around the chosen word. The students used the word veterinarian and they uploaded pictures of a veterinarian helping a bird. Then the students would type in text "some vets care for zoo animals." It keeps what they learn on the internet.

AVL and Kindergarten Students

In this video by Michelle Bennett, the children first learn how to log on to the library. They download an app for the library. Then the students can pick a subject such as transportation. Then different types of transportation would pop up. They could then choose a bicycle. The child can then draw a picture of the bicycle and write a sentence about the picture.

Tuck iMovie Trailer for Kindergarten

In this video by Ms. Tuck, she discussed how she learned to make iMovie Trailers while at the Alabama Reading Conference. To begin, you would hit the new trailer button and at the bottom of the screen their music options will pop up. According to Ms. Tuck, it is not a good idea to show the children the genres of music because they will not choose by the songs that they like. They will pick the music that they like the most simply by listening to the choices. Once they pick the music they will hit create. Then the student would enter the movie title or the name of the book. The student would list the characters in the book and then enter their own name in the space for directed by. The author's name would be entered in the space by written by. After everything is filled out, the student would then go to the storyboard. When the students are taking pics of the book, they may need a second student to help them so that they can get the best quality pictures. The students can reuse pictures and words throughout the trailer. Take the pictures first and then add the words. The students can edit the trailer as they go. To add words to the trailer, the students would erase the example words and add their own text. This activity is so much fun for the students. It will make them want to read to create a book trailer. This is also a great way to do class projects. Once the teacher does this with the class, the students will want to do it by themselves.

Tammy Shirley Discovery Education Board Builder Moon Project

In this video by Michele Bennett, Ms. Tammy Shirley's 1st grade class at Gulf Shores Elementary School shows us how to create a Board Builder. After watching a video on Discovery Education about the moon, The students wrote facts about the moon. Then they worked together and created a board on Discovery Education. The students would log into Discovery Education and click Board Builder. Then they can choose the background and give it a title. The students then press continue and add. The students were able to create a board with the information that they found about the moon. They can also add videos or images. To search Discovery Education for images or videos they typed in what they were searching for. A list of videos or images popped up. The students would tap on the plus sign by the video or image that they wanted and could go to quick list to pull up all their videos and images. Then they would go back to their storyboard and press board builder to pull up the saved board. They clicked on the moon which led them to their board about the moon. They could then drag a picture from quick list and it went on their board.

Mrs. Tassin 2nd Grade Students Share Board Builder Project

In this video by Michelle Bennett, Mrs. Tassin's 2nd grade class shared a Board Builder Project. They did a project on whales. One of the resources that they used was Safari. They had fun doing the research for the storyboard.

Mrs. Tassin Students Share Board Builder Project

In this video, Mrs. Tassin's students created a Board Builder Project which they named "Loose Change for the Haven." They showed why it is important to accumulate loose change for the Haven. Some of the resources that they used were Word Hippo, Safari, and Google. In Word Hippo, they typed in the word and it gave them a bigger word for it.

Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten

Alabama Virtual Library

In this video by Dr. Strange, he talks with Ms.Elizabeth Davis and Ms. Michelle Bennett. Ms. Davis is a teacher from Daphne Elementary and Ms. Bennett is from Gulf Shores Elementary. Ms. Bennett talks about Mrs. Tuck's Kindergarten class making iMovie trailers. The children writes scripts, takes pictures and writes a statement about each picture. The iMovie is one station in her classroom where the children get to reinforce their learning. Once they see an example, the children take off and make it their own projects. They do not want to quit editing their trailers. Ms. Davis then talked about the Alabama Virtual Library. It is free to any resident in the state of Alabama. It is a great way to teach the students basic research. Give them a list and each week they search a word.

Twitter for Educators

In this interview by Dr. Strange, Ms. Davis and Ms. Bennett discuss how Twitter is changing the way teachers are learning (teaching themselves). There are Twitter Chats every night of the week. They mention Jerry Blooingarten, who teaches others how to use Twitter. They also mentioned Tom Whitby, who talks about how educators have to learn the 21st Century.

We All Become Learners

This video was conducted by Dr. Strange as he interviews Ms. Davis and Ms. Bennett. Ms. Bennett said that using a device of some sort changes the way a classroom runs. Everyone becomes a learner and a teacher. Ms. Bennett said there was a student that showed her how to take a picture with the iPad. They discussed Poplet and taking a picture of yourself and putting it up. They also discussed Padlet where the student can make a poster board. In PBL everyone becomes learners in everyone's own learning network. It makes it more exciting.









Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Blog Post #12

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher? Select a few and discuss how they may be useful to you. 

Blog Post #12


Assistive Technologies

Project 12B

Delivering a Lesson Via the  SMARTboard



Monday, July 7, 2014

Blog Post #13

What Did I leave out?

I have been asked to come up with a blog assignment of my own. My question would be What are some great ways to help students that struggle with math? When I was in elementary and secondary school, I hated math class. Just the thought of having to go to a math class made me nervous. Since I have been in college, I have come to love math. I think that the number one thing that can make a student love or hate math, is the teacher. My teachers in college have been incredible. I could not wait to get to class. Not all students can learn the same way nor at the same speed so I researched a few things that may help a child that struggles with math.

IXL

This site is for PreK all the way through high school. The math goes up to 8th grade with additional help in Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. It also has help for Language Arts. You can click on your state to find which standards are being taught. This is a great site for practice in both Math and Language Arts.

Math.com

Math.com is a great site to practice math skills and problems. It also has charts and formulas. It also has math worksheets, a calculator, and a problem solver. The problem solver shows how it came about the answer. This site goes from first grade through eighth grade with additional help in Algebra I and II, and Geometry. You can also play math games and you will have access to a math tutor.

Student Tutor

This site helps parents identify if their child is struggling in math. It has links to several sites that can help students with math. There is a blog associated with it. You can also find test prep information and college and scholarship information on this site. You can also find some great tips for helping students.

A+ Math

This is an interactive web site for teachers, parents, and students. It features free worksheets, math games, math flash cards, and much more. There is also a homework helper.

There are several great math sites for students struggling with math.
Hoodamath.com

Mathway.com

Algebrahelp.com

Coolmath.com

I love Math

Saturday, July 5, 2014

C4Tp



In this post by Ms. Silvia Tolisano, Ms. Tolisano and her  friend Andrea Hernandez discuss the possibilities children have with blogging. They describes blogging for students as a platform where they can talk to the world. They also said that their success depends on how open the platform is and how connected the teacher is. For the students to have a global audience, the teacher has to be connected. Students will get visitors to their blog by being invited in. The teacher must give them the opportunities. They  discuss quad-blogging, which is where the teacher connects her/his class to three other classes. One class writes the blog for a week and the other three classes are their to read and comment on the blog post. Each class will take turns being the writers. The idea behind this is to see if quad-blogging will improve the quality of the writing from the students. They were able to use students from around the world.
If also gives students the chance to understand why someone has chosen to write something. Students write differently for teachers. What is the purpose of this writing? This also helps with the writing process because you get to edit and revise the writings as well. The possibilities for positive feedback, communication with a real audience, and conversation, is there as well. Blogs also give the students a chance to show their creative side. Each child’s blog is different. Students are able to learn by reflecting on the experience of blogging.




In the blog post, “documenting for Learning”, Ms.Tolisano describes how documentation can help the teacher, the student, and schools/districts. It helps teachers to reflect on their own work, help students learn outside of class, present their teaching portfolio, and evaluate the students’ progress. It helps students know their progress as well. It also helps students build their footprint in a digital world. It helps parents know what their child is learning and if they need additional help. It can also help each school and district with marketing efforts, or in finding potential employees. There are some great tools for documentation:
* Videos
* Photos
* Blogs
* Notes
* Tweets
I never stopped to think how important documentation is in schools. But in order to see progress you have to start from somewhere and document the journey.
Documenting for Learning



C4Ta #3

Twitter for Educators: Higher Education Edition


In this post by Dr. Will Deyamport, he discusses how to begin using Twitter and the importance of using it. He mentioned beginning by building your own PLN. Look for people that teach and research in the same areas as you. Then you may want to ask yourself if their is a topic or interest you would like to develop. You will want to let that be a guide to look for people to add to your PLN. Next, what are your interests or some things you are passionate about. Let that guide you to find more sources to add to your resources.
Dr. Will also mentions having a picture and bio that lets readers know the real you. Always remember that you are a professional and therefore you need to act like one. Be considerate in the pictures and information you post.
Finally, share the information that you find with others.
Dr. Will


Development with Sabba N. Quidwai


Dr. Will talked to Sabba Quidwai, a teacher at Fairmont Private Schools in Orange County, Ca. She loves to create innovative learning experiences as she leads the Technology-enhanced Curriculum Initiative. She provides a plan for iPad technology for Fairmont Schools. She has also been a Social Science teacher for the last eight years and teaches World History. She has a Master’s in Education/History, Social Science Teaching Credentials, and a B.A. in Social Science from the University of California, Irvine. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Educational Technology Leadership at George Washington University.
Her passion is integrating technology into curriculum. One of her first things she did as a teacher was have a class website as an outlet for students. Technology enables students and teachers to bring projects to life. In her school, they have focus groups that are able to help teachers with things that have been successful in their classrooms. The most successful aspect of this is that it brought teachers together to learn and explore from each other. They have one day a month designated for teachers to learn. This encourages teachers to learn and grow.
Ms. Quidwai, believes that you should not limit yourself to one tool or device. Each tool can benefit different skills. One of her favorite tools is Twitter because you have access to so much valuable information, speakers, and conferences.
Sabba N. Quidwai

Blog Post #11

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From These Teachers?


Teaching


Brian Crosby

Children like to see things work (experiments). I liked that Brian Crosby had his students set goals or "High Hopes". By doing this and having his students blog about it, he was able to get many people involved in the project. The more you blog, the more you are likely to get responses from others. This is also a great way to learn what is happening in the world. By teaching students through PBL you are empowering them to be learners. Every child should have the same education opportunities. It should not be solely for those with money. Finally, I learned that on line learning can benefit students that are not able to come to class because of a physical disability or sickness. It is a great way for them to be involved in the class.

Paul Andersen

In Paul Andersen's video and his web site, I learned what a Blended Learning Cycle is. The teacher begins by asking an engaging question. This can also be a hook to grab the students attention. Then the students would explore by investigating and experimenting. Next, you would expand by watching a video or by using any other educational tool. You will explain and finish by evaluating the students to see if they understood what they were being taught.
Mr. Andersen's Learning Cycle is:
* Question
* Investigate/Inquiry
* Video
* Elaboration-More depth and more understanding
* Review
* Summary Quiz
Mr. Andersen said, "You haven't learned something until you can explain it to someone else."
I can remember thinking I had learned something but when asked to explain it I didn't know what to say. I agree with him on that. If you truly have learned something you can explain it to someone else. The best way to do that is by hands on and actually showing that you have learned it.

Mark Church

In the video "Making Thinking Visible", Mark Church has the students write down a theme question and posts them on the wall. He explains how you can come back to the questions later in the class year or even later in the lesson and see how the student's thoughts on the subject may have changed. This is a great way to see how much the students have learned and if they have changed their opinions, why have they changed their opinions.


Sam Pane

In the video "Super Digital Citizen", Mr. Pane has the children create a comic super hero for teaching students how to be safe, responsible, and respectful while using the internet. He taught the students that they are in charge of using the internet safely. Students should never give out personal information on the internet.

Dean Shareski

In the video by Dean Shareski, he mentions the use of technology enables teachers to enhance and share student learning. It allows time to blend ideas and content, it allows time to go deeper in to learning, it allows teachers and other students the time to give quality feedback to each student, and it allows teachers to teach beyond the curriculum.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Programs

PBL is:
* In depth learning.
* Integrated thematic instruction.
* Based on a "real-world" problem.
* Researched-based.
* Project and presentation.
PBL teaches students to think for themselves. It gives students the chance to solve real world problems and then show whether or not they understand something or not. Students are taught how to complete a project from beginning to end. It also gives students the experience of public speaking (This is the hardest part for me.). It also gives students different ways to learn. This is great because not every child learns in the same ways. When students are put into groups, it makes each member responsible to each other. If I was being honest, I would have to say that this is my biggest hang up to PBL. Most of the times I have been put into groups to do work, there is always someone who does not contribute to all the work. When you put students that work exceptionally hard in order to make good grades, in with students that don't care or does not apply themselves 100 percent, it effects the entire groups work. It is harder the older the student is because they hardly have enough time to complete their own work and if one of the group memebers does not participate, than they have to pick up the slack. On the other side, I have been in groups and have had some hardworking members. In PBL you can incorporate many subjects into one project. The ability to learn through these projects can be great. Children are naturally curious about their environments. This helps them to learn more about their surroundings. It gives them the ability to be involved in their learning.