My Final PLN

My PLN

My Final PLN changed a little bit, but not much. I added some other different titles and deleted others that I didn't use that much. I will continue to use it and add more things as time goes on.

C4T#4

The teacher I followed was Dr. Strange

Lectures Part 1:
His first post was about lectures. He mentioned several different lectures and gave links to view them. He raised questions like why are lectures useful, why abandon lectures, What would be better and What are the impediments to achieving a better replacement for lectures? He gave examples under each topic. For the first one here is an example,Lectures are efficient in reducing the costs of educational institutions. They enable one instructor to produce large numbers of credit hours. Since educational institutions charge for credit hours, lectures are “cost effective.” In the second topic here is an example,Students often find them boring and a waste of time.Video presentations can break the limitations that lectures have since they are fixed in time and place.Here is an example for the third topic,The use of products such as iBooks that combine audio, video, graphics, pictures and text into one delivery mechanism (Lindsay). An example for the fourth topic,Technology plays a central role in all suggestions for change. The costs are often seen as a significant impediment to change.

My Response:
Dr. Strange
I strongly agree with what you have said about lectures. Me personally I hate having to go to a class where my instructor reads straight from the power point or straight from their lecture notes.I would rather them be more interesting and actually show me why the material they are teaching is important and how it will be useful in my daily lifestyle rather than them just reading me what they think about the subject. This is my first time in a class such as EDM310, where you are basically your own teacher and have to teach yourself the tools you will need to teach your future students. Although your class is kind of tough, it is preparing us for the future and helping us further our knowledge in technology. Technology is constantly changing and we should always stay up to date as teachers. We hold the key to someone's educational experience. With that in mind, I think we should want to do the best we can and learn as much as possible so we can fill their minds with more knowledge than what they came to us with. I look forward to becoming a teacher and using some of the tools I have learned in this class.
Thanks,
Joy Eady Facts Dr. Strange's last post was about facts. Many students tell me "It is easy to find someone's opinion about a topic on the internet but finding the actual facts isn't as easy." Correct. In fact we should be as skeptical of "facts" as of opinions. It is the thinking process that I see as critical for an educated person. If we merely dispense "facts" - our facts - then we fail as educators. If we only test for facts, we are doing our students a great disservice. We probably should not test for a knowledge of "facts" at all! My Response Dr. Strange, I agree with you that you never really know is something is a fact or an opinion. There are so many people out there thinking they know the actual facts and posting them to the web, when actually it is basically just their own opinion of what they that the fact is. It is really easy to find people's opinion on the internet, but to actually find the facts is quite difficult. You have so many different answers to certain questions you present on the web. I also agree that students should actually learn more about a specific date, then actually just memorizing the date and only one thing that took place that day. I also think the thinking process is critical for any person. You should always want to know more about a certain subject or idea. Be curious and research more in depth things you are unsure about. This will help students out in the long run, it pays to be curious. I also think students should not be tested on facts, cause who is to say what the real fact actually is; there could be many different opinions on answers to certain fact questions.

Blog Post #12

Media Fast

This activity was easy for a couple of hours, but I couldn't make it the full 24 hours. I could do without facebook, twitter, and listening to the radio and watching t.v. for 24 hours with no problem. It is the using the phone that gets me; I like to text and talk on the phone a lot. I am constantly calling and checking on my daughter, texting and talking to my boyfriend through out the day, and then having my daily conversations with my best friends. I find it extremely hard not to be able to talk on the phone.I can not go all day without asking how my daughter is doing.I wish that I could go 24 hours without any use of technology, I would probably get more things done around the house,or at least some what more. I am going to keep continuing on practicing not using certain technologies for a day and see if I can eventually make it a full 24 hours without one single use of technology.

This activity was quite a challenge for me , but I really enjoyed trying to accomplish it. I mean anyone could say they did it and really did not. I am being completely honest on how hard it was for me. Media devices are really not all that important and people really should take time and break away from so much usage. I mean I am always spending quality time with my family so I should of tried a weekend day to accomplish the no phone, so I could just come visit with family. I facebook and twitter a lot, but that is not a problem to walk away from. Sometimes you need a break from the real world and time to just gather your thoughts and relax. I think that everyone at least once a week should go without the use of media devices. It would help them out a great deal in life. Students now days and in future days live on media devices and will always want to be on them. My students will have to adjust to not using electronic entertainment and media devices all the time. The students will be assigned to use media devices on some assignments. I will use media devices to teach, but not for every single lesson. My classroom will be a fun, interesting, and exciting learning environment.

Project #15

Special Post #12A

Creativity & Curiosity

There are many schools,not all schools, that do not encourage their students to be creative or the least bit curious. When schools and teachers do this is takes away from the children being able to use their imagination and show their creativity and how well they really understand the subject.Some of the teachers hate their job and want to return home soon as they walk through the door. Then you have other teachers that want to stick with the same teaching routine that has been around for years and years.Teachers need to step outside the box and find new ways of teaching. Most teachers are just comfortable with the old school teaching ways and may be scared to try something new. Some of the teachers may think that being curious and creative is too much of a challenge. Being curious is known to get you in trouble from time to time, but when it comes to education and learning the students need to be curious. Teachers have a way of drilling facts into their students and them never questioning whether or not the teacher could be wrong. The teachers and schools can develop a curriculum to help increase the curiosity and creativity of students. It is okay for changes to happen, not all changes are bad ones.The teachers have to be up for the challenge. Teachers should want to have fun and interact with the students. Just because students want to be curious does not mean that the teachers can not have rules set up to follow. teachers need to be open to listening to the students opinions.This change and new curriculum should be a well thought out process not just thrown together. The teachers can assign projects that allows the students to use their imagination, show their creativity and express their feelings.They should get to use new technology to help increase their creativity.

The teachers should want to inspire their students and be role models for them. The students should be allowed for their curiosity to take place after the teacher delivers an assignment or lectures on a particular subject.The teachers need to mention things or ideas that the students will want to research or have to research to gather more information on that matter. If a teachers ask for more involvement and gives bonus points or some type of reward for being curious and looking more in depth into a subject matter or topic. Curiosity will help spark the students creativity.It is also always necessary that a teacher be excited and really interested in the subject that they are speaking about that way the kids will want to be more involved in learning about it. I would have to mention that I try to be real creative when it comes to school,but that doesn't always work out so well for me. I really hope to become more creative as my education continues. I hope to be real creative once I become a teacher. I really haven't had to many opportunities to be creative until this semester with this class and my HS365 class. I should become more curious and be more inspired to step outside my box and find my creativity. I think it would benefit me more for teachers and schools to have me involved in sharing my different ideas. I feel that I need to be challenged a lot more to make me dig deep and hit my creativity mark in life.You always have to mix things up and be up for a change when you are a teacher. So I need to step outside my comfort zone and try to be more creative when it comes to school projects. I feel as if I need to be challenged more and I would love for teachers to mention ideas and people or things that would require me to do further research and make my curiosity flow.

Links :) Curiosity fuels Creativity Educating the Next Steve Jobs

Blog Post #12

Incorporating Creativity with Technology In Your Classroom

Pick one of these topics from Skype, Smart board,digital media, or story making and in one or two paragraphs tell how you would use this technology to incorporate creativity within your classroom. Smart Board Wins My Vote:) I really enjoy using the smart board. I think it is a very neat way to teach lessons in your classrooms. You have a wide variety of lessons to choose from and its really fun to be able to touch the board for everything. I Chose the smart board because we are doing a project with it and I really am enjoying to get learn about the different features it has to offer.I used the smart board when I did my pre-teaching with a kindergarten class this pass December.The kids were really involved and eager to participate in the assignments. The smart board offers so many things to choose from that will allow interesting and fun assignments to take place. While I was doing my pre-teaching they need songs, spelling games, days of the week. It was all so interesting and so much fun. I plan to use smart board for a great deal of learning assignments in my classroom. I plan to use the spelling games to help them with their words.I want to find sing along music that they can dance and sing to that relates to the subject being taught. Use math lessons that will allow them to circle the correct answers and write in problems for others to do. Find science lessons that have to do with plants, the environment,and human body. You can create lessons where they can learn their colors and shapes.I also would like to use matching games that will be fun and creative. The smart board just gives you so much room to help make your classroom more fun and exciting. I can not wait to become a teacher and have my own smart board. To be honest if I could afford one i would buy one for my home and start teaching my daughter lessons on the board. It really just gets me so excited to know that I will get to use this to make my classroom a fun,interesting, and exciting environment. Using the smart board you can let each student participate in the activities, which keep them focus and involved when in your class. You really have to capture and hold the attention of the kids. If you have never used smart board, you really need to try one out.

Final Progress Report:)

Project 16 For the final project, my group "The Green Girls" will be making a movie regarding technology in the classroom at Bay Minette Elementary School. The ladies in my group are Miranda Bounds, Eva Stringer, and Brandy Douglas. We have permission to interview the technology teacher and show different ways that the school uses technology in the classroom. We will also examine how technology will be used in the future. I really look forward to creating this project .

C4K Summary

My C4K Summary for April

My World Challenge Student Is Jennica
I Followed her for three weeks and these are the different posts I commented on. Her first post was about her goals that her, her teacher, and her mother made for her. The goals were Mr.Cave: Find one book for Jennica to fall in love with.My Goal: To run the whole time.Mom’s Goal: To see Jennica’s math mark improve to a B by next report card. I responded by just mentioning how important goals are and how it will help keep her on track and help her accomplish her dreams. Her second post was about Illusory movement. 1: I liked the illusory movement because its eyeboggling and i like the design. Also when you shake the page it moves and its really really pretty!2: I think it works becuase when theres a bunch of lines they tend to move (well look like there moving). Also when u shake the paper ALL the lines move.!3: Well, the thing that is happening is there’s a bunch of lines and there close together so it looks like they are moving but they really aren’t! I responded by just saying I think that is a cool thing and that I haven't ever seen or did anything with illusory movement and that It seems really neat. Her third post was a prezi about herself. Her prezi I thought it was really great that they were using prezi and creating things with it. This semester is my first year using prezi and I think it is a remarkable tool to help do some creativity.

The Second Kid :)

Vinolia was the second & last kid I was asked to comment on.

She did a personal video, telling things about her and her life. She told about her favorite color, her family members names, her favorite restaurant, where she lived, talked about her friends , and the things she likes to do.
Her Video

My Response:

Hey Vinolia,
I'm Joy Eady , I am an Elementary Education Student in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. I really like how well you and your classmates are doing in school. I watched your video. It was really great to get to learn things about you. I notice that you said your favorite food is Burger King; My favorite food place is Burger King, I love the Bk stackers. It really seems that you have a really wonderful family.So, you are seven; I have a niece who is seven. I also have a kid myself, but she is only 13 months. So you live in New Zealand that is awesome. Well I look forward to learning more about you. Please keep blogging. Keep up the good work.

Blog Post #11

First Grader's in Mrs. Cassidy's Class

I really think it is a great idea that she has first graders create their own blog. It is really great that they are learning this early on in education.Having their own blogs allows them to express their thoughts opinions and feelings with the world and have some interaction with other people. This is my first year ever blogging and I really enjoy it and wish I would have gotten to do it when I was in first grade. All the comments left on the kids blog need to be approved and they should all be positive. The children will be more inspired to continue blogging with positive feedback. Show interest in their blogging and keep encouraging them to do better.I think its neat how they are learning to use all sorts of internet tools for example skype. Mrs. Cassidy is helping the students venture out and learn more about their creativity as individuals. It really seems like the children really enjoying learning and have a better outlook on things. It is really a very positive environment.

Skype interview with Mrs. Cassidy

I really enjoyed the skype interview with Mrs. Cassidy. She mentioned that she has been blogging for at least ten years and decided that it would be a great idea to get the students involved. She mentioned the wide range of audience the students had to interact with.She talked about the many different uses of skype and one beneficial thing about it was being able to listen to different lectures from different professors around the world.Skype is a wonderful tool to use in the classroom to help further the students education and make it fun and interesting. I agree with Mrs. Cassidy when she said that if we are not using technology in the classroom then we are not only handicapping ourselves, but also our students. incorporating new technologies help the students be more involved and more interested in learning. It is always great to think outside the box and be creative when it comes to teaching.

first graders

skype interview

Blog Post #10

To Teach or To Educate

I chose education as my major because I want to make a difference in a child's life. I love children and want to be a role model for them. I don't just want to teach and be looked at as only a teacher, I want to be viewed as an educator, a friend, a role model and a teacher.I want to inspire and motivate children to learn and advance in their learning abilities.I want to make things fun and interesting to help the students enjoy school and be excited about learning new things. As a educator, I will be a mentor and help my students advance in their learning experiences.I will also be there for my students and willing to listen and give any advice they may need. I will keep my students up to date with the advancing technology and the experiences going on in the world.Things are constantly changing in this day and time , so as educators we have the power to influence and educate anybody we come in contact with. Especially, sharing our new learning on technology with the future students.
To Teach or To Educate


"Don't Let Them Take My Pencils Home"
This post is about an Academic Specialist who confronts Mr. Spencer about allowing students to take pencils home. It was mentioned that she had a journal article about how students who use pencils at home have lower standardized test scores. It is really crazy that educators would go to the point of taking something as simple as a pencil away from the kids.It seemed as if she was more concerned about her reputation of being an educator and preventing low test scores than actually being a teacher and helping the students out.However, I really like the approach that Mr. Spencer took. He chose not to argue over this matter, but instead he found a solution to the problem. He took the time and met with students and their parents and explained to them ways pencils could be incorporated into learning.He worked with Mr. Brown to develop a parent- pencil program, where parents learned certain skills they were teaching students. We as educators have to realize that we shouldn't fight or argue over problems and issues that we are faced with. Instead we should work together to help find solutions and ways to fix the problems that we encounter. I know it is a priority and a real reward to have high test scores and make the schools look good but in all honesty the schools have become too concerned with the measures they should take to see that their scores on standardized tests are high and approved by state officials.The reason to be a teacher is to help the students out and help prepare them for the future. We need to educate our students and not worry so much about what others think. Some teachers teach for all the wrong reasons. You really have to love kids and love what you do to be a teacher. It is a lot of work and it is a job that should be taking seriously. You hold the key of learning for someones child. We need to step up as educators and really6 take our job seriously and help prepare these students for a brighter and better future.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home

Blog Post #9

Mr. Joe McClung

He started teaching in the fall of 2009. His first assignment was in Noel,
Missouri where he worked closely with Mr. William Chamberlain. After his first year of teaching he moved to a junior high school in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He just completed his third year of teaching. At the end of each year he has written a blog post reflecting on his adventures ,accomplishments and learning's. During the first part of the school year, he felt as if he was controlling things way to much. He would get very disappointed and be angry with himself about the lessons that did not go the way he planned. During that first year, he learned several different tactics and techniques that would help him in the classroom and also ways he could help other teachers.The most important decision he made during the year was to stay positive. McClung learned how to create the crowd for reactions. The most important thing he learned was that he had to always stay positive. Also,he learned that communication is the best thing for teachers and students. He states that teachers should never stop learning. We should not become afraid of the new advancements in technology and think about giving up. As a teacher, you can always change up your teaching styles and learning techniques. teachers should take the time to be positive and take interest and listen to their students. Teachers will always set high expectations for their students because they want them to succeed and better themselves, but sometimes you have to be reasonable and understanding that some may not fill that high expectation mark.

His blog post gives tons of excellent tips that I will hope to use when I become a teacher. When reading to the class, I will take the time to make sure my students understand the material being presented. It is very beneficial for all the students to actually grasp the concept of the first topic before moving on to the next. I strongly agree on the communication theory. I think that communication between students and teachers helps break the ice and allows for more trust and encouragement for the students to ask questions and get help.As a teacher, when you communicate with your students and show interest in what they are doing, it shows that you truly care.As a teacher, I will always be there for my students and there to listen and talk to them about whatever they need. Sometimes the student feels that the teacher's expectation of them is too high and if they fall short it can make them lose confidence and lower their self esteem. I would like to be reasonable with my students and give them work that is not easy or extremely hard, but will challenge them and make them think a little more than usually. I hope as a teacher that I will make myself continue to learn and stay up to date with the technology and teach myself and then teach my students what I have learned.Sometimes hands on with technology will help the students learn better. Mr. McClung is an excellent teacher and I hope when I become a teacher I can use his methods and always remember to stay positive.

These are all the links to his post:
At the teachers desk

What I have Learned this year(09-10)

what I have Learned this year(10-11)

His 2010-2011 school year was spent being a first experience head coach, his first experience coaching cross country, and his first year as an applications teacher. During that year he learned that you can get yourself in a tangled up mess trying to please everyone you encounter. He stated that, he started to just be himself and not worry so much about the perception that others have of him. He pointed out that we must all take the time to remember why we chose this profession in the first place and that is because of the kids. He brings up that some teachers take control of the assignments and complete them for the students that are having a had time with it.There is a big difference in helping a student and doing the work for them. If we all do the students work for them at the difficult moments they will never learn a thing.We as humans and as educators cannot allow others to rain on our excitement and joy that we experience in teaching or in life.He mentions that some teachers start off full of excitement and really enjoy their job, but somehow lose all of it along the way.He states that being an outsider is not a bad thing, you don't always have to follow the crowd. You should want to stand out and be different not fit in with everyone else. I really like that he did not eat his lunch with the other teachers in the lounge, because he ate with his students.That is truly an amazing teacher to do that.He said that this helped him get a better feeling and helped make a better connection with his students.He mentions how comfort and security does not help motive the students. As educators we must step outside the comfort zone in order to better reach our students. Teachers need to participate and be more involved in school functions and activities and not just be focused and concerned with their classroom.He mentions that the teaching profession needs individuals that are passionate and willing to exceed the demands of the regular teacher schedule.

This post made me open my eyes and realize that I don't need to try so hard to fit in with all the other employees, that I should stand out and do what I feel is right no matter if it makes me an outsider. My main concern will be my students, they are the most important thing and having a great connection with them is the most beneficial thing to gain. I agree with him on the whole stepping out of your comfort zone and making things a little more different and not so routine, to help motivate the students. I also agree that as educators we should let our students make mistakes and learn from them, instead of constantly correcting them and just automatically giving them the correct answer, The students need to learn from their mistakes and really grasp the concept, instead of being handed the answer and never learning the actual concept being taught. As educators we need to be more involved and reach out to our students more than just the classroom setting. Show interest and participate in school functions and be part of sports or other activities.A big thing that i took from his post was that you always need to relax and have a clear head and not over work yourself.Also, I should not get mad if my assignments and lessons do not go exactly as planned. You can always learn from your mistakes as well and create a better lesson the next go around.