C4K Summary of February

C4K Summary

During the month of February I was able to follow four different kids. Each kid I was allowed to follow were from different countries and different in age groups.

The first kid I followed was from a class blog of 4th Graders. Her is name is Bigelow. Her post was about Japan. Her father had gone to Japan when she was six years old and she was amazed to know that her father did not have to learn Japanese. This was because everything is communicated through pictures. I responded by saying how neat it would be to visit Japan and how not be able to speak their language would be one of my biggest concerns. I also asked if she has ever gotten the chance to visit. I also told her I had no idea that they used pictures for everything.

Bigelow's post

The Second Kid I followed was Oscar. He goes to Broadway East ages 3 & 4 class 6 in England. His post was about about his half term break . He talked about going to the beach, his great cousin from France coming to visit, walking his aunt's dogs and that he saw some space telescopes. I was impressed that 3 and 4 year old were blogging. I just responded by saying how impressed I was and that this was my first year ever blogging. I also mentioned that I was in astronomy and learning about telescopes myself.
Oscar's Blog

The third kid I followed was Abby. She is in Mr. Chamberlains's 8th grade class in Noel, MO. Her post was about cyberbullying.She explained about how a girl shared her password with her friend and then her friend logged onto her account and bullied other people. In result, she got in big trouble and had to move schools and make new friends. This would follow with her the rest of her life. I agreed with her that it is best to keep your personal things secret and not share them with even your friends. You never what it can result in.

Abby's Blog

The fourth kid I followed was 5p14.This student is in Mrs. T.G's 5th grade class in Iowa. They basically just posted about how they like music and how it is made. I responded by telling them how much I loved music and how I like to sing and dance to it.
5p14JL Blog

I really enjoy doing the commenting for kids portion of our blogging. It is very neat to read kids post from all over the world.

Project#6 My Sentence

Blog Post #5

Dr. Scott McLeod
He is the Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky, as well as, the Founding Director of UCEA CASTLE.Dangerously Irrelevant, is a blog created by him. I really like the approach he uses in his blog post, Don't teach your kids this stuff.a Please? This post is directed to parents, teachers, administrators and board members regarding children and their use of technology. I also really liked the sentence form he chose to use, it is very unique way to help get his point across. This style makes its fun and interesting.

Well I agree with every argument that is made in his blog post. You would first think by reading it that he is totally against technology, but once you catch on you will realize he is using sarcasm as his way of getting his main points across to the people. Yes, there are certain risk that come along with the use of technology, but we as parents and educators have to teach our children the responsible use of technology. Technology is a big part of today's world and it will be very beneficial for us to help our children become more advanced in the technology world.As teachers, we have to learn to adapt and grow and always further our learning. Learning is something that should never stop because there always new things being introduced daily. We may graduate and become teachers, but that does not mean that we are done and that we have learned everything we need to know.
Dangerously Irrelevant


Travis Allen
In 2009, Travis Allen was a 17 year old high school student who created a youtube video call "iSchool Initiative" showing his solution on fixing the United States educational problems.He was showing a way for everyone to save time and money, but still have access to all the students work and basically everything related to the school. He proposed the idea for every student to own and use the iPod Touch interface system in place of books, pens, calculators, planners & other school materials. If schools did switch to this system they could be saving about $500 per student. This would allow more money to be put back into the system. This could also help with being able to hire more teachers and keeping them, instead of having lay offs.
He also had another small clip on mobile learning as well called ZeitgeistYoungMind's Entry

I think that he has some brilliant ideas and I really hope our school system takes advantage of his information. I think his ideas would really help better our system systems and make a dramatic difference in the educational field. I have noticed that some school are trying to switch and started introducing the IPads and MacBooks to their students. I really look forward to our educational system becoming more advanced due to the wonderful ideas of Travis Allen.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
Eric Whitacre is a very well-known composer and public speaker. He gave an amazing performance in "Lux Aurumque" , which is a virtual choir performance. This choir consists of 185 singers from 12 different countries. This performance is absolutely amazing. I was totally blown away by their soft voices. This just made me relax and let my mind take a break and wander away. It was a total mind blower on how did this guy manage to put such a video together. How on Earth did he come up with such an idea? I can not even begin to imagine all the time and planning that had to go into creating this. Technology and internet are amazing and with them your possibilities are never ending. You can basically do anything and go everywhere. I am very impressed and give this man tons of credit for a spectacular creation.

Teaching in the 21st Century
Kevin Roberts created a video about teaching in the 21st Century. As I watched the video, I thought of the questions being asked and really tried focusing on the main ideas of the video. After finishing the video, I replayed the clip in my head, along with thinking about all the questions that were brought forth. The main one is what does it mean to teach in the 21st century? Well I think that it means as time goes on teaching methods need to change and stay in tune with the time. Like for example, the kids now days would probably be more advanced and taught different then I was when I was a little kid. There are plenty of things taught in school that students will never remember or rarely even use in real life situations outside of the classroom. I think teachers need to step outside the box and really spice things up with students help make things interesting and fun. This will help them remember and carry it with them through out life. I mean I'm 22 and a lot of things I learned in school was not beneficial to me in the real world. I do consider myself to be some what smart and know a pretty good bit about things, but it came from hands on activities and just getting out there and actually learning the skills I needed that applied to my life. I mean things like cooking, cleaning, taking care of kids, managing money, paying bills. These are things that apply to real life circumstances. teachers need to stand out and create assignments that really mean something and strikes interest with the students. Most things in life are not learned by reading it, they are done by actually doing them. Hands on learning is one of the best tools I think to actually help benefit the youth.

Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets is a website that has researched resources on the things that works for children that will help out the parents and educators. I am a mom to an infant right now, but I am glad to know about all the information and resources available for me when my daughter becomes old enough to read. These resources can really help me improve her reading skills and really benefit her learning. I can not wait to be able to use this information with my daughter. For now though, these resources are things I can introduce to my nieces and really help improve their skills and help make them better readers.

Looking at this website through a teacher's point of view, I really like the reading topics A-Z They list all the resources in alphabetically order, which is very helpful. They have resources on reading all the way to resources on writing. This particular site also has links to different videos and even podcast so the students can go more in depth with their learning.I think this is an excellent way to make reading fun and interesting. It is always a great think when you can actually get a visual of what you are reading. You always have to make connections when reading. As a teacher, I would want to help get parents involved and make them aware of these websites and resources, so they can also help their children out at home.

Project#9a- Timetoast

TimeToast

Blog Post # 4

Langwitches: Podcasting with First Graders & First Graders Creating Own Audio Books
I read the blogs about podcasting with first graders and first graders create own read along audio book by langwitches and listened to the audio clip by Joe Dale on the benefits of podcasting in the classroom. My reactions to the first two blogs, I was extremely shocked that first graders and second graders are podcasting and I am just now doing it as a junior in college. I think it is excellent that the teachers are incorporating this type of technology into the elementary schools. I would have loved to been able to do this when I was a kid. It is great to know that the children were eager to learn and exciting about doing their assignments. It is really great to start at a young age, teaching the kids the new technology that is in store for them. It is also great because they will be familiar with how these things work and it will benefit them in the long run. I'm a junior in college and I'm just now learning about all the different types of programs and things technology has created.
Joe Dales:The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
The last one was really an eye grabber. Joe dale's video clip on the benefits of podcasting in the classroom was an amazing video. This short video clip had tons of very beneficial and very useful information.I had no idea all the benefits of podcasting. I have never did a pod cast before so I'm really new to all the information that was being presented. I feel like it will really help me out in the future with my pod cast assignments.I think this video really help me familiarize myself with all the benefits of pod casting. I will definitely use pod casting in my classroom when I become a teacher .

links to videos:

podcasting with first graders

First Graders Create Own Audio Books

Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

Project #5

My Google Presentation

C4T Assignment #1

Jenny Luca
I have been following Jenny Luca for two weeks and these are her blog topics and my responses:
Contextualizing life
Her first post was about Contextualizing life. Basically watching a TV episode and having it relate to a day to day basis. She was stating that it was relating to the importance of having better context to help one understand the many things that we are faced with in today's world on a daily basis. She was also talking about how many times a day we do not full grasp or understand the things we come in contact with, whether it be a reading material or a video. She also mention the use of a tool called Storify, that they hope would help the students have a better advantage over understanding things day to day.
My Response
I agreed and responded with saying that many of us do not have a great contextual background and we really do not fully understand things that we are faced with on a daily basis and that such tools will hopefully be useful in helping one understand and get better with the context part of things to be able to understand fully what they are encountering.
How do you deal with a world that is messy?
Her Second post was about, How do you deal with a world that is messy? by Danah Boyd at RMIT. She commented on how teenagers’ participation in social networks as ‘social grooming’. We are seeing our children form and sustain friendships in public spaces on the Internet. She also stated that, "When I was a teenager, I was out and about with friends on the weekend and after school, and my friendships were formed in what were public spaces, but often private in terms of my parent’s knowledge of what I was doing." Then she goes on to commenting about the talk of the bedroom culture and how it is really like a safe place and one to call your own and express yourself.The she discussed the interesting points about code messaging on facebook when your parents are relatives are your friends.Then she made another interesting point about the sexual predator status statistically does not exist.
My response
I could relate to the code using on facebook, the bedroom as my safe haven from a kid to now even as an adult. As a younger adult me and my friends used codes and different things to not let people know what we were saying and even today we still may do it for fun. Its true that my bedroom is like my sanctuary a place for me and my thoughts. I also commented about the sexual predators on the internet not being so much of a concern now days. Today its more bullying, threatening and fighting over the internet.

Blog Post #3

Stephanie Tyler: Technology in Special Education
This video was a great way to let people see how much technology really does benefit in schools. Technology is always changing and teachers really should stay focused on helping the students learn about all the technology that they have available. Technology can help play a big role in some students life.
For example in this video, using laptop computers really helped the special needs children connect with their teacher. Having the computers were a way that the students who couldn't speak communicate with people. It also helped them advance in their assignments and not fall behind. Not all things will be easy for them, but this helps them benefit tremendously in school.It is fun and interacting and the students really seemed to enjoy learning and doing work now.

How the IPad Works for Academics with Autism:
If I had special needs students in my classroom, one app that I would use would be math bingo. It will be a fun and exciting way to get the kids to interact and learn about math. I would download math bingo to all of their iPads and mine too, and then do an introductory class on how to use the app an what all it could do. Then I would hope that they would be ecstatic about learning math. Math Bingo will allow them to create their own person and use it during the game. The game includes multiplication, adding, subtracting and division. I would give a lesson on one of those things during class, then at the end let them play bingo on that section. This will help them see their weakness and make learning and making mistakes fun.

Gary Hayes: Social Media Count


It is such an astonishment to that that technology is changing so rapidly. I mean I knew things were changing at a fast pace, but I was blown away by exactly how fast things are moving today in technology.
I believe before too long, we will never be using pens pencils and paper again. I think everything will strictly be technology based in the future years to come. So I do believe that it is very important for teachers to prepare the students for this type of change and get them use to using the computers for most of their assignments. I think teachers should do tutorials on how to use the iPads and computers, before its too late. With technology moving at this pace, you have no time to waste.

Micheal Wesch:A Vision of Students Today
I was very pleased on how this video was presented. The video really caught my attention, especially near the end with the whole writing on the chalkboard and pointing out where were the pictures and animations. That is really no way for kids to learn, let along they become very bored with the whole reading off a chalkboard with no type of interactions. Now days pictures, animations, dialogue and all are worth way more than ever imagined. In today's time its all about grabbing your students attention and holding it, so they actually hear what you are teaching.
All these videos are true and do a great job at expressing how important it is to keep up with the changing technology and use that as a learning tool for the students and yourself. This is a very true part , kids are constantly on facebook,twitter,cellphones, ipods, or watching tv instead of actually doing school material. I think that making it fun and interacting along with using the technology that they have will help increase their learning capability.

Project #2

1. My Wordle

Blog Assignment #2

1. Did you know-by John Strange

It is amazing how quickly the technology continues to change.This video had a lot of very good and useful information. I really enjoyed watching and listening to all the beneficial information that was being presented. I mean if you sit back and think about phones and how all you use to do was call and now you text,call,facetime,heytell,email and play games. The technology field is always increasing, as well as the age groups who are using it. I mean there are toddlers and all up using cellphones, playing on computers and most of the time the younger ones are more advanced with the technology than adults.

This video should make you wake up and realize, that we can not sit back and not focus on furthering our education on the new technological advancements in the world. Technology plays a big role in the lives of teachers, so it is necessary to also learn as much as you can and keep yourself up to date with the advancements.

2. Mr Winkle Wakes
His story is relatively true. The same teaching methods have been taught year after year and time after time. It is very boring and slightly depressing if I may say so myself. I mean just in the previous video we see how fast technology is changing and how much it is advancing,but yet ans still we have the same outdated teaching methods.

This video was presented in a funny way, but that is to capture your attention and to get you to focus on what is being said. The matter itself is no joke, it is very serious. This issue needs to be changed and reinvented for the children. Maybe if every school and teacher could view this video, it may help them get on the right track and actually want to learn new ways to make things more interesting for their students.

3.Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson is an excellent speaker. He is really good at keeping his audience engaged in what he has to say and also keeps them full of excitement and laughter. Those are great qualities for a speaker to obtain. You never want to lose your audience attention, because if so they will hear nothing you have to say. One of the main topics was about creativity and how it is often unused. For example, many of us could probably relate to not be able to express our creativity throughout school because we were told to do things a certain way and follow the example exactly. This would make us put our creativity on the back burner and then just be original, instead of standing out. I think creativity plays a big role in learning, I think students should be able to express their creativity and be unique.


His statement creativity is as important as literacy is a very moving line. It is true teachers should encourage the students to express themselves through their work and emotions. It helps students find out who they are and makes them individuals



4.A Vision for 21st Century Learning

These seem to me to be the main focal points in this video: The current methods being used to teach the children are lacking good results, we need to try changing the methods to make them more interesting and appealing to the children, and I think we should also work on actual teaching children how to retain information instead of just memorizing it.

I agree with the argument, because I think it is necessary to make the methods more interesting for the children. If what they are being taught is interesting, exciting and captures their attention, they will be more focused and excited about the material being taught.

5.Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

The things that Ms. Davis is doing in her classroom is excellent.She is trying to encourage and motivate her students to use the different types of technology that is available to help enhance their learning capability. The things being implied in this video, or the exact things that all teachers should be striving to do for them and the children.If you actually look at the children in her class, they are so excited and looks as if they are so eager to learn. When I become a teacher, I want to feel that energy and see that excitement among my kid's faces everyday.

The classroom conference is a great idea and it seems to be a great way to help benefit the students.I think it was amazing that she got her class to participate in this new learning advancement. Technology is always changing, so I think this helps prepare them for what is to come in the future.