Blog Assignment #7

Using iMovie and Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten is a video conversation between Dr. Strange, Michelle Bennett, and Elizabeth Davis discussing the use of iMovie and AVL in kindergarten classes. Mrs. Bennett discusses how she teaches her Kindergartners the steps to using iMovie by starting with the basics and then moving up. Since Mrs. Bennett is teaching the children how to use iMovie, teachers are incorporating them into stations in their classrooms. The students are making iMovie book trailers for the books they are reading in their class. Once the students are established, they take off and sometimes educate the teachers. Mrs. Davis talks about AVL which is a free resource for Alabama students, whether elementary or college. Mrs. Davis says they are educating the kindergartners the basics of research. She states that either she or the teachers assign the students animals and every week the students will use AVL to research their specific animal. I think using AVL in kindergarten is a wonderful idea because as she said, it is teaching them how to research. Research will always be a part of life, whether in school or out, we all need to know the proper ways to research.

We All Become Learners is another video conversation between Dr. Strange, Michelle Bennett, and Elizabeth Davis about how whether teacher or student, we are all learners. Having one to one devices changes the dynamics of a classroom. Children are so amazed with technology that they can figure out something on one before an adult can. Therefore, the students are educating the teachers about technology. Everyone becomes a part of each other's Personal Learning Network. I completely agree with this video in saying that students can educate teachers because I have a five year old niece who can show me things on my Galaxy S5 that I did not know it could do. Children in today's time know so much more about technology than I did at that age, or even now, that we have to incorporate it into classrooms to stay relevant.

Interview Rosado How to Get a Job is a conversation between Dr. Strange and Dr. Rosado, the principal at Gulf Shores High School. Dr. Strange asks Rosado what he looks for when hiring a new teacher. Rosado lists the following:
1. Works with technology
2. Understands technology
3. Is a team player
4. Not a lecturer
Dr. Rosado says that he asks, "How are we going to deliver material in a different way to reach our students?" He wants teachers to have "real world" related subjects to keep students interested. For example, their engineering students are partnering with an architect to build a Boy Scout's building. Dr. Rosado says he wants a teacher who thinks differently.

Planet Earth by Lauber's Class is an iMovie that Ms. Lauber's class made about the earth. I thought it was really cool how each student would state a fact about the Earth and with each statement was a coinciding picture. I think it is wonderful that elementary students were able to make this video and I may just steal this Project Based Learning idea for my future classroom.

Kirby "I Can" Statements is a short video with four elementary school girls. Each of the students share two "I Can" Statements and then do the activity stated. An "I Can" Statement is a simple statement about something you can do. The statement does not have to be anything significant or spectacular, just a simple ability. For example, one of the girls said, "I can count to one hundred by one's and by ten's." Then, she proceeded to count to one hundred by ten. I like replacing "I Can't" with "I Can" because children do not need to focus on the negative things they can not do. If children start focusing on positive things they can do, I think the world will be a happier place to live.

Tammy Shirley sharing 1st Grade Students Becoming Leaders of Their Own Learning is a video by Ms. Shirley telling about how her first grade students took charge of their own learning. Ms. Shirley says that she assigned her students a research project. While she was trying to finish her graphic organizer, the students got their Macbooks and started doing their research without her telling them to do so. The second half of the video is Ms. Shirley showing and talking about the Graphic Organizer she and some other teachers created for their students.
I love the fact that the students got out their Macbooks and started their own research. This shows how technology in the classroom is a wonderful resource. When I was in elementary and middle school, we would have to go to computer labs to do research or do it at home. Now, students have resources at their fingertips in their classrooms.