Sunday, July 19, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Blog Assignment #14
According to Joel Klein in Teaching Can Be a Profession, problems schools face are
1. Needs to give more school choices to families
2. Needs to use technology to improve teaching and learning
3. Needs to adopt a knowledge-based curriculum
4. Needs to start a child's education before turning 5 years old
However, his biggest concern is that we need to make teaching a well-respected profession.
To solve these problems, Klein suggests
1. Recruiting people who are at the top of their class to be teachers
2. Choosing quality over seniority when having to downsize
3. Giving a "national teacher's examination" to test pedagogy and content knowledge
In my opinion, I am not sure if I agree that more school choices should be provided. The only reason is because some counties can not fund more schools, unless they are privately funded. I do agree that technology needs to be taken advantage of in schools. Baldwin County schools are already providing each students with a laptop, so we are striving to better our schools. I think adopting a knowledge-based curriculum would also be a good thing for schools. The students will learn about real world scenarios and will be more equipped when graduating. I also think children should start getting an education before they turn five years old. However, I think the parents should be the ones who provide this; I know this will never happen with some people in today's age. Some students are entering Kindergarten without even know how to write their name or the alphabet and this is very upsetting.
I completely agree that in some people's eyes, being a teacher is not as respectable as being a lawyer. However, lawyers only become so by having teachers. So when people tell me that I should become something other than a teacher, I ask them how they got where they are. Even though being a teacher is not the "most respectable" job, teachers will always be needed. I want to be someone who helps change the way people think or make them think of something they never would have. The only way for me to do this, for me to make a change, is for me to become a teacher.
In conclusion, I agree with Mr. Klein when he said, "Self-discipline and high standards can secure the future of public schools." However, I only agree with some of the "problems" he sees in the schools system, I also do not see the solutions occurring unless there are some radical changes that occur to make more people see teaching as a respectable profession.
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1. Needs to give more school choices to families
2. Needs to use technology to improve teaching and learning
3. Needs to adopt a knowledge-based curriculum
4. Needs to start a child's education before turning 5 years old
However, his biggest concern is that we need to make teaching a well-respected profession.
To solve these problems, Klein suggests
1. Recruiting people who are at the top of their class to be teachers
2. Choosing quality over seniority when having to downsize
3. Giving a "national teacher's examination" to test pedagogy and content knowledge
In my opinion, I am not sure if I agree that more school choices should be provided. The only reason is because some counties can not fund more schools, unless they are privately funded. I do agree that technology needs to be taken advantage of in schools. Baldwin County schools are already providing each students with a laptop, so we are striving to better our schools. I think adopting a knowledge-based curriculum would also be a good thing for schools. The students will learn about real world scenarios and will be more equipped when graduating. I also think children should start getting an education before they turn five years old. However, I think the parents should be the ones who provide this; I know this will never happen with some people in today's age. Some students are entering Kindergarten without even know how to write their name or the alphabet and this is very upsetting.
I completely agree that in some people's eyes, being a teacher is not as respectable as being a lawyer. However, lawyers only become so by having teachers. So when people tell me that I should become something other than a teacher, I ask them how they got where they are. Even though being a teacher is not the "most respectable" job, teachers will always be needed. I want to be someone who helps change the way people think or make them think of something they never would have. The only way for me to do this, for me to make a change, is for me to become a teacher.
In conclusion, I agree with Mr. Klein when he said, "Self-discipline and high standards can secure the future of public schools." However, I only agree with some of the "problems" he sees in the schools system, I also do not see the solutions occurring unless there are some radical changes that occur to make more people see teaching as a respectable profession.
Blog Assignment #5 - PLN Part 2
At the beginning of the semester, we were asked to create a Personal Learning Network. At first, I did not know what that was and I had very little to add to mine. According to EduBlogs, a PLN allows a teacher to connect with other educators or resources from around the world. At the start of the semester, my PLN consisted of relatives who are teachers, past and current professors, and a few other teachers who I know personally.
Now as EDM 310 comes to an end, I have increased my Personal Learning Network. My PLN now includes Symbaloo, which will help me stay organized as a teacher. I will also use Blogger or another blogging site in my future classroom to publish students' work and to communicate with parents. I will also use Tweet Deck to stay connected to veteran teachers from all over the world. I know my PLN will continue to grow as I continue my education and learn about what is available to me. For example, I will most likely add future teachers. However, right now, I believe I have a good start.
Now as EDM 310 comes to an end, I have increased my Personal Learning Network. My PLN now includes Symbaloo, which will help me stay organized as a teacher. I will also use Blogger or another blogging site in my future classroom to publish students' work and to communicate with parents. I will also use Tweet Deck to stay connected to veteran teachers from all over the world. I know my PLN will continue to grow as I continue my education and learn about what is available to me. For example, I will most likely add future teachers. However, right now, I believe I have a good start.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Blog Assignment #13 - What did I leave out?
What should I prepare for as I start this journey as a school teacher?
Directions:
1. Read the articles What I Wish I'd Known as a New Teacher
2. Watch Behind the Scenes: If I Knew Then and If I Knew Then
3. Go to the Resource Toolkit for New Teachers and choose one resource provided.
4. Write a post and discuss what advice you will take with you from these veteran teachers as you begin your journey as a new teacher.
My post:
In the article What I Wish I'd Known as a New Teacher, Elena Aguilar discussed that the end of October is very hard for new teachers; there is a graph that proves so. She wants new teachers to know they are not the only ones who feel this way. She says during these trying times we should remember
1. This will get better
2. Always work from the heart.
3. They will remember this about you.
4. Be open to surprises.
5. Find a coach.
6. And if you can't find a coach, MOVE to another school.
In the video, Behind the Scenes: If I Knew Then and If I Knew Then, teachers were given the prompt, "If you could write a letter to yourself on your first day of teaching, what words of encouragement and insight would you offer?" What I learned from the videos is to try crazy things, even if they do not work out, that will be what my students remember. I should also not expect everything to work out quite like I expect it to. But I should not be afraid of failure. One day before I start teaching, I want to write what I expect to achieve my first year teaching and then at the end of the year, read it and reflect on what I could change. I really enjoyed these two videos.
Preparing, Planning, and Support gives advice on how to make a school year successful. The first step is to Prepare for the first days. In the article Back to School: Preparing for Day One, lists six steps to be prepared for the first day, which are
1. Be Organized, Tidy, and Ready
2. Have Too Much and Too Many of Everything
3. Over plan the Lesson
4. Rehearse
5.Be Ready for Anything and Everything
6. Start Learning Names Immediately
The second step is to Review Planning and Time Management Tips. There is a resource called the 7-Step Prep: Make a Weekly Plan for YOU which gives advice to make planning easier. The steps are to Select a Tool, Have a Meeting with Yourself, Set Priorities for the Week, List all Meeting and Appointments, Determine how to Use Free Time, Allow Flexibility, and Review and Adjust Daily.
The third step is to Build a Personal Learning Network. 5 Tips for New Teachers to Become Connected Educators are being able to define what being a connected teacher is, being knowledgeable about Web 2.0, being willing to join social media networks, becoming a blogger, and being reflective and reaching out.
The fourth step is to collaborate to avoid isolation and find sources of support. Collaboration is very important because it makes sure a teacher does not get burned out.
The fifth step to ensure a successful school is to Take Care of Yourself. In Teacher Burnout: What are the Warning Signs, teacher burnouts can be caused by lack of preparation, lack of autonomy, difficult student behavior, lack of support and interpersonal conflict, and boredom. If teachers start to feel burned out, they need to reconnect with a purpose. Students want to learn, so they need teachers who want to teach. The collateral damage of a burned out teacher is a burned student. Therefore, we need to stay connected to be the best educator we can be for our students.
1. Read the articles What I Wish I'd Known as a New Teacher
2. Watch Behind the Scenes: If I Knew Then and If I Knew Then
3. Go to the Resource Toolkit for New Teachers and choose one resource provided.
4. Write a post and discuss what advice you will take with you from these veteran teachers as you begin your journey as a new teacher.
My post:
In the article What I Wish I'd Known as a New Teacher, Elena Aguilar discussed that the end of October is very hard for new teachers; there is a graph that proves so. She wants new teachers to know they are not the only ones who feel this way. She says during these trying times we should remember
1. This will get better
2. Always work from the heart.
3. They will remember this about you.
4. Be open to surprises.
5. Find a coach.
6. And if you can't find a coach, MOVE to another school.
In the video, Behind the Scenes: If I Knew Then and If I Knew Then, teachers were given the prompt, "If you could write a letter to yourself on your first day of teaching, what words of encouragement and insight would you offer?" What I learned from the videos is to try crazy things, even if they do not work out, that will be what my students remember. I should also not expect everything to work out quite like I expect it to. But I should not be afraid of failure. One day before I start teaching, I want to write what I expect to achieve my first year teaching and then at the end of the year, read it and reflect on what I could change. I really enjoyed these two videos.
Preparing, Planning, and Support gives advice on how to make a school year successful. The first step is to Prepare for the first days. In the article Back to School: Preparing for Day One, lists six steps to be prepared for the first day, which are
1. Be Organized, Tidy, and Ready
2. Have Too Much and Too Many of Everything
3. Over plan the Lesson
4. Rehearse
5.Be Ready for Anything and Everything
6. Start Learning Names Immediately
The second step is to Review Planning and Time Management Tips. There is a resource called the 7-Step Prep: Make a Weekly Plan for YOU which gives advice to make planning easier. The steps are to Select a Tool, Have a Meeting with Yourself, Set Priorities for the Week, List all Meeting and Appointments, Determine how to Use Free Time, Allow Flexibility, and Review and Adjust Daily.
The third step is to Build a Personal Learning Network. 5 Tips for New Teachers to Become Connected Educators are being able to define what being a connected teacher is, being knowledgeable about Web 2.0, being willing to join social media networks, becoming a blogger, and being reflective and reaching out.
The fourth step is to collaborate to avoid isolation and find sources of support. Collaboration is very important because it makes sure a teacher does not get burned out.
The fifth step to ensure a successful school is to Take Care of Yourself. In Teacher Burnout: What are the Warning Signs, teacher burnouts can be caused by lack of preparation, lack of autonomy, difficult student behavior, lack of support and interpersonal conflict, and boredom. If teachers start to feel burned out, they need to reconnect with a purpose. Students want to learn, so they need teachers who want to teach. The collateral damage of a burned out teacher is a burned student. Therefore, we need to stay connected to be the best educator we can be for our students.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
C4Ta #4 - Dean Shareski
The Teachers We Need
Summary:
Dean Shareski is blogging about how the role of the teacher has changed from 1988 (when he went to college) to 2015. The teacher does not have to be a good instructor anymore, but rather a designer, guide, and emotional and personal need support. There used to be an unwritten agreement that schools would provide academics and parents would provide emotional support. However, schools are taking on a broader role due to the lack of support from home. This is difficult for some teachers who were taught to be just educators. It is not possible to be a teacher who does not possess the commitment to care about and for children.
Comment:
I completely agree that teachers need to provide emotional support to their students. Having to observe school environments for classes, I have seen teachers who provide the emotional support to students who do not receive it elsewhere. I have also seen teachers who do not and only care about instructing the students as Shareski said. I want to be the type of teacher a student will look back on and say, "She cared." I will not only guide my students, but I will also care for them.
My Ongoing Struggle With Diffusing the Impact of Grades
Summary:
Dean Shareski is blogging about how the role of the teacher has changed from 1988 (when he went to college) to 2015. The teacher does not have to be a good instructor anymore, but rather a designer, guide, and emotional and personal need support. There used to be an unwritten agreement that schools would provide academics and parents would provide emotional support. However, schools are taking on a broader role due to the lack of support from home. This is difficult for some teachers who were taught to be just educators. It is not possible to be a teacher who does not possess the commitment to care about and for children.
Comment:
I completely agree that teachers need to provide emotional support to their students. Having to observe school environments for classes, I have seen teachers who provide the emotional support to students who do not receive it elsewhere. I have also seen teachers who do not and only care about instructing the students as Shareski said. I want to be the type of teacher a student will look back on and say, "She cared." I will not only guide my students, but I will also care for them.
My Ongoing Struggle With Diffusing the Impact of Grades
In this blog post, Mr. Shareski talks about why he does not like giving grades. He says that grading takes up a lot of time and effort. He wants his students to reflect and he wants to be able to give them timely and insightful feedback. Therefore, he came up with a template that he gives his students to evaluate themselves after each assignment.
After each module’s assignment you’ll be asked to submit via dropbox, your personal self assessment. Here is a simple template to follow. For each heading consider writing 2-3 sentences at most.
What I did well this week: Write about your feelings on how well you communicated or completed the assignment
What I struggled with: Think about any struggles related to the concept, the relevance or any technical issues you may have had.
My interactions: This is where you can reflect both interactions within your post or with interactions you participated in or observed with your classmates. Focus on comments of others that made you think.
My grade: Based on the guidelines, how would you grade yourself out of 10. In general, this is how I would like you to approach your grading:
10- Perfect. Not only did you hit all the guidelines but you did so to the highest level. (Note, I doubt many will hit this but I may be surprised)
9-Outstanding. Hit all almost all the guidelines and those that didn’t may not have added to the post. Something you would be happy to share with your colleagues.
8-Solid. Met the majority of the guidelines. Felt like you covered all your basis fairly well.
7-Good. Nothing amazing but still useful and at the level of a grad student
6-Okay. Mostly covered the content but lots of holes and missing guidelines.
5-Barely acceptable. You can make the argument that you’ve fulfilled the requirements but at a minimal level. Easy to tell that it’s rushed or lacks much depth or effort.
How I might improve this assignment or module: If you have any suggestions, please add them.
For the most part, Shareski gave his students the grade they gave themselves, unless he completely disagreed with them. He said that this technique really works and he will continue to use it until he comes up with a new way to grade his students.
Comment:
I think Shareski has a good technique, having the students self-evaluate. However, I feel as if some students would not be honest about what grade they should receive. I guess that is why Shareski evaluates the work as well to see if the students are being truthful. Also I agree with him asking what he should do if a student gives himself a 10 and Shareski thinks the work is an 8 or 9, what grade should the students receive? I think this would be my problem with letting the students self-evaluate or at least with the template Shareski uses. If I have my students self-evaluate, I would want to tell my students exactly what I am looking for and then let them decide if they met the standards or not.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Blog Assignment #11
What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?
In Back to the Future, I learned that as a teacher, I need to think outside of the box! Brian Crosby from Agnes Risney Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada, talks about how he used Project Based Learning to create a hot air balloon. The children had to write stories about being the hot air balloon. The children learned about air pressure changes and recorded a video to embed into their blog. The students then wrote other classes around the world to send their "high hopes" and they placed them, along with their own and a video camera, and sent the balloon off. The students watched the balloon travel by using Google Maps and watched the video feed from the balloon. This project really was outside of the box.
In the Blended Learning Cycle and Paul Anderson is all about flipping classrooms. Blended learning is blending online, mobile, and classroom by using the five E's, Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, and Evaluate.
We also need to incorporate QUIVERS which stands for
QUestion
Investigate
Video
Evaluate
Review
Summary Quiz
![Spider Man Quote]( "Photo by: www.patheos.com border=")
I really liked Sam Payne's 5th Grade. We need to teach our children about internet safety and reliable internet sources. We also need to make sure our students are specific. In one part of the video, a students said "gives information," Payne replied that if he is going to say that, he needs to state what kind of information is being given. Another lesson we can learn from Sam Payne is to keep our lessons relevant to the students. Payne was teaching 5th grade and was teaching about internet safety by letting the students create a super hero. Any child in elementary school would love to build their own super hero, so Payne made sure he was relating to the students' interests. Another lesson we can learn from Payne (and Spider Man) is that "With great power comes great responsibility."
Project Based Learning is a video about integrating subjects into one class by using Project Based Learning. By doing so, the students have more time to work on their projects. The students are alos learning real world experiences. As a future teacher, I learned that I need to give good feedback and to never let my students give up just because they think they are done. Getting feedback from myself and their peers, a student may have to correct a project multiple times, but it will be an end result that they are proud of.
Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program gives a simple definition of Project Based Learning. PBL is
In depth learning
Integrated thematic instruction
Based on a "real world" problem
Research based
Project and presentation
PBL lets students show that they know the material without taking a test, they have to produce and present a project. PBL is based on a student's choice, the students decide how they want to do their project and the teacher is there as a tool. This makes the students self-motivated and puts them in charge of their own learning, which is what I like about it.
In Back to the Future, I learned that as a teacher, I need to think outside of the box! Brian Crosby from Agnes Risney Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada, talks about how he used Project Based Learning to create a hot air balloon. The children had to write stories about being the hot air balloon. The children learned about air pressure changes and recorded a video to embed into their blog. The students then wrote other classes around the world to send their "high hopes" and they placed them, along with their own and a video camera, and sent the balloon off. The students watched the balloon travel by using Google Maps and watched the video feed from the balloon. This project really was outside of the box.
In the Blended Learning Cycle and Paul Anderson is all about flipping classrooms. Blended learning is blending online, mobile, and classroom by using the five E's, Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, and Evaluate.
QUestion
Investigate
Video
Evaluate
Review
Summary Quiz
Project Based Learning is a video about integrating subjects into one class by using Project Based Learning. By doing so, the students have more time to work on their projects. The students are alos learning real world experiences. As a future teacher, I learned that I need to give good feedback and to never let my students give up just because they think they are done. Getting feedback from myself and their peers, a student may have to correct a project multiple times, but it will be an end result that they are proud of.
Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program gives a simple definition of Project Based Learning. PBL is
In depth learning
Integrated thematic instruction
Based on a "real world" problem
Research based
Project and presentation
PBL lets students show that they know the material without taking a test, they have to produce and present a project. PBL is based on a student's choice, the students decide how they want to do their project and the teacher is there as a tool. This makes the students self-motivated and puts them in charge of their own learning, which is what I like about it.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Blog Assignment #10
In Little Kids...Big Potential, Ms. Cassidy uses a variety of technology in her classroom. She uses blogs, wikis, videos, Skype, and Nintendo DS. I think incorporating these technologies gives her an advantage. For example, in my classroom, I would use wikis. Having students have the experience of asking advice or questions to people on the other side of the world is phenomenal. When the students said they asked about traditions and people from all over the world answered, I was amazed. The students are getting real information from real people, not people saying what they think to be true. I would also like to have a class blog. I think having that interaction with my students and letting them show off their accomplishments will be highly effective.
I am very excited and looking forward to being an educator. We are in a new day and age than when I was in school. As Dr. Sharp has said, we do not and can not teach the way we were taught. Learning about all of the technology I can incorporate into my future classroom has my bursting with anticipation. Before starting EDM 310, I was apprehensive about using technology in the classroom. I was also afraid that my students would know more about the technology than I. However, after hearing these spectacular teachers, I now know that as long as I engage my students, we can all learn at the same time.
Other Resources:
Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1
Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2
Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3
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