tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53216658462665938572024-03-05T02:47:51.786-06:00Isaac Evans's EDM 310 Class BlogIsaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-82961946472457827192011-12-12T22:19:00.001-06:002011-12-12T22:19:00.620-06:00Final Reflection<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YUoZPHmOepI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-17385683164951335742011-12-04T22:41:00.001-06:002011-12-04T22:41:38.839-06:00Final Report: PLNBetween the last progress report and today, I made a few changes to my PLN. To begin with, I've added a couple of links to my Symbaloo account, my favorite of which is probably to the Box of Tricks list of free technology. I hope I find it to be a valuable resource when I begin teaching.<br />
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As far as people, I have added a couple of principals, Dr. Alan T. Lee, Baldwin County Superintendant, and Derek Roh, Baldwin County Technology Coordinator to my list of contacts. Furthermore, I am very friendly with the marketing director of the Daphne Chik-Fil-A, and as you may know, Chik-Fil-A is a great supporter of area schools.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-45849079132445696512011-12-04T22:37:00.002-06:002011-12-04T22:42:34.909-06:00Blog Post 14For our final blog post, we were asked to explore "<a href="http://www.boxoftricks.net/">Box of Tricks</a>", a blog run by Jose Picardo, who according to the "ABOUT" page, teaches Spanish and German at Nottingham High School. He encourages teachers to take advantage of technology to help students learn.<br />
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He has an "A to Z List of Internet Resources for Education" listed on his site. He has over one-hundred different websites and resources listed for teachers' use. Best of all, the resources are free! I added this page to by PLN. <br />
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Picardo gives "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiisteObuhk">Ten Tips for Using Technology in the Classroom</a>" in this video. I thought his tips were interesting - for example, using music - popular music - to your advantage. He suggested using Skype to communicate with students and experts elsewhere. He seems to also find YouTube to be an excellent resource for teachers. <br />
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Like the schools here in Mobile County, he encourages teachers to use interactive whiteboards effectively and to go to classes to learn how to do so. Furthermore, he suggests using social networking, specifically Facebook, to communicate with your students. <br />
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Like Dr. Strange, he seems quite fond of podcasts, wikis, and blogs. He suggests using them to highlight all of the wonderful accomplishments your students have. His final tip is to make the most of your students' gadgets - such as iPhones. <br />
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At the end of the video, he says, "Use technology only when it helps you achieve your education objectives. How true! Technology does not have to be in every single moment of every single day - but it should play a big part. <br />
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His tips are very interesting and could be quite positively used in a classroom. Some, such as the use of YouTube and Facebook, are currently blocked by area schools. This could be rectified with forward-thinking administrators.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-75027175563442124682011-12-04T22:08:00.002-06:002011-12-04T22:08:14.985-06:00Final Project<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/present/embed?id=dg5jk8fq_5h2n766qm" frameborder="0" width="410" height="342"></iframe>Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-35023339450311154592011-12-02T12:11:00.001-06:002011-12-02T12:12:58.005-06:00Project 3: C4T #4For this C4T cycle, I visited the blog of a teacher named Henrietta Miller, of Sydney, Australia. There are several unique things about her classroom - for one, she teaches at an all-girls private school, according to her "About Me" page, and the fact that grades are not given in her Year 5 classroom - instead, they write comments to and about the students to help them learn more effectively, according to my assigned post, <a href="http://www.classroomchronicles.net/2011/11/02/to-grade-or-not-to-grade/">"To Grade or Not to Grade?" </a><br />
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I must interject here and say that I love it when teachers give comments, especially on things that are written - a note highlighting strengths and weaknesses is much more effective (in my not-so-humble opinion, at least on this topic) than a simple letter. Can they be used in conjunction? Certainly. But I don't quite see how A, B, C, D, and F cue students to learn. <br />
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Interestingly, students seem to want grades quite badly - probably, as she highlights, due to competitiveness and the fact that there may also be parental pressure involved. She also is letting students assist her in assigning their final grades by using a portfolio. How wonderful would it be if this type of behavior could become the norm (or at least acceptable) here in the States?<br />
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For my second and final week, I read a post called "<a href="http://www.classroomchronicles.net/2011/11/25/out-of-the-mouth-of-babes/">Out of the Mouth of Babes</a>", a post which chronicled the thoughts of 10-11 year old students on what they would change in the classroom if they were teaching. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8VtBBx6bmzZCYK73gMLfE10T-8_VpSSK-1-bbH_vFX_UuPv2rtxIqGKPxY5ZxIUIJwpZswj25dL5tHqAChAbqRNc6saCiBzECDS8r-B3ApeHxsRkeRxoNZe4AvU1eUT8GSIjBTPbqdA/s1600/drama_faces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img alt="Stereotypical Greek Drama Faces" TITLE="Credit: Edison Elementary School" border="0" height="250" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8VtBBx6bmzZCYK73gMLfE10T-8_VpSSK-1-bbH_vFX_UuPv2rtxIqGKPxY5ZxIUIJwpZswj25dL5tHqAChAbqRNc6saCiBzECDS8r-B3ApeHxsRkeRxoNZe4AvU1eUT8GSIjBTPbqdA/s320/drama_faces.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The first one she posted kind of cracked me up, as students wished for more drama and art. It made me think of Ken Robinson's lecture, "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY">Do Schools Kill Creativity</a>", where he asserts that creative subjects should be taught right alongside math, english, science and other like subjects. It would be nice if there was time, wouldn't it?<br />
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Putting aside the more comical ones, students seemed to like interactive projects, such as one they did where they made movies about Math instead of simply doing problems. They also seemed to recognize that the standardized tests are a bit unnecessary. Smart children!Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-13060777162316518072011-12-02T12:04:00.000-06:002011-12-02T12:04:24.120-06:00Project 7: C4K (Month of November)For my first week, I visited Ms. Yollis' 365 Project Blog and her classroom blog. <a href="http://evansisaacedm310.blogspot.com/2011/11/c4k-10-special-assignment-ms-yollis.html">Click here to read my thoughts on her classroom blog.</a> On the 365 Project Blog, I visited post 294: <a href="http://yollis365project.blogspot.com/2011/10/294-earth-assembly.html">The Earth Assembly</a>. This post had a picture of her class with a giant, inflatable globe. According to a comment, students were taught to say a few words in different languages. I commented and said that I would have loved to have been taught Geography with a method like this! I shared a story about a museum I once visited with a giant, inflatable, walk-in map of the night sky.<br />
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For my second week, I visited the blog of Sosaia from Pt. England School in Auckland, New Zealand. I read a post entitled "<a href="http://pessosaial.blogspot.com/2011/11/50-words-to-one-tree-hill.html#comment-form">Fifty Words to One Tree Hill</a>", where Sosaia seemed to be summarizing a story about climbing a hill into fifty words. I told her that I had always had trouble putting stories into a small amount of words and congratulated her on the neat picture with her post.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-19922001924354468252011-11-27T21:03:00.000-06:002011-11-27T21:03:41.959-06:00Blog Post 13For my post, I decided to do a book report on Rafe Esquith's "There are No Shortcuts". I read part of this book for a podcast on an earlier project, then ended up finishing the book and loving it. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I saw that I would be given the opportunity to write about it. <br />
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Mr. Esquith is very clear about one thing in his book - it is not a how-to guide on how to teach. In fact, he talks early on about making sure to explore and finding out who YOU are as a teacher, not him. That said, we can still learn many things from his book. One thing I love about him is that he seems to be fearless - he has stood up to parents, administrations, and certainly students in order to accomplish his task - educating his students. Furthermore, he has pushed through excessive financial difficulty (at points by working multiple jobs) in order to pay for the many field trips and activities his class takes part in. <br />
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One thing that I definitely took away from this book was that students WILL sometimes hurt you, even when you are perfectly kind and even go out of your way for them. I find that I will have to develop a tougher shell when I begin teaching, because this kind of behavior will most definitely hurt my feelings quite a bit. <br />
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Another awesome point from Mr. Esquith: He puts a huge emphasis on literacy and makes a point to state that he teaches in English. Why? We as teachers must prepare our students (or, as he would probably say, show them how to prepare themselves) for the real world, and in this country, speaking English is a necessity to be truly successful. <br />
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I enjoyed reading this book, not only because of what I learned, but also because of Mr. Esquith's wonderfully witty writing style. I'm hoping to purchase and read "Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire" over the holidays - it's certainly a learning experience and definitely keeps me entertained.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-39889564462676500142011-11-20T22:50:00.000-06:002011-11-20T22:50:39.268-06:00Additional Assignment 1: Missed the MetaphorI missed the metaphor in Tom Johnson/John T. Spencer's post. Why? I'm guessing simply because it did not strike me as an odd enough post to think hard about what pencils could be a metaphor for. I found a completely different meaning in the post, was satisfied with my meaning, and therefore did not dig deeper. Clearly, I should have thought harder about it. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXWfohpErAVVXIzE5vjQPk53KoLhiE5voSKUhZ0DFSRhmdqO16krE_-1emlRk4u4rA1Gv7GeNgKMY7QNMoBpvcX4C1LsQEb5BO66r1EPxEgthH2tv_KDJtCgkvGMIGZ4hLHwH3PxMUPs/s1600/pencil.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A pencil." TITLE="Source: aperfectworld.com" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXWfohpErAVVXIzE5vjQPk53KoLhiE5voSKUhZ0DFSRhmdqO16krE_-1emlRk4u4rA1Gv7GeNgKMY7QNMoBpvcX4C1LsQEb5BO66r1EPxEgthH2tv_KDJtCgkvGMIGZ4hLHwH3PxMUPs/s200/pencil.gif" width="190" /></a></div>Considering I spent the week performing in the musical "Honk!", metaphors were abundant for me. Leaving out the metaphors galore in the script, one humorous one comes to mind. When we give a bad performance, we might say, "That show was a load of crap." Umm, clearly, it was not literally. For homework, I might say an assignment is a pain in the butt. This is not true unless I have been sitting too long working on it. <br />
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How can we help students understand metaphors? I feel practice is the only way. For one, I knew what a metaphor was and still missed the point - one has to find sarcasm and context clues like it to consider something as a possibility for a metaphor. Beyond that, it is really difficult to "teach" someone to recognize them, in my opinion.<br />
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Metaphors can be used for a multitude of reasons. For one, they can add humor to a subject. Furthermore, they can allow us to say things that we could not politely say. They sometimes make explaining a difficult subject easier. <br />
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In conclusion, metaphors can be a valuable teaching tool, and we as teachers must learn to see and understand them.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-81374754935035486662011-11-18T12:08:00.001-06:002011-11-18T12:08:34.102-06:00Project 15: Smartboard Instructional Video<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hFQiz-G0ZtM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-76564620204176654242011-11-13T22:50:00.000-06:002011-11-13T22:50:30.584-06:00Blog Post 12For this assignment, we were required to come up with our own Blog Post assignment and do it. Because most blog posts require us to read or watch something and elaborate on it, I thought it would be interesting to write a post where our opinion on something was the main central purpose of the post. SO! My assignment would be as follows:<br />
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One current hot topic in education is whether or not teachers should be friends with their students on Facebook. What is your opinion? Give at least two benefits and two possible dangers of using Facebook with students. What guidelines should be in place? <br />
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How would I respond to this post? Read below to find out:<br />
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Many tools in life are wonderful when used properly and a huge danger when used improperly. Take cars, for example. They are extremely convenient when used correctly, but take lives when used incorrectly. Computers are great resources but can be used incorrectly and cause problems as well. I feel Facebook also falls into this category.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0eqdUZ3OQARzUlnKSdHordYFP05YRLuaIcXi__I0Cb_hTUJlZ7oHwY3aea-4li6llDNrqFHdScWrE9hb7n5K49ZkH7NZcpdPs8MIAhvR-kOahinjEg53c4f9wlp8rp_mrn3qv5wrSbg/s1600/facebook-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img alt="Facebook Logo" TITLE="Source: www.editorswebblog.org border="0" height="256" width="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0eqdUZ3OQARzUlnKSdHordYFP05YRLuaIcXi__I0Cb_hTUJlZ7oHwY3aea-4li6llDNrqFHdScWrE9hb7n5K49ZkH7NZcpdPs8MIAhvR-kOahinjEg53c4f9wlp8rp_mrn3qv5wrSbg/s320/facebook-logo.png" /></a></div><br />
I think teachers can use Facebook with their students as long as they are careful to do so in a responsible manner. Obviously, teachers could not post inappropriate things (and probably shouldn't anyway). Teachers would need to maintain an extremely high standard of conduct. <br />
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Benefits? Well, for one, students could easily get in touch with their teachers at any time for help in classes. Furthermore, if students are having personal problems, and they get serious enough, teachers could let the counselors and/or parents know. Furthermore, teachers would serve as possible role models for students. <br />
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Dangers? For one, people other than you can post on your Facebook, causing issues with guilt by association. Some people also feel that getting on a personal level with one's students is quite dangerous and could be considered inappropriate. <br />
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Guidelines? Teachers should either have a seperate Facebook for school and personal use or have an extremely limited filter on what students can see. Schools would need to set extremely stringent standards of conduct on how teachers can communicate with students online. <br />
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All in all, communication of this sort is a wonderful resource if and only if it is used correctly.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-50389884052821391102011-11-13T22:24:00.001-06:002011-11-13T22:24:19.816-06:00Project 14: Skype Interview<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A3qxuUOjRRk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-55766796860819120192011-11-13T20:03:00.000-06:002011-11-13T20:03:38.786-06:00Final Project: Progress ReportOur group, London Plays, has decided to do a research type project for our Final Project. We will be composing a survey of approximately four to ten questions regarding technology use in the classroom (such as what teachers use, how it helps, etc.) and distributing it to multiple area schools. We plan to use an online Survey Software and e-mail the school principals in the area with our survey, requesting it be handed down to the teachers. The survey will be anonymous, and at the end, we will compile data from the survey and write a report on our findings. We are planning on limiting to Baldwin and Mobile counties.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-48888727783485535562011-11-12T11:06:00.000-06:002011-11-12T11:06:20.405-06:00C4K #10: Special Assignment: Ms. Yollis' BlogFor part one of my 11/13/2011 C4K assignment, I visited <a href="http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/">Ms. Yollis' classroom blog</a>. Ms. Yollis has taught for twenty-five years and seems to really love her job. She teaches twenty-two children in Los Angeles this year, and they blog together as part of the classroom assignments. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRUpzCtD044VZYjSwfE_9_O_GNP7xtbba01h-dVf6CLmZcAnbTwuuSZvaN1u_utYrjmK_ObrO_x1A5ZQVKI5clYdWLJl_6V3s_9Dw4QlzJjg5bWwcyVLQoOt1ca__OpJzh2qO8HQL3Yw/s1600/Yollis.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img alt="Ms. Yollis and students blogging" TITLE="Source: Ms. Yollis' classroom blog" border="0" height="239" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRUpzCtD044VZYjSwfE_9_O_GNP7xtbba01h-dVf6CLmZcAnbTwuuSZvaN1u_utYrjmK_ObrO_x1A5ZQVKI5clYdWLJl_6V3s_9Dw4QlzJjg5bWwcyVLQoOt1ca__OpJzh2qO8HQL3Yw/s320/Yollis.png" /></a></div><br />
One link out of her blog leads to her webpage, another very impressive website. She has multiple links on the left-hand sidebar, and by the description on her welcome page, they include links to various games and articles for students to practice with at home. Students can even check their homework online, a resource which is probably great for parents as well, especially when students are less than honest about the work they need to do. <br />
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Back on her main page, she has all sorts of neat gadgets, but the World Cluster Map stands out. At the time of writing, she had over 72,000 visitors! Wow! And that is in less than two years. Our webpage has had 48,860 visitors since the same time, which is also a rather impressive number. Her visitors are from literally all over the world, which is very impressive. Students participate in many different technology activites, such as skyping with a group of students in Australia. I wish I could have done something like that in Elementary School! <br />
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Another thing that I thought was neat was how her class trick-or-treated for UNICEF, an activity I actually took part in during high school. What a great way to teach children service to others!Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-22446605683522961832011-11-06T22:57:00.001-06:002011-11-06T22:57:55.758-06:00Blog Post 11<b>"Little Kids...Big Potential" & Kathy Cassidy's Skype Conversation</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPZtTej0jQ&feature=player_embedded">In this video</a>, we get a glimpse into Ms. Cassidy's first grade classroom. For one, there seem to be several laptops throughout the classroom. Children are already blogging at the tender age of six and seven. The teachers seem to edit the posts to help with spelling, but leave the original mistakes as well, to keep a portfolio of work. Students learn etiquette through commenting on other students' posts. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvQKWBH8ScXtDU2Vk4wzqYzUZbHh2qVSaFWyZ5zw8tfDhYQ4OrOiGJirq6i-erzV1TPYx4lHUdjF-kQiy9ILNJxSzH2SpmhM4ICof1xTyneaxQuH0yQywJhLtOeN7YTYtFP8KLum9LYs/s1600/205-laptop-tables-360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img alt="A classroom with laptops." TITLE="Source: smartdesks.com" border="0" height="206" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvQKWBH8ScXtDU2Vk4wzqYzUZbHh2qVSaFWyZ5zw8tfDhYQ4OrOiGJirq6i-erzV1TPYx4lHUdjF-kQiy9ILNJxSzH2SpmhM4ICof1xTyneaxQuH0yQywJhLtOeN7YTYtFP8KLum9LYs/s320/205-laptop-tables-360.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Parents (along with other family members) are encouraged to comment on blogs to encourage the students. Students also use websites during center time to encourage independant learning. To promote cooperation among students, they use wikis to have conversations with each other. Former EDM 310 students even worked with the students on their wikis about the alphabet. <br />
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Students also use Skype to chat with reading buddies and experts on various subjects to help them learn about topics. Finally, she uses Ninetendo DS consoles to promote sharing and decision making. <br />
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In the interview, Ms. Cassidy discusses many interesting technical aspects of her classroom. One thing that I loved was how she said that generally, administrators and parents have been quite supportive. She says that no administrator has discouraged her, though some have simply not cared. Some teachers seem to be naysayers, but that is to be expected. Parents love seeing the work when they have free time as opposed to only during the teachers' convenient time. <br />
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She also heavily encourages using a Personal Learning Network and gives a few sites with which students can set them up (Twitter, Clerk, etc.). She, like Dr. Strange, originally disliked Twitter, but came to love it as a valuable educational resource. She also discusses the frequency of blogging. She also discusses how students can use technology in courses, even such as Physical Education. She also mentions that for safety, students do not post pictures of themselves or their last names. Furthermore, students are also instructed not to click on links around webpages, as not to take them to inappropriate sites. Ms. Cassidy specifically gives websites for students to go to and learn. <br />
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Ms. Cassidy's classroom is certainly innovating and exciting! I hope that I can one day have access to such wonderful technology. I feel that the biggest impediments will be cost and fear from administration of embracing the online learning experience.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-77027157470486275172011-11-03T23:09:00.000-05:002011-11-03T23:09:35.989-05:00Project 7: C4K (Month of October)For the first week, I visited the <a href="http://room32010.wikispaces.com/#HCB_comment_box">Wiki of Room 32010</a>, a wiki that seems to be the collaborative effort of the students in classroom 32010 of a school in New Zealand. I was assigned to a student named Gina, and I introduced myself as a United States University student, and then commented on the difference in the way our education system works (grades for us vs. levels for them).<br />
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For the second week, I had two commenting assignments: first, I visited the blog of Aliya by assignment. <a href="http://wmsaliya3.edublogs.org/2011/10/10/why-are-flamingos-pink/">She had a post entitled "Why are Flamingos Pink?"</a>. I left an introduction, then told her how much I enjoyed reading her post. I found it to be the most fascinating post yet out of all of my C4K assignments, probably simply because of my love for Science. <br />
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Next, by use of the random name generator, I visited Sydnie's blog. <a href="http://wmssydnie1.edublogs.org/2011/10/11/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road/">Sydnie wrote a post about the history of the joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?"</a>. After introducing myself, I told her that I found her post very interesting. It was great to hear the history of such a common joke.<br />
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For week three, <a href="http://rhiannonb.global2.vic.edu.au/">I visited Rhiannon's Blog</a>. She is a 3rd grader at Leopold Primary School in Victoria, Australia. Her most recent post chronicled her trip to Melbourne, Australia, where she visited a lego convention. I commented that I've always wanted to visit Australia and that I loved to play with legos as a child. I asked her if legos were a popular toy in Australia, informing her that they certainly are here.<br />
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In week four, I visited the blog of Room 9 at Pt. England School and enjoyed <a href="http://pesteam2.blogspot.com/2011/10/leprachauns-and-rainbows-by-taimana.html">Taimana's animation and informative video about leprechauns</a>. He told facts about the myths regarding them (such as that each coin represented a year in their life) and made a quick animation of a leprechaun, rainbow, and pot of gold.<br />
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Finally, I visited Ms. Gwaltney's 10th-12th grade History class in Portland, Oregon, and read a post entitled <a href="http://ageofex.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/the-power-of-research/">"The Power of Research"</a>. It was enjoyable to read a blog of students only a few years younger than me. The student (Elliot) was talking about an independent research project he participated in. I commented, agreeing that such a project would be very interesting and could easily help benefit one's research skills.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-42408572270315256822011-10-30T23:37:00.000-05:002011-10-30T23:37:58.908-05:00Blog Post 10<b>"Do You Teach or Do You Educate?"</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0fJKvdjQgs&feature=youtu.be">This video</a> starts with a definition of "to teach", and all of the definitions, except for number four ("cause someone to learn or understand something"), seem to suggest giving students information as opposed to having them learn it themselves - ie, burp-back education. Number five even seems to suggest forcing students into learning, something we know we cannot do. <br />
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The video then moves to the definition of "to educate" - many words are mentioned, including "enlighten", "illuminate", and "inspire". An educator is defined as "one who gives intellectual, moral, and social instruction". They are also classified as guides: mentors, instructors, advisors. It then ends with multiple quotes about the way we should educate from philosophical minds. <br />
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We must be educators, not teachers. We cannot simply give students information and/or force them to learn; we have to show them the way to obtain and use information to help them become functional outside the classroom.<br />
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<a href="http://pencilintegration.blogspot.com/2010/07/dont-let-them-take-pencils-home.html"><b>"Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home" </b></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXWfohpErAVVXIzE5vjQPk53KoLhiE5voSKUhZ0DFSRhmdqO16krE_-1emlRk4u4rA1Gv7GeNgKMY7QNMoBpvcX4C1LsQEb5BO66r1EPxEgthH2tv_KDJtCgkvGMIGZ4hLHwH3PxMUPs/s1600/pencil.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A pencil." TITLE="Source: aperfectworld.com" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXWfohpErAVVXIzE5vjQPk53KoLhiE5voSKUhZ0DFSRhmdqO16krE_-1emlRk4u4rA1Gv7GeNgKMY7QNMoBpvcX4C1LsQEb5BO66r1EPxEgthH2tv_KDJtCgkvGMIGZ4hLHwH3PxMUPs/s200/pencil.gif" width="190" /></a></div>This was a very interesting post for me to read. For one, Mr. Spencer was the source of four weeks of C4T assignments for me, so it was a joy to get to read him again. The message of his post? We seem to be missing the forest for the trees. <br />
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Far to often, we seem to try and pinpoint little, insignificant causes of problems rather than finding solutions. Thus we end up with often idiotic "fixes", such as this one - solutions that have absolutely no correlation to the problem at hand. It's almost a blame game in this example - what can we blame for our schools' terrible test scores? I know! The pencils! <br />
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So what does this say to me? Don't be stupid as a teacher. Don't allow yourself to make excuses and misassign blame on little things instead of your own incompetence and others' incompetence. Am I being harsh? Probably so, but I think sometimes we need a good dose of harsh to help us be better educators and people.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-87275523223273882072011-10-30T23:35:00.000-05:002011-10-30T23:35:00.356-05:00Project 3: C4T #3<a href="http://speedchange.blogspot.com/2011/10/ordinary-people.html">For my first week, I read the post "Ordinary People"</a> on the blog SpeEdChange, by Ira David Socol. In this post, he argues that heroes are not simply figure-heads who have super human skills; he says that we all have the potential to be heroes if we simply tap into it. As teachers, we should use our skills to make a change in the world. Interestingly enough, as I commented, we all look up to those that we consider heroes (such as the Founding Fathers), but we do not aspire to be like them. Why? We are scared. We do not think we're good enough. We do not think we can do it. I could give a plethora of other reasons, but you get it. We must step up and use our talents for good.<br />
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In his second post I read, <a href="http://speedchange.blogspot.com/2011/10/class-war-at-new-york-times.html">Class War at the New York Times</a>, Socol condemns the New York Times for its condemnation of technology in the schools. Apparently, the New York Times has been giving very prominent coverage to articles which decry technology in the schools by sharing lies and propaganda. Socol rightfully finds this unexcusable. Socol further says that he does not feel the Times are against technology in school, but simply technology in the hands of children who are not as well off as others. They do not want to level the playing field.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-17844529098620489782011-10-23T22:21:00.000-05:002011-10-23T22:21:52.216-05:00Project 13: Smartboard Demonstration<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lYT_XH-ayNk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-89005948708920450472011-10-23T22:17:00.000-05:002011-10-23T22:17:14.771-05:00Blog Post 9This week, I read two posts by Joe McClung, a teacher who began in Fall 2009, entitled "What I've Learned this Year". I read the posts for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, both of which were set at junior high school in Arkansas. <br />
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<a href="http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-i-learned-this-year_15.html">For 2009-2010</a>, it was his first time teaching history and social studies and his first time teaching junior high at all. In addition, it was the first time he had to teach three different subjects at once (in the past, he had taught only Science). To make matters more difficult, he had never taught from this particular Science curriculum. He was unsure of how to teach history without assigning busy work, but soon learned to adapt and make the subject interesting. He also found that with Science and History, he could not stick to rigid lesson plans due to the constant discussion and debate that comes along with History and Social Studies.<br />
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He mentioned briefly finding "the school mom"; ladies who have been at the school for years and are knowledgeable and willing to help newcomers. I don't quite understand why that is limited to ladies in his thinking, but it may just be because there are more women in this field and women tend to be more patient than men are. <br />
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He then goes on to tell teachers not to be afraid to act silly and crazy in order to get their point across - sometimes it is necessary and helpful! In addition, he talks about using his students to perform simple duties in the classroom, such as having them get up and pick up their own papers as opposed to him handing them out. Interestingly enough, this also serves the function of keeping students engaged in the class - something I'd never thought about. <br />
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Next, Mr. McClung speaks on ensuring that you give the right amount of time to the right subject, not simply focusing on your favorites. Furthermore, you cannot let adversity, whether in the form of outside problems, administration, or parents, get in the way. Remember, we are here for the students! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8iX0qszQFdOxRs3EsZ4iX0Ab6_CouEYkX3_MXMjc_a68NGOROySZk0udWXICmmxuOfLVcygfI-8d0S3PX6Qn-v4u-75V6oZ8dXfqVdyxhhEmoBCMqSV8Q2hl2mKBueCXuLtVpFmYv9Q/s1600/Joe+McClung.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img alt="Joe McClung" TITLE="Source: McClung's World - www.mcclungsworld.com border="0" height="237" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8iX0qszQFdOxRs3EsZ4iX0Ab6_CouEYkX3_MXMjc_a68NGOROySZk0udWXICmmxuOfLVcygfI-8d0S3PX6Qn-v4u-75V6oZ8dXfqVdyxhhEmoBCMqSV8Q2hl2mKBueCXuLtVpFmYv9Q/s320/Joe+McClung.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I love his thoughts in the paragraph "The Path Least Traveled" about teaching students to think independently, as that seems to be a regular theme in this course. I love his final sentence of that paragraph: "I don't want my students to always look for the right answer, but instead take a different approach that requires them to think analytically and assess each situation on a individual basis." Brilliant. <br />
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<a href="http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-i-learned-this-year.html">For the 2010-2011 post</a>, it was Mr. McClung's third year teaching - and now with another subject, Computer Science! He begins the post with a similar sentiment from much of his first post - to keep our instruction student centered! He says that we cannot become wrapped up in pleasing others and forget to take care of the students, who are after all the main reason we are there! <br />
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Next, he says that one cannot expect for all of the other teachers to become as excited about new ideas as you may be. I find that this may be a problem for me as a teacher - I tend to like fun and new ideas even when others think they're silly or stupid. As a teacher, I may get a bit upset when other teachers don't want to try new things. Similarly, he says not to try to fit in too hard - it's not a bad think to be an outsider! Remember that we are there FOR the students, not for our social lives. <br />
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Another lesson he learned, one which I particularly love, he titles "Never touch the keyboard". Basically, he is saying not to do a task you are attempting to teach a student how to do for the student. Finally, he says not to fall complacently into a routine and simply go through the motions of being a teacher. <br />
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Mr. McClung shares some excellent thoughts on teaching. I hope that as a teacher I choose also to write summary posts like his to share with new teachers - and I love his student centered-approach! We should all try to care more about the students than politics and policies.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-53989646744762352652011-10-16T23:08:00.002-05:002011-10-16T23:08:24.875-05:00Project 11: Short Movie<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J49IJHDhREc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-12048749952787814012011-10-16T23:07:00.000-05:002011-10-16T23:07:29.632-05:00Blog Post 8<b>Dr. Richard E. Miller Discusses Writing with Multimedia</b><br />
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<a href="http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2009/07/dr-richard-e-miller-discusses-writing.html">In this video</a>, Dr. Richard E. Miller begins by talking about the traditional methods of writing and research, by using books to help one in writing more books. That said, he mentions that academic books have begun to go out of style and out of print as we now move towards the use of computers to research and write. The beauty of this is that we have access to a huge amount of information all concentrated in one place (the Internet). <br />
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He also states that a lot of academic publishing has moved towards being available both as print and as an online document. He then begins to speak on the ability of collaboration available by use of the internet. We can use images, sound, and video all in one document to help us further the points that we want our students to learn. By using multimedia presentations, we can incorporate both information from the internet and information collected from sources around us. <br />
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In Part 2, he begins to speak of another advantage of online information: information can be changed and edited and presented at any time, right before our eyes. He states that educators should be glad to share information freely to help others learn. We can use given information to help us more effectively teach and share the same information in different ways with other people. He makes the interesting statement that many of the limitations that are given with said software and techniques are placed on us by ourselves. He briefly speaks on the power of YouTube to distribute and share information quickly, versus a print document which often takes a lengthy amount of time to publish. <br />
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I agree with Dr. Miller in that multimedia presentations will soon become a crucial part of the classroom and will be frequently used by classrooms to help students present information effectively in both the classroom and in future jobs. I also agree with his shock that some people are completely uninterested in these excellent resrouces for education. Many people simply feel that the "old style" paper and pencil are the best way - and where they may be entitled to their opinions, they should also make room for the inevitable future where technology will be crucial to success. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMJReNMpghz2zIlZS8U3WWq5t0xeOQ5cwRmFIlVZ1BMRX8cQThrFyCTH5VoCBi2ez7OJWUrbnH-eAGZMvJVhHSpRnsn-u1Bx2VFi9xFFHAmkg3derC2E7yChLbaeFE5pcZGb4VkOKlSU/s1600/YouTube.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img alt="Youtube Logo" TITLE="Source: Youtube.com border="0" height="185" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMJReNMpghz2zIlZS8U3WWq5t0xeOQ5cwRmFIlVZ1BMRX8cQThrFyCTH5VoCBi2ez7OJWUrbnH-eAGZMvJVhHSpRnsn-u1Bx2VFi9xFFHAmkg3derC2E7yChLbaeFE5pcZGb4VkOKlSU/s320/YouTube.png" /></a></div><br />
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<b>Carly Pugh's Blog Post<br />
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<a href="http://pughcarlyedm310.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post-12.html">In Carly's blog post</a> where she was assigned to create an assignment, she asked students to make a YouTube playlist containing videos on various aspects of being a teacher, such as classroom management, motivation, and ways to improve education, for a total of at least ten videos. She gave one she made on her own as an example for those doing the assignments. <br />
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Carly then goes on to speak about some basic, yet important ideas to promote in one's classroom - such as trying new things, embracing diversity, accepting everyone, and creativity. She also gives some videos about student teaching and other basic classroom skills. She concludes by saying that we as teachers need to move towards allowing students to find and research materials as opposed to simply placing and assigning things right in front of their faces. <br />
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I think this assignment would have been very interesting had we been required to do it and would have helped us gain much valuable insight for being a teacher. As I've stated in past posts, I think the idea of having students find their own information is fantastic, because it uses higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy and thus has been proven to help children learn more effectively. <br />
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<b>EDM 310 is Different<br />
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The first thing I will note: It is completely different to watch <a href="http://johnstrange.com/edm310/fall2010/edm310isdifferent.pdf">these movies</a> now as opposed to when I first started in this class! When I watched them in August, I remembered thinking that there was no way this class required THAT much time, and that this was just being hyped up to make us work harder. <br />
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Boy, was I wrong! You truly have to put a lot of effort into this class and be willing to think and learn, as is the message of both videos. These videos have a witty, sarcastic way of explaining that this class requires quite a bit of dedication to come out of with a passing grade.<br />
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If I was to make a video like this, I would probably MAJORLY emphasize the time requirements. Students cannot come into this class thinking they will simply fly through it - any attempt to do so will either fail or result in a not-so-nice grade. <br />
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<b>Learn to Change, Change to Learn</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHiby3m_RyM&feature=player_embedded%23!">This video</a> opens with a staggering statistic: Education was ranked #55 in a list of areas that are IT intensive in the United States. Out of 55. Wow! We have a lot to learn, apparently. This video shows many well-known educators discussing the state of education and the way we learn. I love that one teacher points out how our most current forms of technology, cell phones, texting, and social networking, are banned from the classroom. What irony! Shouldn't we be learning to use the resources available to us?<br />
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As many other videos we've watched have said, technology is no longer an optional part of an educational setting. We are, as a society, so engrossed in technology that we cannot simply ignore it as educators. Some teachers make a point that students use cell phones and technology out of class so often that they could be a wonderful additional resource in the classroom itself. We must equip teachers with the technology needed to change the classrooms, and the classrooms will change.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-58949049486934127872011-10-16T22:03:00.000-05:002011-10-16T22:03:55.523-05:00Project 12: Book Trailer<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cYnZRPXfMng" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Sources of Images: wikipedia.com; examiner.com; monoadoug.blogspot.com; bristol.k12.ct.us; discoveryeducation.com; theapple.monster.com; singaporeautism.com; mentorauthors.blogspot.com; imagine.com; internetmonk.com; gatewayschool.co.uk; centralvalleyafterschool.comIsaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-28271823358493847902011-10-09T22:41:00.002-05:002011-10-09T22:41:50.936-05:00Project 9b: Instructional TimelineMuch of the information for this timeline comes from the Wikipedia article "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_molecule">History of the Molecule". </a><br />
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<object width="550" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.timetoast.com/flash/TimelineViewer.swf?passedTimelines=195087" /><param name="passedTimelines" value="195087" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.timetoast.com/flash/TimelineViewer.swf?passedTimelines=195087" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" passedTimelines="195087" width="550" height="400" allowScriptAccess="always" /></object>Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-42678761425495481122011-10-09T22:13:00.000-05:002011-10-09T22:13:58.583-05:00Blog Post 7<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo">Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture"</a>, alternately entitled "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" was a lecture given on September 18, 2007. Dr. Pausch passed away a bit less than a year later. In the beginning, Pausch speaks of his childhood goals and exactly how he achieved them, though not exactly the way that he originally expected to. He then moved on to deciding that he wanted to help enable the childhood dreams of other, and thus begins teaching at Carnegie Mellon. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMvylkp41GT55Ud6gI376UHviJyQMoSmS1MBO8S2FsagkM3VFHmhX49fgXJ0wFHw3UFa6biy6RAGeowz4GNzrZ-HfwLryET3cH1dK43i6W9MelVWSPGpF5PiVnHSsOfsck7wYqPsIc0c/s1600/randyPausch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img alt="Randy Pausch" TITLE="Source: Duke University" border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMvylkp41GT55Ud6gI376UHviJyQMoSmS1MBO8S2FsagkM3VFHmhX49fgXJ0wFHw3UFa6biy6RAGeowz4GNzrZ-HfwLryET3cH1dK43i6W9MelVWSPGpF5PiVnHSsOfsck7wYqPsIc0c/s320/randyPausch.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I loved his point of how he would tell his students, "Good work, but you can do better". This encourages them to continue working and never be completely satisfied with oneself. Students, of course, should have self-esteem, but should also keep pushing to higher goals.<br />
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Another interesting point was how he and Don had control over the course they taught at Carnegie-Mellon, reporting directly to the provost. This allowed for a lot of things to be done differently, and seems to be every teacher's dream (it reminds me quite a bit of Rafe Esquith, actually.). Students were involved with the community (such as New York Fire Department, for whom they helped build a network simulator to train firefighters), and were even often guarenteed jobs by big companies. <br />
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Another interesting teacher point: he put emphasis on peer feedback. This reminds me quite a bit of EDM 310, in that we value each others' opinions to help us learn. Teachers ought remember that students will be critiqued and evaluated all throughout their life, and learning to accept and learn from it is a crucial skill. <br />
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He also makes a lot of comments and shares multiple anecodtes about learning from one's students. I think this is a fabulous point, because we must remember that we DO NOT know it all. Students can teach us many things, especially about new technology.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321665846266593857.post-85372688168455134992011-10-09T19:08:00.000-05:002011-10-09T19:08:10.469-05:00Project 10: PLN Progress Report 1I have been using Symbaloo to keep track of my web addresses for my Personal Learning Network. <a href="http://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAACOski0YAA42AgbHUAQ==">Click here to view my webmix</a>, which is currently small, with a few addresses added with Science Teacher Resources. I do, however, have multiple personal resources (saved in my phone) who I can reference at any time with teaching questions. These include my former choir teacher, two former Social Studies teachers, three former Science teachers, and two former college professors. I feel that I can call upon these people at any time. <br />
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In addition, I have a collection of several published books with resources for Science teachers, ranging from worksheets to project ideas. These are stored in a box at home and are ready for use when I begin teaching. These were actually a gift from one of the aformentioned Science teachers.Isaac Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03491742840453797105noreply@blogger.com0