Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Blog Post 9
Hey guys, today I will once again be providing some of my thoughts on a group of videos and articles assigned to us. The main topic of discussion will be that of project based learning. For those unfamiliar with that term then this must be your first time visiting my blog because it is a subject frequently discussed. With good reason this type of strategy is an effective way of providing our students with the best education and learning experience possible. So without further ado let us break this stuff down!
The first article up is titled Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning. This is an informative article that details you guessed it the seven essentials when dealing with PBL. I stumbled upon this article way back in May when I first heard the term project based learning and it was very helpful to someone like me who was new to the concept. I was thrilled to see it made it to our required reading list. Here are the the essentials in a nice list form!
1. A Need to Know- The subject matter that your class is important and the students should always be aware of that fact. We should instill a motivation for the students to want to learn more about what ever they are learning at the time. Perhaps show a video or have the read an article to get them interested in the topic.
2. A Driving Question- Ask the students a thought provoking question that gets their attention and captures the essence of the lesson.
3. Student Voice and Choice- This is in my opinion one of the most crucial elements to the whole project based learning system. If you give the students room to give their own thoughts and feedback into a project they will obviously be more invested.
4. 21st Century Skills- This one is pretty straight forward. We should always make sure we are using the best learning tools available to us. When I say that most everyone will jump to the technology aspect of today's teacher. The is by all means a correct deduction but there is more to it than that. Perhaps just as important if not more is allowing the students to collaborate with one another while working. As stated in essential number 3 above, the students should voice their opinions with that of their peers and learn how to work with others. That is such a good way to prepare them for the real world jobs they will soon occupy.
5. Inquiry and Innovation- Give the students freedom to do things their own way. You can have them research a question in the best way they see fit. This is a great way to have your student become more engaged with their work.
6. Feedback and Revision- We all make mistakes. Our students need to find out as soon as possible that we need feedback from our peers to help get the best performance out of ourselves. We should always be open to the critiques from our peers. This will help us see what did and did not work about our project. We can then take it and reflect upon it. This will not only help whatever you are currently working but also all your future projects as well. So be sure to offer some constructive thoughts about this blog post in the comments below!
7. A Publicly Presented Project- If you show a student that their work has an audience, you will find that they will want to really pour their best into their work. I can very much vouch for this point because I want you the reader to be able to read a quality post when visiting my blog. I work harder when I know something is going online.
The next is a video done by Tony Vincent titled Project Based Learning for Teachers. This a fun video but warning if you have a history of epilepsy I would not recommend you watch this video. It kind of hurt my eyes. Tony goes gives some of his insight into what PBL learning is and how it benefits our students. He gives some pretty cool examples of topics that could be used for PBL.
Project Based Learning in PE was a very interesting read as well. I am just being honest the idea of doing projects in PE is kind of foreign to me. When I went to PE the coach would just roll a couple of basketballs onto the court and that would be that. It seems I am once again behind in the going-ons of today's classroom! The author says he gets his students to develop fitness plans and all kinds of other stuff. He goes into detail about one project that he developed and I encourage everyone to follow the link above to check his stuff out.
The video High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation the process of switching to PBL is detailed in a very human way. It shows the teachers begin to shift to this way of doing things and the challenges that arise when undertaking such a monumental task. Some of the teachers have been doing things a certain way for decades and to suddenly have to change that is jarring to say the least. They are troopers about it though and are able to recognize the benefits of PBL. It shows the hard work that these teachers put into their craft. They meet constantly and collaborate with one another to develop some engaging new projects for their subjects. This was such a cool video because it allowed us to be a fly on the wall and see some of things we may very well deal with in the future.
In this last video Watery Ketchup it puts on display two high school students who answer the hard questions about our ketchup caps. What did they do you may be asking. Well these two took it upon themselves to design a new cap that effectively stops your first squirt of ketchup from being a watery disaster. This was just a really cool video that shows what cool stuff students can achieve when they are giving leeway to explore and resolve problems on their own. The price increase this would have on the ketchup turns me off a little (I am cheap) but none can deny the awesome work that these two did.
The first article up is titled Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning. This is an informative article that details you guessed it the seven essentials when dealing with PBL. I stumbled upon this article way back in May when I first heard the term project based learning and it was very helpful to someone like me who was new to the concept. I was thrilled to see it made it to our required reading list. Here are the the essentials in a nice list form!
1. A Need to Know- The subject matter that your class is important and the students should always be aware of that fact. We should instill a motivation for the students to want to learn more about what ever they are learning at the time. Perhaps show a video or have the read an article to get them interested in the topic.
2. A Driving Question- Ask the students a thought provoking question that gets their attention and captures the essence of the lesson.
3. Student Voice and Choice- This is in my opinion one of the most crucial elements to the whole project based learning system. If you give the students room to give their own thoughts and feedback into a project they will obviously be more invested.
4. 21st Century Skills- This one is pretty straight forward. We should always make sure we are using the best learning tools available to us. When I say that most everyone will jump to the technology aspect of today's teacher. The is by all means a correct deduction but there is more to it than that. Perhaps just as important if not more is allowing the students to collaborate with one another while working. As stated in essential number 3 above, the students should voice their opinions with that of their peers and learn how to work with others. That is such a good way to prepare them for the real world jobs they will soon occupy.
5. Inquiry and Innovation- Give the students freedom to do things their own way. You can have them research a question in the best way they see fit. This is a great way to have your student become more engaged with their work.
6. Feedback and Revision- We all make mistakes. Our students need to find out as soon as possible that we need feedback from our peers to help get the best performance out of ourselves. We should always be open to the critiques from our peers. This will help us see what did and did not work about our project. We can then take it and reflect upon it. This will not only help whatever you are currently working but also all your future projects as well. So be sure to offer some constructive thoughts about this blog post in the comments below!
7. A Publicly Presented Project- If you show a student that their work has an audience, you will find that they will want to really pour their best into their work. I can very much vouch for this point because I want you the reader to be able to read a quality post when visiting my blog. I work harder when I know something is going online.
The next is a video done by Tony Vincent titled Project Based Learning for Teachers. This a fun video but warning if you have a history of epilepsy I would not recommend you watch this video. It kind of hurt my eyes. Tony goes gives some of his insight into what PBL learning is and how it benefits our students. He gives some pretty cool examples of topics that could be used for PBL.
Project Based Learning in PE was a very interesting read as well. I am just being honest the idea of doing projects in PE is kind of foreign to me. When I went to PE the coach would just roll a couple of basketballs onto the court and that would be that. It seems I am once again behind in the going-ons of today's classroom! The author says he gets his students to develop fitness plans and all kinds of other stuff. He goes into detail about one project that he developed and I encourage everyone to follow the link above to check his stuff out.
The video High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation the process of switching to PBL is detailed in a very human way. It shows the teachers begin to shift to this way of doing things and the challenges that arise when undertaking such a monumental task. Some of the teachers have been doing things a certain way for decades and to suddenly have to change that is jarring to say the least. They are troopers about it though and are able to recognize the benefits of PBL. It shows the hard work that these teachers put into their craft. They meet constantly and collaborate with one another to develop some engaging new projects for their subjects. This was such a cool video because it allowed us to be a fly on the wall and see some of things we may very well deal with in the future.
In this last video Watery Ketchup it puts on display two high school students who answer the hard questions about our ketchup caps. What did they do you may be asking. Well these two took it upon themselves to design a new cap that effectively stops your first squirt of ketchup from being a watery disaster. This was just a really cool video that shows what cool stuff students can achieve when they are giving leeway to explore and resolve problems on their own. The price increase this would have on the ketchup turns me off a little (I am cheap) but none can deny the awesome work that these two did.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
C4TA #2 Kathleen Morris and the Importance of Educational Blogs
#2
Summary: In Kathleen Morris's post Blogging and Literacy Curriculum she covers how important using an educational blog for her classroom his been. She has been classroom blogging for six years and it sounds like she loves every minute of it. She uses a method similar to our EDM 310 class where she assigns certain students to comment on another students blog. She says it is also important to keep a steady rotation so that a student comments on a different blog each time.
Comment:I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I love this post. I am glad blogging has been working very well for you. I really enjoy writing on my own blog. I look forward to incorporate this into my classroom.
Summary: In Kathleen Morris's post The Benefits of Educational blogging she once again tells how important blogging is to a classroom. This post I found particularly interesting because she list some of the ways blogging helps the students with their learning. One for example is cyber safety and she goes into detail about how managing a blog helps the students become better online practitioners. Perhaps the most important is the sense of community that online blogging creates. She says a fun way to do this is by creating a class blog mascot. There are so many different ways we can use blogs in our classrooms and Morris has given me many ideas as to how to implement it into my future classroom.
Comment: Another great post! I love that the blogging has helped your classroom gain a sense of community. My favorite idea out of this is the use of the class blog mascot. That seems to be a really cute and fun way to get the kids excited to post on their blog.
Comment:I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I love this post. I am glad blogging has been working very well for you. I really enjoy writing on my own blog. I look forward to incorporate this into my classroom.
Summary: In Kathleen Morris's post The Benefits of Educational blogging she once again tells how important blogging is to a classroom. This post I found particularly interesting because she list some of the ways blogging helps the students with their learning. One for example is cyber safety and she goes into detail about how managing a blog helps the students become better online practitioners. Perhaps the most important is the sense of community that online blogging creates. She says a fun way to do this is by creating a class blog mascot. There are so many different ways we can use blogs in our classrooms and Morris has given me many ideas as to how to implement it into my future classroom.
Comment: Another great post! I love that the blogging has helped your classroom gain a sense of community. My favorite idea out of this is the use of the class blog mascot. That seems to be a really cute and fun way to get the kids excited to post on their blog.
Blog Post #8
There were many really cool moments in this video but one that really hit home to me was this quote"brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things." That is my favorite line from Randy's lecture. It is a good quote that we should all have written down somewhere. Especially people like many of you reading this blog who plan to enter the teaching profession or are currently teaching in a classroom. We will be faced with many brick walls on this path we have all chosen to walk. These brick walls will test our limits and our strength of character. They will try to make us feel like there is no point or purpose to the job we are trying to do. They will try to take away our drive to be great teachers. These brick walls want nothing more than to watch you become just an average teacher who just shows up and runs through the motions. We must work hard our whole lives to bust these walls down when they arise on our path. We must strive to overcome these hard situations and be the best teachers that we can be. While reading Randy's quote I was reminded of another favorite saying of mine by author Darnell Walker “Sometimes our walls exist just to see who has the strength to knock them down." The message that rings in my head this after watching this video is always be the best you can be and you will achieve your dreams. This was a a lecture filled to the brim with a multitude of emotions. Ultimately the prevailing one to me was that of hope. We can hope that tomorrow we can make a difference in not only our lives but someone else as well. That is the message that Randy spoke to me. I am sure with such a great lecture it spoke to many people in many different ways. That is why it went viral and later went on to become a best selling book. This great speech continues to serve as Randy's great final opus in what was an already an extraordinary life. It contiunes to inspire people every year, month, and day. I am sure that he is proud that this great message continues to be heard even after his time on this world has ended.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Blog Post #7
I will be giving my response to a series of videos I was assigned to watch this week in my EDM 310 class. I will be pointing out things that really jump out at me an giving my reaction. Well here we go!
We All Become Learners was a very cool video done by Dr. Strange. In this video podcast, he plays host to two very cool and intelligent women. Their names are Elizabeth Davis and Michele Bennett. The are the media specialist at their respective schools. They all ponder how the educational field is changing and some of the tools that help make that change happen. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Bennett at my most recent lab time and she gave us many helpful hints at how to find success in technology. She demonstrated one of the items she talked about in the videos called Padlet. It is a really cool interactive program that helps connect the whole class. I strongly recommend you visit the site to check out all the features it offers. They go on to talk how the role of the teacher and student is in the classroom of today. The teacher should not be afraid to learn from their students because they also have a lot to offer. I thought it was really cool that they touched on that students can also teach other students. This is such a foreign but very exciting new way of doing things.
Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten was another video that I found fascinating. Once again Dr. Strange is joined by Elizabeth Davis and Michele Bennett. The panel talks addresses some of the concern that comes with exposing kindergarten students to technology at such a young age. The part that really stood out to me was the iMovie segment. Bennett tells about some of the really cool things her youngsters are doing in their kindergarten classes with the iMovie program. She states the kids will go and make a trailer based on the stuff they have been covering. I admit to being a little surprised about to how well these kids can apparently work the program. I just used iMovie last week and I am 21 years old. So these kids are moving much quicker than I ever thought about moving. Marc Prensky described it best when he said today's students are rocket ships!
This is probably my favorite video that I viewed today. These two second graders gave a wonderful short presentation on plants. It was such a well done presentation and they had me drawn in ready to learn more about plants. You could just see how proud they were of the work they had done and were ecstatic to share it with others. It really shows that this kind of learning is working and if anyone has doubts about that just send them the link to this video!
Dr. Strange in this video interviews two second graders about a project they did with sea turtles. Now this is my favorite video. I just love to watch students who are excited about learning! They talk about the presentation they did and all the research that comes with that. You can tell by their faces how much fun it was and how eager they are to tell Dr.Strange all about it. They said they loved to do these kinds of presentation based projects. I really feel like these two students could teach me a lot about sea turtles and technology.
Christie Whitehead PBL 1 was a really cool video featuring you guessed it Christie Whitehead. She is a third grade teacher and she gives her valuable insight into the changing classroom. She says that all the new tech in this classroom is a new wave of learning. Like a some of the other teachers we have covered, she is amazed about how much the students have to teach her. She uses project based learning to cover all of the core subjects. She has a lot of pride in her students and all they have accomplished. It was really cool to see such an experienced teacher willing to let her students take a teaching role in the classroom. I really look forward to the day when I can have a similar experience.
This last video is a conversation Dr.Strange had with Ms. Lauber . She really details her experience with using iPads in her second classroom. She states that over the past four years particularly the way her classroom operates has changed in a very large way. The thing that really stood out to me was fact that still use paper and pencil to establish a thought process. Then they move on and use that writing to make their presentations. That is a cool way to show that some of the old mainstays such as those old yellow pencils still have a place in our classrooms.
We All Become Learners was a very cool video done by Dr. Strange. In this video podcast, he plays host to two very cool and intelligent women. Their names are Elizabeth Davis and Michele Bennett. The are the media specialist at their respective schools. They all ponder how the educational field is changing and some of the tools that help make that change happen. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Bennett at my most recent lab time and she gave us many helpful hints at how to find success in technology. She demonstrated one of the items she talked about in the videos called Padlet. It is a really cool interactive program that helps connect the whole class. I strongly recommend you visit the site to check out all the features it offers. They go on to talk how the role of the teacher and student is in the classroom of today. The teacher should not be afraid to learn from their students because they also have a lot to offer. I thought it was really cool that they touched on that students can also teach other students. This is such a foreign but very exciting new way of doing things.
Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten was another video that I found fascinating. Once again Dr. Strange is joined by Elizabeth Davis and Michele Bennett. The panel talks addresses some of the concern that comes with exposing kindergarten students to technology at such a young age. The part that really stood out to me was the iMovie segment. Bennett tells about some of the really cool things her youngsters are doing in their kindergarten classes with the iMovie program. She states the kids will go and make a trailer based on the stuff they have been covering. I admit to being a little surprised about to how well these kids can apparently work the program. I just used iMovie last week and I am 21 years old. So these kids are moving much quicker than I ever thought about moving. Marc Prensky described it best when he said today's students are rocket ships!
This is probably my favorite video that I viewed today. These two second graders gave a wonderful short presentation on plants. It was such a well done presentation and they had me drawn in ready to learn more about plants. You could just see how proud they were of the work they had done and were ecstatic to share it with others. It really shows that this kind of learning is working and if anyone has doubts about that just send them the link to this video!
Dr. Strange in this video interviews two second graders about a project they did with sea turtles. Now this is my favorite video. I just love to watch students who are excited about learning! They talk about the presentation they did and all the research that comes with that. You can tell by their faces how much fun it was and how eager they are to tell Dr.Strange all about it. They said they loved to do these kinds of presentation based projects. I really feel like these two students could teach me a lot about sea turtles and technology.
Christie Whitehead PBL 1 was a really cool video featuring you guessed it Christie Whitehead. She is a third grade teacher and she gives her valuable insight into the changing classroom. She says that all the new tech in this classroom is a new wave of learning. Like a some of the other teachers we have covered, she is amazed about how much the students have to teach her. She uses project based learning to cover all of the core subjects. She has a lot of pride in her students and all they have accomplished. It was really cool to see such an experienced teacher willing to let her students take a teaching role in the classroom. I really look forward to the day when I can have a similar experience.
This last video is a conversation Dr.Strange had with Ms. Lauber . She really details her experience with using iPads in her second classroom. She states that over the past four years particularly the way her classroom operates has changed in a very large way. The thing that really stood out to me was fact that still use paper and pencil to establish a thought process. Then they move on and use that writing to make their presentations. That is a cool way to show that some of the old mainstays such as those old yellow pencils still have a place in our classrooms.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Blog Post #6
The videos done by Dr. Strange and Mr. Capps covered a wide range of resources that were unknown to me until now. The topics were covered with great detail and I look forward to exploring their many possibilities in greater detail.Mr. Capps seemed like a really cool guy that cares about the knowledge the students obtain and the students themselves. Which is a goal we should all aspire to.
I am ashamed to say that the term Project Based Learning was something never heard before entering EDM 310. Over these last few very fast paced summer weeks, I have grasped a basic understanding of the concept. Project Based Learning is just an effective way to get all the students to work together to reach a common goal. This method promotes critical thinking and creativity. I believe this is one of if not the best way for students to learn. Give them an assignment that they can actually get invested in and enjoy. I like that Capps states that his ideas of project based learning are constantly evolving. The minute we think we have all the answers is the minute we start to get complacent with our methods. Which may hurt us in the long run. We should always be looking for more and better teaching methods to incorporate. It pays to be on the cutting edge in today's teaching environment.
What should come as no shock to anyone following my blog, I was introduced to another new tool today. Icurio is a search engine that is used in many Baldwin County schools. I live in Monroe County and we are always pretty far behind technology speaking. So I guess that is how this popular tool has evaded my notice. Here is a basic definition the Icurio sites gives itself "icurio is the only learning engagement solution that starts with a powerful foundation of 360,000+ educator-curated, standards-aligned open educational resources (OER). Add to that powerful instruction tools, streamlined delivery, real-time insights into student understanding and personalized feedback at the point of learning"
Discovery Education is a tool I have used before. The site just provides teachers and students with a vast amount of educational videos for them to view. The elementary class I was observing last semester used this to in their science class. We watched a ton of cool videos on lizards and amphibians. Students would often just look up videos just for the fun of it. So that is one of the key advantages of this site. It gives a fun way for kids to got out and seek information for themselves.
I am ashamed to say that the term Project Based Learning was something never heard before entering EDM 310. Over these last few very fast paced summer weeks, I have grasped a basic understanding of the concept. Project Based Learning is just an effective way to get all the students to work together to reach a common goal. This method promotes critical thinking and creativity. I believe this is one of if not the best way for students to learn. Give them an assignment that they can actually get invested in and enjoy. I like that Capps states that his ideas of project based learning are constantly evolving. The minute we think we have all the answers is the minute we start to get complacent with our methods. Which may hurt us in the long run. We should always be looking for more and better teaching methods to incorporate. It pays to be on the cutting edge in today's teaching environment.
What should come as no shock to anyone following my blog, I was introduced to another new tool today. Icurio is a search engine that is used in many Baldwin County schools. I live in Monroe County and we are always pretty far behind technology speaking. So I guess that is how this popular tool has evaded my notice. Here is a basic definition the Icurio sites gives itself "icurio is the only learning engagement solution that starts with a powerful foundation of 360,000+ educator-curated, standards-aligned open educational resources (OER). Add to that powerful instruction tools, streamlined delivery, real-time insights into student understanding and personalized feedback at the point of learning" Discovery Education is a tool I have used before. The site just provides teachers and students with a vast amount of educational videos for them to view. The elementary class I was observing last semester used this to in their science class. We watched a ton of cool videos on lizards and amphibians. Students would often just look up videos just for the fun of it. So that is one of the key advantages of this site. It gives a fun way for kids to got out and seek information for themselves.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Sunday, June 7, 2015
C4TA Assignment #1 and #2
#1
Summary: In Dean Shareski's post entitled The Teachers We Need he goes over some really critical qualities that current and inspiring teachers today need to have. One I thought that stood out the most is he said teachers in today's classroom need to actually have an emotional connection with their students. I thought this was a particularly strong statement of his "I don’t think it’s possible today to be an effective teacher, let alone a great one, without a deep commitment to care. That’s certainly not the only trait but without it, I don’t see much chance of success or fulfillment." He goes on to say that the teacher today need to be a new breed. We need to be caring individuals who stay connected with the students we are teaching. I agree fully with his stance. Comment: I am currently going to college right now and I hope one day I will become one of the great teachers you are talking about. I think it is so true what you said about teachers need to care in today's classroom environment.
Summary:Teachers do not resist making changes; they resist people who try to make them change. Once coaches abandon the role of change agent, we can build trust and rapport and engage teachers in nonjudgmental conversations about their experiences, feelings, needs, ambitions, and goals. (Evocative Coaching, page 6)
Shareski puts this very relevant quote in his post Revolutions and Encouragement, Can they Co-Exist? He thinks like many people including myself that the role of the teacher needs to be revamped to fit into today's more connected society. He says the teacher of today needs to take on several roles such as heir primary role, designer, and guide. I agree with his views and hope to incorporate his philosophy on the education field into my classroom. Change can be scary but we must not remain close minded to the tools available to us but rather use them to streamline our teaching methods.
Comment: I also agree that technology is a valuable tool that should be utilized in today's classrooms. It helps us stay connected with our students. We can turn the devices they are using constantly throughout the day such as smartphones and turn them into powerful learning tools.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Blog Post #5 Personal Learning Networks
What is a personal learning network (PLN)? According to www.edtechreview.in a PLN is "is a reciprocal network that you create to learn from, connect with, gather information or resources, create with and finally share what you have learned. A PLN can occur in your school, face-to-face, online, at conferences or through reading, reflecting and sharing." I think in Layman's Terms it is a place where you can go and bookmark certain sites and help organize your web viewing experience. It is a really cool idea that is sure to benefit any teacher or student wanting to use it.
I popular tool many people use for this purpose is Symbaloo. This is an invaluable tool for teachers because of the many features it has to offer. The Symbaloo has an education tab for teachers that has lots of cool things. It has an sharing tool that allows you to share your web bookmarks and resources with your class. It has creates a PLN catered to your teaching style. This tool even has a feature that helps you tailor personal lesson plans for your classroom. The benefits something like this can have on your productivity is immense. It helps your students stay connected with same information you as a teacher use. This in turns helps you filter and make sure the students are getting the very best information that is available to them.
I popular tool many people use for this purpose is Symbaloo. This is an invaluable tool for teachers because of the many features it has to offer. The Symbaloo has an education tab for teachers that has lots of cool things. It has an sharing tool that allows you to share your web bookmarks and resources with your class. It has creates a PLN catered to your teaching style. This tool even has a feature that helps you tailor personal lesson plans for your classroom. The benefits something like this can have on your productivity is immense. It helps your students stay connected with same information you as a teacher use. This in turns helps you filter and make sure the students are getting the very best information that is available to them.
Search Engines
Looking at all the search engines available to us made me realize even further how little I know about some of the technology available. Here are a list of some of the different engines that I found while perusing the web.
Wolfram Alpha- This is a resource that I hate I have not heard of before. It seems like it would be a extraordinary tool for both teachers and students alike. It gives you facts, computes date, solves problems and wide range of other uses. I got some of my old Math 112 problems out and typed them into the engine. Wolframa did not disappoint and it successfully worked out the problems I fed into it. This would saved me a few late nights last summer.
Bing- Is my backup when Google is not behaving properly. The searches through the information on the web pretty fast but I much prefer Google.
DogPile- This is a helpful search engine that pulls results from both Google and Bing as well as other popular search engines. I like the dog theme.
Ask- Is a pretty fun seach engine that I have used on several occasions. You can as the name suggest ask it any questions and it will deliver the best results from people and the web. I mostly used it to ask stupid questions like "Are their aliens in Area 51?" and "Is Redbull bad for you?" But if use properly this is a powerful tool.
Lycos- I think from my brief use of this search engine it is primarily used for social media and other entertainment. You can also use it to build free websites which is pretty cool. It also has an online gaming feature so I will defiantly investigate this engine further.
DuckDuckGo- This search engine most notable feature is that it does not track you will browsing the web. This cuts down on spam and makes for a better browsing experience.
IxQuick- Like DuckDuckGo this engine does not track your online patterns and cuts down on spam. Another cool thing is it pulls results from all search engines so it cuts down the need to go switch between the different engines.
Webopedia- Is an search engine that acts like an encyclopedia for computing terms. As just used it to get the actual definition of a search engine and it was very quick getting results. I will without a doubt continue to use this Webopeida as I expand my use of technology.
Wolfram Alpha- This is a resource that I hate I have not heard of before. It seems like it would be a extraordinary tool for both teachers and students alike. It gives you facts, computes date, solves problems and wide range of other uses. I got some of my old Math 112 problems out and typed them into the engine. Wolframa did not disappoint and it successfully worked out the problems I fed into it. This would saved me a few late nights last summer.
Bing- Is my backup when Google is not behaving properly. The searches through the information on the web pretty fast but I much prefer Google.
DogPile- This is a helpful search engine that pulls results from both Google and Bing as well as other popular search engines. I like the dog theme.
Ask- Is a pretty fun seach engine that I have used on several occasions. You can as the name suggest ask it any questions and it will deliver the best results from people and the web. I mostly used it to ask stupid questions like "Are their aliens in Area 51?" and "Is Redbull bad for you?" But if use properly this is a powerful tool.
Lycos- I think from my brief use of this search engine it is primarily used for social media and other entertainment. You can also use it to build free websites which is pretty cool. It also has an online gaming feature so I will defiantly investigate this engine further.
DuckDuckGo- This search engine most notable feature is that it does not track you will browsing the web. This cuts down on spam and makes for a better browsing experience.
IxQuick- Like DuckDuckGo this engine does not track your online patterns and cuts down on spam. Another cool thing is it pulls results from all search engines so it cuts down the need to go switch between the different engines.
Webopedia- Is an search engine that acts like an encyclopedia for computing terms. As just used it to get the actual definition of a search engine and it was very quick getting results. I will without a doubt continue to use this Webopeida as I expand my use of technology.
Blog Post #4 Asking Questions
One of the most important jobs teachers have is asking good questions. These questions are imperative because it is a gauge to see how much the students have retained from your lesson. We must promote a classroom environment that promotes questions and critical thinking. We must do what we can to get these questions out and improve the learning environment of the classroom.
In the video Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom" as the video there are several ways to promotes these better questions.
1. Prepare your Questions- It is important that go ahead and prepare your questions ahead of time before the lesson rather than just trying to quickly make some up during the lesson. Put time and think about the questions you want to ask before the class. Think of questions that will truly challenge what the students just learned.
2. Play with the Questions- Deploying a mild form of theatricality is a good way to help students think critically for example. Rather than just doing the by the book ask questions at the end of class there are some other ways to help the students think a little more. One being give a question at the beginning of the lesson and tell the students to think about the answer and have them give their response at the end of class. This is a good way to make the students actually think about the material and what they want to say.
3. Preserve Good Questions- This one is pretty straight forward. Save the really good questions for the end of the lesson where they will have the most impact.
In Asking Questions to Improve Learning there are some very good points further showing how we should ask questions. One that I found very true was we should not ask more than one question to the students at a time. If you flood the students with several questions all at once the students will not really focus or even worst they will be so overwhelmed the questions will be ignored all together. Also another very important point is to make sure the questions you have planned are relevant in relation to the lesson you are teaching. The questions we choose to ask is a great indicator as whether our lesson really sunk in with the students. It can not be overstated how important it is to have great questions that will help improve the learning environment of our classrooms.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Blog Post #3 Peer Editing
Peer editing is a good way for students to review each others work. What is Peer Editing is a very detailed and helpful video to grow familiar with the concept. As the name implies you want somebody who is the same age or working on the same assignments. This is just to make sure there is a common connection and the person reviewing your work is reliable when it comes to giving out recommendations. You do not want someone peer editing your work if they do not really know what they are doing or not familiar with the subject matter. Also before reviewing someone else's' work be sure YOU know the subject matter.
Peer Editing with Perfection Tutorial takes us through some of the concepts of peer editing and how to apply them. When peer editing someone you must always be clear and precise with what you are recommending so they will know what needs to be addressed. Be constructive with your critique but do not be so harsh that you damage a working relationship with one of your peers. On the flip side you should not be so delicate and say it is great when it is not. You give them a glowing review and they turn it in only to find out they had five grammatical mistakes. Then they wonder why the person editing did not catch any of this. It is a delicate line but one that we must walk in order to get the best out of ourselves and those around us. Do not feel nervous or awkward if you are assigned to edit any of my posts. I know it is hard to believe but I make a few mistakes from time to time.
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