Project #8 Book Trailer

C4T #2

Post #1
My C4T is Principal Vincentsen. Her first post was about audio books. I learned more information on what they are, how they can be used, and also there cost. I would encourage schools to provide these resources for students. Audio books are great for slow readers and also bilingual students. They help the English learning parents as much as the students.
The second most recent post was on equality. I was so caught up in the post and enjoyed commenting my opinions. I feel the post is so influential and I wish the world could see it. I really feel like the media tries to dictate what hits the news and the play the race game. It really upsets me and I wish people would stop pointing fingers and take responsibilities for their own actions.

Project #6

C4K Summary for September
For the month of September, I have had the privilege to get to know Quziyah. She is a brilliant year 8 student at Pt England in Auckland, NZ. Quziyah is like most kids her age. She loves to run and hang out with her friends. She enjoys going to the fields, near her home, with her parents for picnics.
The first post I read was about a learning tool to help student’s breakdown information they are reading. The tool was called “The 6 Hats Learning Tool”. Basically each hat a different color and each color represented something different to find out in her research. I liked the tool and found it beneficial. I would definitely use it in college. I feel it helps the work not seem so overwhelming when it can be put into groups.
Quziyah’s second post was focused on learning synonyms for one set word. Her word was “lots”, and she had over 10 words that could replace the root word the teacher gave her. This would really help students who do not have a strong vocabulary. Also, this is great for students who do have a strong vocabulary and want to build on to it. It helps both styles. It can show students the really do not know everything and can learn any given day. I, myself, learned new synonyms for the words lots.
The last post was done using Google Presentation. Quziyah did a math presentation showing how to turn fractions into decimals. Within the 4 slides she provided, she gave easy to follow instructions along with examples. I told her it is important not to clutter and she did a great job not doing it. There was enough space to know what was going on.
I have enjoyed getting to know Quziyah’s academic side. She is very bright and you can tell she loves school by the work she does in her blogs. She seems to have enthusiasm about learning and that will be one key factor to why she is a success. I would not be surprised if she becomes an educator. Quziyah has a natural teaching approach in her post. I am glad we get to know student’s outside of our classrooms.

Post #6

Project Based Learning is an easy way to show the teacher what a student has learned from the lesson. The main goal of PBL is having students put what they know and learn in a project. This gives students an opportunity to know the content instead of memorizing it and teaches the student to analyze information. There are some tools students can use that allow an easier way of working. iCurio is a tool that students can use to safely search educational information. This also allows students and teachers to store content in their own folders and keep their work and saved documents virtually organized. iCurio is for students on any grade level, therefore it's kid friendly. If a student has a disability, iCurio will accommodate to their needs, such as having audio. Another tool would be Discovery Ed. This tool allows the student to not only use texts, but also images for visualization. It helps bring expertise into the classroom. PBL is an easier way of teaching that benefits not only the students, but the teachers as well.

Project #7 Part A

My Sentence Videos
This is my sentence

This is my passion

Post #5

I have never heard of Personal Learning Networks before this assignment. After reading a lot of text and watching many videos, I believe I have a better understanding about how they work. PLN's are tools used to collaborate, find help, and also just to learn from peers. The tools you can use to create your PLN are Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, and iGoogle. All of these will help you as an educator. I am also new to twitter. Since joining, I've started to follow many people who influence my education style and I enjoy learning from them. Another important tool I use daily are actual people I can visit to observe their classrooms. To me, that's the best way because it's hand on and automatic feedback. I enjoy learning that way. I also think it's important to grow and jump on the technology wagon. Our student's learn from computers daily, so we need to be ready for this change.

Project #3

Project #4

C4T Summary #1
I have had the privilege to read Principal Vincentsen post and I really admire what I've read so far. The first post I read was on audio books. A parent was expressing her concerns about her son's reading problems at an IEP meeting. This is where the idea of audio books came in. I got great information about audio books and found out ways they are beneficial. Also, there was a list of links you could go to in order to find resources for the audio books. I found www.audible.com really helpful. I liked the idea and I'm convinced they will enhance students reading skills. The second post I wrote on was about thanking Dr King. It was so motivating and a such a good read. I think our nation can really benefit from reading it. There was a reference to Michael Jackson's song "Man In the Mirror". It really just nailed the point she was wanting to get across. What I got out of the post most, is that educators are so privileged to be an influence on our students. We encourage them to treat everyone equal and also to teach them peace and tranquility. We should remember that everyone has a dream and we all have a right to go for it.

Project #15

Search Engines
WolframAlpha
This search engine is very beneficial for finding out the systematic questions people have. Whether it’s about math or science, this is a great online tool to use. Their long term goal is to make all systematic knowledge computable and broadly assessable. All you have to do is insert your input and it will generate results for you.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

DuckDuckGo
I think the greatest thing about this search engine is that it doesn’t track your search history. I say that so hackers can’t find about your personal business to get your information. Also, they have everything you want your search engine to have. They give you results for news, images, and places. There are many cool features you can use. For example, you can use your computer as a stop watch versus using your data on your phone.
Duckduckgo.com

Bing
Bing is a good search engine for local business to use to get their businesses listed. Bing also has a way to save money by using there Bing Rewards app. Bing will also filter spam to keep your computer protected from viruses. Even though it comes second to Google, it is still very helpful.
Bing.com

Yahoo!
Yahoo is another compatible search engine. I like using Yahoo and find it convenient because I use Yahoo Mail. There are several attractions. You have weather, shopping, news, events, fashion, and so many more to choose from.
Yahoo.com

Blekko
Blekko uses a technology that operates on a unique system, Dynamic Inference Graph (DIG) algorithm, and editorial evaluation. Their datacenter will narrow the links down to a small database. They also have a feature called ROCKZi. It is a social news platform that users can embed on their websites to drive traffic and feature content.
http://blekko.com/

WOW
WOW is enhanced by Google. On its home page there are specific boxes you can check to narrow down search. There are some complications that come with it. I’ve seen many reviews that complain about it being “buggy”. Once downloaded, it is hard to delete and keep off of your computer. I more than likely would not use this website, even with the convenient sites on the homepage.
http://www.wowsearchengine.com/



iSEEK
iSEEK is a search engine that compares thousands of authoritative resources from university, government, and established noncommercial providers. It provides an intelligent search and a personal Web-based library to help you find the most relevant results immediately. From what I have discovered, teachers, students, and administrators should definitely use this search engine. I look forward to checking it out further.
http://education.iseek.com/iseek/info.html?view=education.about

RefSeek
Every time students have to write a paper, we need to use academic journals and reliable resources. When you use RefSeek, you can be sure you are getting good academic information. You can be confident that it is reliable, whether it’s a journal, a document, or articles. This is a great tool for students and educators.
http://www.refseek.com

Post #4

When asking our students questions, we need to ask specific ones. There’s no need for the tradition yes or no question’s all the time. Some students will blurt an answer just to tell the teacher what they want to hear. Are our kids really learning? This is a huge question we need to ask ourselves as educators.
Asking our student’s specific question will encourage active learning and also increase their participation in class. Make student’s explain their reason of thought. Let them tell you how they came up with their answer. Encourage them to use their voice and also be confident in their answers. Try not to lead answers to your question. For instance, don’t make the answer obvious to students.
I really like open ended questions. Maybe that’s because I’m a talker, but also because I like to hear my peers talk from their point of view. Open ended questions also allow students to get to know their peers. At the same time, closed questions are great to use also. Closed questions limit correct answer options. This is useful to see what your students really learned from the curriculum.

Post #3

Peer editing is used for students to help their fellow classmates edit and review their work. Normally, there are two people sitting beside each other to review any positive or negative things going on in a paper. Peer editing is a skill that is not easily mastered. It should be practiced many times to really get a feel for how it works. It is very important to be supportive and kind to your peer and not pick at them or be too bossy.
There are three rules to go by when you get ready to peer edit. First, start with a compliment. No one wants to hear they aren't a good writer or needs to really improve on their grammar skills. Be kind to your classmate(s). The second rule is to make good suggestions they can use in their work. It may be capitalization, indention, commas, or run on sentences that they need to edit. Say it. Don't just say, "You have errors that you need to find and correct". The last rule ties in with my last sentence. Corrections will more than likely need to be made. It's important to help them see their error and also help them know why it's wrong. No matter what the issue is, be positive and kind to your classmate when you peer edit.