Post #11

In Brian Crosby's video, Back To the Future, I learned many things about teaching. I learned it's very important to empower your students. Let kids shine through their work. Kids want to learn and we should expect high quality work from them. When helping students learn, we need to let them work collaboratively. Also, let them connect to the world through blogs. Once students know their audience is greater than just their teacher, they would produce better quality work. Lastly, he showed me it's important to use different technologies to teach students. Teachers should use many ways to teach students so they do not become bored while learning.

Blended Learning Cycle is a combination of two separate techniques. One is blended learning. In blended learning you take online, mobile, and classroom learning about put them all together in the classroom as a way of teaching. The second is the learning cycle. This cycle involves five E's: engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate. The blended learning cycle started by a driving question or something to get students hooked to what you are about to have them investigate. The teacher would create a video or have a video source for students to watch on the particular assignment. The teacher would review with each student before they can take a quiz on what they have learned. If a student does not pass the review question the teacher would tell him/her to go back and elaborate the assignment more. I think this is a great way to make sure students are really learning what they are investigating. Mostly, I like that students do this on their own. They are seeking the information they need to pass the quiz.

Mark Church's video, Making Thinking Visible is discussing small groups and how they are a great way to learn. It can help students extend their learning through other peers views. It's also important for kids to see people have their own opinions that may be different from theirs but they still need to collaborate to get the work done. Also, as they learn more on a subject, they need to see their opinions can change and that is okay.

Super Digital Citizen has been my favorite video so far. In this video I learned it's important to discuss online safety with my students. I feel this is something that will be done the first week of class. Students need to know the difference between good and bad information that is online. This video was cool because students were able to design a superhero who would become their super digital  citizen. I believe students would enjoy the because many kids love comics and enjoy being creative. Kids were inspired from other peers work as well. This allows them to grow for the next assignment.

Project Based Learning has produced more engaged learners who have a deeper understanding of what they are learning. This video was neat. I've never heard off three different subjects being put together like that. I'm not sure how I would like that as a student. It is definitely something I would like to look into though. The main thing I got out of this video is that you shouldn't be afraid to go against the grain. These teachers took an idea they felt would really benefit their students to their administration and clearly they were on board with it. I do like that it gives more time on assignments and gives students the resources they need to do the best work they can.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program was a delightful to watch. I love that the teachers are already helping these kids with public speaking. So many friends of  mine still have a fear of talking in front of crowds and we are in college. What a breeze public speaking would be if we would already have that comfort in us. We would also have more confidence in ourselves. PBL gives students many choices in learning. They have so much room to be creative in these projects. It's important to teach them how to be a good audience as well. Cooperation, to say the least, is so important. It's crucial in PBL projects. Students learn how to talk to one another and get work done. This is a skill they will need for the rest of their lives. Reflecting on a project is also important. Students need to know what worked and didn't work so they won't make the same mistakes twice.

Project #12 Part A

Smartboard Project Part A

Post #10

Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1


Ms. Cassidy is an enforcer of technology in the classroom. She made the point that it is very important to keep up with technology of today. Technology is here to stay. She says we as educators need to change the way we teach and use online tools to do it. There are many online tools we can use if we just make the time to find them, learn how to use them, and incorporate them into our curriculum. Ms. Cassidy explains how much her kids enjoy using the online tools such as twitter and blogs. Her students have skyped with college students to receive help with writing techniques and other suggestions. The kids really enjoy the feedback they get through their blogs. They like the audience they get from blogs and will make sure their work is done correctly because they know many people will see it. They take pride in what they do. The parents like the technology used by Ms. Cassidy as well. They like being able to see what their child(ren) are doing and the progress being made.

Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2


If you are new to technology, but want to start increasing your knowledge, start with something you are comfortable with. If you like to write, use blogger or other means of blogging. There is Flicker for picture people and the list just goes and goes. You should also use tools that you do not know. Don't be timid to try new things and see if you like them. I think that was a very important statement Ms. Cassidy made. I would most definitely keep that in mind.

Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part3


I like that a Physical Education major was able to ask a question in this video. He asked about blogs and how they could be used in his classroom. Ms. Cassidy suggested using a blog to post assignments, or any announcements the students could use to do better in the gym. I like that. I have learned many cool technology tools, but I've wondered how a P.E. teacher would incorporate them. Now there are still tools I'm not sure about using but the blog suggestion is great. I know I would use that. It could be a great tool to use to remind students of upcoming events and test. I could even post a blog and have them comment on it for a grade. Another important thing is that any time we have students going on the internet, we need to tell them exactly where to go and make sure they know where not to go. This is just to keep them safe but also make sure they are using educational games and not just games for personal purposes.

C4K October Summary

October C4K
Hey Kamar.
My name is Cortnee Meyers. I am a college student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I am in an educational media class. I also have a blog that I post in for class assignments. I think it’s great you love your life. What kind of things do you like to do. What makes you happy?
In this blog post, I didn’t really have much to go on. My kid stated “I love my life. I wouldn’t change anything about it.” So I simply told him, that’s great and asked him what he likes to do. What makes him happy?

Hey Zachary. My name is Cortnee Meyers. I am a college student at the University of South Alabama which is located in Mobile, AL. I really like your theme. I think it’s important to help people and be there hero. Heroes aren’t always dressed in capes with masks. Sometimes heroes are our mom, dad or maybe a friend. I also like that you added, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. That is a great lesson for every person to learn. Great job on your blog post.
Zachary did a blog post on heroes. He explained, in his opinion, what a hero is. He likes when people are nice to him and hates bullying. He mentioned a guy taking up for him and they became great friends. I almost think he might have been bullied at one time or another while at school. My favorite part of his post was when he said not to judge a book by its cover. We have all heard this at one point in our lives and I feel you can never hear it too much.

Hello Shaitarn. My name is Cortnee Meyers. I am a college student at the University of South Alabama which is located in Mobile, AL. I learned come background information on the three kete last year in my humanities class. You did a good job showing images to resemble the three kete. I think it’s very cool you included a site for people to make their own kete if they are interested. Good Job!
Shaitarn did a Google Slides Presentation on the three kete. He had nice photos to show the three representatives of emotional, mental, and physical. Also, there was a url to create your own kete if you would like to. I told him that was very cool to add to his presentation.

Post #9

What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About PBL?
PBL projects require a lot of collaboration within a group. There are many components that a group will need to cover when taking on a PBL project. A few would be: crafting a driving question, identifying learning standards, brainstorming, creating rubrics, and meeting deadlines. These are just a few. It's important for teachers to introduce a project in an exciting way. Students are not always eager to learn, so a teacher being excited may give the spark they need to do a project. Teachers shouldn't just give all the information student's will need to do a project. Instead, give them topics to choose from and let them do the research. Students teach us that they like choosing the technology of their choice for their projects. The more creative a group of students can be, the better the end result. We can also see that students need peer editing because they rarely do high quality work the first time. Voice and choice are huge factors in students producing great work. They have so much pride in the final product when they know it all came straight from them. I like the statement, "give power to empower". Lastly, I saw rewards aren't a bad idea. Many young students discussed the rewards they receive and they choose to work very hard because of it. Now, that can seem crazy, but if it can get them motivated, why not. You can always "wing" them off of rewards and have consequences.

<a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept10/vol68/num01/Seven_Essentials_for_Project-Based_Learning.aspx"></a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgrhlV__pL4"></a>
<a href="http://www.wholechildeducation.org/blog/project-based-learning-and-physical-education/"></a>
<a href="http://brandoneduc346.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/project-based-learning-in-pe/"></a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukg6KiBC1CE"></a><a

Special Assignment

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning
After studying the data Dr. Strange provided, it’s safe to say our generation is addicted to smartphones. It’s not just us though. Smartphones are widely popular for many ages and cultures. Smartphones are now a way of life. People use their phones to wake them up, set reminders, make their schedules, and also get directions. These are great things our phones provide for us. We need these tools. Now don’t get me wrong. There are tons of things on phone we don’t need, but I do support the idea of phones helping us survive throughout our daily functions.
The cameras on phones today are great for learners, teachers, and administrators to have. Maybe you can’t carry a laptop around all day or have one in your setting. You can certainly carry a cell phone at ease. My personal cell phone is the Galaxy S5 Active. I use this every day, all day for multiple purposes. I would say eight times out of ten, it’s for educational purposes. The same pictures I use in my blogs save straight to my phone since my email is linked to my phone. I can’t even explain how convenient that is. I would encourage smartphones for EDUCATIONAL purposes in any school environment.

Technology tools go on and on in today’s learning environment. I have learned many that would be great to use in the classroom. Here is a list:
1. Poplet is a free app students can download on an iPad to create a web like graph for a story they have read. In the center would go their topic and around it will be pictures of information supporting the story.
2. Discovery Education is a great tool for students with a tablet. When they start, they will be able to choose a background and type their title. From there, they will go to an empty text box to include facts about their project, which in this video is the moon. In a different box, they will insert a picture or video about the moon. The pictures or video can be found on Discovery Board.
3. QR codes are great for students to hear a story or lesson repeatedly. A teacher will make a recording for the students and make it available to them for their iPad or other tablet.
4. Mindimo is a great tool for students to make webs for a topic. It is like Poplet, in a way. I’ve used this specific tool myself to make a 21st Century Classroom and it was awesome. I had fun doing the project and might have taken my 20 minutes to do so.

Post #8

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
The first thing that stood out to me was not denying yourself dreams. Meaning, do not let someone else’s success make you feel like you cannot succeed, too. He also talks about giving people enough time to surprise you. If they make you mad, just wait and be patient because their time to surprise you is coming. One interesting thing he speaks on is “The best way to teach someone is to have them think they are learning something else”. He wants millions of kids to learn while having fun doing hard stuff. I really like how he uses humor to deliver his message. It’s very obvious that he’s a character. I like that even though it’s a professional seminar, he can uses his humor to make the message more interesting and not boring. A key statement in his seminar is that you don’t just learn from your bosses. As educators, we need to also learn from our students. He throws out the question, “Are you Tigger or are you Eeyore”? Tigger was happy go lucky and Eeyore was always sad and depressed. Also, help others. Don’t ever become so busy that you can’t help someone in need. The last part of his speech talks about how to get others to help you. In order for this to partake, you must: apologize when you’re wrong, be earnest, focus on others and not yourself, and tell the truth. He also believes in karma. Watching this video was great. It’s great to see someone who will enjoy their life up to their last breathe. Lastly, never give up on your dreams. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about them. If you feel like you can do it, go do it.

C4T #2 Post #2

C4T
In my first post, I was able to tell Coach Nathan who I am and why I was commenting on his post. His most recent post was long and had what he had been doing in September. He was a keynote speaker at a seminar on integrating technology into Physical Education. He also talked about being able to collaborate with other teachers and how much he enjoyed it. I think he is going to be a great resource and someone I can learn from.

Project #9

Project #9

Post #7

How to make an audio QR code
In this video I learned what a QR code is, how to make one and get it available to students, and apps that are free to access these codes. QR codes are great for students to hear a story or lesson repeatedly. Some kids just don’t get it the first time. I love this. I would have benefited greatly from QR codes growing up. The apps you can download are free. Also, you can have them right on your smartphone.
iPad in the Reading Center
This video is about students using an iPad to record themselves as they read. After reading, they will watch the video of themselves to see if they made any errors. In order to check for errors, they will follow along with the video to listen to any words said incorrectly. The teacher explains that once they are ready, they may move on to another story or go back to previous ones to practice.
Poplet with Ginger Tuck
Poplet is a free app students can download on an iPad to create a web like graph for a story they have read. In the center would go their topic and around it will be pictures of information supporting the story. The pictures can either come from pictures already saved in the iPad or you can use the camera to take your own pictures. Students will write a short sentence under the picture simply to show why it relates to their topic. When it’s finished , the student or teacher will simply screen shot the poplet so it will be saved on the iPad.

AVL and Kindergarten Students
Students will be taught in the library how to download and log on to AVL. When they go to the website, they’ll know to go to the elementary version. In this particular video, the teacher gives them a list of transportations and they simply choose one. Once they have decided which means of transportation they want, they type it into the search engine. Keep in mind, they are taught how to get to their specific search engine in the library. The student will listen to any videos that pull up for their transportation. They will follow any instructions the teacher gives them, meaning doing assignments. This is great for the students because they are learning how to research, how to use that research in assignments, and they are reading what they find.
Tammy Shirley Discovery Education Board Builder Moon Project
Students will login to Discovery Education to start working on their board. When they start, they will be able to choose a background and type their title. From there, they will go to an empty text box to include facts about their project, which in this video is the moon. In a different box, they will insert a picture or video about the moon. The pictures or video can be found on Discovery Board. The process will repeat itself until the board is full with pictures/videos along with facts. The student in the video wrote a narrative about a visit to the moon. It was really cute to see her drawing and hear her fun adventure to the moon. Lastly the student in the video shows us how to search the Discovery Board database for pictures and videos.
Mrs. Tassin’s 2nd Grade Students Share Board Builder Project
In this video, student’s Joey and Kaden share their board builder on whales. They also tell where they got their information and what resources they used to make their project.
Mrs. Tassin's students share board builder project

Using iMovie and AVL in Kindergarten
This video is between Dr. Strange, Ms. Elizabeth from Daphne Elementary, and Ms. Michelle from Gulf Shores Elementary. The first part of the video is Ms. Michelle discussing iMovie and how shocked she was to hear about Ms. Ginger Tuck using book trailers with kindergarteners. It’s the same tool we just used last week in one of our projects. She talks about how using iMovie to make book trailers have become a normal routine and they have made several. Ms. Michelle also emphasizes how the student’s love to edit and edit their work so it’s perfect. The second part of the video is given by Ms. Elizabeth who discusses AVL and how you can get an AVL card at any public library. One fact she tells us, is that AVL is great to find research. She says that it’s great for educators to use so students can learn how to research and put it to use. All three educators in the video love that its free. All students have to do is be a learner and use this great tool.
We All Become Learners
This video is between Dr. Strange, Ms. Elizabeth from Daphne Elementary, and Ms. Michelle from Gulf Shores Elementary. Ms. Michelle likes the idea of technology changing the dynamics of learning in the classroom. She believes its teachers teaching students and students teaching teachers that make the difference in learning. Essentially this is how we all become learners. She also talks about the free app Padlet and how her student showed her how to use it. This is kindergarten we are talking about. She likes when teachers come to observe what they are doing in the classroom because it validates it. Dr. Strange added to her comment by saying “The students always come off so eager and disciplined when it comes to learning”. Ms. Michelle talks about teachers not having to know all the mechanics to new technologies because these students will figure it out for them. This really helps the barriers between students and teachers come down and will give students confidence in learning.

Project #13

Lesson Plan Calendar
Rubric
Lesson Plan