Check out these resources!
Becoming a Butterfly Overview
Becoming a Butterfly Calendar
Becoming a Butterfly Rubric
Becoming a Butterfly Checklist
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Project #15
For my project based lesson plan I wanted my class to learn about the life of butterflies. It is for a first grade class. They will get to watch a caterpillar transform to a butterfly and learn about all different types of butterflies. Each group will present a Prezi presentation about the stage of life they were assigned. The presentation part will last only one week, but the entire project is 28 days. It lasts so long because this class will get to actually watch the butterflies transform!! Throughout the whole 28 days the students will be blogging about changes. At the end we will release the butterflies outside! Also, the class will get to watch the time lapse video we make of our project.
Check out these resources!
Becoming a Butterfly Overview
Becoming a Butterfly Calendar
Becoming a Butterfly Rubric
Becoming a Butterfly Checklist
Check out these resources!
Becoming a Butterfly Overview
Becoming a Butterfly Calendar
Becoming a Butterfly Rubric
Becoming a Butterfly Checklist
Blog Post #10
For this blog post we were assigned to watch Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk, Bring on the Learning Revolution. He points out that so far in education we are all on a linear tract. We start here and end there. We send our kids to kindergarten and we do so, so that they will end up in college. Sir Ken also compared education to fast food. Food is either standardized, like fast food, or it is customized. We have built our education like fast food. We are doing to our school systems what fast food does to a body. We are depleting it. It is time for a revolution! It is time that we customize how we teach our children. Children are not all the same. The way educators teach should not be all the same. Each school should operate in a way that would help them to flourish. I think this video is so relevant to what we are learning in EDM310. The amount of technology we have is growing by the minute. Children will not know a world with no technology. It is time we revolutionize the way we teach to where technology is included. Students who are not introduced to technology will not succeed as easily without it. Let's have a revolution to a customized way of teaching! We can use technology to do so.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Blog Post #9
For this blog post we got the opportunity to look into Kathy Cassidy's First Grade Class and how she teaches. For the past ten years she has been implementing technology in her class room. It all began when she was given five computers for her classroom. I think Mrs. Cassidy's approach to technology in the classroom is great. She was given the opportunity to have technology and she ran with it. Both her students and herself are a fan of blogs over pencils and paper. They have an audience! Also, they can read comments from people all over the world. To a first grader, this is so uplifting. Parents are also a fan because they can look at their child's work at anytime from anywhere. Mrs. Cassidy has had support from her school administration and fellow educators. It seems as if she has been very successful in her efforts for her classroom.
Before if you told me that first graders were blogging and using technology, I would not have believed you. I would have thought the highest level of technology in the first grade classroom would be lessons on the interactive white board. In Mrs. Cassidy's video I did see them using an interactive whiteboard. But her class was doing far more than that. The students in her video are so well versed in blogging and rules of the internet. I was very impressed with how the children knew how to stay safe. They know to not use their last name and to go to only to sites they are supposed to. Mrs. Cassidy is so right when she says it is our job to TEACH the students what is safe.
Internet etiquette is very important and Mrs. Cassidy has done a great job teaching her students this. Her students know to write only positive comments and to encourage the writer of the blog. With children, there will be mistakes and she explained how she would sit her class down and talk about why what they did is wrong. Kids can sometimes be unkind and I think this would be a great opportunity to teach about character, manners, and why we should be nice to one another.
I would like to implement many of her ideas into my classroom. I am wanting to teach anywhere from Kindergarten to 3rd grade and before I would have only thought the 3rd graders would be able to use technology widely. I now want to start blogging with my students in 1st grade and at least have a class blog for my kindergarten students. I like that she sends home a letter for the parents in the beginning of the school year to let them know what will be happening and to get their approval. I think that is definitely a good idea. Blogging would provide so many opportunities for learning. My class could learn about technology while also improving their spelling and sentence forming. When problems arise it would always bring another opportunity for learning.
Before if you told me that first graders were blogging and using technology, I would not have believed you. I would have thought the highest level of technology in the first grade classroom would be lessons on the interactive white board. In Mrs. Cassidy's video I did see them using an interactive whiteboard. But her class was doing far more than that. The students in her video are so well versed in blogging and rules of the internet. I was very impressed with how the children knew how to stay safe. They know to not use their last name and to go to only to sites they are supposed to. Mrs. Cassidy is so right when she says it is our job to TEACH the students what is safe.
Internet etiquette is very important and Mrs. Cassidy has done a great job teaching her students this. Her students know to write only positive comments and to encourage the writer of the blog. With children, there will be mistakes and she explained how she would sit her class down and talk about why what they did is wrong. Kids can sometimes be unkind and I think this would be a great opportunity to teach about character, manners, and why we should be nice to one another.
I would like to implement many of her ideas into my classroom. I am wanting to teach anywhere from Kindergarten to 3rd grade and before I would have only thought the 3rd graders would be able to use technology widely. I now want to start blogging with my students in 1st grade and at least have a class blog for my kindergarten students. I like that she sends home a letter for the parents in the beginning of the school year to let them know what will be happening and to get their approval. I think that is definitely a good idea. Blogging would provide so many opportunities for learning. My class could learn about technology while also improving their spelling and sentence forming. When problems arise it would always bring another opportunity for learning.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Project #14
For Project 14 I created a lesson plan titled, "Money and Our World". I followed the Alabama State Standards for First Grade Social Studies. This lesson plan is about teaching the students the role of money in our community. An interactive white board will be used for a presentation about money and how it has evolved. They will learn the differences from saving and spending, buyers and sellers, and wants and needs. Fake money will be used to teach the worth of different pieces and what they look like. The students will get the chance to create their own currency. At the end of the 3 days they will present to the class their new currency.
Project Overview
Project Calendar
Checklist
Project Overview
Project Calendar
Checklist
Blog Post #8
For this blog post we were instructed to find 21st century learning and communicating tools. Our goal is to be a lifelong learner, so why not start preparing sources to learn from? Since I began taking EDM310 my search for education information has taken me to one site many times. This site is called Edutopia. This one site holds SO MUCH information. It is for teachers of all grades. You can search for topics relevant only to your grade or you can search the entire site. This site is made possible by The George Lucas Educational Foundation. You can become a member and get free email newsletters. The first thing I did today was sign up for an account! I am excited to begin receiving weekly information and tips about teaching and learning. Edutopia has articles ranging from Project Based Learning to Integrating technology to Social and Emotional Learning. You can research schools that have used techniques and see how they work!
One of my favorite things about Edutopia is how you have access to so many blogs. You can go to the Blogs tab and then have access to many different topics. Each topic will lead you to blog posts that are centered around that topic. This is a great way to build up your PLN. You can follow blogs that interest you or pertain to what you are learning in school right now. This website will definitely be something I reference for the rest of my education and life as an educator.
This website is so extensive and can take you so far. It connects you with thousands of other educators. You can get ideas and also share with others. You can follow them on Twitter, Pinterest, and add them on Facebook. I am positive this is one of the best sites for gaining new information and insights. I recommend you go check it out if you have not before. Sign up for the newsletter! It is certain to keep bringing you information for your lifelong learning career!
One of my favorite things about Edutopia is how you have access to so many blogs. You can go to the Blogs tab and then have access to many different topics. Each topic will lead you to blog posts that are centered around that topic. This is a great way to build up your PLN. You can follow blogs that interest you or pertain to what you are learning in school right now. This website will definitely be something I reference for the rest of my education and life as an educator.
This website is so extensive and can take you so far. It connects you with thousands of other educators. You can get ideas and also share with others. You can follow them on Twitter, Pinterest, and add them on Facebook. I am positive this is one of the best sites for gaining new information and insights. I recommend you go check it out if you have not before. Sign up for the newsletter! It is certain to keep bringing you information for your lifelong learning career!
C4T #2
Assignment #1
For assignment one I was assigned to Kathleen Morris' Blog. Her blog post was titled, "The 2014 New School Year". She lives in Australia and in January they were starting a new school year. She is still on maternity leave from having her daughter, Novalie. Kathleen talked about how much her life has changed since she had her child and how much teaching has changed since she started teaching. In the past, maternity leave would have meant being cut off from the education world. Not anymore! She has stayed up to date by following blogs, education websites, twitter and such by utilizing the internet. It seems that she has a great personal learning network and she is getting the most she can out of it! I commented on her post telling her where I was from and how I got to her blog. I left her the link to my EDM310 blog. I told her a little about what we are learning in EDM310. I also complimented her on how involved she was with education while not even being in a classroom. She asked what her readers were looking forward to in our new year. I told her how I want to keep pursuing my degree in Elementary Education and how I am most looking forward to a mission trip to Nicaragua this summer!
Assignment #2 My second assignment took me back to Kathleen Morris' Blog. This blog post was titled, "Looking Back, Looking Forward". Since she had not written any new posts since my last comment, I went to one of her older ones. This post is from when she was packing up her classroom for her maternity leave. She tells how she has been at this same school for almost a decade now. She was puzzled at what to pack up to keep and what to trash. One thing she was defintely getting rid of was worksheets! What used to be the busy work that she loved was not something she loathed. Kathleen tells how much more engaging something hands on is rather than just an activity for students to do and pass time. She is leaving those worksheets in the past! I commented telling her how neat it was to have read this post second because I got to see how she was preparing to be away from education and already knowing how she overcame it! It was a great post and I got a heads up at how much teachers love to hold on to items over the years. My mom most definitely keeps things "just in case" she might need it years down the road.
For assignment one I was assigned to Kathleen Morris' Blog. Her blog post was titled, "The 2014 New School Year". She lives in Australia and in January they were starting a new school year. She is still on maternity leave from having her daughter, Novalie. Kathleen talked about how much her life has changed since she had her child and how much teaching has changed since she started teaching. In the past, maternity leave would have meant being cut off from the education world. Not anymore! She has stayed up to date by following blogs, education websites, twitter and such by utilizing the internet. It seems that she has a great personal learning network and she is getting the most she can out of it! I commented on her post telling her where I was from and how I got to her blog. I left her the link to my EDM310 blog. I told her a little about what we are learning in EDM310. I also complimented her on how involved she was with education while not even being in a classroom. She asked what her readers were looking forward to in our new year. I told her how I want to keep pursuing my degree in Elementary Education and how I am most looking forward to a mission trip to Nicaragua this summer!
Assignment #2 My second assignment took me back to Kathleen Morris' Blog. This blog post was titled, "Looking Back, Looking Forward". Since she had not written any new posts since my last comment, I went to one of her older ones. This post is from when she was packing up her classroom for her maternity leave. She tells how she has been at this same school for almost a decade now. She was puzzled at what to pack up to keep and what to trash. One thing she was defintely getting rid of was worksheets! What used to be the busy work that she loved was not something she loathed. Kathleen tells how much more engaging something hands on is rather than just an activity for students to do and pass time. She is leaving those worksheets in the past! I commented telling her how neat it was to have read this post second because I got to see how she was preparing to be away from education and already knowing how she overcame it! It was a great post and I got a heads up at how much teachers love to hold on to items over the years. My mom most definitely keeps things "just in case" she might need it years down the road.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Blog Post #7
What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?
Wow. When I started watching Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams I could not stop. Just by the way he spoke, he had my full attention. Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told he had three to six months of good health left. To that, he responded with his Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
He began his lecture by telling all of his childhood dreams. They were not wild, they were specific. He went through a slideshow and timeline of his life and explained how he achieved each and every one in some way. First of all, this is so inspiring just how he managed to hold onto those dreams and achieve them! This marks the first thing I learned from him on how to teach. He was encouraged to pursue those dreams his whole childhood. As an educator, I need to remember to encourage dreams no matter how big!
Another important thing I think we can learn from Randy is the importance of how we look at situations. When he went to one dean for permission, he answered with, "I don't know", and he had no intention of finding out the answer. When he went to another dean, he answered, "I don't know, but I sure want to look into it". I have already learned to do this is EDM 310 by always answering, "I don't know, let's find out!" When our students ask questions or state their dreams, we need to always respond positively and with a "this is an opportunity to learn" outlook.
My most favorite thing I heard in his lecture is his outlook on "brickwalls". They are there for a reason. A brick wall arises to make the people who really want something, work hard for it. And it also arises to weed out the people who are not truly seeking something. He made me realize I need to think about situations more. When I think something is impossible, it is just a brick wall.
I know that the next time I pass a bookstore I will be stopping to buy his book. I look forward to reading it and seeing what else I can learn about teaching and learning from him.
Wow. When I started watching Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams I could not stop. Just by the way he spoke, he had my full attention. Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told he had three to six months of good health left. To that, he responded with his Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
He began his lecture by telling all of his childhood dreams. They were not wild, they were specific. He went through a slideshow and timeline of his life and explained how he achieved each and every one in some way. First of all, this is so inspiring just how he managed to hold onto those dreams and achieve them! This marks the first thing I learned from him on how to teach. He was encouraged to pursue those dreams his whole childhood. As an educator, I need to remember to encourage dreams no matter how big!
Another important thing I think we can learn from Randy is the importance of how we look at situations. When he went to one dean for permission, he answered with, "I don't know", and he had no intention of finding out the answer. When he went to another dean, he answered, "I don't know, but I sure want to look into it". I have already learned to do this is EDM 310 by always answering, "I don't know, let's find out!" When our students ask questions or state their dreams, we need to always respond positively and with a "this is an opportunity to learn" outlook.
My most favorite thing I heard in his lecture is his outlook on "brickwalls". They are there for a reason. A brick wall arises to make the people who really want something, work hard for it. And it also arises to weed out the people who are not truly seeking something. He made me realize I need to think about situations more. When I think something is impossible, it is just a brick wall.
I know that the next time I pass a bookstore I will be stopping to buy his book. I look forward to reading it and seeing what else I can learn about teaching and learning from him.
C4K February
Over the past four weeks I have been assigned a student's blog to read and interact with. With C4K ( Comments for Kids ) I have really seen some cool writing activities for children. The posts really bring out the children's creativity!
For my first C4K assignment, I went to Jillian's Blog. Right when you get to her blog, you know she loves animals. Mainly cats! She has two cats named Adipose and Ewok. The post I commented on was about how Jillian did not do a lot of stuff that week, but she did take Ewok to the vet. She also had made a new Cat Stat tab on her blog and was planning to add both her cat's measurements. I commented on how I loved the names of her cats. She responded to me wanting to know if John Hadley Strange was from the same Alabama University because she had seen his name on her friend's blog. I responded back letting her know that yes, he was my professor at South!
My second C4K assignment sent me to Andrew H.'s Blog. It is titled "OMG Target Takeover ;)". In his post he talked about what he would do in Target if he got to takeover for the night. His idea would be to decorate it so well that when the employees got back, they would want to pay him for how beautiful it is. I commented and told him where I went to school. I also told him how Target was my favorite place to shop. If I got to stay overnight in a store and do whatever I wanted, Target would be a great place to pick!
My third assignment sent me to Al-Baraa's Blog. His post was about Iron Pants. It is a new game that was made to replace Flappy Bird. Flappy Bird was an iPhone/Droid game. You would tap the screen and try to maneuver the bird through a series of pipes. Iron Pants is the same thing, but HARDER according to Al-Baraa. I commented on his post telling him where I was from and my high score on Flappy Bird. He replied with his high score and how annoying the game was. He sounds like a fun kid to be around!
For my last assignment for February I went to Aye Yoo RJ's Blog.. His blog post was titled "Project". It is about how it would be if he and his friends were the last 3 people on earth. It was kind of a graphic post. It talked about how all the people were killed and how some were abducted. It turned out to just be a dream! I commented and told him that he was a very good writer. I also told him how glad I was that his scary story turned out to be a dream.
For my first C4K assignment, I went to Jillian's Blog. Right when you get to her blog, you know she loves animals. Mainly cats! She has two cats named Adipose and Ewok. The post I commented on was about how Jillian did not do a lot of stuff that week, but she did take Ewok to the vet. She also had made a new Cat Stat tab on her blog and was planning to add both her cat's measurements. I commented on how I loved the names of her cats. She responded to me wanting to know if John Hadley Strange was from the same Alabama University because she had seen his name on her friend's blog. I responded back letting her know that yes, he was my professor at South!
My second C4K assignment sent me to Andrew H.'s Blog. It is titled "OMG Target Takeover ;)". In his post he talked about what he would do in Target if he got to takeover for the night. His idea would be to decorate it so well that when the employees got back, they would want to pay him for how beautiful it is. I commented and told him where I went to school. I also told him how Target was my favorite place to shop. If I got to stay overnight in a store and do whatever I wanted, Target would be a great place to pick!
My third assignment sent me to Al-Baraa's Blog. His post was about Iron Pants. It is a new game that was made to replace Flappy Bird. Flappy Bird was an iPhone/Droid game. You would tap the screen and try to maneuver the bird through a series of pipes. Iron Pants is the same thing, but HARDER according to Al-Baraa. I commented on his post telling him where I was from and my high score on Flappy Bird. He replied with his high score and how annoying the game was. He sounds like a fun kid to be around!
For my last assignment for February I went to Aye Yoo RJ's Blog.. His blog post was titled "Project". It is about how it would be if he and his friends were the last 3 people on earth. It was kind of a graphic post. It talked about how all the people were killed and how some were abducted. It turned out to just be a dream! I commented and told him that he was a very good writer. I also told him how glad I was that his scary story turned out to be a dream.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Project #13
For this project, we created a Lesson Plan titled DIY (Do It Yourself) Ending. This lesson plan addresses the Alabama State Standards for third grade English and Language Arts. It refers to learning about key ideas and details in which the students should be able to determine the main idea of a text, recount the key details, and explain how the details support the main idea. This project covers a period of two weeks in which the students will be actively engaged. The students will read a book titled, 2030: A Day In the Life of Tomorrow’s Kids. This is a great, age-appropriate book for the kids in today’s society. Technology and our environment is constantly changing, so it’s fun for kids to think about what the world will be like in 20 years from now. Here’s the catch: the students will only read half of the book and at the beginning of the second week, they will come up with their own ending (before they know the real ending). The students will work on this project collaboratively in groups of 4. They will work together to discuss the main idea of the story and come up with a few key details. They will also do some individual work in writing a blog at the end of each week. The main part of the project is that they will be creating/writing their own ending to the story and presenting them by using either a Google Site, a Prezi presentation, a poster, or iMovie. We think that the students will really enjoy this project. After all, there is always that one book that we wish we could go back and rewrite the ending to. Here’s the chance.
Check out the sources below:
Project Calendar
Project Overview
Project Checklist
Project Rubric
Check out the sources below:
Project Calendar
Project Overview
Project Checklist
Project Rubric
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