Project #15 SmartBoard Instruction Part 2

Blog Assignment #13

"My Teacher Is an App"

"Nationwide, an estimated 250,000 students are enrolled in full-time virtual schools, up 40% in the last three years." This article, "My Teacher Is an App" by Stephanie Banchero and Stephanie Simon, appeared in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago. The focus of this article was "cyber-education". Specifically online school for grades K-12 vs. traditional schools. It touched on how standardized testing scores between the two compare. One factor the article mentioned was that some students test scores depend on how long they've been apart of the online program/school. Typically, the longer the student is apart of the program the better the test results. Another topic the article touched on was the possible financial benefits/disadvantages there are to online schools for school districts.

As a future educator, I'm somewhat torn with the idea of cyber-education. One of the reasons I want to be an Elementary school teacher is because I love being around children. So if I was a "cyber-teacher" I wouldn't get to communicate, teach and ultimately spend face to face time with the children. At the same time, I completely understand that some children are on a higher level than other children. In this case, I think that online schooling would be ideal for them, specifically the fact that they can be in a 4th grade reading class instead of a 1st grade reading class if they are already on that level. In that case, that would be the most beneficial situation for the child and as an educator I need/want to have their best interest in mind.

Additional Post #1

OH NO! MY HEAD IS SPINNING! I MISSED THE METAPHOR! :)

Yes, I missed the metaphor on Blog Assignment #10. WHY, you ask? I think I missed the metaphor for the same reason a lot of other people missed it. I OVER THINK THINGS IN THIS CLASS! I admit it! This class makes me a little nervous (still) and I get so focused on the "assignment", "Did I do this? Did I do that? I need to finish this/that!" that I completely mess up all together! I've had to learn throughout this semester that... IT HAPPENS! So I took this "mess up" and used it as a learning experience, as Dr. Strange suggested.

Over the past few weeks I have been on the hunt for metaphors! Here are a couple that I heard or either said myself (Apparently I'm a huge fan of metaphors and use them in my life constantly. So the fact that I "missed the metaphor" is slightly embarrassing to me BUT it happens.):

“Keep your eyes peeled."

“My mind is cloudy at the moment.”

“It was like music to my ears.”

“You light up my life.”

“My head is spinning thanks to all the things that have happened this week."

“You’re a doll.”

“She has a heart made of gold.”

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"I just froze."

"I could sleep for a week."

I COULD go on...but I won't.

So how as an educator, could I help my students better understand metaphors? Honestly, I'm not sure that I was ever thoroughly explained the concept of metaphors. Maybe metaphors are just something we as funny/sarcastic human beings are just supposed to know? Maybe I missed the memo? I'm not sure what happened but either way I think this is something that needs to be addressed from the time children start to really get into reading. If they don't know already, they need to be told that sometimes things don't always mean what it seems like they do. Some children may just be a little slower to catch on to things like metaphors (like me). Personally, I would give funny examples to the kids so that they would remember exactly what a metaphor means so that they could be on the "look out" for them. Also, I would give them stories filled with metaphors and have them circle/highlight the metaphor they find. This is coming from an "Elementary Major" point of view.

Lastly, why do we use metaphors? Personally, I think that I use metaphors to be funny or to have a way to say things that might be "uncomfortable" to say "normally". To me, metaphors are a way to dress up everyday speech and to have fun with what's being said. Obviously I need to take my own advice and be on the "look out" for metaphors from now on!

Project #13 SmartBoard Demonstration

Blog Assignment #12

Directions:

On the first Sunday of the month you will need to find an Education/Technology related article to read, shortly summarize and share the link to the article with the class. The article needs to be recent (within the last 3 months of the current date). The purpose of this is so that you learn to navigate around the web and ideally this could help you build your PLN. As a part of C4C your classmates will read your article/short summary and leave a comment with their thoughts about the article. By having to locate an article yourself, you will probably have to visit several different sites/blogs to explore what's out there. Hopefully you will have some really interesting discoveries!


Assignment:

Dome, computer could bring 3D learning to school

This article is about teacher Doug Meyer and his hope to use an inflatable dome and computer software to enhance student learning. Mr. Meyer teaches at a Charter-school and is hoping to find sponsors to fund this project. According to Mr. Meyers, "the technology works similarly to a hologram in Star Trek." The dome could be used in biology, engineering and design classes.

Progress Report on Final Project

At this point Josh and I are organizing everything for our Final Project. We have meet and discussed everything that needs to go into this project. We are still fine tuning all of the little details but it's coming along nicely! I can't believe this semester is almost over!

C4K #10 - Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog

Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog

WOW! Mrs. Yollis and her 3rd graders are truly amazing! Their classroom blog alone has had 75,679 visitors, EDM310's has had 48,860. In my opinion, that's awesome for a 3rd grade classroom blog! I understand why though, the blog is filled with cool stuff. One of the things I liked most about Mrs. Yollis' blog was that she uses tons of videos! Her students have uploaded videos that pertain to certain assignments and Mrs. Yollis has several instructional videos, for example, the "How to Comment" video. When you go into the "Classroom Website" on the left sidebar there are 25 different tabs that include the students spelling list, math help and a "my homework" section! This is such a great way to connect parents to the classroom! Also, this can help the parents help the children. It's really a win-win for everyone! I saw where Mrs. Yollis' class does different types of Skype sessions. Two types in particular were "Share and Compare" and "Mystery Skype". I'm sure they're great ways to learn but they also look like tons of fun!

Blog Assignment #11

Ms. Cassidy's video "Little Kids....Big Potential" and the Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy

I truly enjoyed watching Ms. Cassidy's video "Little Kids....Big Potential", as well as the Skype interview with her. I thought it was really awesome that in the interview Ms. Cassidy said that she has been using technology in her classroom for about 10 years! It would be really interesting if Ms. Cassidy had some videos from when she first started using technology in her class 10 years ago! Some of the techniques that Ms. Cassidy discussed such as using Nintendo DS's is something that I would be interested in doing in my own classroom. I would also like to learn more about wikis and put those to use somehow. Some impediments that I might run into would be parental negativity or negativity from administration which I would have to deal with as it came about. In a perfect world I would hope that both parents and the administration would be on board for broadening their children's horizons but I know that this isn't a perfect world! So perhaps I could go into a litter more detail with parents or others that have hesitations about technology being used in the classroom. Ms. Cassidy said two things in particular that really jumped out at me...One was, "Why would a child want to write on a piece of paper for just me to see it, when they can write on their blog and the whole world can see it?" So true! That is one thing I love about my blog! I've told so many people throughout the semester "Go look at my blog!" I'm proud of it and I like to show people! Another thing Ms. Cassidy said was, "We cannot teach kids in this generation using the tools that worked 20 years ago...10 years ago...even 5 years ago...we have to change, because the world has changed!" I absolutely agree with her...I think this might need to be one of the "motto's" for EDM310!

C4K - October Summary

During October's "Comments 4 Kids" I commented on 5 different "kids" blog posts. One of the things I love most about C4K is that each week we are assigned to different kids. All of the posts I read this month were so different from one another!

For my 10/2 post I commented on Erilyn's post "I would like to visit Guam". In this post Erilyn explains her reasons for wanting to visit Guam. This was the comment I left for Erilyn:
Hello Erilyn!
My name is Kristen and I’m in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 course at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. As part of my grade for the course I get to comment on your blog! I think it’s really awesome that you want to visit Guam because that’s where part of your family is from! I did some research on Guam after reading your post and it look like a beautiful place. I really enjoyed reading your post and looking at your blog! Keep up the great work!

For my 10/9 C4K I commented on Kasey's blog post "Google!!!!!!:)".
In the post Kasey gave some really interesting facts about Google. This was the comment I left for Kasey:
Hi Kasey!
My name is Kristen and I’m in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 course at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. As part of my grade for the course I get to comment on your blog! I love that you chose Google to blog about! I love Google. It has become a “tool” that I use probably every single day! I had no idea that the name “Google” was an accident, that’s really interesting! Your blog is awesome! Keep up the great work!

On 10/16 I commented on Peyton's blog post "STEM center K’NEX Activity!". Peyton and a friend built a car out of K'NEX. In the post he described the process of building the car and he also added some pictures and videos! This was the comment I left for Peyton:
Hi Peyton!
My name is Kristen. I’m currently in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama and I have been assigned to your blog. The car that you and your partner built out of the K’NEX was awesome! I have a little brother who loves to build things with K’NEX. I also really enjoyed the videos that you posted at the end! What a great way to add something different to your post! You’re doing an awesome job with your blog!

On 10/23 I commented on Yengshi's blog post "Scary Story". Yengshi wrote a really "scary" story about a couple of friends getting lost while they were on a drive! This is the comment I left for Yengshi:
Hi Yengshi!
My name is Kristen and I'm currently in Dr. Stranges' EDM310 course at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your "Scary Story"! It was extremely scary! I loved the suspense you added and how at the end you tied everything together! Keep up the great work!

On 10/31 I commented on Michael's blog post "Australian Outback". This post was actually an animation Michael had made about the Australian Outback. It was really neat! I left this comment for Michael:
Hi Michael!
My name is Kristen and I am a student in Dr. Stranges' EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Your animation of the "Australian Outback" is AMAZING! It looks like you put a lot of time and effort into it! I would love to learn how to do an animation like yours! Thank you so much for sharing your hard work with us!