Project #6 C4K Summary for November

Project #6 C4K Summary for November

C4K #8

Assigned Students Blog:

Ms. Horst's Class - Jessica

Am I a GOOD citizen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

October 30, 2014 @ 9:28 AM 0 Comments      

I think I am a good global citizen because

1. I am helping around the world with this on club called ME TO WE
2. I am not litering and I AM HELPING THE EARTH
3. Global Citizen Journey – YouTube  <—— video watch plezz

I  think I am GOOD LOCEL citizen because

1. I am donating non perisheble items to we scare hunger to help familys  that can’t have dinner but when i donat they can have dinner and on HALLOWEEN I am going to get me some candy and ask for one food item and my goal is 30 items

I think i am a good DIGITAL citizen because I would never I mean never hurt someone on the internet so here is what you shouldn’t do OVERSHARE  Oversharing – Digital Citizenship – YouTube

I think I am a good canadian citizen  because I am donating food around canada!!!!!!!  

and thank you for reading my blog you made me smile 

My comment:

October 30, 2014 at 5:54 PM

Good afternoon Jessica! 

My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. The first thing I noticed when I looked at your blog is that it is so organized and neat. I love that it is easy to read, it is broken down into subcategories, and that you used smiley face emoji’s! You mention that you are in a club called Me To We. What do you do in this club? One of my biggest pet peeves is when people litter. I feel like this shows a lot about one’s character. I am so glad you do not litter and you should encourage everyone that they should throw their trash in the trash can where it belongs. Not only does littering make the community look “trashy” but it is bad for the environment. It sounds like you are doing wonderful things for your community. Helping others that are less fortunate than you is very important. Good luck with your goal of 30 food items and I hope you have a wonderful, fun, and safe Halloween! 

Callie Barton

C4K #9

Assigned Student Blog:

Mrs. Myers class - Jacey

Jacey's Art Blog

Jacey's blog includes a short autobiography about her hobbies and what she likes to do. Her blog has a slide show with pictures of all the art work she created in 7th grade.

My comment:

Jacey,

My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education major at the University of South Alabama. I first just want to say wow! I really enjoyed looking at all of your art work from your 7th grade year. I also love softball and played it from the time I was 4 years old until I was 16. Your pet food dishes were so cute and I like the colors you chose. Do you have a pet? The picture of the person with one leg and the dog sitting beside him was very interesting. We are learning how to do printmaking in my college art class this week so it was really neat to see what you did with your printmaking. My all time favorite was the starry, galaxy sky. The colors were mixed beautifully and you did a wonderful job of the shadowed tree. The duct tape wallet is really neat and functional. You could maybe make them and sell them for some extra spending money! You really seem to have a lot of creativity and skill in your art work. Keep experimenting and being creative; you never know how big of a role it can play in your life. Even if it's just to make you happy. Hope you have a wonderful semester and holiday season!

Callie Barton

C4K #10

Cancelled for Veterans Day!

C4K #11

Assigned Student Blog:

Mrs. DeBuhr's Class - Student 11 Brandon

1ST QUARTER REFLECTION

Tags: 1st Quarter Reflection Categories: Eighth Graders are CoolNOVEMBER 7, 2014 @ 1:14 PM 2 Comments      

My first quarter was very long and boring for the first few weeks. After then it started to get better and less boring. Also at first the homework load was very big but after awhile the load got smaller or I just got more used to have that much. I also like doing SWT (Scared Writing Time) because it give us something to write about and I also like the interesting facts it gives us every day like did you know that lobster blood is blue and insect blood is yellow. It also gives us a word to use in the writing piece of the day. One of the words was dwindle which means to shrink. Sometimes you will like the topic and other times you won’t. Also I really had lots of fun with Social Studies class because we got to watch lots of videos all time. During the month we already did Spirit Groups which are groups of K4-8th graders all in a group that get to do fun activities and the 8th graders are the leaders and I love being the ecstatic leader and my group is never tranquil and my forte is making thing. Like in science class we got to make these bobsleds out of many different materials and ours turned out super cool and I can never do things with a novice because I am so much more advanced then them. Also I started a new book named Found and it is not inane at all. It is always a great book and it is really awesome. I also am getting to like reading a little more. This year has been getting better and better.

My Comment:

Hey Brandon! My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I want to start out by telling you that your vocabulary is impressive. Keep using those words and continue to extend your vocabulary. Scared Writing Time seems like a fun activity. I knew that lobster blood was blue but I didn't know that insect blood is yellow. It's neat to learn interesting facts daily; it makes you smarter. It's definitely a conversation starter. I found it interesting that you worked with the younger grades to collaborate in making a bobsled. Was this an actual working life-size bobsled? It's great that you took control and stepped up to be the leader. Every group needs a great leader in order to be successful. It sounds like you had a pretty busy and progressively better 1st quarter. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and good luck with your 2nd semester!

Callie Barton

Project #14 Project Based Learning Plans

Project #14 - W6 Collaborative Group 5

My group and I came up with a project based learning lesson plan for a 3rd grade Science project involving weather disasters. Students will be divided into four groups and each be given a specific weather pattern : Drought, Hurricane, Tornado, and Flooding. We will talk with a meteorologist from the local new station and have Q and A with him or her via Skype. After the interview students will create a blog post describing what they learned from the interview and how their specific weather pattern has affected them if at all. Students will continue to research their patterns and present a presentation by the end of the week about their weather. Finally, they will create a disaster plan and submit them to their blogs. They will post their presentations to the local news website.

Lesson Plan

Rubric

Callie Barton

Blog Assignment #10

Blog Assignment #10

What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

First Grader's in Mrs. Cassidy's class

Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1

Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2

Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3

Mrs. Cassidy uses technology as much as she can in her 1st grade class. She lets them post in their own blogs, she uses a webpage for elementary students, Wiki, Skype, videos, and even their Nintendo DS for education purposes. She sees technology as "it's here to stay, it's not going anywhere" so she is preparing her students as early as possible to be technologically ready for the future. Although she does get support from her colleagues, Mrs. Cassidy's approach to teaching seems to be out of the "norm" for teachers in her school, . I thought that was interesting since she said she doesn't really use technology for personal reasons and that she just got a Facebook account. I would think that teachers wouldn't try to incorporate something they are not familiar with into their whole teaching strategy. I guess this just shows that she is a successful teacher who is doing what she feels is best for her students and their future.

She said she started incorporating technology in her classroom about 10 years ago when she received 5 computers for her classroom. Instead of letting them collect dust or use them for basic uses she chose to take advantage of them. She said the students really enjoy using technology in the classroom, Instead of just writing something on paper for the teacher to see, they write in a blog for the whole world to see. There is something exciting and motivating about that to the students. This is also a great way for the teachers and the parents to see the students writing progress since all of their posts are in sequential order. Mrs. Cassidy said she sees technology as an opportunity and you are only handicapping the students and teachers if you do not incorporate technology in your teaching strategy.

I will use a couple of her techniques in my classroom. I really like the idea of all of the students keeping a blog. If it motivates the students and helps the teacher keep up with their progress then I could only see it being helpful. It also opens them up to communication with other students around the world. I think letting my students use Skype to communicate with other students their age age around the world would be really neat. They could learn about different cultures and learn to communicate more effectively. I will also have my students use internet resources for research and other projects.

One of the major issues that could arise when using technology is first and foremost safety for my students. I would have to implement strict rules and keep an eye on all of the students to make sure they are following procedures. I will send home a permission slip, like Mrs. Cassidy did, that lists the procedures just to keep the parents informed. As a teacher I will also have to keep in mind that some students may not have a computer or other technology devices at home. If that is the case then I could only keep the technology assignments in the classroom to keep it fair. I really liked Mrs. Cassidy's response to the question one of Dr. Strange's students asked about the students using technology for cheating. She looks at it as collaboration, not cheating. All the information that everyone has is from somewhere else, it is just presented differently. I also really liked her idea about all of the students having a separate student Facebook page instead of using their personal page for school work. As a lower elementary education major I will have less worry about the students using it for personal reasons. I will mostly have to worry about "the outside world" using it to get to my students.

All in all I believe technology can be a very useful resource for my students. It will better prepare them for their future. I believe it will motivate my students and make me a more successful educator. My students could actually probably teach me more than I can teach them. It will definitely be trail and error and a learning experience for not only the students but also for myself.

Callie Barton

Project #12 Smartboard Part A

Project #12 Smartboard Instruction Part A

Part A: Mastering SMARTboard tools:




Callie Barton

Project #4 C4T Summary 3

C4T #3 Comment #1 Post #1

Teachers Blog Post:

Melting Rates by Darren Fix



This is a good discrepit event to start a conversation on heat energy. Ice cubes are placed on blocks made of different materials (although students aren't aware of that). One ice cube melts at a much faster rate than the other. The block that melted the ice cube faster feels colder than the other. Students are quick to predict/assume that the warmer block would have melted the ice cube faster. This leads to a critical thinking discussion of how heat energy flows and the ability of materials to conduct heat better or worse than others.

My comment:

Good afternoon! My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently enrolled in EDM 310 which is a project based learning class. I thought your video on melting rates was very interesting. The whole time I was wondering what each of the blocks were made out of. This would be a great introductory project based lesson for middle school science students. It grabs your attention and makes you start asking questions. It is important to start a lesson with a motivator, especially in middle school. Although this is middle school science lesson I could still use it in my elementary classroom. It is safe, interesting, and you’re never too young to learn!

Callie Barton

C4T #3 Comment #2

Teachers's Blog Post:

Scientific Method Box by Darren Fix



The way I ease my students to this somewhat complex concept is to expose them to the scientific method concept box. Students first make observations with their eyes about the box. After they share what they actually see (colors, words, numbers, and most importantly one side is covered up), they should come up with a question that they are wondering about. The question is “what does the covered side look like?” Students then generate hypotheses about the numbers, colors and words that make up that covered side. They then make more observations and see if there are any patterns in the data. They adjust their hypotheses as they continue to make observations. They finally get to uncover the side in question and compare the results to their hypotheses. For some students the results are expected and match their hypotheses. For others the results do not match their hypotheses. It’s a really good lead to a discussion that what is important in science is data that can lead to a conclusion regardless if the hypothesis is supported or not. In fact it is the unexpected results that lead to new scientific questions and discoveries that weren’t thought possible before. 

My comment:


Good afternoon!

My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I watched your blog on Melting Rates and found it very interesting as well as this video on the Scientific Method Box. I think this project is a great motivator for students to get their brain working and learning how to study and make hypotheses according to the data. I feel like students would respond well to this project because they are involved and it's like a puzzle that they have to figure out. This would also be a great project for them to work on collaboratively within small groups. Science is a subject that is all up to the teacher on how their students respond to it. You can make science fun and interesting or it can be difficult and boring. I guess that is with every other subject also but I feel like you can do more with science. I really enjoy your teaching methods and if I ever get the chance to teach science I will use these methods.


Callie Barton

Project #6 C4K Summary for October

Project #6 C4K Summary for October

C4K#4

Assigned Students Blog:

Mrs. Tharp's Class - Julia

Changes

Studies have shown that students need to get more then the usually recommended 8 hours of sleep. A college student for example, might have classes all day and end up with 3 hours of homework. That doesn’t leave the student with enough time to sleep. School should start later. In some high schools they don’t start untill 10a.m since another study was published showing that teens need 10 or more hours of sleep. To improve our schol system I think t would be wise to have shorter school days. Our school starts around 7:40 and gets out at 2:55. I like our time honestly, and the way our classes are set up makes the day go by faster and actually enjoy school.  Another thing we should be able to do is chew gum. Gum actually helps to keep people more focased and is mildly stress reliving. If people wouldn’t stick the gum to other people and school property that would make this idea a little bit more real. Another thing that I think is a good idea is no uniforms. Uniforms are expensive and uncomfortable most of the time. Letting people not wear a uniform would be better. In the winter, wearing skirts isn’t exactly warm. For the most part, the girls refuse to wear the pants. I mean I would, but I don’t own any and like i said, uniforms are expensive. The entire no shorts thing is kinda strange to me. If we didn’t have a uniform and could wear long shorts then I think it would be a little more logical.

My comment:

Hey Julia! 

My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I have been through all of these situations and I agree with you for the most part. I first want to start out by saying you have great writing skills and a good vocabulary. English is one of my favorite subjects so keep working on those skills and extending that vocabulary! As someone who loves to sleep I definitely agree with you on starting school a little later, maybe just an hour or so. Chewing gum was allowed at school until children started abusing their privileges and, like you mentioned above, starting sticking it where it doesn’t belong. Unfortunately some people ruin it for everyone and there is really no way for the teachers to know which students are being irresponsible. Uniforms definitely have their advantages and disadvantages. I only had to wear school uniforms for 2 years of my grade school career. In those two years there were their ups and downs. On one hand I loved that I did not have to pick out what I was going to wear for that day but on the other there was no variety. There were more rules about our uniforms than there were when we could wear our own clothes. If we didn’t have the right color belt on we would be sent to the office and have to call our parents to bring us a new belt. They eventually slacked off on how strict the rules were and we were able to add our own style to the boring uniforms. I am sure all school uniform policies are different at every school and I am not sure how they are 11 years after I graduated but all in all I didn’t mind wearing uniforms. If you really feel strongly about these things then maybe there is something you can do. Even if it is just writing a letter to the principal to express your feelings and concerns. If nothing changes then at least you know you tried. I hope you have a wonderful and successful school year! 

Callie Barton

C4K#5

Assigned Students Blog:

Miss Jacklin's Class - Koraima C.
Lunar eclipse
This morning I woke up really early to see the eclipse but turns out it was to cloudy. I saw nothing. I went for a run with my mom like we do every morning and saw a little faded red circle in the sky. When we ran down the hill I saw nothing again.  I wondered why at the top of the hill I could see a faded red circle in the sky but when I ran down hill I saw nothing. Then I had breakfast and went to choir at 7:30. 

My comment:

Hey Koraimac! My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I first want to say that I really like your name; it is very unique. I love that you and your Mom get up early to run together. It is a fun, healthy way to start your mornings. Not to mention great bonding time with your Mom. It is a bummer you didn’t get to see the lunar eclipse but at least you got to see the faded red ring. There will be another lunar eclipse on April 4, 2015 so mark your calendar! You may get to see it a little better next time. Good luck with your school year! 

Callie Barton

C4K#6

Assigned Students Blog:

Paula Naugle's Class - Austin V. (I was assigned Eric S. but he did not have a post)

Dot Day

When we did Dot Day with PreK I was buddies with Devin. The first activity was the colAR app. We had to put a drawing under a camera with the app downloded to make it 3D. The second activity was the “trace your name for PreK with bingo dots”. The third activity was to sort by color with puff balls and Fruit Loops. The fourth activity was Twister. The PreKers loved Twister. Then we did a Skype with Laurie Ann Thompson. She is a author that just published a new book called Be a Changemaker. The last thing was that we had to walk PreK down to their P.E. class. I loved Dot Day.

   

My comment:

Hey Austin! My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I loved reading about all of the activities your class did with Dot Day. I actually just learned what Dot Day is in one of my classrooms. For our Dot Day activity we did paper mache into a dot and got to paint it however we wanted to. Have you ever done paper mache? It is fun but very messy! In your pictures it looks like you all had a great time playing and working together with your classmates and the Pre K students. Twister was always one of my favorite games to play when I was growing up. Good luck with school and I hope you have a great year! 

Callie Barton


C4K #7

Assigned Students Blog:

Jalen - Pt England School

How to make a kete

Here is a movie about how to make a kete I hope you enjoy.

Jalen - How to make a kete

My comment:

Hey Jalen! My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education major at the University of South Alabama in the United States. I really enjoyed your video on how to make a kete. I am a college student and I am just now learning how to make movies/videos. I liked your background music. Did you pick that? It makes you want to dance! I have never heard of a kete until I watched you video. You did a great job with your animations and showing how to make one. Keep up the good work and hopefully one day I will be able to make a video as well as you did!

Callie Barton

Blog Assignment #9

Blog Assignment #9

What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning?

Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning

This article went into depth about project based learning and was a very interesting read. I really liked that there was an example of an actual teacher giving a project based lesson to her students with an explanation below. There were two criteria's and seven essentials for project based learning listed in this article.

A project is meaningful if it fulfills two criteria:

1. First, students must perceive the work as personally meaningful, as a task that matters and that they want to do well.

2. A meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose.

Seven Essentials of PBL:

1. Need to Know
    To be successful as a teacher in project based learning you may have to adjust your teaching style or presentation of the project. It is very important the way a teacher engages their students and introduces an assignment. In the article it said that most students feel like they get assigned "busy work" and is pretty much meaningless to them. We need to change that and find ways to get them motivated.

2. A Driving Question
    After you have engaged the students and introduced the topic, it is important to lead a classroom discussion. This gets ideas flowing and many different questions, answers, and communication started. In this discussion it is important to give the students a driving question that creates focus. A good driving question will give the students a sense of purpose and a challenge.

3. Students Voice and Choice
    Once the students are interested then the teacher will explain the requirements for the assignment. Make sure that there is technology involved and also include a product of the students choice. Teachers may provide a limited menu to avoid the students from being overwhelmed by choices. I would definitely give my students some choices since I always felt overwhelmed as a student when I didn't have guidelines/choices. If someone would like to come up with their own product I wouldn't mind as long as they ran it by me first so I could approve.

4. 21st Century Skills
    PBL is all about collaboration, Make sure that collaboration is central to the project and have students in small teams of three or four. Have them get in their groups to start planning and discussing responsibilities. It is important to walk around and observe to see how well the group is communicating with one another and as individuals. One of the topic's this article brought up is that collaborating, critical thinking, and the use of technology will serve them well in life. I love that teachers and the education system is now looking at education as preparation for life and I definitely agree that those three skills will help in their future.

5. Inquiry and Innovation
    Once learners find something that is interesting to them I feel like just them being interested in it is motivation in itself. Everyone has different interest and topics that they enjoy and if you are doing something that you do not enjoy then the experience is dull and meaningless. Students will get more out of a project that is interesting than one they don't care about. Once they are interested in the topic and they start researching they usually get excited about what they are doing and they want to know more. Like the article said, "As learners find answers, they raised and investigated new questions." One question leads to another.

6. Feedback and Revision
    Having the students critique one another is also very important in collaboration. It makes the students aware that not only are they being "graded" by their teacher but also their peers. Peer critiquing is more about learning and working hard than it is for an actual grade. I feel like the person critiquing learns just as much as the one who is being critiqued. Creating a rubric for a guideline is important for the teacher and the students. I feel like people will put more effort into something if they know other people, especially their peers, will be critiquing their work..

7. A Publicly Presented Product
    Instead of just grading their projects it is important to show your students that they did these projects for more than just a grade. Have an exhibition night and invite an audience to come see the students work. Make the students feel proud of their hard work and show the meaning behind it. If they know that their parents, peers, and community are going to  observe their work then they will try harder and it will mean more to them.

Project BasedLearning for Teachers

This short video reiterated in a summary what I learned in the article discussed above. When giving a Project Based Learning lesson you should give your students an extended period of time to answer a driving question. The question should be deep and require the students to complete an end product to share their learning with others. Common core standards are aligned with college and work experience, application of knowledge, and is evidence based. PBL is inquiry based, open ended, and is problem solving. Not only will the students be meeting the standards but they will be learning valuable skills such as collaboration skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and career and life skills. With the growing of technology it also plays a huge role in PBL. There are so many resources out there and teachers are finally starting to encourage their students to use and take advantage of the many resources we have available. PBL also gives the students more control of their learning. I feel like project based learning is a wonderful way of learning for the students and the teachers. If we didn’t learn to evolve and adapt our teaching to the world around us then we would only be taking away from our students and their future. 

Project - Based Learning and Physical Education

The title of this article spiked my interest as soon as I read it. When you think of project based learning you do not think to incorporate into physical education; or at least I don't. In this article they took the seven essentials for project based learning that we discussed earlier and applied a physical education lesson to it. High school students were given the task to create the best exercise plan for middle school students. To do this they first needed to engage in research online and in person. They then had to come up with driving questions so they could begin work. They were split up into groups and each group was allowed to choose their own PE unit, They not only had to show that the lesson would meet the standards but they also had to showcase it by podcasts, video, demonstrations, etc. This project requires collaboration skills and presentation skills. Because it is an open ended task the students are constantly having to asked more questions. When it is complete they would have to present their projects to an audience.

In some ways I feel like this is a great idea but on the other hand I feel like sometimes students just need a break from thinking. They spend all day sitting, listening, and thinking in all of their other classes. I know it was a relief sometimes just to go to PE, play basketball, and that be the only thing I had to think about. I think it may be a good idea to come up with a project based learning lesson at the end of the semester for a final grade. That way they can have their "carefree" time and have a project at the end of the semester. 

PBL - High School Math

In this video they talked mostly about the challenges teachers are having incorporating project based learning into their classrooms. Not only is it an adjustment for the students but even more for the teachers. They are having to come up with brand new ideas and completely change their curriculum. This process could be harder for the educators that have been teachers for many years. Sometimes it is harder for people to change when they are already successful. Why change it if there is nothing wrong? The world evolves and we need to evolve with it; that includes our education and how we teach it. 

This is the first video I have seen where the students are asked their opinion about PBL. It is very important to get the students perspectives since they are the ones who are affected and can really give feedback. As we heard from the video, the math teachers are having to work extra hard to incorporate PBL into their lesson plans. They can not apply it to every assignment so they are incorporating it as much as they can. They are working hard and collaborating with one another to be successful. I have noticed in all of these resources that collaboration is one of the most important aspects of project based learning. Not only is collaboration required in the projects that the students are doing but more importantly for the teachers. They have to put their minds together and collaborate on new ideas; that is the only way project based learning can be successful.

What Motivates Students?

This video was all about students feedback on what motivates them to do good in school and what rewards mean the most to them. It was so cute to hear what motivates them to do well in school. Most of their motivation was to get good grades so they can get good jobs when they grow up. Smart kids! One of the boys motivation to do well in school is so he will not get grounded and he can go to all of his baseball games. Another one of their motivation was simply just to be recognized for working hard and doing a good job. It is very important to give feedback either way but very important when a student exceeds at something.

Rewards and/or a reward system is especially great for the elementary classroom. It teaches them a good work ethic early on and that when you work hard and do good things in school then you will be rewarded. Unfortunately you will not be rewarded with candy in college but you will be rewarded in good grades; which is more important. It is important to keep your students motivated and at this age rewards (candy, pizza party, special privileges, etc) are a great motivator. 

Callie Barton

Special Assignment

Special Assignment

Ages 18 - 24

1. 87% say their smartphone never leaves their side.
2. 80% say the very first thing they do in the morning is reach for their smartphone.
3. 78% say they spend 2 or more hours per day using their smartphone.
4. 68% say they would prefer to use their smartphone instead of their laptop or personal computer for personal use.
5. 91% say that having a camera on their smartphone is important (61% very important)
6. 87% say they use their smartphone camera at least weekly. 59% use their smartphone camera at least every other day. 44% use their smartphone camera for still or motion picture taking every day.

Part A

Write at least two paragraphs on the implications for education, school, teachers, and learners that flow from the above data.

The data above does not shocked me one bit. In the past couple of months I have had to train a 21 year old girl to take over my job as Human Resources manager at an engineering staffing firm. Most 0f the time when I was teaching her she was absently listening while playing on her phone, texting, and taking "selfies." This was very frustrating to me since I may look at my phone twice a day while I am at work and not to mention very rude. This, to say the least, has had an affect on her work and her learning. This is just an example of a personal experience I have had recently on the use and effects of smart phones.

The above paragraph brings me to my opinions on what the above data implements on our education, school, teachers, and learners. With the growth of technology and cell phone use there will be positive and negative affects in the classroom; in my opinion, mostly negative. Young adults are so wrapped up in social media and their phones that it is difficult for them to pay full attention to their teachers because they are so worried about who has called, text, tweeted, etc. This will definitely be something that teachers will have to deal with in their classrooms. This will also have many negative consequences on the students education and how they learn.  If the trainee would have paid more attention to me instead of being so worried about her phone, her job wouldn't be in jeopardy now.

Although there are many negative ramifications there are also some good that can come out of smart phones. The students have any information they could ever need at their fingertips. If something comes up that they do not know about they can just Google it and find out the answer. This does bring up the issue of cheating but that is just another negative. Another positive of smart phones is safety. God forbid, but if something ever came up in the school where the police would need to be called then there would be plenty of students who could use their phones.  As a future lower elementary school educator I don't believe I will have to worry about this issue as much. Most of my students will probably be too young to have their own phones and even if they did I don't think they would be as worried about them. There isn't near as much drama in kindergarten as there is in high school!


Part B

Assume that all of your students will have either a smartphone or a tablet with a camera. Generate as many ideas as you can as to how you might make use of these tools for learning purposes for kids whom you will be teaching. Make use of the Alabama College and Career Ready Standards where appropriate.

They could generate a whole project with any of these devices. 
They could look up information, take pictures, set up presentations, and even make a movie.
The teacher could give each student a subject and they could look up all of their needed information on their devices.

Callie Barton

Project #4 C4T Summary 2

Project #4 C4T #2 Summary

C4T #1

Recasting the Bullying Narrative

by Liz Losh

Here is a summary of the blog linked above:

As Berliner explains, their critique focuses on the administration and policy issues involved in program development and implementation and how community centers must “learn the language of evaluation” in new ways to “speak back and alongside funding institutions . . . and bring youth to the table.” She also observes that too many funders rely on the assumption “that youth are inherently empowered through media production,” which can be a problem for unrepresented youth when there is “reflection and catharsis involved” in which the most important work is involved with something other than “finished product that is marketable.” 
“The piece missing is the fact that girls are making media all the time,” Berliner pointed out, although young people “are not necessarily inherently skilled at the kinds of technologies that we assume they are.” However, because participants were coming in “with different experiences of technology, the process ignited a kind of sociality and intersubjectivity.” Ultimately, she discovered that “it was not about what it means to be girls — which was what was being told to them — but to come up with ideas, to be creative together, to be playful, to collaborate.” 
In this process, Berliner also saw the young participants assuming considerable agency in “making decisions about music” and reflecting “what their lives were really like” to “strengthen ties and experiences” that reach engaging with systemic rather than conversational issues. “They drew out emotions and discussion from youth who didn’t ever actually pick up a camera or get in front of the camera. They were just around the media technology in space.”

Here is what I wrote back:

Hello! My name is Callie Barton and I am an elementary education major at the University of South Alabama. I found this blog article to be very interesting. Media can be a great way to get information out there and people talking as long as it is used in the right way. Sometimes it is good to get someone in front of the camera who doesn't have any experience but has a great story. As a woman I am all about empowering women and anti bullying. Media is a great way to speak out about issues but you want it to make a difference and make people aware. If it only changes one person's opinion then in my mind it is a success. Keep doing what you are doing ladies!

Callie Barton

C4T #2

Potential and Pitfalls of Digital Reading Platforms for Connected Learning

by Howard Rheingold

Here is a summary of the blog linked above:

At the recent Tech for Schools Summit hosted by EdSurge at the USC Rossier School of Education, organizers promised that the event was designed “for educators by educators” and that attendees would “gain exposure to cutting edge tech tools.” I arrived with an interest in learning more about the ways that education technology tools are marketed to teachers and the extent to which these tools offered teachers opportunities to customize Connected Learning experiences for their students.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that the major players in literacy-oriented technology tools are digital reading platforms — software that allows students to read and interact with texts without the bother of paper. I visited three of them — LightSail, Curriculet, and Actively Learn. Since I have not personally played with any of these particular products myself (yet), I do not intend to review them individually; instead, I’m more interested in thinking about what they mean to classroom literacy teaching in a more general sense. 

He went on to list the pros and cons that he witnessed and found in each of these subcategories of the software:
Library '
Curriculum/Assessments
Annotations
Data

Here is what I wrote back:

Hello Mr. Rheingold. I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama. I found your blog about technology tools that are being introduced to help educators teach and students learn to be very interesting. I really like that you did the "homework" and research yourself instead of just going with the most convincing sales rep. Most people wouldn't put that much effort into finding out the differences and pros and cons unless they really cared. I read all of the features and I agree there are some great tools that can be very useful and others that are just there and wouldn't harm or help the students. Hopefully when these programs are launched and the companies get feedback from teachers and students, they can reprogram the software to only keep the things that are useful. I look forward to seeing these programs for myself and doing a little research of my own. Your blog has been very informative.

Callie Barton

Blog Assignment #8

Blog Assignment #8

What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch?

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

A better question would be what didn't you learn from watching this video. It was an emotional and motivating speech for his audience. All of these "lessons" are more life lessons than educational lessons. One of the first eye opening statements that he said was "you can't change the cards you were dealt, just how we play the hand." There are many situations is everyone's life that doesn't go according to plan. You can choose to make it worse or make it better just by your attitude. I feel like his attitude couldn't be any better especially considering his situation. Another one of his great lessons was that when people stop telling you your mistakes that's when people stop caring and believing in you and that's when you should worry. As future educators it will be our job to correct our students and show them their mistakes. I feel the younger the children are the more receptive they are to corrections and criticism. When people get older they tend to think they "know everything" and are less likely to accept and learn from their mistakes. Being able to own and learn from your mistakes makes you smarter than someone who doesn't; literally, because you learned something new and/or corrected something that was wrong.

"There is a good way and a bad way to say the same thing." This is another quote from Randy Pausch that I thought was simple and brilliant. If more people would think before they speak they could get a while lot more accomplished. This is not only a great life lesson but also a great lesson to future teachers. We have to watch what we say and more and importantly how we say it. People react, it's just what we do. People respond by how what is being communicated to them is said. If you want someone to hear you then the best way is to say it in the way you would want to hear it. Children especially hear things in this manner. I feel like they pay more attention to the way things are told to them than what is actually being said. Thinking about how you are going to say something is important to be a successful teacher.

Another one of the things he talked about was pioneering. Pioneering is a wonderful thing but it is important to know when trying out new concepts that things go wrong and there will be some people who are not supportive of you. Pioneering is all about taking a risk. Sometimes you are successful and sometimes you may not be. When you are doing something that has never been done before it is up to you to find solutions to problems that will arise. Also, everyone will have an opinion and it's up to you to allow those opinions to effect you either positively or negatively. In the end whether you are successful or not at least you tried. This brings me to the next topic that I liked in this lecture. He mentioned being self reflective and how important it is. Most people never stop to criticize themselves or even pat themselves on the back for anything. People are usually too busy judging each other to judge themselves. If you can learn to self reflect successfully and really listen to yourself then you can create an advantage for yourself.

One of my all time favorite quotes that was on this lecture was "Ignore what they say and pay attention to what they do." I believe this was more directed toward relationships but this advice should be used in every aspect of your life. Everyone knows to tell people what they want to hear but it doesn't really mean anything until it is done.

The last two and most important lesson I learned today is to stop complaining, just work harder and always have fun; you never know when it could be your last day.

Callie Barton

Project #9 - Video Book Commentary

Project #9 - Video Book Commentary

Group 5

Topic #1




Callie Barton

Project #13 Project Based Learning Plan

Project #13 - W6 Collaborative Group 5

My group and I came up with a project based learning lesson plan for a 3rd grade Science project involving volcanoes. The students will be required to research volcanoes on the Alabama Virtual Library and create a Popplet as an outline from the research. They will then need to write a one page essay on their findings and create a model or drawing of a volcano.

Here is the link to the lesson plan:

Lesson Plan 

Here is the link to the rubric:

PBL Rubric

Callie Barton

Project #7 Four Movies Part B

iMovie to Parents or Guardians

iMovie to Students




Callie Barton

Blog Assignment #7

Blog Post 7 How Do We All Become Learners?

• List your strengths and weaknesses. 
• What do you have to do in the net year and half to get ready to be a teacher using project based approaches to learning in situations where students have the tools they need to participate effectively in such instruction.

First I will go ahead and list my weaknesses. One of my weaknesses is that I did not grow up with technology so it is more difficult for me to understand the importance and variety of it. Most technology wasn't even invented yet, and what did exist we couldn't afford. We didn't even have cable television. We did have a Nintendo and I got a Game Boy and cell phone when I was a teenager but those were just toys that you play games on, not learning based or technologically advanced devices. Our parents were more focused on us playing outside than inside staring at a television. This point brings me to my biggest weakness. I do not want our kids to solely rely on technology for every aspect of their lives. I understand that it will help their learning and is a wonderful reliable resource for their education but what does that do for their social skills? If we, their educators, are teaching them to use technology instead of writing with a pencil and piece of paper doesn't that encourage the all time use of technology? 

My strengths are that I have the ability to pick up on things pretty quickly. I can usually figure things out on my on with a little bit of time and thought. I also have the ability to realize that technology is a good thing for students and their education. As a teacher I have to show them the resources that are out there for them because technology is getting more advanced by the day. They will be more qualified to adapt if they get good practice. I will definitely use project based learning in my future classroom but I will also incorporate some pencil to paper or art project to go along with it.

There are many things that I need to do in the next year and a half before I graduate to prepare for project based learning. I have already learned so much and broadened my "technology horizons" just this year by coming back to college. This is my first semester back to college in 3 years and just in those 3 years a lot has changed academically. Almost all of my glasses are blended courses which means we have to do some work in class and other work online. This was not usually the case those three years ago. Just in this class alone I have been introduced to so many helpful online resources that I can and will use in my classroom. I am still learning and getting use to it but it is definitely getting easier. Once I let my guard down to learning this way it became less frustrating and more helpful. Being in the classroom during candidacy will also help me see how students learn best so I can learn how to adapt. Like I said, there are many things left for me to learn before I graduate but I will never stop learning. When I am a veteran educator I will still be learning and sometimes being taught by students.

How to make an audio of QR Code

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olqVcAYnA_o

I have seen these codes everywhere lately and have always wondered what they are and how they are made. Well this video taught me. This video showed how you or your students would record something and then make it into a QR Code. First they would go to www.recordmp3.org where they would press the record button and record until they were ready to press stop. Once they were finished they would click on use this recording and a URL would pop up. They would then copy that URL and go to www.QRcode-monkey.com. Once you are at this site you would paste the URL into the place where it says Enter URL and click Create QR-Code. Once that is clicked then your QR Code is made. In the video she copied and pasted it into a word document so the student or parent could scan it and listen to the recording. Anyone can get a QR Code scanner app for free. One of the great things about all off these websites and resources are that they are all free!

Ginger Tuck, GSES Kindergarten - iPad Centers

iPad in the Reading Center

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iezQjGbTpm0&feature=youtu.be

First I want to say that I was so surprised and impressed that a kindergartner was already reading! She used iPad's in her reading centers to help students assess their reading. They would record themselves reading a book and then they would play it back and follow along in the book. This way they could recognize their mistakes and what they need to work on. I learned that giving your students freedom and letting them assess themselves is great way for them to practice and learn.

Poplet as a Center

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ophIZhNs2s4

I had never heard of Popplet before watching this video. It is a free app that you can download on any tablet. This is a simple and great resource for the lower elementary classes. The students choose a topic that they want to make their Popplet on and they type their subject into the center square. They would then create their web (the squares around the center square) by choosing images that relate their their center topic and put them in the squares. They would then add text to the square with a small description of the image. This teaches young kids to be able to read a book and transfer the knowledge into technology. It also helps with their typing skills. I think Popplet is a great stepping stone for children and their future presentations.

Alabama Virtual Library as a Kindergarten Center

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvgz8efzKLA&feature=youtu.be

The Alabama Virtual Library is a free app for all residents in the state of Alabama. The students will download the app and log in (the librarian and/or teacher will teach them these steps) to the elementary school edition since they are in elementary. Once they are logged in a search engine will pop up and they will type in the word they are trying to research. They will get these words from their teacher. When they search these words, images and a description will show up. Since they are in elementary they can actually play the description and an audio will read aloud to them and they can follow along on the screen. The teacher then has the students draw on paper the word that they researched. Once they practice this for a week or so she then made them start adding sentence to their drawings. This a a great activity that incorporates technology, typing skills, research, drawing pictures, and writing sentences. 

Mrs, Shirley's 1st Grade Class: How to use and build a Board in DE for a Project Based Lesson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS7DMH7FqXE&feature=youtu.be

This video taught me about Discovery Education and how it is used in the classroom. The students will first log in with a user name and password to Discovery Education. They can watch videos about subjects that they will be doing their Board Builder on. Once they watch the videos they will write facts about what they learned. Once they are in Discovery Education and clicked on Board Builder they will then type in their title. There will be text boxes around the title where they can type in the facts about their subject. They can retrieve images and videos from Discovery Education and apply them into their boxes on their board. This site is very helpful with research and organizing your research.

Mrs. Tassin's 2nd Grade Class

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TyrmP3OL18&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxAs2ffAysQ&feature=youtu.be

These videos showed me more about Board Builders. They are basically power point presentations for children. It is a great way for students to research, organize, and present their work. It also teaches them how to navigate and search for things that they are looking for on their technology devices.

Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten July 7, 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRNvyhTmcck

One of the things I learned in this video is that kindergarten classes are already using iMovie and doing movie trailers. Last week we, as college students, had to use iMovie to do a movie trailer on a book. It wasn't difficult to figure out but it is very impressive that kindergartners are using this resource. It just goes to show that the younger they are the more adaptive they can be. 

The Alabama Virtual Library is a free app for anyone in Alabama and teaches basic research skills. It also brings up kindergarten based articles and images for their research.

We All Become Learners 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5TAWgwv9O4

I really like that she brought up the fact that technology changes up the dynamics of learning. Everyone becomes a learner. Technology in the classroom is a new concept not only for the students but also for the teachers. Teachers and students are all learning together and teaching one another. I see that librarians are also involved in the new age of technology and teaching our students so they can be more prepared in the classroom. It seems like technology is bringing everyone together and getting everyone excited about learning.

Callie Barton