Blog Post #16

What I learned from EDM310.

Blog Post#5 Part 2

Personal Learning Networks are very important not only students but also teachers. If a networks is set up correctly it allow students and teachers to converse with subject matter experts in multiple fields. There is multiple sites and apps that allows someone to set up their own Personal Learning Network, but the one that I use the most is Twitter. Twitter allows communication between a variety of different people simply by following them. This can be very beneficial to teachers as they are able to communicate and bounce ideas off of others in their field. This class has tough me the importance of creating a good PLN and this is something that I will always be able to use throughout my teaching career.

C4T November

Stephens Greenberg

This post is about a new exciting school in Brooklyn New York. This new school is nothing like the traditional school setting. Students meet with personalized tutors for two hours daily and often work in small group settings. My commit follows; Hello my name is Justin Thompson I am a student of EDM310 @ the University of South Alabama. I will post a summery on my blog at the end of the month. These new type of schools sound interesting. Do these schools offer after school activities such as sports and band?

Nicholas Provenzano

 Throughout this post Mr. Provenzano explains the benefits about Project Based Learning and shows an example of one of his students project. I would suggest anyone that wants to learn the benefits of Project Based Learning activities to visit his blogger. My commit follows:
Mr. Provenzano,

My name is Justin Thompson and I am a student of EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be summarizing your latest post on my blogger. Your students did an outstanding job making this video. It is amazing how Project Based Learning activities fully engage students.  

Blog Post #14

Teaching our can be a profession.

The article above was written by Joel Klein and published in USA Today on November 17, 2014. Throughout this article Joel writes about two main problems with the teaching profession today.

1. Problem hiring teachers.
2. Problem with seniority.

Joel Klein states in this article that school systems hire anyone with a college degree to fill their teaching positions. His solution to fix this problem is to recruit and hire the top third of college graduates. This seems a little ridiculous to me. It is very hard especially in today's world to be hired into the public school system. They simply do not and can not hire teachers based solely on their grades. The student teaching process is very strenuous. Joel fails to take into account that every teacher hired has once been a student teacher and has done so for free. As to hiring the top third of college graduates, it takes a special person to be an effective teacher, not everyone that has maintained a high GPA throughout college will become one. 

Joel Klein's second issue with the profession of teaching is seniority. He states that seniority dictates the way schools operate and it is impossible to fire incompetent teachers. I would argue that teachers are able to reach their seniority status because of their effective teaching abilities. He also states that the school systems often fire the last teacher hired regardless of their teaching abilities. This is simply not the case. Why would any one in their right mind want to fire the more effective teachers simply because of the number of years they have under their belt? I sincerely hope that the issues Joel Klein writes about are not the norm of employment procedures in the school systems today.

C4K November

Patrickm, Student of Mr. Akerson 5th grade from Saint Louis, MO

Patrickm wrote about the importance of not wearing uniforms at school. This is my response. Patrickm, I am an EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama. I can tell this is a very important issue for you. I really enjoyed the passion you put into this post. I agree with you students should have a way to express their individuality. Great post keep up the good work.

Amaya, Student of Mrs Mena from Chula Vista, CA

Amaya wrote a compare and contrast blog on the differences and similarities between her and her mother. This is my response. Hello, I am an EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama. You did a great job with this compare and contrast blog. I really enjoyed your last line about the jerky! Keep up the good work.

Paris R, Student of Mrs. Mena 5th grade from Chula Vista, CA

Paris wrote a compare and contrast blog post on Henry Ford and Maya Angelou. This is my commit. Hello my name is Justin Thompson and I am an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama. You did a nice job on this blog post. Good job describing how these individuals helped shape the world. Keep up the good work and have a great rest of the year.

Blog Post#13

What can you learn from the following videos about teaching History?

Watch the following videos and answer the driving question above.
Teaching Students to Think Like Historians, by Stanford
David McCullough's 5 Lessons Every High School Student Should Learn, by Susan Goding
Powerful Teaching and Learning- High School Social Studies- Heather Fox, by thebercgroup

The video Teaching Students to Think Like Historians urges teachers to break away from the strangle hold of text books. This film suggests that teachers teach history by using primary sources, and secondary sources. Historical sites is a wonderful way for students learn using modern technology.

5 Lessons Every High School Student Should Learn urges teachers not to have their students memorize dates and quotations, but encourages teachers to give their students the opportunity to learn what happened in history and why. This video also encourages teachers to teach their students in other ways than just using text books. Some ways this videos suggest are; group projects, students make their-own documentary video, plays, and papers.

The Video Powerful Teaching and Learning shows a teacher as her class moves from an old lesson to a new lesson. The teacher , Heather Fox, asks her students a driving question before each new topic and allows the students to answer the questions orally to other students beside them. This grabs students attention and allows them to think critically about a historical event before any lesson is given. This is a great way for teachers to check on students existing knowledge and critical thinking skills.

Blog Post #12

What assistive technologies are available are available to you as a teacher?

Project #10

Interview Movie

Project # 14

This link  contains our lesson plan created by Heather Howton, Alex Odell, Andrea Fust, and Justin Thompson.

Blog Post # 11

I encourage teachers whether they're just starting their careers, or have been teaching for a number of years to watch the following videos.

1. Back to the Future, by Brian Crosby
2. Blended Learning Cycle, by Paul Anderson
3. Building Comics, by Sam Pane
4. Project Based Learning, by Dean Shareski
5. Roosevelt Elementary' PBL Program

All of the videos above show the benefits of project based learning. Brian Crosby, a teacher of English second language students, describes how he uses Blogs, Flicker, and Skype in his classroom. He states these technologies allow his students to communicate with the world in ways they were unable to do so in the past. It really is inspiring to see how much his students enjoy learning in his classroom. Paul Anderson's video, Blended Learning Cycle, describes the foundation that makes up a well designed  project based learning activity. His instruction gives teachers the ability to create meaningful project based learning activities that will drive students to excel. It is very important that teachers use a strong frame work while building their project based learning activities in their classroom because it allows students to learn more than the old burp back methods of the past. Project based learning empowers students and creates a desire to learn and absorb knowledge.  

C4K summary Oct

James from Mrs Schraml 5th Grade
This post is about his love for choir.

I am a student at the University of Alabama. It sounds like you are going to have a blast in choir. I do not believe we have choir at the University, but I did have choir at my high school. Sadly, I did not participate in it because of baseball. Keep up the good work and practice and who knows where your talents will take you.

Bella from Mrs Ripp 7th Grade
This post is about what kids should be able to control in school.

My name is Justin Thompson and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. College is quite different than middle school, but I do remember having some of the same problems you are having while I was in middle school. One being the short time between classes. We too only had 3 min to make it to our next class. Most of the time my teachers allowed me to go to the bathroom at the beginning of class but not all the time. Maybe if you ask right when you walk in they will allow you to go. Great post Bella.

Bobby, from Ms Ripp
This post is about diplomacy in the classroom.

 My name is Justin Thompson and I am also student at the University of South Alabama. Voting on test dates would make life a lot simpler. I remember when I was your age having as many as four test in one day. Keep up the good work and remember the best way to keep up with your studies is with a calender and good time management.

Quinlan, from Mrs. Somerville
In this post she was telling a story about her nightmare.

 My name is Justin Thompson and i am a student from the University of South Alabama. This does sound like a horrible nightmare. Nice job telling your story keep up the good work.

C4T# 3

Jason,

My name is Justin Thompson and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be summarizing this post on my class blog.
I agree using video at practice or in the classroom would be very beneficial for students and teachers. Thanks for the blogs, keep them coming.

Jason,

This post is titled McHenry PE workshop links. It is exactly what the title says, links for physical education workshops. There was no message to the post only links that teachers can explore for their self.

Blog Post# 10

What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

Mrs. Cassidy is a first grade teacher from Canada, and she uses technology in her classroom that allows her students to learn in the 21st century. The resources that she uses is: Twitter, Blogging, Wiki, Skype, and Webpages. She does this because it allows her students to connect with the world as they learn. As a new teacher I will use all the technology listed above in my classroom. All these sources can and will benefit students of today's world, because the old way of teaching is simply outdated. Using technology in classroom has many benefits. One, is that students respond well to using these new methods, because creates a positive learning environment. These new methods allows  student's work to be seen by the world vs., the old way, just the teacher.

Project # 12

How to work a Smartboard.

Blog Post # 9

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

This lesson has taught me the importance of  Project Based Learning for teachers as well as for students, and the motivation it creates in students. Listed below are some imports factors that makes up a well prepared Project Based Learning activity.  

Meaningful projects fulfill two criteria.

1. Students believe the work is meaningful.
2. The project has educational purpose.

There are seven essential elements of meaningful projects. 

1. A Need to Know- Projects should make students feel like they need to know the information that makes up the project.
2. A Driving Question- Questions should give students a sense of purpose and challenge them. 
3. Student Voice and Choice- Teachers should give students the opportunity to impressive them. This can be done by allowing students to manage their own project. 
4. 21st Century Skills- Projects Based Learning allows students to develop skills that they will need in everyday life such as; collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. 
5. Inquiry and Innovation- Projects should engage students in a way that allows them to come up with their own questions.
6. Feed back and Revision- Teachers should coach students by using rubrics. This will allow students to know areas they need to work on which will allow them to correct the problem areas.
7. A Publicly Presented Projects- Teachers should find ways to let the world see the finished product. By doing this projects become more meaningful to students. 

Sources:

Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning

Project Based learning for Teachers

Project Based Learning and Physical Education

Project Based Learning in PE

What Motivates Students

Project # 9

Video Book Conversation 

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning.

Part A

87% of people that have smart phones say it never leaves their side. What this means for me as a future teacher in the American public school system is that majority of my students will have smart phones in my classroom. This has the potential of becoming a detraction with (games. texting. ect), but it also has unlimited learning potential for students.

It is my job as a teacher to come up with productive ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. A great way I can do so is through project based learning. An example of what I can do is break my students into groups and have them prepare an informative video on a subject by using their smartphones or computers. 

Part B 

The lesson plans shown below can be all be found on Alex, and all three are being used in the public school system today. In my classroom I would modify these lesson plans to make them project based learning lessons. I would break my students into groups and encouraging them to use their smartphones and tablets in order to research for their group projects. With today's technology so readily available for student, there are endless possibilities of what teachers can do in their classrooms.

•  Describe current news stories from various perspectives, including geographical, historical, political, social, and cultural.
• Evaluating the impact of current news stories on the individual and on local, state, national, and international communities (Alabama)
• Comparing current news stories to related past events
• Analyzing news stories for implications regarding nations of the world
• Locating on a map areas affected by events described in news stories
• Interpreting statistical data related to political, social, and economic issues in current events
• Compare the relationship of governments and economies to events occurring in specific nations.
• Identifying recurring historical patterns in regions around the world
• Describing costs and benefits of trade among nations in an interdependent world
• Comparing ways different countries address individual and national economic and social problems, including child care, tax rates, economic regulations, health care, national debt, and unemployment
•  Compare information presented through various media, including television, newspapers, magazines, journals, and the Internet.
• Explaining the reliability of news stories and their sources
• Describing the use, misuse, and meaning of different media materials, including photographs, artwork, and film clips
• Critiquing viewpoints presented in editorial writing and political cartoons, including the use of symbols that represent viewpoints
• Describing the role of intentional and unintentional bias and flawed samplings 

Blog Post #8

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

Anyone that is thinking about becoming a teacher should watch Randy Pausch's lecture. Throughout the lecture Randy talks about many key factors that people should live by in order to accomplish there goals. He states;  "goals have obstacles, but the obstacles are only there to stop people that don't want it bad enough." Remembering this is not only important to teachers, but also in life in general.

Another important lesson this lecture has taught me is teachers should not have low expectations for their students. Randy states that even if you are blown away by student's work you should compliment them and push them even farther. This is a very important lesson for teachers to remember in their classrooms and by doing this it will benefit students greatly. These are just a couple if important issues Randy talks about throughout this lecture. I encourage anyone that has not seen this lecture to watch it.


   

  

Project 13

Click here to look at my group project 13.

C4T2 Post 2

I commented on Ed's blog 10 ways to make meetings (and lessons) meaningful... The purpose of this post is to make every meeting-lesson meaningful. Edna states,"Teachers should get feedback from their students to see what lesson plans worked best for them to learn the information." I commented on Edna's blog agreeing that it was important for teachers to plan in response to the learning.

Ed's lastest blog  post is titled Changing Groups. Ed's purpose of this post is to ask teachers questions about methods they use in their classroom when assigning group work. This post is an open debate that allows teachers to give their own experiences, and is a great way to find out what real teachers are doing in their classrooms.

Blog Post #7

Strengths

• Technology allows everyone to learn quickly
• Ability to learn new programs quickly
• Ability to watch how to videos 

Weaknesses

• Was not exposed to technology is school
• Not knowing what technologies works best for students

Throughout this lesson I have learned how to properly use technology in the classroom which will allow more children to thrive. Listed below are some great links that teachers can use in their classrooms.

• How to make an audible QR code

Michele Bennett shows in her video ,How to make an audible QR code, the advantages of creating an audible message for her classroom. These codes also allow teachers to get their student's parents involved because it allows communication between the two.

• How to use technology in the classroom

Ginger Tuck shows how she uses iPads in her classroom to help students learn to read. Her students video records themselves reading a book and plays the video back while following along in order to correct mistakes.

• How to use  Poplet in the classroom

Poplet is a tool that allows students the ability to create fun projects in a safe environment. Poplet with Michele shows how easy and fun Poplet can be for students.

Book Trailer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Project 6 C4KSummarySeptember

Throughout the month of month I have posted on Damien's, Hailey's, and Hope's blog.

Damien's post was of a descriptive paragraph of an animation they watched in class named The Moon La Luna. I commented on Damien's post stating my name, where I attend school, and complimented him on his great blog post.

Hailey's blog post was poem about herself. Throughout the poem she mentioned that she loves to play basketball, roller skate, and many other facts about herself. I commented on Hailey's post stating my name, where I attend school, complimented her on her post, and shared with her that I too like to play basketball.

Hope's blog was made up of two short paragraphs about hard work, and talents. Throughout this post she described the differences between the two. I commented on Hope's post stating my name, where I attend school, complimented her on her good post, and shared with her my feelings of hard work and talents. I stated that someone may not be born with talents, but through hard work talents can be made.

Project 7 Part A & Part B

My Sentence




My Passion



Parent Introduction




Student Introduction

Presentation Project 3

Project Based Learning

Blog post # 5

Personal Learning Networks are a set of people and tools that someone can consult with to learn. Wendy Drexler's video, Welcome to my PLE , shows in detail how her 7th grades students utilize personal learning networks. This gives students the freedom to use technology in the classrooms.

There are many tools can be used to create a Personal Learning Network. One good site that can be used is Symbaloo. This site allows people to create a personalized homepage that can be used to store all the important apps that make up ones Personal Learning Network.

I will use the resources I mentioned above to create my own Personal Learning Network, and the first person that I will add is Anthony Capps. Anthony is a former student of EDM 310 and a current teacher at Gulf Shores Elementary.

Blog post #6

In watching these conversations involving Anthony Capps I learned many different aspects of project based learning.

In Project based learning part one and two, I learned that project based learning should not be used only in checking knowledge. It should be used as a way to learn. Successful project based learning projects should fit the audience, should involve the community, and should be content driven. (Meaning what you are asking your students to do should meet the standards of state and federal guidelines.)Some reasons why teachers should use project based learning are: students love project based learning, it allows teachers to engage all their students, and it has a high approval rating with principles if done effectively.

Anthony suggests teachers to allow their students to use iCurio throughout the project based learning process. iCurio is an online tool that students can use to search the web safely. This tool does not allow inappropriate content to display, and gives students organization skills. It does this by allowing students to collect important information be creating files.

Discovery education is another important tool that Anthony uses in his project based learning activities. This is a video tool that shines light on the text. This tool allows experts in numerous fields into the classrooms by allowing the students to watch informative videos on the subject they are working on.

Five tips Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange gives to teachers.

1. Teachers themselves must be learners 
2. Allow your work to become fun
3. Be flexible
4. Engage all your students
5. Reflect on completed work in order to make it better.

Another tip Anthony gives to teachers that want to use project based learning in their classrooms is to use technology don’t teach it. Give your students the ability to build on the technology throughout the projects. When using technology for project based learning do not expect perfection at first. The product is a building block and will get better over time.

The final thing I learned from Anthony Capps was how to create a lesson plan.  In his video additional thought about lessons he states it is important to think about each lesson as if it is made up of four layers. First, create the lesson while looking at how it fits in your yearly plans. Second, make sure the lesson fits in your unit plan. Third, make sure the lesson fits into your weekly plan. Lastly, make sure the daily lesson is carried out to meet your unit plan. He says this is done in order to make sure each lesson get you one step closer to teacher’s yearly goals. 

Project #4 C4T

Lynette Guastaferro is a former elementary school teacher from Baltimore and now is a key member of Teaching Matters. Teaching Matters is an organization that is dedicated to making the United States public school system better.

Teach Your Children Well is a blog article written by Lynette about how to create a quality Pre-K system and the importance of having one.I agreed with Ms. Guastaferro stating that Pre-K creates a solid foundation for young students.

Governor Cuomo's State of the State  is a blog article about New York's Governor Cuomo and his annual state of the state address. Governor Cuomo stated that New York will give a bonus of $ 20,000 to eligible highly effective teachers. I committed that this bonus should motivate all teachers to work hard to teach their students.

Project #15

Wolfram Alpha is a computational knowledge engine. This search engine was released on may 15, 2009, and is made up of a computational platform or toolkit that encompasses computer algebra. This search engine would be useful for for all math students.

Yahoo is an American multinational Internet corporation headquarter in Sunnyvale, California. It is one of the most popular sites in the United States. This search engine is used much like Google.

Dogpile is a search engine that gathers results from Google and Yahoo. This site is a trademark of Blucora, Inc. Dogpile started in 2008 in orer to use earnings from site traffic to raise money for animals in need. This search engine is much like Google and Yahoo and should be used be animal lovers. 

Ask is a question answering focused web search engine. Ask was founded in 1995 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley California. This search engine should be used by all that have a specific question to ask. 

DuckDuckGo is an Internet search engine that emphasizes protecting searchers privacy. DuckDuckGo does not profile its users which separates this site from Google and Yahoo. This site gathers information from the best sources rather than the most sources. The engine would benefit

 students researching for papers.

 Bing is a web search engine from Microsoft. Bing was reviled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in May of 2009. In July 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo created deal which would allow Bing to power all Yahoo search. This search engine can be used as an alternative to Google.

Yippy is a metasearch engine that was developed by Vivisimo. This search engine is family-friendly and only includes content that is appropriate for all ages. This search engine would be perfect for parents to add to their children's computers. 

Mahalo is a web directory and internet-based knowledge exchange. This engine started in May 2007 and it differs from algorithmic search engines like Google by contracting human editors to review websites and write search engine results pages that include text listings, as well as other media, such as photos and video. 

Blog Post #4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

As teachers we need to be able to ask questions that will stimulate the minds of our students. Ben Johnson addresses this very important issue in his blog, The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom. Johnson states that teachers should ask their class a question then pause for three to five seconds and randomly select a student for the answer. Asking questions this way creates an illusion to students that they will be selected for the answer which stimulates them to be prepared to answer the question.

Another way teacher can be more effective is to ask open-ended questions instead of close-ended questions. Jeanne Chesley effectively demonstrates the difference between the two in her video, Asking better questions in the classroom. Asking open-ended questions allows students to think critically about an issue which will allow student's answers to be more complex. I feel that if teachers pair Ben Johnson's theory with Jeanne Chesley's theory teachers will begin to ask better questions which will engage more students.  

Blog post 3

Throughout this lesson I have learned how to properly conduct a peer edit. There are three important steps in peer editing. They are giving complements to your peers work, making specific suggestions that will benefit your peers work and making corrections to your peers work.

The first step is to stay positive and give complements to your peer by picking out some things you liked about his/her work. This step is very important because it allows you to help out your peer without hurting his/her feelings.

The second step is to make suggestions about specific ideas that will make the quality of the work better. Some specific suggestions you can focus on are word choice, organization of work and use of sentences.

The third and final step is to make corrections to your peers work. During this step it is important to pay attention to punctuation, grammatical errors and spelling. If these steps are followed correctly peer editing can and will benefit all that are involved.

Blog Post 2

Mr. Dancealot

The central message of this video is to show how not to teach a class. It shows the teacher reading from a power point slide and giving examples that the students simply can not follow, because they are not allowed to participate throughout the lesson. Its is obvious to me that this is a terrible way to teach any class much less a dance class which should require hands on training.

Teaching in the 21st Century, by Kevin Roberts

Outline: Changing in teachers roles, Why teachers roles have changed, What teachers need to do to help their students.

Robert believes teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge because of the world we now live in. Everyone has the power of Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, ect and because of this teacher's roles are changing from an educator to a filter. Roberts feels that teachers should teach students how to use the resources avaliable to them by showing them how to validate, synthesize, leverage, and communicate information. I believe Roberts feelings of teachers in the 21st century has validity. The world is more technology advanced than ever before, and because of this teachers will have to evolve and bring in this technology into their classrooms.

The Networked Student written by Wendy Drexler

Outline: Author discusses the idea of connectivism, and shows how teachers of the 21st century can help their students.

This film was made to show how students, and teachers in the 21st century can learn in different ways using technology.

The idea of connectivism is a fascinating one. This theory has the potential to open a wide door of learning in todays technology rich world. Connectivism will change what teachers teach to their students. Instead of teaching facts teachers will be expected to teach students how to build their own network and take advantage of learning opportunities, and offer guidance when students get stuck. Students will have more control in what they learn.

Harness Your Students Digital Smarts

Author Vickie Davis message throughout this video is that teachers do not have to know how to do everything in order to teach in todays technological world. Allow students to teach, and connect with other students across the world using technology. By doing this she believes students will prosper and will allow a new teaching concept to arise.

Who is ahead of the learning race; elementary, undergraduate, or graduate students? by Dr. Strange

Elementary by far is ahead in the learning race at this point. Speaking from my own classroom experience I just did not have the technology in my early academic career that elementary students in todays world has. Students of today literally have the world at their finger tips, and because of this it has created a new style of learning in the classroom.

Bringing the Locker Room into the Classroom by Craig N Owens

What can I use in my coaching experience to help my students in my classroom? Teachers and coaches should teach and coach in a way that students can completely understand. As a teacher/coach it is important that my students/players have a complete understanding of what I am asking of them both on the field and in the classroom.

Blog Post 1

I am a new student at South Alabama and because of this I have not heard anything good or bad about EDM310. Our short time in class however has made me fear one aspect of this class.That aspect is the uncertainty of not being able to know exactly how to do everything that is expected of us before leaving the classroom. In this class we are expected to figure out our homework rather than already knowing. In other classes in my past I have never been asked to do something that we have not already practiced through out the past. This class is very different in that regard due to the class being a blended class. The simple truth is that we would have to meet everyday in order to cover every aspect that we are expected to preform in our at home assignments. I believe the most difficult aspect of this class for me will be not allowing myself to get frustrated with the take home assignments. I am some what good with technology but not great by any means. This not knowing exactly how to do something frightens me the most. The best way for me to deal with this is to begin homework assignments early allowing myself time to reach out for help at EDM310 labs.

Practice Blog Post

Outline:About me,Reasons I choose this Field, How can I make a difference.

My name is Justin Thompson. I am a 25 year old lieutenant in the Army National Guard. Before college and the military I grew up in a small town of Plantersville Mississippi. I played every sport offered at Plantersville middle school which was football and basketball, but my real passion was baseball. This passion of baseball is what led me to secondary education. I hope to become a history teacher and coach baseball.

The reason I choose to go into the education field is simple. I like to interact and help people. There is no better way to interact and help than in the the class room setting. I will get a chance to make a difference in children's lives in the classroom, as well as on the field. As an educator of the 21st century it will be my duty to incorporate new technology into my class room.

Baseball