Project #12

Blog Post #10

Sir Ken Robinson 

Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources in development and in education. He is a worlds leading speaker on these topics. In his video,  Bring on the learning revolution!, he says there is a climate crisis. But he is not referring to natural resources. He is referring to a second climate crisis, humans resources. He says, this is a crisis that needs to be dealt with in the same way. Some people go through life just doing what they do day-to-day, instead of enjoying life and living it. This dislocates people from their natural talents. One reason people do this is education. Education is being reformed everywhere right now. He says, reforming is not enough, we are just trying to fix a broken model. Robinson says, "we do not need evolution but a revolution in education. It has to be transformed into something else." We as humans take things for granted. One great example that he used was, he asked everyone in the audience who was over the age of 25, everyone in the audience was. Then he asked, who was wearing a watch on their wrist, about 75% of the audience was. Robinson said, we wear wrist watches because we grew up in the generation without digital technology. Teenagers do not wear watches because they have divides that for that. I really enjoyed watching his lecture. It opened my eyes to see that people have to enjoy living their life and not just go day-to-day.

Project #15

The United States of America

This ( The 50 States  ) is a month long Project Based Learning Plan all centered around the United States of America. We will discuss each state and their capital, populations, the location, fun facts and major manufactured product. The Students will use different technology to further their education about each state. The students will be divided into five groups with four students in each group. They will be required to make a webpage, about the 50 states with their group. They will also individually blog everyday about the material taught. They will get the opportunity to present their blog to the class. Students will also make a posters of the United States and present it to the class and embed it into their blog. Students will also make a video presentation about what they have learned. They will be required to take three quizzes and one test. They will also be required to write and type a paper about what they learned and they will get the chance to have peers edit it.

Blog Post #9

Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom

This week we watched a video First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class, it discusses the technology she uses with her students. The students talk about all the different sites they use like, blogs, webpage, Wiki and Skype. They also get to use computers, SmartBoards and Nintendo DS. The students said, they love blogging because they like to see what family, friends, classmates and even strangers say in the commenting section. They said, they enjoy blogging everyday because they can do it from school or home, if they have assess to a computer. Every time they write a blog post their grammar and writing skills improve. They use webpages to search for stuff on the internet. It is a safe site that has valuable information and facts and it is easy for the students to assess. The students use Wiki to search for things and they can create a site. One student said, he used it for a project. He was learning about different traditions and ritiuals. The class even made a Wiki about the alphabet. They like using Skype because they can talk to professional or others classes through the internet about things they have learned or want/need to learn. They also get to record and edit their own videos. I think the most interesting thing to me was, they use Nintendo DS to learn. They play a game called, Nintendog, it helps them develop their reading skills. It helps them learn problem solving and they have to learn to share and take turns. I am not sure which one of these I would use in my classroom because they are all great ideas. But I really like the idea of Skype and using it in the classroom. 

Project 14

The Four Seasons

This (The Four Seasons) is a month long Project Based Learning Plan all centered around the four seasons. We will discuss how the seasons change, what they look like and what causes them to change. I will divide the students up in five groups with four students in each group. Everyday the students will blog about what they learned. The Students will also be given the opportunity to present their blog to the class. They will also use ICurio to further their knowledge of the seasons. I will give three quizzes and a test covering the material taught. The students will also be required to write a paper on the four seasons.

C4T #2

C4T #2 - Post #1:

This week I was assigned to Steven Anderson. Steven is the Director of Instructional Technology for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in Winston-Salem, NC. He also travels to schools and districts talking about social media in the classroom. In his blog post Get Your MOOC On! he explains what MOOC is and how it is useful. MOOC is basically an online classroom can have anywhere from 100-1000 students in it. It is a great way to learn new things while connecting with other that might have the same interests.

My Reply:

Hey Steven! I am Kelly and I am in an EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I loved reading this. I have never heard of MOOC. As a future educator I think this is a fantastic way of teaching because so many students can take the class at once and it is not first come, first serve. I am taking some online classes now and i love them. I am not required to attend a certain class and I can do the assigned work on my time. I really look forward to reading more of your post. If you would like to visit my blog or our class blog here are the links. http://campbellkellyedm310.blogspot.com and http://edm310.blogspot.com I will also be summarizing your post and my comment and posting it to my blog the week of March 10 if you want to read it.

C4T #2 - Post #2:

This week Steven Anderson blogged about things that literally had him thinking, Things That Have Me Thinking. Steven found three posts online that he writes about. The first was the problem with Twitter. Steven summarizes this as "tendency to group think, self-promotion, and the fact that many connected educators, he feels, push Twitter on others." But Steven's say to him is more about the approach. He then talks about a post, Jeff Gordan test-drive in which, students ride with Gordon. Steven says, this has him thinking because him and his students could talk about the physics behind the moves. And his last post he talks about, the marker movement. This is the idea that kids can learn skills while making something. He says there is so much potential to work with to help teach students.

My Reply:

This post real got me thinking! I feel like Twitter is pushed on people. But I also think that a lot of social media is because people either want to stay up to date or just do what everyone else is doing. I have a Twitter account and I can honestly say I got it because I want to stay connected with society. I am in college now to become a special education teacher ad I have never heard of The Marker Movement. I can't wait to actually use this and 3D printers in my classroom. 

  

Blog Post 8

Technology in my Classroom!

This week we were assigned to find technology that would be beneficial in our classroom. I am majoring in special education. I found some great and useful technology I could use in my classroom on a daily basics. 

BIGmack

BIGmack is a single button message devise. With this devise I can record a two-minute message for my students. I would use this for my students with low muscle tone or my students that are non-verbal. I think this is an excellent devise because it allows the students are included in the lesson and take put in the discussion. For example, if we were learning the days of the week, I could record the day it was, say Monday, and allow the students to be included in the discussion.

Rocking Switch Plate  

Rocking Switch Plate is a devise with two large buttons on it. This devise is a duel-message communicator that allows students the freedom to choose between two different choices. For example, if I was allowing my students to paint, I could use the Rocking Switch Plate to ask one of my students that is non-verbal or has low muscle tone, if they would like to use yellow or blue paint. I can even attach a picture on the button and make a recording of the picture; this allows the students to have a visual of what they are choosing. It has a two-minute recording time so the number of things I can record is limitless. I absolutely love this devise and I cannot wait to use it in my classroom.

Big Track Ball, Switch Adapted

Big Track Ball, Switch Adapted is an adapted mouse for computers. It is an excellent devise for students who do not have good motor skills. It also has mouse buttons located behind the trackball. This reassures no unwanted mouse clicks. This is an excellent way to allow every student the chance to play and learn o the computer.