Blogs from Classmates

I reviewed Amelia Perkins class blog. I loved the way she incorporated all those pictures and videos into her post. It was very helpful in some aspects to get a feeling of what the Arthur is referring to while taking about different events and films. Her blog was really creative and it seemed that she kept up pretty well with her post deadlines.

I believe that blogs can be used in the classroom. It seems that Amelia has a good idea of what her classroom blog would look like. In using blogs in the classrooms I believe that this would be a great way for the teacher to communicate with the students as well as their parents.

The teacher could post various links and assignments that have been reviewed and diagnostic test for the students to practice. The teacher could also post a calender for that week. So in case the students are absent that student will be able to view the assignments for that day.

Although I thought Amelia blog was wonderful I do feel that she could have wrote a little more about certain topics and gone in greater detail about her opinions about those issues.

My Electronic Contact!!!

The person I was in contact with for this project was Mrs. Cami Argyle. I met Mrs. Argyle while I was trying to find teachers who had classroom blogs. I was really impressed by Mrs. Argyle's blog so I contacted her via e-mail. The topics were mainly how she incorporated technology into her classroom. She teaches kindergarten at Freedom Elementary in Hooper, UT. She is happily married and has two boys of her own.

When I first started mentioning technology I sent her an e-mail full of questions. A few examples of the questions where: 1.Do you believe its okay for teachers to be technologically illiterate? 2. Is it important for teachers to incorporate computers into daily learning for their students? 3. Do you believe teachers are preparing children for the future? Technology is advancing so fast. Some day everything maybe
ran by computers. 4. Do you believe are students are prepared?. This is how she replied, "Our district started offering a technology conference last year. It is offered once a year during the summer. I use the 2 computers in my room as a center rotation. Children can visit the computers during center time and play various games, etc. associated with what we have been learning in class (letter and sound games, math activities, etc). They are basically used as an extension of what we have already learned and practiced in class. I do not use our computer labs as often as I would like too. In the past I have used a visit to the computer lab as an incentive or award. I try to bring in real life experiences as often as possible into my classroom to help prepare my students for the future."
I also asked Mrs. Argyle for suggestions on websites for teachers. When doing so I asked if Youtube or facebook could be used as educational tools. Her reply was, "I have heard of facebook and myspace, but I am not real familiar with them. As far as YouTube, we actually have something similar in our district called WeberTube. I like this better because I am comfortable with the materials and know that they are appropriate for children otherwise they would not be available to us. When I was in college I used websites more than I do currently as far as helping me get ideas and lesson plans."
I believe that completing this assignment has made me think more of how I can incorporate technology more into my classroom. I hope that I succeed in this effort and maybe when I begin teaching I will be just as good as Mrs. Argyle. You can check out her blog at: Cami's Class Blog

Duke University (Center for Documentary Studies)

Duke University has various podcast listed. These were products of the universities Center for Documentary Studies (CDS). According to the podcast, "The CDS is a program which teaches, engages in, and presents documentary work grounded in collaborative partnerships and extended fieldwork that uses photography, film/video, audio, and narrative writing to capture and convey contemporary memory, life and culture." The podcast listed were about various historical times.

The ones I most enjoyed "Live?Die?Kill? Three Questions in Two Geographics" and "Look Back on 9/11 Across America: An Acoustic Exhibit Presents American Voices in the Aftermath of Attack". The first podcast was done by Karen Michel and it was about the Virginia Tech Bombing. The second podcast was just discussing the 9/11 attack. These were some of the more recent events in history so I figured I could relate to them more.

EDM 310 Podcast

I have listened to four podcast from various groups done by some classmates from the EDM 310 class. The first was the one done by myself, Sandra Presley and Robyn Terry and it discussed "Burp Back Education". The second was done by Theola Hines and Larrica Smith and it discussed "Facebook as a Educational Tool". The third was done by Jennifer Harris, Alison Hawes, and Amelia Perkins and it discussed "Technology Used at the University of South Alabama". Last but not least the fourth podcast was done by Brennan Gibson, hanna Callais, Ashley Weeler, and Kimberly Dees and it discussed " Uselful Websites for Elementary Education".

Our podcast (Burp Back Education), could have been better in my opinion instead of going in any order we kinda just butted in from time to time to add to each others comments. So in a way I believe it could have been more organized but I thought the point of a podcast was to hold a conversation about a topic and thats exactly what we did. So in that aspect I believe we did great.

The second podcast(Facebook as a Teacher Tool), I listened too was kinda interesting. I never knew that Facebook begin as a college tool or who invented the idea for Facebook. I do believe that they could have discussed more about what Facebook offers and how people tend to use it. They discussed how you could use memos and bulletins but not much more. They also compared Myspace to Facebook. In my opinion Facebook and Myspace were structured as social tools for friends to keep in touch therefore should not be used as education tools. Listening to this podcast didn't change my mind on that either.

The third podcast (Technology Used at the University of South Alabama), was a little confusing to be honest. They began off by saying they would be discussing four types of technology styles that are typically used in the classroom. Instead of saying this is the first, second, etc. They basically just went from one type to the next. They discussed Something called Noddle, Online Classes, eCompanion, and their experiences with Filiotek. At the end they talked about how Dr. Strange's class has helped them think about how to incoporate technology in their class.

The fourth podcast (Useful Internet Sites for Elementary Teachers), I found to be very helpful. They all gave various websites and actually spelled the names of them so we as future teachers could look them up. Some discussed were: Brainpop.com, educationworld.com, 4teachers.org, and Busyteacherscafe.com. Although not all the information on some of the websites were free most had printable sheets and vaious links for quizzes, lesson plans, experiments and one even had tips for new teachers. These were are great help to me.

Overall, having listened to the various podcast I believe I have more knowldege of how to hold a podcast and would love to do more with technology in my classroom as an Elementary School Teacher.

Technology in Mathematics!

Judy Chandler is a technology integration specialist, mathematics teacher, and math mentor/trainer for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. In her two podcast I learned various reasons why integrating technology into mathematics is important. Chandler mentioned in her podcast that some teachers are reluctant to incorporate technology. This is mostly due to the fact that the teachers consider it an add on and believe that they must cover the chapters in the books in order to meet the standards in which the students will be tested.

What most teachers don't realize is that most information discussed in the books are also taught through various games and activities done over the computer. That is where mathematics and technology come together. Students these days are learning more and more about technology and in order for most to be able to survive in the future technology in the classroom will make a big difference.

The National Council of Teachers in Mathematics believe, "Technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics, it influences mathematics that is taught, enhances student learning and its principles, and standards for mathematics documents has included the technology principle as one of the six crucial principles for high quality mathematics education."

Chandler states, "that students are taught lesson by lesson and example by example through a text book". This kind of learning causes disengagement. Chandler suggest, "that we engage our students to think Mathematically". This could be done primarily through asking questions. In my own experience as an observer for a first grade class the students tend to interact more positively to the teacher asking them questions about why the solution is a certain number and how they came to that solution that just giving them example after example. This is not helping them learn how to perform the problem it is merely just helping them get there the problems listed.

As teachers, I believe it is essential to incorporate any type of on hands training that we can. This on hands training could include games done on the computer or anything that keeps the students engaged and not just trying to keep up with the other students. You will have those students who don't catch on as quick and its essential as a teacher to provide as much remedial education and tutoring as you can to insure that all students are on the same level.

"Growth" vs. "Fixed" Mindset

The podcast video I watched today was discussing and describing to mindsets. The first was growth. People with a growth mind set believe that intelligence can be developed through passion, studying, and education. The second was fixed. People with a fixed mind set believe basic intelligence is just to fix trade. They're very concerned with how much they have and based their activities on whether intelligence will be shown to their advantage.

Carol Diverck, Professor of Psychology and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, has this program where they have an eight session workshop. Half of the participates are taking eight sessions of Study Skills, and the second group are having both Study Skills and Growth Mind Set. The first group showed little improvements and had low grades. This was mainly due to their lack of motivation for the activities. The second group came out on top and had overall better grades. They understood that the brain was a muscle and like all muscles the brain must be used in order to get stronger. The participates in this group learned various concept but also learned how to apply these concepts.

I really enjoyed this podcast video. I believe it relates to teachers in the effect that we should in steal in our students the "growth" mindset. They should never settle for less when more is to be accomplished. Having a "fixed" mind set only holds us from accomplishing great things. We have to stand up as teachers and insure that our students are trained and taught in the "growth" mindset.

Teachers are to be role models for their young students and establish stability in the classroom. This stability is not only good classroom management and good rules and procedures but also motivates their students to do well. For younger students stickers are fine. Have your students try to accomplish new goals each week.

Both of the first grade classrooms' that I'm observing this semester send home goal sheets every week. I believe this is an excellent way to get our students to working to the "growth" mindset. They are given goals and are not fixed on a certain way of thinking or fixed mindset. There are numerous of ways that these goals could be meet. That where parents can jump in and help on remediation for their child. This way the students are continually getting this "growth" mindset in steeled in them.