Blog Post #6

Asking Better Questions in the Classroom

When asking a question, you never think of what kind of question you are asking, whether it's open-ended questions, or close-ended questions. These are things we should think more about when asking questions in the classroom. After watching Joanne Chesley's she explains more about the open and closed ended questions. Open-ended questions are more than a yes/no answer, it requires the student to dig deeper and give an explanation. A close-ended question is a question where the answer is as simple as yes, no, maybe, true, or false. In the video, Chesley stated a question, and the way she states it, made it a close-ended question. She then reworded it, and it became an open-ended question and made the students really think about what they were being asked and made them dig deeper than a simple answer. I also read Maryellen Weimer's article which explains ways we can improve the ways we write out questions. Her first idea was to prepare questions. When making your lesson plans, plan out some quality questions throughout the lesson so your students can really think and keep their attention. Her second idea was to play with the questions. What she means by playing with the questions is asking your students question before you begin, so they can fully engage themselves. Her final idea is preserve the good questions. When a student comes up with a good question, write the question down so you can keep it for future reference. Both of these taught me so much about questions that I have never thought about before.
What Questions Will I Use In My Classroom

In my future classroom I hope to use more open-ended questions to keep the students intrigued in what I am teaching. I think that this is a very important way for the student to learn more and remember it. I have had many teachers throughout school give us true/false questions that I never remember what they are after the test because as many students do, I memorize them by a word in the sentence and that is burp-back education, what we are trying to end. It is also good to get your brain really thinking and using critical thinking. I would have never thought that the wording of the question would change the answer. After this assignment, I feel confident that I could incorporate this in my classroom.

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My Sentence Videos

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Blog post #5

Project #3 Presentation

C4T #1

Steve Wheeler: Learning With e's

All Just a Click Away

Steve Wheeler's post All Just a Click Away, was about how everything we need is just a click away on the internet. Anything you could ever want to know or want to learn more about is there. One example he explained is that everybody has watched a movie and wondered who that actor was or who the director was, so you googled it, and there it was. Everything you wanted to know about the movie and more was right there in one search. Some people argue that the internet is dumbing down education, while others are more positive about the internet.

My comment

I really enjoyed reading your blog post!I agree with you about everything going to the internet, and that it is in fact our prime resource! Everything is going to the internet, even in most classrooms! It is very important for our society today to learn everything we can with the internet!

Blogging as Conversation

Steve Wheeler's post Blogging s Conversation is about why he decided to start blogging. He wanted to write down his ideas, thoughts, and what his day had consisted of. He was going to use paper and pen, but decided that blogger would be best because he could organize it better. But then the word "publish" confused him. Who could see his blog? He didn't mind if people saw his blogs or how many views he had on it. Instead, how many people commented on it. He said that when someone comments on it, that means that they took the time out of their day to read it. When someone comments and you comment back, that starts a conversation. And that is what means the most.

My comment

I really enjoyed reading your blog post about what made you create your blog! I would never have one if it weren't for my EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. Surprisingly, I have enjoyed checking and using mine everyday. I can now see why so many people have them and could possibly see myself having one one day and using it to my full potential.

Blog post #4

Before I started reading or watching any videos, I didn't have a very good grasp on what a podcast really was. After watching some very helpful videos and reading post, I finally understand the importance of it.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the classroom

My first video I watched about podcasting was called "The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom" by Joe Dale. This video was one of the most helpful to me because I realized just how much you can do with podcasting. You can upload the podcast to your Itunes, or have access to it through there, so if something came up and the student was to miss a day of school, they can easily have full access to what they did in class. If the teacher is not going to be there and he has prepared to not be there, he can create his podcast and it can be played so the students never have to miss a day of learning. This is just one way to use podcasts.

"Flat Stanley Podcast" This post showed a different way that podcast can be used. This first grade class read a book called Flat Stanley. After reading, they decided to do a project on what they read through podcast pretending where they would go, how they would get there, and how it felt being flattened. This was one of my favorite blogs I have read so far because the teacher really dug deep and thought of this instead of a simple assignment. I felt like this extended my learning even more on podcast are really understood why it is important to start in elementary school. I would have never of thought to do anything like this and when I was listening to it, I couldn't believe her students did this.

Listening-Comprehension Podcast

I also read Langwitches' post on using podcast to help with students hearing new vocabulary, even languages. A second grade class read a book Purim and as class, they individually read a sentence and shared it on the class blog so the parents could hear it. I like how they put it up so parents could see it because I believe having the parents involved helps the student and also the parents know what is going on. Their Jewish teacher then helped each of the students to come up with a sentence and they each said it on the podcasts. Sometimes students learn better with a visual, hands on, and this gave each of the students a better understanding of the language they were learning. Also, they got to hear each others sentence and it helped them also to hear other people say it and then they could learn it. With the students being able to have access to this at home, they can also work on it when they are not at school, which helps them to further their education. This was a very good example of how you can use a podcast and your students to benefit more from it.

What I Learned I learned so much from this assignment that will stay with me for when I start teaching. I never knew how important podcast were or what all you can do with them, and from this I have only learned a small portion. From uploading your podcast to your Itunes, to putting together a story, there is so much more, this is just the beginning. I can't wait to make my own podcast one day and hopefully I can inspire others as they have inspired me!

Blog Post #3

How to Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers



What is Peer Editing I first watched the short video called, What is Peer Editing. This video seemed to really help me get a better understanding on what exactly peer editing is. It was very simple to understand and actually know what she was talking about. Peer editing can be very helpful, but if not done correctly, your peer can take it personally. This video went into detail about the steps to take so your peer does not take it offensively.

Peer Editing With Perfection I also viewed the slideshow called "Peer Editing With Perfection," and also got more very helpful hints. The video I previously watched before I viewed this slideshow were very similar with the main points that they gave. One of their main points was to start off giving compliments, and then approach the feedback. This way as the reader, you really make them feel better about their writing instead of just pointing out their mistakes. As a future teacher, this was also very important to understand so you learn when to tell them publicly or privately.

Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes This video was an example of how exactly not to do peer review! This cute, funny, video had several different scenarios on what would not be appropriate for peer editing. They did not start off with a compliment on their writing, and instead made the peer feel humiliated.
There has been many times my teacher has assigned us to peer review someone else's work and I have felt uncomfortable doing so. I wasn't sure how to do it in a way where I didn't make my peer feel like I was attacking them with corrections when I know that my paper wasn't perfect either. After reading these I feel like I would be able to successfully help someone. When doing my C4C, I haven't encountered any issues where I would need to correct them. When I do, I feel like I would decide then then if I should do it publicly or send them an e-mail.

Blog post #2

Mr. Dancealot
Watching Professor Dancealot try to teach his students, shows me an example of what not to do when teaching my students. He did a powerpoint that did not catch the students attention and that is the first problem when teaching students in a classroom. He then tried to show them for interactive learning, but stood behind a desk so the students could not see. Teaching the students and getting them involved is very important because it grabs their attention and makes them want to learn. As a result of Professor Dancealot teaching the students through a boring powerpoint and not being able to show them without them seeing it, would cause them to not do fair on the test. The students were confused and didn’t know what they were doing. This is where a lot of students use what is called the burp-back method. They did not retain any information and would not learn anything from the course.

Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts



Author: Autumn Sprouse I watched “Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts” video and thought that Vicki Davis is on the right track with teaching her students about technology and letting them learn by the internet. They are doing what most teachers are learning to do now. The students are ahead by learning with technology and soon the classrooms are going to be strictly by computers. A county in Alabama already assigns a computer to each student and that is where they access their textbooks and everything they need for class. Mobile County is moving towards that and we need more teachers who are knowledgeable in the technology area in order for this to keep moving forward. In the video, the students were playing games on the computer by teaching themselves instead of having their teacher give them everything and also using less of the burp­back information. This video was excellent to watch seeing it in the classroom and has helped me get a better understanding of what it is exactly like in the classroom and how students are learning from this.

Teaching in the 21st century

Author: Chelsea Powers What will it mean to teach in the 21st century? Kevin Roberts has a very distinct idea of what it is like. With the new innovative ways teaching has become so much more advanced. I believe what Roberts is trying to say is that everything is already right at your fingertips such as Google, Wikipedia, Google Docs etc. to learn anything you could possibly imagine. But, how do we learn to use all of these amazing resources? This is where teachers will come into play. All of these resources will have to be taught the proper way to get the right use of them. This video has got me really thinking of how it is going to be when I get to the position of teaching and how much I have to learn. There is endless information on the internet. I believe technology has already came so far it is unbelievable how children as young as kindergarten can just pick up an ipad and already know how to use them to play games. As teachers it will be our job to show them how to use them for education purposes.

A Networking Student

Author: Jessica Mose A Network Student is a wonderful insight into the future of schools. It illustrates how beneficial networking is to students, also creating independent learning. Imagine a world without a teacher and only the internet, and the only instruction students receive is “here is the internet go and learn”. This would be interesting because not every child thinks and learns the same. Some children are stronger in areas than others and some will read till they cannot read anymore and some will just watch videos because they care not to read. Why a teacher is needed is an interesting question to ask because with the advancement of technology why do we need a teacher when everything is right there in front of us. Teachers are a guide to help point us in the right direction. I think open learning is a great thing and giving students the freedom to learn what they are interested in in different ways is great, but what about the kids who are lazy and do not push themselves to learn anything? That is what a teacher is there for to help push them and make sure they are going in the right direction. The way some teachers are teaching might be outdated but the content of what they are trying to get across is still good. They are still trying to give the students beginning basic tools for them to use; now how the students use these tools is up to them. If students are to go further and use the internet to help in active learning this is great as a tool for the classroom, but just to leave the students to figure out what is good and bad is not a good tool. Boundaries need to be set and having a physical teacher who gives them these boundaries and quizzes them to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing is a good thing. I think there should be a good balance between teacher interaction and independent learning/networking.