THANK GOD!!
Best of luck to everyone this coming Fall! Aren't you glad this semester's finally over? I know I am. Everyone did a great job with their podcasts; I know most of y'all were as nervous as I was when we recorded those things! I hope y'all have a fun, relaxing, safe summer. Hope to see you in the Fall! (Or summer even...I'll be here, haha)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
What I Have Learned In EDM 310
I don't know where to begin! I have learned so much in this class, and agree that it should be mandatory for all students going into the field of education. We have covered so much material in such a short time; there are our personal and professional blogs, which I enjoyed creating and contributing to. I think the professional blog will be especially useful in my future teaching as an elementary teacher.
We also did our class presentations about ourselves in which we employed the use of Google. Another way we used Google was in our spreadsheets, where we learned about absolute references, loan payments, and databases. We also used Google Docs for word processing. What I like about Google is that number one, it's free, two, it's easy to access, and three, easy to use and maintain use of. It also has many options, like the ones we covered with our presentations, spreadsheets, and iGoogle pages.
Another thing we learned about in this class was Twitter and how it can be used for communication and the exchanging of ideas through the Internet. It's a great networking device for extending your teaching ideas and learning new ones along the way.
One of the first things we covered in this class were ALEX and ACCESS, which can both be very useful for teachers and their students in the state of Alabama. This is the first time I was exposed to either of these programs, and was really fortunate to learn about them early on in my educational career towards becoming an elementary teacher.
We also recorded a podcast in this class. I have never heard of a podcast before this class, so I was confused at first. After we did some research and practiced, I learned that podcasts can indeed be very useful for instructional purposes for my future students.
One thing that I wish we would have had time to cover would be the Google Earth program. I do not know how to use this yet, but certainly plan on learning. I'm sure I can teach myself, now that I am more confident in exploring technology for myself. I can see how it can be a very useful tool, whether you are a teacher, a student, or just anyone.
One thing that aggravated me about the class was the fact that we had to use this personal blog. I think it would have been more than sufficient to create a professional blog, which we can update and maintain as needed. This blog, however, I cannot see coming back to in the future. It has been rather a pain to have to update this thing twice a week! But I'm glad it's over, and I can definitely say I came away knowing much more about technology than I did previously.
We also did our class presentations about ourselves in which we employed the use of Google. Another way we used Google was in our spreadsheets, where we learned about absolute references, loan payments, and databases. We also used Google Docs for word processing. What I like about Google is that number one, it's free, two, it's easy to access, and three, easy to use and maintain use of. It also has many options, like the ones we covered with our presentations, spreadsheets, and iGoogle pages.
Another thing we learned about in this class was Twitter and how it can be used for communication and the exchanging of ideas through the Internet. It's a great networking device for extending your teaching ideas and learning new ones along the way.
One of the first things we covered in this class were ALEX and ACCESS, which can both be very useful for teachers and their students in the state of Alabama. This is the first time I was exposed to either of these programs, and was really fortunate to learn about them early on in my educational career towards becoming an elementary teacher.
We also recorded a podcast in this class. I have never heard of a podcast before this class, so I was confused at first. After we did some research and practiced, I learned that podcasts can indeed be very useful for instructional purposes for my future students.
One thing that I wish we would have had time to cover would be the Google Earth program. I do not know how to use this yet, but certainly plan on learning. I'm sure I can teach myself, now that I am more confident in exploring technology for myself. I can see how it can be a very useful tool, whether you are a teacher, a student, or just anyone.
One thing that aggravated me about the class was the fact that we had to use this personal blog. I think it would have been more than sufficient to create a professional blog, which we can update and maintain as needed. This blog, however, I cannot see coming back to in the future. It has been rather a pain to have to update this thing twice a week! But I'm glad it's over, and I can definitely say I came away knowing much more about technology than I did previously.
Special Examination T2: Response to Sir Robinson
Sir Ken Robinson, an author and experienced educator from London, England, had some excellent arguments and points to his views on education. He started out with an idea that I had never thought about before, but that is generally quite obvious: most adults do things for their careers that they feel competent in, but are not necessarily passionate about. Sir Robinson says that people should do things "in their element", meaning something they have a natural gift or knack for. Also, it should be something that you just "get". I could not agree with him more in this aspect. Being good at something should not be enough to make an individual want to do it for the rest of his/her life; they should love what they are doing! Sir Robinson says that your natural talent and abilities should meet your passions. I thought this was a great way to put it.
Sir Robinson also makes a good point when it comes to education; too much emphasis is being put on pure academic ability, while the students' natural abilities and tendencies are seen to be "unuseful" and nonrelevant to the job market. He says there are three specific aspects to intelligence: it's diverse, it's dynamic, or interactive, and it's distinct. It's not measured by how much a person knows or doesn't know; it's more about what they do with their natural talents and interests. Another view of Sir Robinson that I completely agree with is that education is not a mechanism, but an organism. Also, our success depends on our environment and available opportunities. Kids are all capable of great things. Different things, but they all have something personal to offer to society. He also emphasizes that creativity is as important as literacy. Kids are not afraid to be wrong or make mistakes; therefore, they are very creative in their ideas and how they carry out these ideas. Sir Robinson says that for some time now, students are being "educated out of their creativity". There is a hierarchy in education, with math and language at the top, then the humanities, and lastly the arts are taught. One subject should not be more important than the other; by doing this, we also catagorize the children who are better in some academic areas than in others, and their creativity in these areas is stopped abrubtly. Sir Robinson calls this "academic inflation", which I think is a proper way to label the way education is thought of and valued. According to Sir Robinson, we need to drastically change the way we view education and the educational system out in place by schools and society today. I could not agree more.
Sir Robinson also makes a good point when it comes to education; too much emphasis is being put on pure academic ability, while the students' natural abilities and tendencies are seen to be "unuseful" and nonrelevant to the job market. He says there are three specific aspects to intelligence: it's diverse, it's dynamic, or interactive, and it's distinct. It's not measured by how much a person knows or doesn't know; it's more about what they do with their natural talents and interests. Another view of Sir Robinson that I completely agree with is that education is not a mechanism, but an organism. Also, our success depends on our environment and available opportunities. Kids are all capable of great things. Different things, but they all have something personal to offer to society. He also emphasizes that creativity is as important as literacy. Kids are not afraid to be wrong or make mistakes; therefore, they are very creative in their ideas and how they carry out these ideas. Sir Robinson says that for some time now, students are being "educated out of their creativity". There is a hierarchy in education, with math and language at the top, then the humanities, and lastly the arts are taught. One subject should not be more important than the other; by doing this, we also catagorize the children who are better in some academic areas than in others, and their creativity in these areas is stopped abrubtly. Sir Robinson calls this "academic inflation", which I think is a proper way to label the way education is thought of and valued. According to Sir Robinson, we need to drastically change the way we view education and the educational system out in place by schools and society today. I could not agree more.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
In our EDM 310 Microcomputing Systems class, we have been required to sign up for, access and learn about Twitter and it's benefits to teaching and education. My initial reaction to this project was "WHAT!? I've never even used Twitter, how am I supposed to know how to use it?" It turned out to be much easier and more helpful than I thought. Twitter is basically a social networking service used to make and keep contact with other people for mainly business and work-related reasons. The thing I like most about Twitter is that it's as public or private as want it to be; you can allow only certain people, chosen by you, to view your "tweets", or updates. Your updates can include questions directed at the general public or toward certain individuals.
One of the first things I did when I began using Twitter was to subscribe to TwitterTips. This is an excellent resource for finding out how to effectively utilize Twitter. They give several websites to very useful articles. One of these articles that Dr. Strange had posted a link to was called "Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher". Some of these tips included:
14. Twits Like Me: Find other users in Education.
This could be very helpful, especially for new teachers, to make contact and receive updates and advice from more experienced teachers. It's a great way to get new ideas and gain new information from teachers who have more knowledge and experience in the classroom.
42. Twiggit: Using Twiggit, you can find news and articles related to your curriculum.
Once again, this program proves to be a big help to newer teachers. Fresh new teachers are of course less experienced and may not know where to find the best information for teaching their classes. The Twiggit tool provides new teachers with articles and other information about what they are supposed to be teaching to their students. Twiggit would also be useful to veteran teachers because they can keep themselves and their curriculum current and updated through the available news links.
These are only two out of a hundred ways that teachers can put Twitter to good use! Some of the other resources included RSS friends and feeds, scheduling help, lectures, weather updates, photos, research ideas and even games. I found this particular article about Twitter very useful and will definitely use it for reference in the future.
According to Laura Walker, a Twittering teacher, "your experience on Twitter is only as high quality as the people who you follow and the information you share." She is so right; you are not going to find anything useful through Twitter if you do not find anyone useful to follow. It's easy to use Twitter's search engine; you can search for either people or topics that may interest you. Keeping up with Twitter is not difficult either; you just have to be able to sort out useful information from the unhelpful. In my use of Twitter, I logged on about every other day, and at first was overwhelmed by the never-ending tweets left by Dr. Strange, my classmates, and other teachers who I was following. Dr. Strange told me that there was no way I could keep up with everyone and everything posted, but that I had to learn how to browse briefly through the information and pick out things that could be useful to me as a future teacher. Once I learned how to do this, it became much less time-consuming to locate what I was looking for.
I started out trying to use Twitter like I used my Facebook; posting just what I was doing at that specific moment. It was then that I read an article by an anonymous Twitterer called "5 Reasons Why People Won't Follow You on Twitter". Mistake number one on the list was "Talking to Yourself". This is what I had been doing the whole time! I soon learned that the purpose of Twitter for me was establishing a social networking community amongst myself and other teachers. My tweets changed from "I am freezing cold" to things like "What are some beneficial sites where teachers can get free curriculum ideas?" Several teachers responded, giving me links to useful websites. I had it now!
As far as I'm concerned, there don't seem to be any negative aspects to Twittering. Other than the fact that it's yet another thing to have to keep up with, Twitter is flexible and useful. I will probably be utilizing Twitter in the very near future when I graduate as an elementary teacher.
One of the first things I did when I began using Twitter was to subscribe to TwitterTips. This is an excellent resource for finding out how to effectively utilize Twitter. They give several websites to very useful articles. One of these articles that Dr. Strange had posted a link to was called "Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher". Some of these tips included:
14. Twits Like Me: Find other users in Education.
This could be very helpful, especially for new teachers, to make contact and receive updates and advice from more experienced teachers. It's a great way to get new ideas and gain new information from teachers who have more knowledge and experience in the classroom.
42. Twiggit: Using Twiggit, you can find news and articles related to your curriculum.
Once again, this program proves to be a big help to newer teachers. Fresh new teachers are of course less experienced and may not know where to find the best information for teaching their classes. The Twiggit tool provides new teachers with articles and other information about what they are supposed to be teaching to their students. Twiggit would also be useful to veteran teachers because they can keep themselves and their curriculum current and updated through the available news links.
These are only two out of a hundred ways that teachers can put Twitter to good use! Some of the other resources included RSS friends and feeds, scheduling help, lectures, weather updates, photos, research ideas and even games. I found this particular article about Twitter very useful and will definitely use it for reference in the future.
According to Laura Walker, a Twittering teacher, "your experience on Twitter is only as high quality as the people who you follow and the information you share." She is so right; you are not going to find anything useful through Twitter if you do not find anyone useful to follow. It's easy to use Twitter's search engine; you can search for either people or topics that may interest you. Keeping up with Twitter is not difficult either; you just have to be able to sort out useful information from the unhelpful. In my use of Twitter, I logged on about every other day, and at first was overwhelmed by the never-ending tweets left by Dr. Strange, my classmates, and other teachers who I was following. Dr. Strange told me that there was no way I could keep up with everyone and everything posted, but that I had to learn how to browse briefly through the information and pick out things that could be useful to me as a future teacher. Once I learned how to do this, it became much less time-consuming to locate what I was looking for.
I started out trying to use Twitter like I used my Facebook; posting just what I was doing at that specific moment. It was then that I read an article by an anonymous Twitterer called "5 Reasons Why People Won't Follow You on Twitter". Mistake number one on the list was "Talking to Yourself". This is what I had been doing the whole time! I soon learned that the purpose of Twitter for me was establishing a social networking community amongst myself and other teachers. My tweets changed from "I am freezing cold" to things like "What are some beneficial sites where teachers can get free curriculum ideas?" Several teachers responded, giving me links to useful websites. I had it now!
As far as I'm concerned, there don't seem to be any negative aspects to Twittering. Other than the fact that it's yet another thing to have to keep up with, Twitter is flexible and useful. I will probably be utilizing Twitter in the very near future when I graduate as an elementary teacher.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Critiquing Class Podcasts
After listening to four EDM 310 podcasts,including the one in which I participated, I have a few ideas on how they could be improved. I will start with my own podcast in which Johnie and I interviewed Dr. Dodge on the educational system in Alabama. I thought overall it was pretty good, since Dr. Dodge had a lot of great information and ideas for our school teachers in Alabama. He also had some amazing advice to give to future teachers. I think maybe the only thing I'd change about this podcast is that I could have spoken a little louder when asking my questions.
The second podcast I chose to listen to was the one called "The Strange Crystal Ball". In this podcast, Dr. Strange was interviewed by Katie, Jamie, and Laura. I think the discussion went well, and for the most part the girls did well keeping up with Dr. Strange. One thing I might suggest is to make it somehow more interesting and engaging, like Katie did when she questioned and challenged Dr. Strange on his opinions and ideas. If she would not have been a part of the podcast, I think it would have been very dry and monotonous. One person talking and rambling on and on is not very exciting to listen to. Also, I would have made this particular podcast shorter than it was. It was just too long!
The third podcast I listened to was the one about Facebook entitled "Facebook: It's In Our Class! But Can it Be Useful in Class?" I liked this podcast because the girls made it sound like an intimate conversation, like a little group of friends getting together at Starbucks to discuss the pros and cons of using Facebook for educational purposes. They also gave the history of Facebook, which I thought was interesting. I really wouldn't change anything about this podcast, except for the fact that it may have also run a little too long. Some of the girls said "um" too much. Overall though, I thought this podcast was interesting, informative, humorous and well constructed.
The fourth podcast I decided to listen to was the one about useful websites for high school teachers. Since I was not able to hear this particular podcast being recorded in real life, I was interested to see how this one was done. I thought the girls did a really good job and found the information given quite useful as well. They also gave several good examples of available resources to high school teachers, which I liked. One thing I would have done is to state the website when referring to it, instead of saying "my website" when I was talking about it. By mentioning the actual websites in abbreviated form, it could better encourage the audience to actually access and utilize these resources for themselves. It would just allow the websites to stick out better in the listeners mind. Overall though, the girls kept the conversation flowing really well and did not talk for an overextended period of time.
The second podcast I chose to listen to was the one called "The Strange Crystal Ball". In this podcast, Dr. Strange was interviewed by Katie, Jamie, and Laura. I think the discussion went well, and for the most part the girls did well keeping up with Dr. Strange. One thing I might suggest is to make it somehow more interesting and engaging, like Katie did when she questioned and challenged Dr. Strange on his opinions and ideas. If she would not have been a part of the podcast, I think it would have been very dry and monotonous. One person talking and rambling on and on is not very exciting to listen to. Also, I would have made this particular podcast shorter than it was. It was just too long!
The third podcast I listened to was the one about Facebook entitled "Facebook: It's In Our Class! But Can it Be Useful in Class?" I liked this podcast because the girls made it sound like an intimate conversation, like a little group of friends getting together at Starbucks to discuss the pros and cons of using Facebook for educational purposes. They also gave the history of Facebook, which I thought was interesting. I really wouldn't change anything about this podcast, except for the fact that it may have also run a little too long. Some of the girls said "um" too much. Overall though, I thought this podcast was interesting, informative, humorous and well constructed.
The fourth podcast I decided to listen to was the one about useful websites for high school teachers. Since I was not able to hear this particular podcast being recorded in real life, I was interested to see how this one was done. I thought the girls did a really good job and found the information given quite useful as well. They also gave several good examples of available resources to high school teachers, which I liked. One thing I would have done is to state the website when referring to it, instead of saying "my website" when I was talking about it. By mentioning the actual websites in abbreviated form, it could better encourage the audience to actually access and utilize these resources for themselves. It would just allow the websites to stick out better in the listeners mind. Overall though, the girls kept the conversation flowing really well and did not talk for an overextended period of time.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Experiences in Blogging
For this week's post, I chose to look over Johnie's blog, since she sits right behind me and we did our podcast together with Dr. Dodge. I like the idea of being able to view other classmates' blogs on the web because you can get a glimpse into how they interpret the same materials and information that is being learned at the same time you are learning it. It lets you see how they might think about things differently than you yourself might and gives you another possible perspective. This way, you can find out something else you may not have known previously and gain another classmate's perspective, becoming more open-minded in the process.
Another thing I think could be beneficial with blogging in the classroom is that it gives teachers the opportunity to communicate on yet another level with their students. Students loose papers, assignments, and class hand-outs all the time. By utilizing a class blog. the teacher can easily post homework assignments and other paperwork online so that their students can access it at any time and do not ever have an excuse for not knowing what they were supposed to do. Teachers can also post study guides, review materials and other things students may need in preparation for testing.
One great thing about class blogs is that teachers can also post changes to their schedules and syllabuses online. If there happen to be any changes, the students will instantly know, as long as they check the class blog regularly. This way, the students can also be aware of what is coming up next in class, and can better prepare by reading up on any texts they might need to refer to.
Another plus to class blogging is that it's so convenient for both students and teachers to keep in touch with one another on a regular basis. It cuts down on the need for phone calls, e-mails, letters and other things that could otherwise be very tedious or time consuming to deal with. Plus, it lets students explore new aspects of technology, and since it progresses every day, it has become a necessity to familiarize ourselves with these new tools. Why not utilize a very reliable, practical, and easily accessible resource? I hope more teachers in the future will see the benefits of class blogs and will make it an important tool in their teaching practices, in elementary, middle school, high school and beyond.
Another thing I think could be beneficial with blogging in the classroom is that it gives teachers the opportunity to communicate on yet another level with their students. Students loose papers, assignments, and class hand-outs all the time. By utilizing a class blog. the teacher can easily post homework assignments and other paperwork online so that their students can access it at any time and do not ever have an excuse for not knowing what they were supposed to do. Teachers can also post study guides, review materials and other things students may need in preparation for testing.
One great thing about class blogs is that teachers can also post changes to their schedules and syllabuses online. If there happen to be any changes, the students will instantly know, as long as they check the class blog regularly. This way, the students can also be aware of what is coming up next in class, and can better prepare by reading up on any texts they might need to refer to.
Another plus to class blogging is that it's so convenient for both students and teachers to keep in touch with one another on a regular basis. It cuts down on the need for phone calls, e-mails, letters and other things that could otherwise be very tedious or time consuming to deal with. Plus, it lets students explore new aspects of technology, and since it progresses every day, it has become a necessity to familiarize ourselves with these new tools. Why not utilize a very reliable, practical, and easily accessible resource? I hope more teachers in the future will see the benefits of class blogs and will make it an important tool in their teaching practices, in elementary, middle school, high school and beyond.
"Growth" vs."Fixed" Minds
This week's blog post once again is taken from iTunesU. This podcast and free video from Stanford University featured psychologist and author, Carol Dweck, talking about the fact that a lot of students think their intelligence and cognitive abilities are "fixed"; that is, it is already set in stone, so to speak. These types of students will not attempt anything new unless they know that they will excel at whatever task they are trying to accomplish. The other type of students believe that their intelligence can be developed with practice and by processing and understanding new knowledge. These types of students develop good study skills and are able to put these skills into practice. As a matter of fact, in my psychology class we are studying intelligence and academic success and how these are affected by the way the students see themselves and are able to motivate themselves.
Students who have a "fixed" mindset do not usually do as well academically because they do not have the ability or know how to motivate themselves to do well in school. They figure that since learning and intelligence are already determined for them, and they are just going to fail, why should they try? This mindset can be very detrimental to students trying to succeed in school because they are already defeated before they even begin. On the other hand, students with a "growth" mindset do not see learning through trial and error as a negative thing, and allow themselves the room to make mistakes in their academics and other aspects of their life. Hence, they tend to learn new materials with a much more open mind and allow things to develop gradually until they can understand and grasp what is being presented in the classroom. They learn to "exercise" their brains, and become more intelligent and knowledgeable through their academic experiences.
This information affects me as a future teacher because I need to be able to recognize the differences between students who possess a "fixed" mindset and those that have a "growth" mindset. This will help me to be able to better help and motivate those of my students that do have a "fixed" mindset and help them break the cycle. I need to help these students understand that it is okay to make mistakes, that it doesn't mean you are stupid. I must explain to them at an early age that this is how we learn and remind them that everyone makes mistakes, even adults.
Students who have a "fixed" mindset do not usually do as well academically because they do not have the ability or know how to motivate themselves to do well in school. They figure that since learning and intelligence are already determined for them, and they are just going to fail, why should they try? This mindset can be very detrimental to students trying to succeed in school because they are already defeated before they even begin. On the other hand, students with a "growth" mindset do not see learning through trial and error as a negative thing, and allow themselves the room to make mistakes in their academics and other aspects of their life. Hence, they tend to learn new materials with a much more open mind and allow things to develop gradually until they can understand and grasp what is being presented in the classroom. They learn to "exercise" their brains, and become more intelligent and knowledgeable through their academic experiences.
This information affects me as a future teacher because I need to be able to recognize the differences between students who possess a "fixed" mindset and those that have a "growth" mindset. This will help me to be able to better help and motivate those of my students that do have a "fixed" mindset and help them break the cycle. I need to help these students understand that it is okay to make mistakes, that it doesn't mean you are stupid. I must explain to them at an early age that this is how we learn and remind them that everyone makes mistakes, even adults.
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