Blog Post #10

For the first part of our blog assignment this week, we had to watch the video Do You Teach or Do You Educate?  In this video, we are presented with the question of what kind of teacher we will be.  We are asked whether we will be someone who teaches or someone who educates our students.  This is a very thoughtful video, and it really made me think about what the differences are between the verbs teach and educate.

The first term the video talks about is "teach".  It gives several definitions of the word, and the one that struck me as very surprising said, "induce by example or punishment to do or not to do something."  I never though about teaching in that manner, but now I see how that definition could apply.  I know that sometimes, rather than knowing why I am learning something, or understanding the context behind it, I have had to "learn" facts.  The teacher never explained why what I learned was the correct thing, but it was either learn what I was taught, or get a bad grade.

The second term covered in the video is "educate".  One of the definitions was, "one who gives intellectual, moral and social instruction".  I really like this definition.  I think that to be an educator you have to do so much more than present facts.  Educators give their students the knowledge and tools to take the information they are given and apply it to their lives.  They don't teach their student a fact, they teach them why something is and how it is relevant to them.  I hope to be more than just a teacher, I hope to be the kind of educator that does what the video says: mentors, guides, and inspires.  There is an amazing quote by Peter Brougham at the end of this video.  It says, "Education makes people easy to lead, but hard to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."

The second assignment for this week was Tom Johnson's Don't Let Them Take The Pencils Home.  In this post Mr.  Johnson tells the story of how he was told by Gertrude, a school administrator, that he should not letting his students take their pencils home.  They would likely misuse them, and it would probably lead to lower test scores.  This post is based on an article that Mr.  Johnson read by Larry Ferlazzo, which talked about the results of a study that said children who use computers at home will have lower test scores.  Tom's pencil analogy was very similar to the scenario of Mr.  Ferlazzo's study, in that these were low income students whose parents did not know how to use the tool the children were bringing home.  Mr.  Johnson and Mr.  Ferlazzo both gave arguments for giving parents training and teaching them how to help their children use their tools.

I am not a fan of standardized tests.  I think they are a horrible representation of student ability and having to "teach the test" really takes away teachers' freedom to teach "outside the box".  How sad that administrations are more worried about the reflections of those scores on their schools than they are about what their students are learning.  If done with the appropriate training, there could be enormous benefits to letting children use computers at home.  If not, at least let them take the pencils home.

C4T Summary #3

For my 3rd  C4T assignment, I was assigned the blog Education Rethink by John T. Spencer.  The first post that I read on his blog was titled, "Note to New Teachers", and that's exactly what it was.  It was full of encouragement and tips that basically tell new teachers to just hold on, it does get better.  He candidly writes about his first year teaching and how he struggled, and shares encouragement with new and future teachers that they too can make it.  This was my response:
"Hi Mr. Spencer, 
My name is Kristie McNair. I am an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama. I have been assigned to follow and comment on your blog for two weeks. On October 30th I will write a summary on my blog about what I have read and posted here. If you would like to take a look at it, you can see my EDM310 blog at http://mcnairkristieedm310.blogspot.com/ . Also, please feel free to check out our class blog at http://edm310.blogspot.com/.

I am so thankful to read posts like yours. As a pre-service teacher I sometimes get worried that when I finally do get to my classroom I will forget all of my training and be completely overwhelmed. I know that the first year will be difficult, but it's nice to know that it gets better. I hope I can learn from your advice and be patient with myself and humble enough to ask for help when I need it."

The second post I read from Mr.  Spencer was titled. "I'm Going to Write a Novel in November".  Mr.  Spencer writes about a novel that he is planning to write soon.  He tells us that November is National Novel Writing Month (which I did not know).  In honor of this he has decided to write a novel that he has been thinking of.  The title of his novel will be A Wall for Zombies.  He also talks about the plot for this novel.  This was my response:

"Hi Mr. Spencer,

I think that your idea for your novel sounds awesome. I didn't know that November is National Novel Writing Month. I will be watching for this when you make it available!"

I just wanted to add that Education Rethink is just one of the blogs that John T Spencer writes.  I really enjoyed reading his posts, and you can find even more at his website.

Blog Post #9

This weeks assignment was to read two posts by Joe McClung. The first post I chose was his What I Learned This Year (2008-2009).  This was a summary of Mr.  McClung's first year as a teacher.  I think his experience gives new teachers some very good advice as well as a good dose of reality.  His post begins by talking about not forgetting that we are there to teach our students, not perform for an audience.  This reminded me of the post that we read earlier in the semester by Kelly Hines.  In this post Ms.  Hines said that if a student has not learned the material, then a teacher has not really taught it.   Mr.  McClung reminds us that we should not become so enamored with hearing ourselves teach that we neglect to make sure that our students are grasping the material.  Another lesson in this first year assessment is to, "be flexible."  We have to remember that things will not always go the way we want them to, and that is ok.  We should remember that things come up, situations change, and as a teacher we should be prepared.  Just because the lesson doesn't go just the way I want it to, doesn't mean it wasn't successful, and if I do make a mistake it won't be the end of the world.  Mr.  McClung talks about the importance of communication and how important it is to develop a relationship with your fellow teachers.  They can provide valuable advice and support, and we have to remember that it's important to build that rapport.  We also need to remember to keep our expectations reasonable.  He reminds us that it is important to remember that just because we want a child to perform to a certain standard doesn't mean they will.  They are, after all, children, and when they make a mistake we have to help them learn from it and move on.  Mr.  McClung talks about how important it is to listen to our students.  It helps to let them know we care about them, and the relationship they have with us can help to shape the rest of their lives.  He also talks about the importance of embracing technology, which I think goes hand in hand with his last lesson, which is to "never stop learning."  How can we expect our students to be learners if we are not willing to be?

Next, I chose Mr.  McClung's What I Learned This Year (2009-2010).  In this end of year summary post Mr.  McClung has spent the year teaching 8th grade in a different school.  He talks about the challenges he faced and the lessons he learned in the new school.  The first lesson Mr.  McClung talks about is how he had to adapt.  He had to change his teaching style from the 6th graders he had taught the year before, to learning how to teach 8th graders and allowing them to be more independent.  He also had to make adjustments when it came to his curriculum.  He had to adapt to teaching social studies in addition to the science that he was more comfortable with.  Another challenge that he faced was how to help his students become more independent learners.  To do so he had to change the way he taught and not worry about a schedule as much as making sure his students were really thinking.  Mr.  McClung made the suggestion that all new teachers should find a "school mom."  That is an older, more experienced teacher who can give you advice, help you learn how to handle situations that may arise, and be there when you have a question.  I think this is a great tip, and I will definitely keep this in mind.  He also reminds us not to get caught up in adult conflict and lose sight of why we are there.  I am sure that occasionally there will be issues with our coworkers or administrators, but we should not let this distract us from giving our students our best.

project #13 Smart Board Instruction

Blog Post #8

Richard Miller: This is How We Dream

In his video This Is How We Dream Part 1, Richard Miller talks about how teachers and scholars today can use multimedia to change the way we write.  He begins the video by talking about how he loves and appreciates books.  He has made a career with writing.  However, he realizes that in order to stay current, we must use more than the pen and paper that we are used to.  There is an entire world of images and video that we can use to write with.   Mr.  Miller doesn't say in his lecture that we should abandon the traditional writing.  He instead suggests that we use multimedia tools to enhance the writings that we create.

  In the video Part 1 he uses the example of research on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  He shows how much better the project is when videos of Dr.  King's speeches and footage of his life are used in addition to the information written.  Mr.  Miller also talks about how beneficial writing with multimedia can be for documenting the present.  He uses the last presidential election as an example.  On election night, multimedia was used to gauge the reaction of people as election results came in.  These tools give a much more powerful view of the information provided than if there had only been a traditionally written report.

Richard Miller's This is How We Dream Part 2 is a lecture in which he talks about how to use multimedia writing in our education systems.  He talks about how we have to change the way we view the humanities and sciences.  We have to find away to make them work together.  He has a very inspiring vision of what education should become.  I know that it will take a lot of work and a very fundamental change in the way education is today to make that happen.  I don't know how long  a shift like that could take.  I do believe that as a teacher I can help by taking small steps toward Mr.  Miller's goal within my classroom.  Dr.  Strange asked the question, "Are you prepared to write with multimedia?"  Honestly, I would have to say, not yet.  But videos like Dr.  Miller's and the other things I am learning in EDM310 are helping me to realize how important using multimedia is.  I think my students will be multimedia writers.  I am going to try my best to help them become that.   


Carly Pugh:  Blog Post 12
I found Carly Pugh's blog post to be one of my favorite things that I have read and watched this semester.  I thought her idea for an assignment was really good.  Even though it is time consuming to search for and bookmark all of those resources, what a treasure of knowledge are!  I thought her videos for inclusion and students with disabilities were awesome choices.  I am going to create tiles for those on my Symbaloo.  I think that I would start every term out with a character lesson using those videos and others that could go along with them.  The ideas for students in English class are also great.  I love literature, and tools like that to help students relate to and appreciate classic literature are amazing.  I know that Dr.  Strange didn't ask us to build a new assignment for EDM310, but Carly's got me thinking.  I think a  good assignment would be to create a sort of "emergency" list for teachers.  Imagine if you had a teacher who had no idea about multimedia or education technology and was suddenly unable to teach traditionally. Create a list of "must see" videos and links to help that teacher survive until they could learn to teach with multimedia.  That was just a thought.  But to answer Dr.  Strange's question of how close Carly comes to Dr.  Miller's idea of multimedia writing, I think Dr.  Miller would be very pleased with Carly's post. 

The Chipper Series
The Chipper Series was very funny.  Chipper and her cavalier attitude toward learning is a really good was to demonstrate what Dr.  Strange calls "burp back" learning.  The things that Chipper does (or doesn't do) in the video are quick ways to fail at EDM310.  However, until I took EDM310, I have to say I had never thought about education in any other way myself.  EDM310 is really an eye opener.  Honestly, I think there should be a version of it that's required for every undergraduate student, not just education majors.  What we learn about independent learning should not just apply to our future students, but to our own education as well.

EDM310 for Dummies                
EDM310 for Dummies is a funny way to get across the secret to success in EDM310.  The first part of the video actually sounds like someone recorded me the first couple of weeks of my EDM310 experience.  I was completely overwhelmed, and often frustrated.  But like the students in the video, once I grasped the concept of using the resources provided to us, not just once or twice, but as may times as it took to understand, EDM310 completely changed.  Now instead of panic or dread at a new assignment, I can always be confident that if I don't understand what I'm doing, there is a resource or tool available for me to figure it out.  I think the main lesson of EDM310 for Dummies is HOLD ON!  It gets better!

Learn To Change, Change to Learn

When I watched the video Learn to Change, Change to Learn, I thought they made some very valid points.  I don't know if it was so much an "attack" on education, as it was just a really matter of fact discussion on the parts that aren't relevant any more.  I believe that students would be much more engaged in their education if the tools that they use everywhere else in their lives was utilized in the classroom.  I absolutely agree that standardized tests are a horrible way to teach children.  I personally think they are a really poor indicator of student success.  Children are so much more than the dots that they can fill in on a piece of scantron paper.    How much would their view of themselves and the possibilities for their life change if they were taught using the multimedia tools that allowed them to connect with the whole world every day?  To see that outside of the walls of their classroom is an endless field of possibilities, and they have the tools to reach them.  Although the video is critical of the education system, I think it needs to be said.

Project #12 Book Trailer

Blog Post #2

Did You Know? 3.0
In the video Did You Know? 3.0, Karl Fisch and Scott Mcleod give some mind blowing statistics about technology and the way it is increasing.  In this video, Mr.  Fisch and Mcleod reveal that the United States is really not the leader in technology in the world.  They say in Did you Know? 3.0 that, "China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world."  They also reveal that, "The 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's...is greater than the total population of the United States."   This video goes on to talk about how students today are learning for jobs that don't even exist yet.

The next part of the video talks about how rapidly technology is changing.  The online world is growing at a breathtaking pace.  More and more people are using the internet, and social media is common. It's really disconcerting to think about how quickly the world has changed in the last few decades.  We have no idea yet what it will look like in the next few years.  This is mostly due to advances in technology.

Mr.  Winkle Wakes
In Mr. Winkle Wakes, Mr.  Winkle has just woken up from being asleep for a hundred years.  He goes out into the world and everything has changed.  He goes to office buildings and computers are making sounds and doing things that he never imagined.  He goes to a hospital and there are machines there that are saving peoples lives.  These are things that Mr.  Winkle has never experienced, and they frighten him.  He goes into a school, and everything there is exactly like Mr.  Winkle remembers.  Children are sitting in classrooms.  There is quiet.  It seems to Mr.  Winkle that of all the changes that have happened in the world, the school is one place he is at home.  That is the one place that hasn't advanced with the world.

I think Mr.  Winkle Wakes is very simple, but very powerful.  When Mr.  Winkle goes out into the world, we see all the progress that has been made in a hundred years.  There are people able to do business all around the world.  Hospitals are able to perform lifesaving procedures.  But when Mr.  Winkle gets to the school, nothing has changed.  Mr.  Winkle is completely comfortable there.  It is a scary thought that when our children leave their classrooms and go out into the world that they are going to be as unfamiliar with the technology of today as Mr.  Winkle was.  We have to make sure that when they leave our class that they are ready to enter the world as it is.  We can not keep them in Mr.  Winkle's world, we must teach them to be ready for ours.

Sir Ken Robinson:  The Importance of Creativity
In this video, Sir Ken Robinson talks about creativity, and its importance.  He begins by making the assertion  that all children are creative.  He also says that creativity should have as much value placed on it as literacy does.  He talks about how schools teach children to not be creative.  He says that schools as well as companies teach people that being wrong about something is the worst mistake that we can make.  He talks about how we don't know what the future looks like, so we must prepare students to be prepared to think differently, and that we must help them to keep the creativity that they are born with.

He also talks about the public school system today, and how it is geared toward producing the same results in everyone.  He talks about how the way our children learn today only uses the top part of their bodies, and how as they go higher in their education, it gets even more so.  He talks about how this came about in the past, in an effort to educate during the industrial revolution.  However, since the world has changed, and is changing, we must change the way we teach.  This means that we need to start allowing children to use the talents and gifts that interest them, not just the ones that fit inside a traditional academic classroom. 


Cecelia Gault Interviews Sir Ken Robinson

I thought Cecelia 's interview with Sir Ken Robinson and her article with Scholastic News was really good.  I thought she asked very thoughtful questions.  She asked a question in her article about why the United States was not ahead of smaller countries with fewer resources when it came to technology.  In her interview with Sir Ken Robinson, she questioned him about what he thought were the "three myths of creativity."  In his answer Sir Ken talked about how everyone is creative in some way.  Cecelia herself attends a performing arts schools, so she understands and agrees with Sir Ken about that.    I agree with both Cecelia and Sir Ken Robinson.  I think that every student has the ability to be creative in some way.  I think it is up to teachers and parents to help protect that quality in our children.  As a teacher I will try to make the arts integrated into the curriculum that I teach.  I will try to teach my children that it's ok to make a mistake.  When we do make a mistake we simply have to learn from it and try again.  Also, I will try to encourage children to use their talents, and if they are interested in the arts,  I will try to give them the opportunity to express that.


Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
In this video Vicki Davis shows how she uses technology to teach students in her classroom.  She is really doing an amazing job with her class.  In this video she talks about how she is teaching her students technology and then allowing them to use the technology to learn the curriculum that they are assigned.  She allows them to blog, use wikis, and connect with students all over the world.  

I think that every teacher should learn to do what Ms.  Davis is doing.  I think that when her students leave that class, not only will they have a mastery of the technology that they have been learning, they will have  confidence in their own abilities.  They are learning to be independent learners, and as Ms.  Davis says, they are really empowered to  be in control of what they learn.  Watching what Ms.  Davis has done with her students helps me to realize the kind of teacher I want to be.

Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch was an inspiring man. Before his death from pancreatic cancer in 2008, he gave his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University.  In this lecture, Mr.  Pausch talks about childhood dreams.  He begins by talking about his own childhood dreams.  The first one was to experience zero gravity.  The second was to play in the NFL.  He also wanted to write in an encyclopedia .  He wanted to be the Star Trek Captain Kirk, and he dreamt of winning large stuffed animals from amusement parks.  He dreamt of being a Disney Imagineer.  Mr. Pausch talks in the first part of this lecture about how he achieved his childhood dreams.  The most memorable part of this section was when he talks about brick walls.  He helps his listeners to understand that brick walls are not meant to stop us.  They are there to help us realize how badly we want our dream.  They are there to help us reach them before others do.

The next part of the lecture is when Mr.  Pausch talks about helping others achieve their dreams.  This is even more important than realizing our own.  He talks about students that he has had over the years, and he lists many of the accomplishments that his classes at Carnegie Mellon have achieved.  He talks about his idea of Alice, which uses "head fakes".  This allows children to learn valuable information while ding something fun. He shows examples of the groundbreaking work his students have done in the field of virtual reality.  He shows the video of the world they created, and then he shares some of his favorite memories.

Finally, Mr.  Pausch thanks the people that have been influential in his career.  He talks about the professors that have inspired and helped him decide which career path to take.  Mr.  Pausch talks about the team that will be moving forward with the programs that he has implemented.  He shares the lessons that were given to him, which included getting "dutch Uncle-d" by his mentor.  He talks about all the people who help and influence us along the way.  These include teachers, parents, and mentors.  He talks about loyalty, and how it is so important, and that it goes two ways.  He used a great example of a student that he vouched for, who eventually became a valuable member of his team.

The video was very touching and funny.  Mr.  Pausch handled the subject of his illness with amazing humor and grace.  My favorite part of the video was when he surprised his wife and sang happy birthday to her.  It was obvious that he meant what he said about having fun every day.  He was an inspiring speaker and a great man.  In the end Mr.  Pausch reveals that this speech was really for his children.  Of all the "head fakes" he ever did, his last lecture was the best.

C4T #2

For my second C4T assignment, I began following Lisa Thumann.  Her posts were very informative.  On each post that I commented on, I was introduced to new apps that I had not heard of.  I came away from this assignment with new tools to add to my PLN.


For the first blog post that I commented on Ms.  Thumann was talking about Google Chrome.  She was writing about some of the things that Google Chrome could be used for other than just a browser.  She talked about the Scratchpad, which is a note taking app.  I also did not know about the Screen Capture feature available at the Google Chrome Web Store.  This was my comment for this post:
" Hi Ms. Thumann,
My name is Kristie McNair, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. My major is elementary education. I am reading and commenting on your blog as part of an assignment for my EDM310 class. My professor, Dr. John Strange, believes that blogs are an excellent resource to us as teachers and he wants to help us create a network of educators to draw information from. On October 9, I will be writing a summary of your posts that I have read and the comments that I leave. You can view them if you like. My EDM310 class blog link ishttp://www.edm310.blogspot.com . My blog is at http://www.mcnairkristieedm310.blogspot.com . I learned so much from your blog post on Google Chrome! I always use Google Chrome as my browser, but I had no idea that it has so many apps and things that you can do with it. I think that the Scratchpad and Chrome 2 phone sound like great tools. I am going to try them out immediately. Thank you"     

For the second post I commented on, Ms.  Thumann wrote about Flat Stanley.  This is a series of childern's books, in which Stanley goes on adventures in different locations.  Ms.  Thumann had helped her daughter's class do a Flat Stanley project, and she had found a Flat Stanley app that could be used to help teach geography.  This was my comment:

"Hi Ms. Thumann,
I had never heard of Flat Stanley until your blog post. I went to the Flat Stanley website after I read your post. What a great way to teach children geography! I think that Flat Stanley would be a great addition to most elementary classrooms as both a geography lesson and a safe way to introduce students to social networking. Also, I love the idea of students sharing their experiences with peers from many different places. I am going to install the app from itunes and check it out!"

Project #9b Timetoast Timeline

Project #10 PLN Update

For my PLN I am using Symbaloo.  I find that it is very easy to use and it keeps all the sites that I use on a regular basis, as well as my growing PLN, organized.  I know that I am only beginning my PLN.  So far I have sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, Google Earth, and Delicious, among others.  I have the EDM310 class blog site, as well as the University of South Alabama website.  I am creating tiles for each of the teachers' blogs that I am following for C4T.  I am excited to watch my PLN continue to grow as I go through the rest of the semester.

C4K Summary #1

C4K#1 Maranda
In my C4K assignment #1, I commented on Maranda's blog. In her blog Maranda's class had had a field day type of activity where they had been allowed to play games. Maranda talked about how much fun that day had been. I commented on her blog by telling her what a great job I thought she was doing by writing her blog, and how I was learning to be a teacher, and how important blogging is.
C4K#2 ka2011
In my C4K assignment, I commented on ka2011. I told ka2011 where I was from and that I was taking a class called EDM310 where we were learning to be teachers who let our students blog. I talked about what a great job ka2011 was doing, and I said that I have a daughter in the 3rd grade, and I would love for her to be able to blog too.
C4K#3 Kaleigh
For my C4K#3, I commented on Kaleigh. Her school had recieved a donation of ipads from Lucy Buffett, and the students had written Ms. Buffett thank you notes. I told Kaleigh that I had enjoyed her letter, and that I thought the things they were doing with their new ipads were awesome. I told Kaleigh that I thought Ms. Lucy Buffett would be very proud of how her class was putting her gifts to such good use.

Blog Post #6

In the Networked Student by Wendy Drexler, the question is asked,  "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?"  In this video Ms.  Drexler answers this question.  She helps us to understand that the networked student has to be taught how to create and then how to use their PLN.  These students have access to all the information in the world via the internet.  The amount of facts available to them is limitless.  But it takes a teacher to show these students how to put all of this information together and use their sources to find additional resources to create their network.  Then the networked student can use their information to become part of someone else's network.

Ms.  Drexler says that she is preparing to use this with a group of middle schoolers in the fall of this year.  I think that middle school is a perfect age to start this.  I plan on following Ms.  Drexler's blog to find out how her test goes.  As to the question, am I ready?  I think that I am well on my way to becoming ready.  Through the tools and resources I am learning in EDM310, I am going to help create networked students by being a networked teacher.


 A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)
In the video  A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN ), the student describes why having a PLN, or personal learning network helps her to be a better student.  She shows some of the tools that she uses on her site, which include Google and a note taking application that she uses to collect her information.  I think that this type of PLN could be very beneficial to both a student and an educator.  Right now I am still building my PLN.  It includes social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  It also includes blogs that I have been introduced to through EDM310.  I can use Delicious to pin all the resources that I find, and this allows me to keep them in one place.  I know that I have lots more to learn, and I know that as I continue through EDM310 that my PLN will grow.