Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Blog Post 15 Part 1

This is probably the most difficult post I have made in this class. I am sure that people who always knew they were going to teach would have plenty to say in this paragraph. I, however never thought that I would be going into the teaching field. I've been through a lot of circumstances in my life, good and bad, that have brought me to where I am today. Anyway, without going into details, I started working as a substitute teacher. I found I could identify with high school students the best. This was probably because, my son just graduated from high school last year. My major in college was actually Social Work, but I found out I hated this one class called Policy. I love history especially World War II. I ended up having a lot of the classes I needed for Secondary Education (Social Studies), so here I am.
This class has been helpful in giving me ideas about teaching. I think that we can have all the ideas we want. We really will not know what we will actually be able to implement until we are there. I'm not in my twenties, so it is really difficult for me to have this fantasy classroom in my mind made up of rainbows and sunshine. Especially since I have a teenage son and I have spent plenty of time substituting unruly high school students. I think my classroom is going to depend on what kind of funding the school has, and how on board they are with technology in the classroom. Since, I have no mentors, and I am pretty much on my own, this is just the way I see things.
Probably one of my favorite ideas (all semester) was the idea of flipping the classroom. It was appealing to me, because of the problems my own son faced trying to navigate high school. I really like the theory that it works for all students even the ones who are struggling to understand the concepts being taught everyday. The program is self paced and allows students to watch videos outside of the class to learn the concepts before they get to class. They would be able to email me and other students with questions. This leaves classroom time for actually working instead of just lecturing. The classroom is separated into groups by where they are at in the material. This allows all students to be engaged and challenged. This is appealing to me, because it helps all students even the ones who are prepared to work faster then the others.
I hope with this class under my belt, and at least two more years in school, I will have a better idea of what my class will look like, in the near future. The classrooms I have substituted in are just bare shells. So, there is not much inspiration coming from there. I have also never substituted in a classroom where all students had access to a computer. Don't get me wrong, this class has offered up a lot of ideas, but it is like system overload, because there is so much to take in and commit to memory. With that said, (at my age) I really do not see myself in a classroom for long. My plan is to return to South and get my Master's in School Counseling. So, I will still be in a school setting, but helping students on a more one on one basis.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

C4T

Eric Langhorst is an 8th grade American History teacher at South Valley Junior High School in Liberty, Missouri. His blog post this week was the subject of a presentation that he was supposed to do for a convention. It was a snow day so it got canceled. He decided to post a youtube video of his presentation titled Best Sites and Apps for Teachers. He used screencast-o-matic to make his presentation which includes a list of 50 websites and apps that might be useful to a teacher. He also includes links to everything. I saved the video to my favorites so I could refer back to it.
In my comments I mainly introduced myself and thanked him for posting such a valuable resource.
For my blog post this week I had to go back to a previous blog post by Mr. Langhorst, because he did not have a new posting. He writes about attending the 2012 Google Teacher Academy. He talks about Google tools,Google Culture, and the GTA network. He talks about what a great experience it was and how much information he took away from it. One of the most interesting parts o his blog post was his description of working environment of Google the Company. _20% time, relaxed campus atmosphere(where employees can bring their pets to work with them), prepared meals in the Google cafeteria, bowling alleys, and massage rooms-Google truly sounds like an innovative place to work for. Mr Langhorst had nothing but good things to say about his experience. I hope that I have a chance to attend one of them one day. Hello my name is Heather Heiskell I am a student in EDM 310, at the University of South Alabama.This was a really interesting post. I have used Google plenty of times, but I have never thought about it much further than that. I hope I have the opportunity to visit Google for myself one day and attend one of these conventions. Thank-you for sharing.

Project #16

Project 13

One of the tools we used to complete our project 13 was Shared Documents in Google Drive.(pictured above)We attempted to use Google hangout, but we had a problems with it. We also tried Skype and it would not link all three of our members together in one conversation. We also used Google Chat, text, and personal messaging through Facebook. We used all of these for several of our projects, not just project 13. They were very helpful, because they allowed us to set up for out projects. This helped us get things done faster once we met in person.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

C4K

Mrs. Geldes (Megan O) 4th grade Nebraska My student comments were:
Do you know where Nebraska is? I live in Nebraska and I think it is amazing. But don’t take it from me I want to tell you about Nebraska. First there is the state insect and it is the honey bee. And then there is the state fish it is catfish there is also the state drink it is cool ad. The state dance is squares dancing. And Nebraskas state flower is the Golden Rod. Also there is the state and there is the state tree is Cottenwood.and the state grass is Little Bluestem also the state bird is western Meadowlark .and the state fossil is a Mammoth.Then there is a great place to go and that is the Henry Dorly Zoo that is a great place in Nebraska that if you come here you should go to it. There are lots of things that I can name that are in Nebraska. Now I would like to hear some of your thing you have to say hear are some questions where do you live? What are some of the state simbles.are there any fun places that you can visit. If there is I would like to now were they are and if you have other things I will like to hear them.
This was my comment back to her:
Hello Megan, it is great to meet you and hear about the great state of Nebraska. I live in Mobile, Alabama. I attend college at the University of South Alabama. Our state official dance is also square dancing. Our state flower is the Camelia, and our state bird is the Yellowhammer Woodpecker. Some fun things to do are going to the beach (Gulf Shores), and visiting the Gulf Shores Zoo, which was featured on Animal Planet. We also have several museums, including a children's museum called the Gulf Coast Exploreum. Thank-you for sharing your blog with me. Have a great day!
Mrs Kathleen Morris and Ms. Kelly Jordan 4th grade Leopold Primary School, Victoria, Australia Olivia (after Kyle, before Haille)
This was Olivia's comment:
Easter Holiday Writing Wow, how fast did the holidays go? It felt like one day so to me it was nothing. On Monday when all of the students got back from there break, we started writing holiday writing. I wrote mine about the things that I did the most because I went to lots of different places with my family. When I typed up this piece of writing I thought to myself: There are things that I need to work on and I will try to get better a them. What I thought of was writing sentences that aren’t too long so that I can fit more writing in.Well let’s start off by saying Easter is a great thing to celebrate. I like it and so do most other people because you do get lots of chocolate from the Easter Bunny and your family and friends. I made my way up to Melbourne to stay at the RACV. I stayed on level 8 which is the highest you can stay on.. We stayed there for two nights so that means the Easter Bunny had to go to where we were staying to deliver our eggs. On Easter Monday my family and I made our way home in the car and it normally seems to take forever but not this time. When we got home I ate nearly all of my Easter eggs without knowing how many I was eating. It was lots of fun to be with my family all together again.Over the holidays I did lots of blogging on our class blog. It was lots of fun and the reason I went on it was because I had nothing else to do so I did that for about an hour before deciding I had, had enough. I came back to it in a couple days later and had a little look to see if anyone had replied but no one had so I just waited and waited for them but I didn’t get any. I didn’t really mind though because it was the holidays so people must have been away or didn’t want to go onto it. I am looking forward to doing it again in the term two holidays.This time I went to stay at Crown Promenade with my whole family. For dinner we went down to South Bank and watched the flames. It was really fun and I will be going again soon.I hope you like it because I had lots of fun with it, it took me a while and I think that it is really good.
This was my response:
Hello Olivia, it is so nice to meet you. I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I have never been anywhere outside of the United States. I celebrated Easter by attending church and having a family celebration with an Easter Egg Hunt and a cookout. It was very nice to meet you. Keep up the great work.
Mr Boylen's 8th grade class Language Arts Colton D
My name is Colton and I am 14 yrs old and in 8th grade. I have lived in Iowa, USA for 4 yrs. I enjoy Skateboarding with my friends (for activities, sports, or other things). My favorite subject in school is study hall. I spend my free time skateboarding and sometime playing xbox . I have a puppy named eli. Almost every summer I go to Wisconsin, Dells, Where I go to amusement parks and water parks. I haven’t been to any other countries. Have you? When I get older I want to be a pro skateboarder. If that doesn’t work out I want work in business. What do you want to do when you get older? What thing do you like to do on your free time.
Hello Colton, my name is Heather Heiskell. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am going to school to be a high school teacher. When I am not busy with school I am a mom to four children. I stay pretty busy with that. I love water parks and amusement parks. Roller coasters are my favorite. I have never been out of the United States. I was born in Mobile, Alabama and have spent my entire life here, except for a few months in Texas. Thank-you for sharing your blog with me.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Final Report on PLN

Symbaloo
My Personal Learning Network has come a long way. I found most of my resources just by using Google. I searched for teacher and classroom resources. I was able to find two different pages with list of resources and links to the sites. This is just a start. There were so many to choose from. Symbaloo is easy to use and I like the way it looks.

Progress Report on the Final Project

Our group has decided to do the instructional video on EDM 310. We are using iMovie At first we were doing a sports theme, but we decided againt that. We are pulling images from Google. We will be doing a podcasts type video with voice over while showing the pictures. We watched a lot of other final projects from different semesters to help us shape our idea into our project. Despite what my cartoon says I was blessed to end up with a really good group in this class. We have had lots of laughs and everyone has been very cooperative with meeting and working together. We have only lost one person in our group, but it has worked out fine.

Blog Post #14

Teacher knows if you've done the E-reading.
This article was mainly about investigation of whether students are doing the reading and how it affects their grades. The data collected will eventually be used to write new textbooks. The argument is that the data collected, could be manipulated by sneaky students, making it look like they are doing more reading then they actually are. The program,which called CourseSmart not only tracks what the student is doing, but it also affects what material the teacher will present and how he/she will present it. It was found that some students were doing fine on quizzes and test, even though they were not doing as much reading as deemed necessary.
As a Teacher.... 
This might be a useful tool to have in the classroom. Any good teacher knows that not all students learn the same. Just because students are not reading does not mean they are not learning the material. I think it would be a useful tool for me, only because it could help me figure out how to present the material effectively to my students. At least that is what it is claiming it can do. For me to really have an opinion on it I would have to use it first hand.
As a Student....
If I was a student I think knowing they were looking at how often I was opening my book and turning pages, would be a little intimidating. It might cause me to read more, or it might just cause me to open my book more. I might be a student that learns better by watching videos, by visiting a museum, or hearing a lecture. I might be a student who does not comprehend what I read therefor making me feel a textbook as useless.
Questions for the teacher...
My main question for the teacher is How well do you know your students? I am not meaning to repeat myself, but all students learn differently. Your students may comprehend a diagram on the board, much better then reading about it in a book. Some students are visual learners. That is another reason why the internet sources and technology are so important to have in the classroom . We are going to be able to reach out and help students in ways that we have never been able to before.
Questions for the students....
One thing I would have to know is does the student have an IEP(Individualized Education Program), or did they have one in high school.(if I were teaching in college) I would come up with some surveys to try to figure out which learning style worked for them as individuals. As I have already said to be good effective teachers we have to know our students. If you are not going to get to know your students, you should probably not be teaching.
My comments on the article....
My comments would pretty much be what I wrote in the section for what I would ask the teacher. I also have to wonder why on the college level? Why are we monitoring how much the student is reading? Especially when they are considered to be adults at this point of their lives.I could almost understand doing this in middle school and high school. Monitoring the students reading in college seems a bit ridiculous.

Blog Post # 13

Brian Crosby (Agnes Risley Elementary School, Sparks, Nevada)
Brian Crosby's video Back to the Future is video of how his classroom is ahead of the game, by using technology and hands on experiments. His students are at risk students, because they receive free lunch and most are in the category of English as a second language. He explains how one topic which started out as learning different layers of the atmosphere and turned into releasing a hydrogen balloon into the air. The students all have their own blogs, flickr accounts, and wiki's which were also incorporated in with this learning experience. The students also had to pretend they were the balloon taking a trip a they had to write about it. This video got me excited about learning. I wish we could have learned like this when I was in elementary school. The video of the balloon going up was awesome. You can see pictures all the way up above eighty thousand feet. The students were also able to track the balloon in real time on google. Even after the balloon landed the students were still learning through their blogs and wiki's. They were able to share with other students how they did the experiments, so that they could do the experiments in their class. This put them in a position to be the teachers and tell what they had learned. One of the best parts of the video showed how because of technology that home schooled students can be active members in the classroom.


QUIVERS: A Classroom Filled with Learning Paul Anderson is an AP Biology teacher in Bozeman, Montana. His YouTube video he uses the Blended Learning Cycle in his classroom. His foundation is blended learning using the classroom, online and mobile. His learning cycle is an engaging question in which he allows his students to explore, expand, and evaluate. He uses the acronym QUIVERS which is the first letter of each step that he uses to teach a lesson in his classroom.


He uses the Euler's Disc as his example on the video.
1. Question
2.Investigation/Inquiry
 3. Video
4. Elaboration
5. Review
 6. Summary Quiz
By using these steps the students are able to expand on what they are learning, and commit the knowledge to memory. People who are wary about technology in the classroom will be pleased to see that a good portion of this is reading material that he that they are required to cover. It also includes, online investigation, classroom discussion, and small group discussion with the instructor to make sure they grasp the information and are prepared to be tested on what they know. They are allowed to re-do the test if they do not do well.
I think Mr. Anderson's strategy represents everything we have been learning about this semester in EDM 310. I would definitely use his teaching method in my classroom.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Blog Post #12 Secondary Education/Social Studies

Your assignment is to pick two people that are an inspiration to you. Make one of them a person who you know today, and the other, someone you have studied about in history. Be sure to post a picture and tell why, or how they are an inspiration to you.

Clara Barton was a teacher. After a man was hired to run a school she had established, she went to work as a clerk for the U.S. Patent office.During the Civil War she was known as the Angel of the Battlefield. She was able to obtain camp and hospital supplies, while working on the front lines caring for injured soldiers. She was brave and tireless in her efforts. She convinced the U.S. to sign the Treaty of Geneva, which lead to the establishment of the Red Cross in the United States. She was president of the Red Cross for twenty-two years. She lived her life during a time when men were the ones who called the shots. She is an inspiration to me, because she was a strong woman who made it her business to help others, despite what people thought. Prior to my decision to become a teacher, I wanted to be a Social Worker. More than anything Clara Barton was a humanitarian. The spirit of helping others is still in me, which is why I plan to pursue my Master's Degree in School Counseling

My husband is my second person. We are just different enough to fit perfectly together. My husband does not sweat the small stuff and is a glass is half full kind of person. (I am the complete opposite, which is why our marriage works so well) He went back to school in his forties (proof that you are never too old to pursue a career) and received his A&P license and is now an Aviation Mechanic. He is a definite leader, and knows how to get the job done. No matter what it is, whether it be putting an airplane back together, taking care of out children, doing housework, and or yard work, he gives his all and does his best. I strive to be like him, but I fall very short most, if not all the time. He is my hero.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Blog Post #11

Even a First Grader Can Do It
The first graders in Mrs. Kathy Cassidy's class have made a video showing what they are doing in the classroom at their school in Canada. They have their own blog's, and a classroom webpage where they can find different lessons for class during their center times. These tools can also be used at home. They have used wikis to share information and learn new information, and Skype to talk to other people.
Mrs. Cassidy has been involved with technology in the classroom for about ten years. When her classroom was given five computers, she set them up as one of her centers in her classroom. She was able to get some federal funding to help with setting them up. She has had a classroom webpage for about ten years, a classroom blog for five years, and videos for about two years. It has mainly been her pursuing the use of these tools in the classroom, but the administrative is supportive. To provide privacy to her students she only post first names and if she post pictures she does not match them to the names. The children love it and the parents enjoy the easy access to what their child is doing in the classroom. She advocates continuous learning and having a personal learning network to keep up with what is new. Start with what you are interested in and go from there. She advises all teachers to change with the world and learn as much as you can about what computers can bring to the classroom.I look forward to using all of these tools in my classroom, and possibly many others. I am sure that by the time I graduate that there will be much more available to learn and use.

C4T #3

Karl Fisch A Sublime Disruption The Fischbowl
Karl's Biology class is working on an Ecology project. It was suggested by a fellow student to watch a video she had posted on her Facebook page. The video (A Sublime Disruption) depicts cultural diversity and the beauty of the Earth. One of the things I took away from this was that they were able to make a connection with the original author of the movie (Gareth Nolan) who lives in Dublin, Ireland. How small our world has become because of blogging and a connection to Facebook. The students were able to ask him questions about the film and his opinion on what he thought was a major environmental issue. His answer was deforestation. He has been able to witness it first hand with visits to the island of Borneo. He describes the area as a biodiversity hot spot that compares with the Amazon. Seeing the destruction of an area was heartbreaking for the author.
Hi My name is Heather Heiskell, I a m student in EDM310 at University of South Alabama. This is a beautiful video showing cultural diversity. The Earth is a beautiful place and we do not appreciate it and take care of it in the way we should. It is wonderful that just from a video and blogging your students were able to make a connection with the original author. Thank-you for sharing your post and the video.

What job would you hire a textbook to do?
Mr. Fish attended a two day event called Discovery Education's Beyond the Textbook. The main part of the event was to get together in groups and discuss ideas for a 21st Century Digital Resource aka a techbook instead of the traditional textbook used in classrooms. A techbook would be more than just a digital copy of a textbook. There were many thoughts thrown around within the group. Would it be something that was used all the time, or just sometimes as an additional resource? Some things that his group did agree on was that it should adjust to meet the needs of individual students and teachers. It was thought that for example if it were a very complicated trig problem that it would provide a variety of information and ways to solve and that the teacher could decide how much of the information to provide to her students. The group also discussed problems, exercises, collaboration, and the social component of the techbook.
I think the idea of a techbook is a great idea. Math was and is my worst subject. I can't help but think that this might be just what is needed to help students who might not be so good at math. I can see where it would be helpful in every subject. I may have misunderstood, but more information, or different types of examples could be provided that would be helpful to a student that might not be as strong in that particular subject. Thank-you for sharing.

C4K

Laycee R 8th grade Iowa Language Arts Mr Boylen
THis was my students blog post:
What do you think you as a student gain from blogging with students and others outside of the school? Is it worth the time? Why/why not? We get to hear about other people and what kind of sports they are in or even what the weather is like. Yes it is worth the time, it is more fun to talk to people outside of our school, because realistically we already know about the basic things about if you are blogging with your friends.
Hello Laycee, I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am a secondary education major. I am in a class right now called EDM310 where we have our own blog too. I agree with your opinion on blogs, It is very interesting and a great way to show your creative side. I hope that when I start teaching my students will have an opportunity to blog also.
Mr. Paul Hubel Cooper 6th grade Adelaide Australia
If we share what would happen if we shared are belongings. Everyone could have enough there’s enough to go around for everyone to use. Some people have got a lot some people don’t have any if we share with those who aren’t as lucky than others then make those people happy just by sharing your belongings. There’s many people in famine and poverty by sharing a little you can help those family’s with there problems people don’t realize what sharing can do to help these people it doesn’t take much to share you only have to share a little to help others
My name is Heather Heiskell. I am a student at University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. It is very nice to meet you Cooper. I have always wanted to visit Australia. I enjoyed reading your post. You sound like a very wise young man. If more people thought like you, the world would be a much better place. Thank-you for letting me read your blog. Do you do tricks on your bike? My oldest son can do tricks on his. Have a great week.
Ms Lentine's Blog Sam M
This was my students blog post
After watching part of the “Wretches and Jabberers” film, I’ve noticed that Larry and Tracy went through very hard times because of their disability. Larry was born in the late 50′s and he was institutionalized because the people at that time did not know how to deal with autism. Tracy wasn’t given any opportunities when he was young and he wasn’t able to have a good education. But in the 90′s someone came up with the idea to give autistic people the power to communicate by typing. When that happened people found out that these people aren’t stupid, they just can’t speak. They found that even autistic people have human intelligence. And they've been learning ever since.
Hi Sam, my name is Heather Heiskell. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. My step-son and my niece both have autism. One is more severe then the other. I am so thankful that they are young and that there is so much more knowledge about Autism today then when Larry and Tracy were born. I was able to watch some of the what Tracy and Larry are doing to inform people about Autism on YouTube. It is very interesting and I wish I could have found the actual documentary that your class watched. I plan to check my local library for it. Thank-you for sharing your blog.
Mr. Boylen 8th grade Iowa Language Arts Emily H
Hello, my name is Emily and I am 14 years old. I attend MFL Mar Mac and am in 8th grade. I’ve lived in the same small town Iowa in the USA all my life. I spend my free time watching sports all year long, it doesn't matter what sport, I also like playing basketball, volleyball, softball, and exercising. Other than watching sports, I like to so all types of art work, including, painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture. I read often, but also write. I enjoy spending time with all of my friends and large family of 8. I hate to admit it, but I spend a little too much time on the internet, between twitter and facebook. Being outdoors and in the woods and fields that my family own can also be very fun! In the summer I enjoy going to the pool and playing with water. My favorite subjects in school are Algebra and Language or Literature. I’m super excited to begin blogging with all of you! I've become acquainted with a few of you via KidBlog already, but am looking forward to knowing more!What do you enjoy doing on your free time? Favorite school subject?
Hello Emily,
my name is Heather Heiskell. I am a student at University of South Alabama, in Mobile, Alabama. I like reading, photography, and outdoor activities like camping. We are learning about blogs and I have created my own blog for my class. It's exciting to know that students your age and a lot younger are becoming acquainted with blogs and all the other wonderful tools available to us online. I enjoyed reading your blog. Thank-you for sharing.