Blog Post #6

Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

Asking questions is necessary when teaching because it deepens and extends the student's way of thinking. Questions allow educators to make sure their students are comprehending the material and that they are helping their learning experience. However, the biggest problem with questions is that most of the time they can do more harm than good because we are not using them the correct way. After really doing some reading I learned more about the correct techniques and how we should ask questions.

In Ben Johnson's The Right Way To Ask Questions in the Classroom, he explains what type of questions we should be avoiding. How many of you have heard the question "Does everybody understand?" You are most likely thinking in your head about the countless number of times you have been asked this pointless question. In fact, the majority of you probably even said yes to this question even though you did not understand at all. As teachers we feel that this question is letting students know this is their last chance to ask for help, but in reality it does not push the students into the higher-order-thinking stratosphere. Teachers need to ask more specific questions instead of throwing these general questions to the air in the course of a class period. If you tend to be more specific it helps avoid one worded responses and promotes "open" questions instead, which lead to more feedback from your students.

Another effective approach when asking questions is to prepare them ahead of time. In Maryellen Weimer's Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom she goes into depth about the importance of preparing before hand. Mary mentions an article by Bill Welty who said "When you write out a question, you can make it clearer...not just the wording, but clearer conceptually. Is it the question that needs to be asked? When is the best time to ask it?" These are just a few reasons why preparing questions is such a good idea. As teachers, it is very crucial that we work on our questioning techniques and ask good questions so that our students can see the importance of them.

Project #8 Book Trailer

Blog Post #5

Icurio Video

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...



My Passion Is...

Blog Post #4

Langwitches' blog post Podcasting With First Graders is about a group of students who started reading Vacation under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne from the Magic Tree House series. The idea was to make believe that they are interviewing the two main characters. The students were eager to record several segments and enjoyed listening to their audio recording repetitively. The students also cared about the quality of their work because they asked to record their podcasts again if they were not pleased with the results. Even the most timid students were breaking out of their shells and joining in on the excitement.

The children learned the following skills:

listening

speaking

presenting

comprehension

storytelling

performance

voice acting

oral fluency

media

technology

Langwitches' blog post Flat Stanley Podcast is about a first grade class that reads the book Flat Stanley by Jim Brown. The class brainstorms with their teacher and comes up with a story line for their audio segment. They would be flattened by their SmartBoard and mailed around the world. They picked a location of their choice and had to borrow a book from the library so they could learn more about their place. They also had the option to use the internet to research their location. Together, with their parents they read their book and created a short script. The students were reminded that they needed to think about the senses and sound effects in their audio segment.

This podcast made by these first graders really made me realize that sound effects and tone are an important part of audio. I would love to use this method of teaching in my future classroom.

Langwitches' blog post Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting is about a group of second graders who were learning the story of Purim. The students had to record the story as a podcast and their Jewish studies teacher helped them write their individual parts in Hebrew to create a script. The class had to unite as a team and make sure the entire story was told between them. The teacher had to make sure all of the recordings were completely out of order for this group project. The students then had to work together as a team and put the recordings in the correct order. They listened to the clips over and over again while they decided where to move each one. In the process of arranging the clips they were learning the sentences in English and Hebrew as well. After listening to this podcast I can really tell the children had a great time being creative. This was a great example of integrated learning and I think this is a fantastic tool to use in the classroom. I have learned that podcasting can offer an innovative way of learning and I am very excited about creating my first one.

C4T #1

My teacher that I was assigned to is Ms. Andrea Hernandez. She teaches fourth and fifth grade language arts in Florida. Her students use technology in the classroom on a regular basis, like the ipad for example. She also has a very interesting No Homework Policy which I think you will find to be a very neat blog post. However with that said, she does encourage her students to read and write at home regularly. You should certainly check out her blog for yourself. It is very informative and creative with technology.

C4T Comment 1

The first week I commented on the blog Five Apps I'm using in my Classroom. In the blog she explains that she is an elementary teacher who has an ipad friendly learning environment for her students. She lets her children use apps such as words with friends which is an educational game that associates with spelling. She has a set of guidelines for her students that only allows them to use their electronic devices for educational purposes. She also uses pandora and lets her kids listen to soothing music while they work on their assignments.

C4T Comment 2

I Hope You Like It! was the second blog post by Andrea Hernandez that I commented on. Andrea discusses in the beginning how we are always receiving information whether it is from a social media site or an email subscription. We all decipher which pieces of information are worth our time and for the most part it is a personal choice. We all tend to look for information that is meaningful and can benefit us in different ways. Andrea also takes the time to talk about how more teachers and students should blog. I have to say that I completely agree with this. Blogging allows people to connect, learn, and create. As Andrea states, "We are all writing and creating for our readers," and we simply want our readers to enjoy what we talk about.

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post #3

How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

The word edit by itself is not a very intimidating word, but how about if I put peer in front of it? How many of you are suddenly a little worried now? For most people, critiquing their peers is not an easy task because we often tend to worry about offending one another. We take criticism in such a different way when it is coming from someone our own age rather than an instructor. Why is that? It feels as if we are being judged or even sized up at times because these are people we know and even if we do not know them well it still does not make it any easier. We have recently learned that in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class we are given groups and must edit our peers' blog posts. This was not an easy task for me because I have always been a sugar coater as some would label it. However, after watching the required material for this blog post, it demonstrates some ways that make peer editing seem more appealing and constructive. Since peer editing has always been a weakness for me, I really believe that this is why I enjoyed the material that, Dr. Strange, required we watch and read for this blog post. The first required activity was a video that explained what peer editing was: . Then we were asked to view a peer edit tutorial slideshow: . The last piece of material was a humorous video about the top ten mistakes that occur when peer editing: .

The video about "What is Peer Editing?"

In this video, I learned that peer editing can be used very effectively if we follow the three basic steps which was compliments, suggestions, and corrections. The most important rule about comments and compliments was to always stay positive. You have to imagine how it would feel if somebody your own age was critiquing your work, you would not want to read negative comments. The video demonstrated some techniques that I like to use, for example it asks that you point out your peer's strong points first instead of just going straight into corrections. When you do not acknowledge the parts they did well on it ends up discouraging that person, so that is why compliments are so crucial when editing. The next step was suggestions and how to formally present ideas to your peer about how to better their writing in a positive way. You are suppose to look at word choice,sentence structures, organization, topic, and details. The last step was to correct your peer's writing and you are supposed to look at their grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

The slideshow demonstrating "Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial."

The slideshow was basically a recap of the peer editing video that I talked about above. It just presented the viewer with more details about how to edit in a formal way. It explained that instead of just pointing out suggestions you could say instead of the word happy, why not use enthusiastic instead. These are formal ways of making suggestions instead of being disrespectful by saying who I did not like your word choice and the new word I offered sounds much better. This slideshow is a great reminder to look back at and make sure you are offering helpful reviews that follow closely to these steps and guidelines.

The humorous video, "Writing Peer Reviews Top Ten Mistakes."

The third piece of material was a video that I thoroughly enjoyed watching. This video was about a group of fourth and fifth grader who demonstrated ten different types of mistakes that peer editors make. In the video we were told to not be a "Picky Patty," or a "Mean Margaret." It showed many different scenarios and cases of what we could be doing wrong when we are the editor. Writing Peer Reviews Top Ten Mistakes was very interesting and I included the link above, so you can watch the video, as well, if you like. Looking at this video we have encountered a few of these mistakes when we have had a peer review assignment in the past. I know I certainly have. The video really was helpful tool and allows you to understand what mistakes to avoid making when editing.

Overall, the material that we were required to watch, view, and write about was very helpful for me. I know that I will use the material as future references to reflect back to if I ever encounter a problem while peer editing. I feel that even though these are a great set of steps to follow, peer editing will always make some people uncomfortable. The best information to take away from this blog is that you can edit in a positive way and you do not have to be disrespectful to your peer while doing so. Peer editing is beneficial and it is best that we learn how to overcome our fears about it, because the only way we can help ourselves is by helping others.

Blog Post #2

Our thoughts on Mr. Dancealot

Authors: Kristie Bell, Kynetta Barren, and Doug Jarvis

In the Professor Dancealot video we see the problem with not engaging our students. He simply spends the entire semester reading power points word for word to his class. Obviously, this is boring and considering his class is a dance class, allowing the students to actually perform the dance and then correct them as they are trying would be a much better method of teaching. The final exam in his class was a videoed activity test in which his students were expected to perform the numerous dances he lectured about during the semester. Of course, having never been allowed to practice these moves, the students were very unsure and did not perform well. We can learn that it is ridiculous to teach by reading to people from this video. Children can read the text without us. What we need to do is expand on the written word with activities that excite our students about the subject matter and allow them to apply the knowledge they obtained through their reading. What is the purpose of a degree if all we are going to do is read to our kids. As educators we are being taught useful techniques to create the total learning experience for our children and we must also continue to find new ways to present material to ensure we are giving the best for our students. video can be seen at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA

My thoughts on "The Networked Student."

Dr. Wendy Drexler believes all learners can benefit from having a network of people who can provide assistance in their learning activities. In her video "The Networked Student" she demonstrates this by reviewing an actual project done by one of her students. Most of the time, as students, we do not realize that a strong network can greatly benefit us and also help us long term with our future careers. I have heard so many students say after they graduate, "well maybe I could have gotten that job if only I had the right connections." This is where this video comes into play and it also points out the significance of why an educator is still needed even if we are well networked. First, let me just start by saying that we live in a modern world where technology is advancing and we should certainly learn how to get the most use out of these devices. The educator can show a student many different skills such as how to formally act when using the internet. Just for example, Dr. Strange let us know in advance that our work would be seen all around the world and that we should show professionalism in every single assignment. So in this case, the educator could show his or her students how to be professional in their blog posts or when they interact with other educators. A great motto that we were told in this class was "Always ask, never tell." Educators love to answer our curious questions and help us get on the right track. This is why teachers tell us all the time to have a network and stay involved. This video really explains how networking can benefit us. Podcasts and rss feeds are both great examples of ways to enhance your learning. Instead of listening to a song on your ipod, why not download an educational podcast that is affiliated with your major? This broadens your learning and you can then take the knowledge you obtained and pass it on to others. Mainly, networking is this continuous process of education and how we can always learn something new. Educators are still needed because they help students find solutions/information/answers on their own. My reaction to this video was a positive one and it honestly made me think about what I can do to be more networked involved. Here is the link to the video so you can refer to it as well The Networked Student

Kynetta Barren's thoughts on "Harness Your Student's Digital Smart."

In Vicki Davis,”Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts” she uses all sources of electronic devices to teach the students such as computers, cell phones, videos, podcast, and blog sites. She feels that students need more than just pens, pencil, and paper to learn. She wants students to think on their own. The students learn from different students around the world through a website called Digi Teen. This is a way for students to blog and share ideas with each other. She allows the students to teach each other as groups. I think that idea is great because it prepare the students for the world today. I agree and disagree with this movie. I agree with the idea that the students can learn from the blogs, other students, and the internet. We all need to know what other different resources are out there. Some students learn better using the latest technology. I disagree because we don't want the students to just rely on the internet to understand the concept. Whatever happened to reading books to get information? What would you do if there was a blackout? Where will the backup come from without electricity? Generators simply do not last forever. I think we still need to re-educate our students to all sorts of way to learn without the use of some of the technology. This is where pencils, pens, and papers comes into play. If it was me, I couldn't just rely on the technology that is used today.Here is the video links to Vicki Davis, “Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jT78kBx6mFw.

Doug Jarvis's thoughts on "Teaching in the 21st Century."

What does it mean to teach in the 21st century? Everyday, technology makes leaps that allow us to access information easily and quickly from smaller and smaller devices. As an educator, we need to learn to incorporate these devices to teach a group of students that are becoming more and more technologically advanced. The internet allows us to get answers instantly on any subject matter imaginable. It is our job to ensure that we guide our students to understand that tools such as the internet , facebook, twitter,and skype can be great sources of information. However?, not all information is reliable and factual. We want to help students to understand what a good source is and how to ask the right questions to evaluate information they look up is a must in an age of instant gratification. We need to encourage our students to question things and to analyze information that they come across. One way to do this is to teach them to always use multiple sources; to compare and contrast different perspectives and then use what they learn to form their own opinions that they can support with facts. There is certainly a risk of privacy and plagiarism because of the temptation to use work done by others easily obtained from numerous sites. We have to do our work in both educating them in the dangers and the immorality of this act, as well as following up their work by checking sources they cite to ensure that their work is truly their own. As we move forward in this world of technology, we must continue to educate ourselves and engage our children in the format they are most comfortable with. We have to challenge them to push the boundaries of learning and to make full use of the age of information. As an educator in America today, I want our children to be the stars of tomorrow. I hope all of us realize that we are behind the powers of the world in education today ( especially math and science) and we must all help to prepare our students to the best of our abilities, so that they can be relevant and competitive in the world market. We must be different as educators, we owe it to our country to never be complacent. We must always remember that the children are the future as educators. We have the sacred duty to mold them so that a bright future is given to them and the great nation we all call home. Video can be found at:www.edm310/teaching21stcenturymed.m4v