Blog Post 9- What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning?

This week our class was instructed to answer the question what both, teachers and students, can teach us about Project Based Learning. Upon reviewing the post The Seven Essentials of Project Based Learning the main message was that students should be passionate about what they are learning about. Often, students believe class assignments and projects to be useless, because they feel there is no true reason that they need to learn the material being presented, other than the fact that it will, "be on the test." However, by allowing the students to go about the project in their own way, as long as it is still meeting the teachers required standards, the students are much more likely to be more passionate about the project. Teachers in this type of project can often learn from students, because the students often bring new concepts and ideas ,which may or may not be known to the teacher beforehand. This can be accomplished by the teacher allowing his or her students to explore the topic in their own creative way and bring their own research and conclusions to the table.

An example of this can be found in the video, Two Students Solve The Ketchup Problem The two students in this video had a passion for ketchup,but they were constantly frustrated with the ever present water that always seemed to come out when trying to get the ketchup. This was the driving question, you can learn how to effectively develop a driving question by watching the video, The Driving Question. They ended up developing a new cap to go on ketchup bottles, they took something they were passionate about and were able to develop a solution.

Another key question to keep in mind when developing your PBL is what exactly keeps your students motivated. A video that shows multiple students opinions in what keeps them motivated in school can be found in the video, What Motivates Students? A few examples of the students answers included future success, encouragement from teachers, and outside school activities that depended on their school performance. If you are questioning if weather PBL is the right way to go for your class, 10 Sites That Support Digital Collaboration in the Classroom is a great place to get information as well as ideas for PBLs.

Project #12- SMARTboard Tools

Project #14- Project Based Learning Lesson Plan #2

In the midst of Project #13s, Medieval Fair, students will also be instructed within their groups to prepare a historically accurate dish which represents the medieval culture.

Here are the links to my PBL:
PBL Overview
PBL Checklist
PBL Rubric

Why Do We Have To Learn History?

After reading a blog entitled, "Why Do We Have To Learn History?" by William Chamberlain, Dr. Strange asked us to take some time and truly think about responding to an elementary student with an answer to why exactly do we need to learn History. My original go to response was the typical one liner given to all students,"because we need to learn from our past, so we don't repeat the same mistakes in the future." However, as Dr. Strange pointed out, this isn't an answer that's actually going to satisfy an elementary student in any way, and honestly I have to agree.

When I was in 5th grade I can clearly remember being so excited, because we were able to use our calculators during Math class for the first time. However, I was slightly disappointed, due to the fact that we hardly ever got to use them, our teacher still wanted us predominantly using mental math. So, whenever we would ask the famous question ,"can we use our calculator?" We were always met with the same reply,"No, you aren't going to have a calculator in your pocket all the time in the real world, you need to learn how to use your brain." The answer when I was in school was of course no, we wouldn't have a calculator in our pockets at all times, today however, the only argument a student needs is one word, Smartphone.

This argument can be used for almost any subject in schools today, including History. Any date, any event, literally any historical fact needed, you are able to find online, and most kids as young as four years old have, if not a smartphone, a tablet device of some sort with internet access. Once again, why exactly do we need to actually need to learn History? To be completely honest, I can't think of a very good reason that would actually satisfy the mind of a young student. The best thing to do as an educator is to make the student interested in the content, and find new ways to teach without the students feeling as though they are constantly just having to memorize facts. Technology is forever changing the face of education and the way educators will be able to teach. The best thing teachers can do is to get on board and to find ways to truly expand the mind of their students.

Project #13- Project Based Learning Lesson Plan #1

My group, Kennedy, selected a project in which students will design a booth at a medieval fair. Students will gather information about the time period through their use of technology, but they must also use information they gathered form various works of Shakespeare.

Here are the links to our PBL:
PBL Overview
PBL Checklist
PBL Group Project Rubric
PBL Individual's Rubric
PBL Calender

Project #9- Book Conversation

Blog Post 8- What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

  In watching Randy Pausch's Last Lecture there are many lessons that can be learned from the viewpoint of both an educator as well as a student. Let's start from the viewpoint of an educator. A very big point Mr. Pausch made during his lecture was the fact that learning and education should be made fun for children, and this can be accomplish through technology. This gives children and students of all ages a way to learn something hard, while doing something fun. One of the best things you can teach someone is how to be self reflective. Also, educators play a very important role in allowing students to strive and reach for their childhood dreams. Educators help "enable others dreams."

  The next section was a message to students on how to be the best you can be. However, I think all the points Mr. Pausch made can certainly be used for both students and teachers. These included, cherishing the feedback of others. The feedback you receive from others, weather you know it or not, can often effect the path that you will follow. The list continued with, gratitude, no complaining, being good at something, finding the best in everybody (even if they make it extremely difficult), and lastly to be prepared. These are all helpful tools to keep in mind weather you are an educator or student.

C4Tp Post #2 (Silvia Tolisano)

  In Silvia Tolisano's blog,Langwitches, she shared a blog entitled, "Copyright Flowchart: Can I use it? Yes? No? If This...Then...In this blog post Tolisano discusses the ongoing battle with plagiarism and copyrights. Tolisano explains how it is our job as either current or future educator to ensure your students are giving credit where credit is due. As Tolisano says, just because it may be of of Google and you specifically are not making money off of it, it is still considered stealing someone else's work. As teachers, it is also our responsibility to be role models to our students about how to source and give credit to the artist effectively.

   After visiting Silvia's Tolisano's blog a week later she posted a blog entitled "Blogging as a Curation Platform." In this blog she discussed the influence blogging can have upon a student's education. When students blog, it expands their education platform. They can share the information they learn, as well as keep it organized. All of their information is in one place and they can easily access their own working links. Blogging within the classroom is a great tool for students to learn outside the classroom.

C4Ta Post #2 (William Chamberlain)

  Blogger, William Chamberlain, on April 14th, 2014 posted a blog to his blog site #WmChamberlain asking the question, "Why do I have to learn History?" Chamberlain states that he was asked this very question by one of his students, he also says he could not give the student an immediate answer. After some time thinking about the question and researching online, Chamberlain still could not give his student an answer, therefore, he asked this question on his blog.

  After pondering the question,"Why do we need to learn History,"I believe I have come up with an answer. Without learning about History, man-kind would be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Let's look at the "Bay of Pigs Invasion" which took place in 1961. United States government felt it needed a resolution to the growing socialist threat in our very own back yard, Cuba. A plan was formed to have American soldiers invade Cuba and ultimately take out the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. The plan failed miserably. American soldiers died, the United States was embarrassed, and it ultimately strengthened Cuba's will to continue to a socialist government system. This plan, which never sounded good from the beginning, came into action because of "group think." Group think occurs when certain people are afraid to speak up against the popular vote, for fear of being exiled from the group. It can also occur when you know an idea is horrible, but once you hear it enough times, it eventually sounds good. The United State learned from this event, and now, in order to prevent events like this from happening again the government uses precautions such as, bringing someone into the group strictly be a devil's advocate, rotating members of the group, etc...If the leaders of today, as well as us, did not make an effort to review history and its lessons, who knows where the United States would be as a country today.

  Almost one month later, June 15th, William Chamberlain posted a blog entitled, "I Admit It, I Am Biased. I Prefer Classroom Teacher Led Sessions." In this blog post, Mr. Chamberlain discusses his feelings about attending conferences, where it seems that the entire conference was simply to teach teachers about all the new tools teachers could potentially use in a classroom, yet they have never been actually used tested and evaluated on actual students. He expresses some frustration with this message, stating that "I have never presented at a conference and shown tools I have not used. I always share what worked for my students and what I felt didn't." Chamberlain's overall message is, the point of using educational tools in technology within the classroom shouldn't always be about discovering the new technology or fad, but using tools that can truly help the students learn and add value to the educators lesson plan. I can say that I certainly agree with this statement. Also, I have recently added Mr. Chamberlain to my PLN through Twitter. To visit his blog site you may go to wmchamberlain.blogspot.com

Blog Post 7- 21st Century Learning and Communication Tools

There are many helpful tools within technology which that allow teacher student communication and promote learning. Here are a few examples.

1) Bubbl.us is an online mind-mapping tool that teachers and students can use to collaborate and share their ideas on projects. This makes it easy to visually present your concepts, describe your process, and grow an idea.

2) Quizsnack is a site where teachers, as well as students, can easily create polls, quizzes, and questionnaires. Once your desired poll, quiz, or questionnaire is completed you can easily share it with whomever you desire.

3) Astrid would have to be my favorite tool I discovered today. It is a site where you can share checklists and notifications when something is due to your class. It is an effective task manager that allows students to always be aware of upcoming assignments, tests, projects, etc... Forget the days of printing off a hundred syllabi, only to have your students loose them within the week. Now you can just use Astrid!

EDM310 Book Trailer- "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

Blog Post 6- What did you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

  Through watching many conversational videos between Dr. Strange, EDM310 professor at the University of South Alabama, and Anthony Capps, former EDM310 student, they discussed the benefits, aspects, and planning that goes into creating an effective Project Based Learning assignment. In the video Project Based Learning Part 1 and Project Based Learning Part 2 I learned one of the most important aspects to creating an effective PBL is not to limit your students. Yes, have an end goal in mind, but set up the project in a way in which the students can go beyond the assumed outcome. Also, PBLs should not be used as a form of testing ones knowledge at the end of a unit, but they should be used to allow the students to learn about the content within that unit. There are also many helpful sights that can promote a successful PBL.

  Dr. Strange and Mr. Capps mentioned two helpful websites: ICurio and Discovery Education, both of theses sites are beneficial to teachers when conducting PBLs. ICurio is a site which allows students to safely search websites which are filtered for educational purposes. It can be used a search engine for students and also allows students to stay virtually organized. Discovery Education is a site that has taken almost all lesson plans and turned them into videos for students. This brings experts into the classroom and enriches the students learning experience.

  Lastly, was the discussion of formatting. According to Anthony Capps, there are essentially four layers in conducting a PBL. First, you must make sure the project fits into the lesson plan, and will actually benefit the students. You may hear of a great project, but if it is random to the curriculum being studied it will not benefit the students. Secondly, unit size, make sure every part of your project shows connectivity to your lesson plans and builds upon itself, instead of just throwing an intimidating project at your students, effectively build the project up in staircase form. Thirdly, plan out your weekly lesson, do this by making sure you have a designed plan of how you are going to approach the project from week to week. Lastly, you must have a daily plan. Each day you should have a hook in order to keep your students interested and engaged everyday, so that they do not grow bored of the project.

My Sentence and My Passion Video

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post 5- PLNs What Are They?

  What exactly are PLNs? I know I had certainly never heard of them before EDM310. A PLN is a set of people and tools that you may use to call upon for help, consultation, collaboration, or other assistance. After joining a PLN, you may access this group anytime and it is usually of no charge. There are many ways to access a PLN. It can be done through blogging, Twitter, or even Facebook. The best way to get involved in a PLN is by searching for topics that you find interesting and that you would like to learn more about. Once finding a certain person who you find appeals to your interests, take a look at the people with whom they interact. Learn more about these people, begin to follow them on Twitter and other forms of social media, and get a since of who these people are. Now comes the easy part, just sit back, observe, and learn. Once you feel you may have some insightful input on a topic of discussion, don't be afraid to comment and share your ideas with the group. Before you know it, you are involved within your very own PLN.

  In creating my own PLN, the first person I would add would be Dr. Strange. He has unlimited resources to other educators who are trying to further the world of education. Secondly I would add my favorite English teacher from high school, Sophie Hudson. She has recently published her second book, and is a very well known blogger across the South East. Also, I would add two of my favorite English professors from South Alabama, Dr. Knox and Dr. Harrington. Both of these professors are so passionate about the work that they do, and are always finding ways to keep the material interesting. In the words of Dr. Michael Fawcett in his video PLN Michael Fawcett he says, "If you're not in a PLN, what are you waiting for? Or better yet, we're waiting for you."

C4Tp Post #1 (Silvia Tolisano)

  In Silvia Tolisano's very popular blog, "LANGWITCHES," Tolisano explores education being used through various technology processes that are happening all around the world. On May 28th,2014, Silvia posted a blog entitled, "Back to The Future Project:Life Cycle Snapshots in Target Language." This blog followed a 7th and 8th grade teacher from Brazil named Ana Paula Cortez. Ana Paula designed a project in order for students to become excited about Life Cycles. She conducted this project through the use of Facebook. The children were able to learn about traditions, past events, as well as express creativity in creating their fictional character's future through their personal Facebook page. During this project the students had to learn to upload pictures, source information, and how to post effectively and appropriately online, through the outlet of Facebook. Through the use of Facebook, Ana Paula was able to introduce a creative way to get the students truly engaged in what they were doing.

  In a later article, Silvia Tolisano introduces how blogging is an effective tool, not only for language arts, but also for math as well. Through the blogging, students can have help from their teachers, as well as help from their peers. We as either current educators or future educators should be constantly innovating new ways of teaching in the classroom, in order to make sure all students are learning in a way in which is best for them.

C4Ta Post #1 (Dorothy Burt)

  In Dorothy Burt's blog post,"Longevity of the Essay", she shares a video made by Professor Welby Ings from AUT University. In this video, Professor Ings discusses that technology is not, what many people believe to be, "the death of literature." The world is operating and communicating in a way in which has never been done before. Professor Ings uses the example of academic journals, they are no longer simply being written, but now come with sound bits, helpful links, etc.. The world is changing. Professor Ings states that in fifteen years the written essay will be forever changed. This does not mean that the literature is being dumbed down, but as Professor Ings states, "the written essay is simply limited in its form of communication." Professor Ings accurately says, "School's will have to move beyond limited ideas of reading and writing as literacy."

  I am an Education/ English Major exactly two years away from graduating. By the time I am in the working field, it is most likely that my students will never physically turn in a paper to me, but send it digitally. Earlier in the year I was able to do field work at St. Paul's Episcopal School out of Mobile, Alabama. When sitting in on a 5th grade writing class, I was not only astonished at their use of technology, but also by the fact that they never used actual paper. When I was a high school student, we were to write and print a rough draft, give it to the teacher, and he or she would mark all over it with his or her corrections. Then the students were to make the corrections and once again, print out a final copy. However, at St. Paul's the teachers had a program in which they could access the students paper, digitally make notes and offer corrections, and lastly the the child could make these corrections immediately with the notes and paper right in front of them. I only graduated high school two years ago and technology has already changed the way writing is being done, I can only imagine what an essay in fifteen years time will look like.

&snbsp; As both Professor Ing and Dorothy Burt said, it may be a difficult transition for most educators, to change the way they have been doing something for years. Professor Ing says, "Sometimes moving academic conventions is like trying to move a cemetery." EDM310 has already opened my eyes to a new since and style of education. It is our job as current and future educators to provide our students with the most effective knowledge we can, and this will be done through technology.

  Upon viewing Dorthy Burt's blog two weeks later, she had posted a blog entitled "Sparking Learning". This blog discussed a program taking place in New Zealand known as "Spark." This program visits rural communities across the country and gives them access to different types of technology such as, lap tops, tablets, etc...The program is designed to prepare students with the proper technology for the jobs of tomorrow, and put them on an equal playing field with children who do have access to technology. This is a wonderful idea, not only to introduce children to a new way of learning now, but to also help them later in life. If you would like to learn more about Dorthy Burt's blog you can locate it by clicking here Manaiakalani

Project #15 - Search Engines

1. Wolfram Alpha- It is known as a computational knowledge engine. Wolfram Alpha does not depend on other sites to give you knowledge, but only itself. It is best known for computing data and comparing numbers, something Google, for example, is not capable of doing. In order to successfully use Wolfram Alpha, you must get out of the mindset of using a common search engine, I would definitely recommend this for someone having difficulty with math.

2. Webopedia - Webopedia is a site connected to the world wide web that serves as an encyclopedia for computer tech knowledge. It can help with HTML codes, the ins and outs of computer termanology, as well as allowing non-technical people to make better sense of computers. This would be a perfect site for someone struggling in EDM310!

3. Dogpile- It was once the more efficient search database, even in comparison Google. After Google became the main powerhouse of search engines, Dogpile began to change its image. It now is a "pleasant search engine," filled with helpful ways to cross link and present great presentations.

4. The Internet Archive- This site allows web lovers to "travel back in time." You can access specific events in history and view pictures, web articles, as well as news casts related to the event. For example, if you searched "Hurricane Katrina," hundreds of pictures and articles would be available to you in a matter of seconds. This site would be exceptional when writing any type of research or History paper.

5. Mahalo- Mahalo is a site completely human powered. When searching something on Mahalo, you may not get as many hits as you would with sites such as Bing or Google, but the results you do receive from Mahalo are more relevant and of higher quality. This is because they have all been monitored by humans, not a machine. This is a great site where you know what you are reading is reliable, because it has had to go through actual human editing, rather than simply being approved by a machine.

6. KAYAK- This is a site dedicated to having all airline prices, schedules, and destinations in one place. Its most prominent feature is its ability to compare hundreds of prices for airline tickets, ensuring you get the best deal for the flight you are paying for. As expensive as flights can be these days, I would certainly recommend this website to someone, to ensure they are getting the best deal for their flight.

7. Careerbuiler- This is a site which allows web users to find jobs within their area that meets the standards in which they are looking for in a job, such as pay, location, and qualifications. Once filling out some brief information, the site directs you to certain jobs that fit your personal needs. This is a useful site that allows people to not be limited to typical way of job hunting, such as blindly walking into somewhere and asking if they are hiring.

8. Priceline- Much like KAYAK, Priceline is a site designed to compare hotel prices across the country. This way you know if you are getting the best deal compared to other competitors. It also tell you what hotels are having certain deals that week. This is a great site if you are planning a long trip, or even just a quick weekend trip.

Blog Post 4- Asking Questions: What Questions Do We Ask? How Do We Ask?

  It would be hard to persuade any educator of any kind that questions used in the classroom are of little to no value. Questions,are unlike any other useful tool a teacher can use. It allows students to have personal interactions with the content and can be used to truly immerse students within the given material. However, not all questions are beneficial to the education of students. Questions, much like the majority of the testing system in the United States, are only beneficial to a certain type of student. We have grown into a "one size fits all" education system. Through extensive research and the development of more technology, it is clear that, yes, questions are great, but it is very dependent on the type of questions the educator asks in order to ensure success within the majority of the students.

  As said in the video, "Open Ended Questions,"one of the best way to ask effective questions is to change the formatting of a closed ended question to an open ended question. This allows students to become more involved and truly challenges them to create their own thoughts, rather than simply answering the teacher with a yes or no question. Another way to ensure effective questions is to prepare your questions ahead of time as well as your follow up questions. So, ask meaningful questions, not simply to ask questions, but to enlighten students to a way of learning other than the typical lecture setting.

Blog Post 3- How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

  So, what exactly is peer editing? Perhaps we should begin by stating what peer editing is not meant to be. Peer editing is not meant to discourage one from the work he or she has done. Peer editing is not done in order to make someone feel inadequate or as if they are a terrible writer. It is purely to offer constructive criticism, to your peer, by creating a better more refined piece of work. Their are many ways to offend or discourage someone from what they are doing,such as being too pushy, blunt, or even rude, often this can happen without you even realizing it, so one must be conscientious of what one says when offering peer review to someone.

  There are four main steps in achieving a successful peer review. Number one, compliment, always begin a peer review by stating what you like about the writing, things you found enjoyable, and also things that stood out to you that you find interesting. This will allow you to approach your peer in a non-confrontational manner from the very beginning. Secondly, suggesting, it is important to be specific with your suggestions, this way you are able to relay your ideas to your peer, and they do not walk away confused or not understanding exactly what you meant. Lastly, corrections, like suggesting, it is important to be specific when offering corrections. If the peer is making a specific error over and over, such as a grammatical or spelling error, it will certainly help them in the long run if you point it out to them and help them to understand the error. Peer editing is done to help your peers produce the best work possible, if you see something, it is best for everyone if the issue is addressed. Don't be afraid to offer constructive criticism! A great site for more peer editing tips can be found by watching the video, "What Is Peer Editing."