I love this video! It shows how using technology to retell an old fairy tale can be fun and interesting! These "Infographics" give Little Red Riding Hood a new look!! Imagine using this to get your older students to think about technology, folklore, and creative storytelling; you could discuss the ways that information is used and why. Enjoy!
The teacher whose post I was commenting on is a principal in Massachussettes, Julie Vincentsen, and this year was her first year. She posted that she had sent out a letter to the parents of 4th and 5th graders at her school announcing the new chorus program that observes Art in Education, and she invited parents to explore the importance of arts in education by visiting the websites. Her excitement was evident, and she outlined the benefits of teacher collaboration during this period. I commented that as an artist, I appreciate the power and creativity that the arts can bring to students, and the impact that their participation will have on their learning; her enthusiasm is well delineated in her open invitation to parents to become involved in their children's schoolwork, and I told her that I hoped to work alongside someone as innovative and inspiring as she. Of course, I wished her and the students good luck!
Ms. Vincentsen wrote about her first staff meeting to begin her first year as principal, and its postponement due to weather. She went on to say that the meeting did take place, much to her relief, and that she chose to use a concept she became familiar with in her years of camp counseling, called Unpacking My Invisible Backpack . This euphemism she referred to as a way to get to know her staff, their strengths, goals, experience and views, and how she can best use them to make sure that she and her team always communicate to keep their school operating and educating at its optimal level.
I mentioned my years of Girl Scout camp counseling (in the same state as she!) and how it had also left me with strong team-building activities, goal-oriented teaching outcomes, and how to produce the best possible learning atmosphere, given the strengths and contributions of those involved in its success. Many of the camp-oriented concepts she mentioned were second nature to me. I felt that my experience, as well as hers, also gave me an edge that will make my teaching more effective. She certainly is an inspiring leader, and like a good one, goes that extra mile!
The video "Do You Teach or Do You Educate? is a thought-inspiring one for anyone. The definitions of the words themselves give pause; words like show, induce, cause, information, fact, sound lifeless next to words like mentor, guide, and advisor, and should impact our reasoning for entering the education field.
I like the word guide as a description for an educator. You simply do the footwork in finding the most effective, research-based ways of presenting concepts, ideas, questions, projects, explorations, and problems to students, and guide them toward finding the solutions, answers, results and outcomes. You go further, if you are an EFFECTIVE educator, and give them the power and encouragement to follow through with analysis, synthesis, organization, implementation and presentation of their findings. This symbiotic relationship between teacher and students fosters their trust and enthusiasm, and makes the classroom a busy, exciting, productive place where students want to be and succeed.
I am going to let my students make mistakes-big ones, little ones- and then teach them how to figure out why and what to do to correct them. You always need to have that small scientist's voice in the back of your head asking, "How can we solve this problem? How can we get from A to C when B is absent? How do we use what we have to solve B? Where can we find more information that will lead us to a solution?" If you model your problem-solving skills, even choosing wrong answers to show how they can be a non-example to help learning, students will react and respond. Willingness to make mistakes on purpose and always knowing where and how to look to find solutions or paths to an answer are two important characteristics of an effective leader. "A good leader never asks his men to do something he is not himself willing to do", as the saying goes, and I heartily believe that is even more true for a teacher.
This video, with its poignant settings and pictures, uses powerful music and words to make its viewers ask themselves tough questions. The producer got his point across quite well; I think the rhetorical nature of his inquiry is well-placed and serves its purpose well. It's an asset to EDM 310's self-reflective provocation!
Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home!
After reading Mr. Johnson's posts and blog, Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home! , I realized that he writes using a sense of metaphor, when one thing or concept is used to represent or comment on another. In this case, his "pencils" represent technology, and the different impacts it has had on the classroom, teachers, students, administrators, and the public's opinion of its usability and benefit to the classroom.
His encounter with the long-named 'specialist' (given so to nudge at the antithesis of her 'knowledge') basically represents the administrators and school PR pushers whose career and success is based solely on standardized pencil-and-paper tests, and the resistance that this group holds to change; the teacher is the protagonist and the 'specialist' is the antagonist, each pushing his agenda. In this case, however, our protagonist has the students' best interest at heart, and is willing to do battle and present positives outcomes for his agenda,"We can change the paradigm". His desire to invite and include parents in the use of pencils at home with their children only exemplifies the protagonist's duty to be an effective teacher for his students.
I read Larry Ferlazzo's latest post, My Take on Recent Study Saying Home Computer Usage Can Lead To Lower Test Scores which Mr. Johnson's post was written in response to, and he outlines the results of a study of 150,000 5th-8th graders as the study group, and goes on to summarize the results and his opinion. Even he contends that technology is only as beneficial as the teacher's knowledge makes it. The old adage, "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; TEACH a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime", certainly is comparable to the question of how educators can use computers and the world-wide-web to help our students and future citizens survive and thrive. Mr. Johnson's argument, in MY opinion, is that we must resist the old views, opinions, objections, cliches, and stereotype-addled policies to come up with many shades ofgray (HOW can we effectively use technology to make it optimally beneficial?) to answer a black and white question (how can something children and adults have in the past misused, abused, misunderstood, feared, and used for entertainment be beneficial AT ALL??!!) of a somewhat colorblind audience.
There will always be promoters and protesters in the public and private school arenas. The most important factor in the equation is the student, and we must ask ourselves, "WHAT IS GOING TO BENEFIT AND PROMOTE THE INTELLECTUAL HEALTH AND GROWTH OF TODAY'S STUDENTS TO PREPARE THEM FOR TOMORROW'S WORLD?" I believe that Mr. Johnson has taken a serious and controversial subject and, using metaphorical language, presented it to readers as a simple means to a solution from a determined and open-minded writer, educator and thinker!
This blog is wonderful reading for pre-service teachers, especially since it is presented in a raw, real context by a peer who is giving his honest, candid history of and discoveries made his first several years spent in the public school.
I read all three posts, and can easily follow the advice he gives as it goes from general statements to more student-oriented practices.
His first post had two important long-standing points, that teachers should always check for student comprehension, and that instruction should be audience driven. The advice he gives after that are in short, sensible, workable sentences that address many of the fears/apprehensions/unknowns to new teachers. He includes examples, events, and the small truths that have delivered him to these epiphanies. The fact that he thanks his "moms" at school who took him under their proverbial wings is a nice touch; they are very important to the comfort and success of novice educators.
As I continued to read the second and third posts, he mentioned that he was involved in many firsts, and that adds to his apprehensions. He was honest about how he taught when he was assigned a subject he was not very familiar with, and the complacency he felt (much to his later chagrin) that eventually made him become more passionate and familiar with the subject to teach it more effectively to his students. I can see that his comments were a lot like Esquith Rafe's experiences in his first years of teaching; a rebel of sorts, he prides himself on being more at ease with his students as he builds a better rapport with them than fellow teachers. Referring to the Scope & Sequence of lessons, he states that the key component is assessment, and goes further in saying that teaching methods and classroom management are essential as a teacher. How true!!
By his third post, there is a refined sense of the tricks of the trade details that he is outlining, and when he comments on the schedules that made his teaching a little easier, mainly due to less time gathering resources, more time using what he has gathered, it gives a moment for pause to the reader that there IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL! Building the resources that will become the teachers' tools is a large part of the hard work. He emphasizes not to become stagnant, comfortable, and content, but rather, gives suggestions on how to keep the passion of teaching alive and well. He states apathy is a side effect of routine, and encourages staying motivated through participation and continued involvement.
I think Mr. McClung's blog posts are great reading for education students, and have a nice, bedside "peptalk" quality that makes the reader feel as though he or she is talking to a friend who genuinely wants to impart earned wisdom to those who may otherwise be seeing through rose-colored glasses. There is always an ideal to aspire to, and a real to navigate; I think that his down-to-earth, non sugar-coated way of emphatically stating his advice through experience is invaluable for those contemplating a life in the public school arena!
RICHARD MILLER : THIS IS HOW WE DREAM - PARTS 1 & 2
In watching Richard Miller's videos, "This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2", I realized that he is a staunch advocate of connectivism. The concept that a network of professionals, collaborators, novices, educators, and those in search of answers and ideas can share and assess information in ways that enhance our knowledge of life has gained an audience of willing and enthusiastic participants. He makes several important points, and explores the concepts of a "dream" world where shared information is the norm, not the exception.
Using key words like curiosity, creativity and collaboration, he sees a future where students "compose with digital materials", that stun and compel viewers in their composition and presentation; he suggests that these changes are fundamentally different, and belong collectively to those who explore and utilize them. We can use music, pictures and sources of visual and sound documents to make the information we gather, research and present more interesting, telling alternate stories or truths.
These changes are incremental, he says, not fundamental. They are key to the success of academic information , holding our attention and curiosity much more effectively than in times past. Networking via collaboration enriches the usability of the internet itself. From experts to novices, everyone has instant access to the most up-to-date information available. He emphasizes, therefore, that "[its] limits and restrictions are self-paced", so those who want to learn and use it to become better informed, can make the dream of a world wide web-based, shared, collaborative, networking a reality.
The intellectual world of discovery is definitely changing. The ego or self is out, and the team or network is the new way to write, research, assess, organize and share what we find, learn and think. Finally riding one's intellectual coattails is not the taboo it once was in the past, but encouraged when done in the arena of the public and shared domain of the world wide web. Mr. Miller's video makes an excellent argument to compel its viewers to embrace this new shared intellectualism.
I hope to teach all of my students everything that I have learned in EDM 310. These skills are components in becoming technologically savvy. I have come light years in just two months from where I was; I am anxious to introduce students to what I know, and let their creativity and curiosity teach themselves. If I can guide, motivate and share in letting them celebrate their success, they will be driven and not afraid of failure through learning.
Boy, Carly did set the bar very high! She really put some thought into her teaching philosophies and found a wonderful way to synthesize them into the visually rich blogpost she created! Her use of videos that range from sarcasm ("When I Grow Up") to poignancy ("The Schools Children Deserve" & "Don't Laugh At Me"), appeal to viewers to delve deep and ask those tough questions about not just the future, but their role(s) in it and their ability to change it!
She used her own introspective abilities to outwardly challenge viewers to be aware of what it is that drives us to be teachers; using multimedia creatively, Carly has asked, answered, and set an example for pre-service teachers to follow. She certainly has embraced the concept of utilizing multimedia well to present ideas and tells the story with a variety of viewpoints-that of the teacher, that of the student, and that of the human being. Her willingness to seek out, find, and use so effectively is a shining example of what Dr. Miller implores viewers to take to heart. She composed an informative message by using the creativity of others and her own. This is a true version of networking, sharing information to showcase a viewpoint.
The links were entertaining as well as informative. Some were humorous ("autobiographies"), historical ("Think Different"), and literary (Tom Sawyer, Mr. Darcy, et.al.). Her post was fun to watch, and made me ask some introspective questions about my desire to teach, and philosophies for doing so. I think that is a sign of good writing and what thought-provoking concepts are all about.
I can certainly sympathize with the frustration and procrastination that were the subjects of these videos! There is a lot of information to learn in this class, and it can be overwhelming! Along with that frustration is the lack of confidence that can perpetuate procrastination; things that we feel are hard or unfamiliar can cause us to put them off until a later time. In fact, time management is the key to being successful, and not falling behind or avoiding the task at hand.
Videos like these, satirical or exaggerated in nature, do make someone viewing them think hard about the choices that we make, and how they affect our lives. The possibilities for success are endless, but they require work, and sometimes failure! Chipper had to experience this failure to see that required work is in place for a reason. Besides opening your eyes and ears, you must open your mind to learn, and figure out your own approach to self-teaching. Her video reminds me of my own propensity to procrastinate, and encourages me to take extra time and make sure my work is not late.
The two students in "EDM For Dummies" transitioned from angry, frustrated students with no patience and understanding to calm, curious, and confident learners, willing to go the extra mile to get it right. Again, I think the point is that if a student in EDM 310 keeps his eyes, ears, and mind open, and is willing to fail to succeed, he or she will stumble, and then stride smoothly, armed with the know-how of a true learner.
When I scroll back to the early blogposts of previous students of EDM 310, I see each post begin to blossom, with richer language, more examples of text fonts and colors, more pictures and images, and even more links and embedded videos. It is a nice testament to what practice and participation can eventually create.
I would like to create or be in a video that follows a student's blog from the sparse beginnings to the more sophisticated, graphically enriched blogs of better development, brought about over the course of the class. It may even be a good assignment, to take a blog from another student and chronicle the development as it blooms and unfolds into a more professionally-developed blog! I hope that we all are 'guilty' of this by December!
Learn to Change, Change to Learn
"This is the death of education, and the dawn of learning", says one of the film's speakers, and he is right! The jobs that children in school today will be doing require one to have different abilities than a modern education teaches. It's not the learning of facts or historical data that comprise the strengths of a 21st century worker; it is knowing how and where to get information, how to best analyze it, and how to use it creatively to solve problems.
It is ironic that students do more creative learning outside the classroom using social networking and techno gadgets than inside the classroom, where these devices are sometimes banned. I think this video has a very strong argument that the school system and education itself needs a major overhaul to be relevant and serve the public like it was developed to. The statistic that education was ranked #55 among the 55 top industry sectors according to their intensity of IT level is indicative that if we don't make changes soon, the gap between those who are seeking jobs and those who are actually employable will widen tremendously.
As someone who is seeking a teaching position, I can make a difference in the quality of education in my classroom. If I can help students be confident, unafraid of failure in seeking success and enthusiastic to see where their curious minds will take them, I feel that I will be doing my part to make the future a better one for those who may otherwise choose a dismal path. I concur wholeheartedly with the viewpoints of these people in this video. I share their belief in a better world through a better learning platform.
This is my instructional timeline, completed BEFORE I realized that Timetoast "doesn't support B.C. era dates", according to the faq section. If I were to use this timeline in my class, it would be only with strong emphasis that 9/10ths of it is in the B.C. era. Otherwise, the timeline is skewed, and inaccurate. As part of a project in 7th or 8th grade social studies, this timeline would help students gather information to learn about classic civilizations and their contributions to our government; ancient peoples and their way of life; specific time periods in history and their lasting affects on our world; and the impact of war and prosperity on human civilizations.
The inability to create timelines in the B.C. era is the only problem I see with Timetoast. It is a very easy tool to use, but its limitation is unfortunate; there is a lot of history for students to learn about more than 2000+ years ago!
I plan to add to it, and try to find more information, photos, links and websites that will make it more interesting and thorough. There are many other subjects that I could have chosen to chronicle. An architectural buff of sorts, I learned from doing the research to get to this point in this project. I hope more research will help me develop it further, and it will become an important component in my classroom social studies and civics projects. I therefore consider it a work in progress.
My PLN is housed on Symbaloo and Diigo. Diigo bookmarks for me if I see a quick resource, and I go back when I have time and visit the website, explore, and decide if and where I want a resource or not. I like to check closely the tiles I create; I'm still learning how to navigate Symbaloo to get the most use out of it. Building a quality PLN takes much revising, updating, organizing, rearranging,creating, and most importantly, UTILIZING to be effective. A quick reference guide, Symbaloo allows you to personalize and set up your pages to suit your educational needs. In simpler terms, my idea of establishing an outstanding and useful PLN is to spend a short time every day reviewing bookmarked websites and resources, decide which ones and where to add to my SymbalooPLN, and organize them accordingly. I like the idea of having two bookmarking systems; I can use one as a filter, and the Symbaloo as my main resource. I am spending time each day to bookmark resources, explore them, and gauge their employment and value. Not every resource is viable, and the world wide web of information is always in flux.The formidable navigation of our 'cyber resource center' makes it challenging to use effectively. Fortunately, meeting that challenge also lends us an upper hand in being much better educators.
Randy Pausch was a prolific orator and pioneering creator who seemed to live a life of profound joy, discovery and success.Even in the face of adversity when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a finite time to have good health, he lived every day to its fullest, and embraced his continuing passion to teach others how to live an exemplar, rewarding life.
His last lecture was poignant, but certainly not sad-he simply would not allow it. He spoke about his relationship with his students, and the adventures of discovery they all made together in the field of virtual reality. He mentioned that when he gave his first assignment, and the students turned in videos that amazed and awed him, a colleague advised him to not set the bar by letting his students know how well they did; they may become complacent, and not work harder. So he allowed the students to set the bar, by telling them that they could do better. What a great way to get students to challenge themselves, while inspiring them!
Accepted as his professional legacy, "Alice", the project he was working on at ETC was "millions of kids having fun while learning something hard".He coined this head fake learning, where learning occurs during fun, and he emphasized that he always had fun with his students. Any great teacher understands the importance of keeping learning fun and enjoyable, as much as possible.When it gets tough, he emphasized that "experience is what you get when you don't get what you want". As hard as he worked to get his terminal degree, and have bestowed upon him the many recognitions and awards he had, he understood the discipline and determination he needed to get where he had dreamed of being for so long.
Encouraging educators to let children do what they are compelled to do to learn, or showcase their interests and intellect, he spoke of a coach who always began with the fundamentals first, and the lessons he learned. It provides a foundation to build on, to improve, using higher skills. Along with a basics first approach, he emphasized that being self-reflective is a good trait, and helps us improve our teaching. He also listened readily to feedback from his colleagues and students. It is an effective way to communicate with your students about their learning and your teaching.
In his classes, he indicated that he allowed his students freedom, and they participated in project-based field trips when they could. He obviously was a model teacher, caring mentor and a man with an unrivaled passion for creation and technological invention. Many of his students were still in touch with him until the end. He showed several slides of his students, and it was obvious that they had a great time learning.
This is our project podcast for Rafe Esquith's book, "There Are NoShortcuts". We learned a lot making it, and I cannot wait to introduce my students to such a creative tool our my classroom!
Gretchen M. McPherson
Dominique Spence
Raven Castleberry
Sam's post about his Avatar was short yet descriptive. He used the term "ordinary" to describe his personality traits-friendly, smart and shy. I assured him that he was unique and anything but ordinary; I entreated him to always be himself, and therefore the best version! His writing reflected good grammar and definite proofreading.
Cheni's Adventure in Paris ,
My student, Cheni, wrote about her exciting trip to Paris, France with relatives to see a game of rugby and the Eiffel Tower. A fellow traveler myself, I mentioned my ascension to the top of the tower with my family and how great it was that we both were lucky enough to travel abroad, as many people do not have that opportunity. We visited at different times during the year (she in the warmth, I in the cold!) but we both regaled the excitement of our travels and the memories that they afford us. Cheni writes well, and follows the rules of grammar resolutely. Terrific reading!
The video uses simple graphics to demonstrate how effectively one can use a PLN and connectivism to build one's knowledge base and continue to share with others his new learning and experience. Accordingly, the teacher may serve as a guide, helping him to: analyze, validate, and organize information; realize where and how to ask for help; build his network, communicate his findings, and share it with others to continue the idea of connectivism; and finally, how to take advantage of learning opportunities and maintain his learning network. Each student's hard work and research is housed, updated, and made available to others for the benefits of sharing.
Teachers could use this sharing to bring the best professors' lectures into their classrooms. The video referenced this advantage, and suggested finding the top experts the world has to offer. RSS feeds make it possible to stay connected, with virtual textbooks created or chosen by teachers instead of satchels full of books. The PLN can be designed to provide numerous and varied opportunities to see what other individuals have discovered in their pursuits. A 'quilt' of sorts, stitched together with the thread of discovery grows as each person adds to it. In this way, one becomes more adept at recovering, assessing and synthesizing electronic data into his personal network.
Blogs offer us each a chance to comment, and share our point of view. In my classroom, I intend to encourage students to treat their blogs as their personal to professional electronic portfolio. So easily manipulated, blogs can help students manage their intellectual development personally, learning by example, the importance of accountability throughout their school years. Captured as a kind of 'life portfolio', blogs and PLNs offer students a virtual library of their own intellect, and more importantly, of their own making. They must be meticulously maintained and updated; students will benefit from doing so the whole of their
Students today have been given a wonderful gift-the chance at 100% creative control of their personal learning environments! The amount of shared and collaborative information available is staggering; the opportunity to select and gather from such a diverse collective of human experience gives today's students an edge. Glogster replaces the conventional paper poster, incorporating graphics and interactive learning. Skype, used effectively, replaces encyclopedic-style introductions to well-known people, such as scientists, politicians and history-makers. Virtual tours and interactive libraries replace filmstrips and slides, proving invaluable when used as part of a classroom project. Podcasts, audio and video, can enrich the students' familiarity to historical people, places and events. Students who direct their own learning feel confident and curious, and with minimal monitoring, will stay on task, achieve their goals and take pride in their PLEs.
A novice Symbaloo patron, I am familiarizing myself with the nuances of finding, organizing and displaying what will begin my PLN. Mine is far from the organized, creative one presented by the student in the video; I aspire to have a vast network of professional resources, including people, websites, events and opportunities that are available to those looking to expand and enrich their teaching practices and philosophies. Information so quickly retrieved leaves the student more learning time, and the video demonstrated how easily the student navigated through her network tiles. She explained with ease how she used the application to keep her work in order and updated. She used the computer effectively to deepen her understanding of a subject and showcase her research. Peers shared their opinions and work with her, integrating what they had found and commenting on her work.
A PLN or PLE is a great way to gather and sort information to maximize usage. Its inception into the educational system marks the beginning of a shift in worldwide information exchange and sharing, and what better place than a classroom to perpetuate its utmost necessity?
PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK 
