C4T #4: EDM 310 Class Blog

The Power of Educational Technology

Lisa Thumann, a sixth-grade teacher who has taught for 20 years, has decided to join the School for Global Education and Innovation at Kean University, and she is excited about the change. She says she wants to keep on working with others in the educational field to prepare students for five years from now. She mentioned that it is not the device or technology, but the "methodologies that help students meet their objective."
Ready to face the challenge, she looks forward to it, so I congratulated her success and thanked her for her years of service in the public school system, reminding her that her past work and future work will change lives. She will definitely be in her element, and I wished her much success.

10 Things You Could Be Working On

Lisa Thumann has composed both a list of resources for teachers to augment the funding provided them for their classrooms, and a list of projects or conferences to participate in. I thanked her for taking the time to compile this list, and write a short synopsis of what each opportunity entails how it can be useful to teachers and students. The participating businesses and organizations provide a chance for children to become involved in helping themselves; several of the contributing organizations actually give prize monies for projects, so the students begin to realize how far hard, diligent work can take them, and that someone cares beyond the school, the classroom, and the community. These offerings are a wonderful way to get students motivated and eager to participate.
I commented that I copied her list to my PLN, and plan to utilize it, as well as local business contributions to help my students achieve success. I'm not afraid to beg, demand, insist, and even grovel when it comes to providing success to my students; having such experienced educators as she providing helpful resources makes our tasks less daunting and more achievable.

Why We Use Metaphors : EDM 310 Class Blog

Metaphors are commonly used in the English language to represent something else, perhaps of a controversial or taboo nature. Political cartoons use a range of metaphors in their humor; they depict situations or viewpoints using simpler elements or images. It may be easier to make a statement that could be offensive by using a less offensive means. Literature and history are rich with metaphors, as we continue to use them to tell the human story in a symbolic or subtle way.
In literature, two classics based on metaphors about change are The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Each delineates the changes or alterations that the human condition offer the main characters, and the slow descent into a deep human abyss. With undertones of insanity, chaos, rebellion, oppression, and the darkness of the human mind, these classics offer a glimpse into the human spirit as it absorbs and rejects its world and society.
The Trojan Horse, a gift given by the Greeks to Troy as a peace symbol to end the war, is a good example of a historical metaphor. The Greeks won the war, but the name "Trojan Horse" implies a secret tactic to sabotage something given in the form of a gift. Even computer language today reflects the lesson learned in the Old World, naming a particularly nasty information-destroying virus that can wreak havoc once opened as a friendly email "Trojan Horse"!
When metaphors are presented to us in a story or an event, our brain must work harder to comprehend what is being told through storyline or text. The obvious can be overwhelming, so metaphors can ease the raw nature of life, and sometimes even soften the proverbial blow. On the other hand, some metaphors are chosen for their ferocity. As a modern statement presented in artistic form, Pink Floyd's Album, "The Wall", is the mother lode of literary metaphorical assignment. It is a modern interpretation of what is wrong with the parental, governmental, and educational systems of today's world, seen and told through the eyes of a young man, and stands as a terrific cinematic example of metaphor. As long as humans write their stories, metaphors will be serve a great purpose in representing them.

Blog Post #13 : EDM 310 Class Blog

Today's public school system is failing our students. With national reading levels well below average, we face a future of unnecessary illiteracy, and books that discuss explicitly exactly what the problem is can shed some light on a permanent solution. In his book, "There Are No Shortcuts", Rafe Esquith states, "Frankly, you need to be fairly smart to be a good teacher. At the elementary school level, a good teacher not only knows literature, but must also be versed in basic science, history, and the arts, as well as being equipped to play social worker and psychologist"(p. 35). Written in a personal voice, with instances of sheer joy and equal disappointment, he describes his teaching career and the many battles and friendships it has presented him. Sincere, and always one to take the high road, he warns new idealistic teachers about the perils of non-conformity and administrative blockades that await them, but contends that it is a rewarding job if one is willing to do the work and not be intimidated by those in positions of authority.
His story begins with his first error in judgement, which almost cost him his career. Young, and idealistic himself, he learned humility, and reminds us that humility is a good thing. After getting his second chance, he teaches at "Camelot", a school with wealthy students, where he realizes that his passion to excite young minds had decidedly mediocre results. The "Jungle", an overpopulated, inner-city school in Los Angeles becomes his home, where he and his students exceed expectations; reading scores rise dramatically, his students are invited to many prestigious events to perform, and he became the Winner of the American Teacher Award.
Many students have come into his class, and returned to visit, or keep in touch. He tells stories of how they have touched his life, taught him about himself and his strengths and weaknesses, and brought him a sense of purpose and humbled gratitude for his part in their success. The reader can see through his quoted text banter the range of horrible and wonderful moments he has experienced, and he shares these with the jaw-dropping shock or tear-jerking awe he felt as he felt them. I got angry right along with him more than once! His insight into the flaws of our public school system is disheartening and maddening. Some of the characters he describes, "Miss Egghead", "Miss Busy-as-a-Bee", "Mr. Incompetent", "Miss Hummingbird", "Miss Bright Light", "Miss Megabyte", are euphemisms for those they represent. These are a few incompetent players he encounters, and their presence in his book is representative of their presence in the schools. He tells us basically to be kind to all, and fight your battles wisely.
An obviously passionate reader, our author takes us through his discovery that his lifelong hero changes as his experience of teaching grows. Touched by many characters he has read about all his life, such as Huck Finn and Atticus Finch, he awakens in his students the love of reading and science and the arts. The students have experiences in and out of his class and learn how to be well-behaved, disciplined, humbled and kind. They strive because he believes in them; his class economic system allows them some freedom, and confidence. These strategies are aligned with the real-world strategies young people must master to survive, which is the main objective of education itself!
In moments when Mr. Esquith was ready to give up, his students' past and continued success made him fight a sometimes uphill battle. "When all is said and done, a good teacher helps the student to improve the quality of his life. With so many children growing up poor, one of my major goals is to give that child a fighting chance to end the cycle of poverty that paralyzes hopes and dreams,"(p. 149). Setting the bar higher and unafraid to upset administrators, he encourages parents to be heavily involved in classrooms, teachers to think outside the box to use their passion to awaken their students, and readers to never give up hope that the educational system will formulate and produce the correct combination of teacher competence and effective instruction to get children reading and learning.

 

Project #15 SmartBoard Smarts Part B: EDM 310 Class Blog

This is Part B of my group's SmartBoard Smarts Project #15. It is a little blurry, but Autumn worked very hard to get it uploaded to YouTube. We hope you enjoy!!

Blog Post #12: EDM 310 Class Blog

Watch these three videos:
1. "Microsoft's Productivity Future Vision" (2009)
2. "David Truss:: Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts >> Brave New World-Wide-Web!"
3. "What Are Our Excuses, Again, For Not Putting Computers in the Hands of Our Children?" by Sugata Mitra
You've been asked to host a presentation to the local school board soliciting funds for technology in your school. These three films were given you by your principal, who insisted you use them in your presentation in that order. Explain why he thinks that presenting them in that order will benefit your school and tell me if you agree or disagree and why.

_____________________________________________________________

I believe that my principal would have wanted me to present them in that order to

have the strongest impact! Basically, we see a world that encompasses technology in every possible facet of our daily lives, which is a peek into the future. The title of the first video, "Productivity Future Vision," describes what we will encounter as we move into the 21st century and a global economy. The world wide web had opened infinite possibilities to the labor force, and its ability to navigate exchanges of information that are minute and continuous. The first video really emphasizes the immediate need for technological readiness in our students; the future is just around the corner.

The second video is important to why every individual sitting in that auditorium is there-we are the educators that have to be the catalysts who guide students as they, and we, learn the latest technology. Here is where the benefit of funds being sought can be showcased. When parents, administrators, and members of the community see what the school is doing, and why they share in the common goal, they tend to be supportive, especially when explicit ideas and concepts are presented. Goals should be specific and reachable; these statements allow every person to see the benefits of adjusting today's curriculum to meet tomorrow's needs.

The final video, "What Are Our Excuses, Again, For Not Putting Computers in the Hands of Our Children?" by Sugata Mitra, makes an excellent argument about the "harness-able", natural curiosity in children. The experiment of putting foreign-language-speaking computers in the side of a building just to 'see what happens' raised quite a few eyebrows, and expectations! The children's natural curiosity and intrigue sparked a few more in-depth studies about how young people react to a challenge when left to their own devices. The results were surprising, and offered new information regarding children's motivation-even with no guidance.

The order of the videos suggests that:

A. This is the future - inescapable - and coming up quickly!!

B. This is what we can do to teach our students to be (and keep our teaching) effective, innovative and ultimately successful!

C. If this kind of impact comes about accidentally, or without even trying, imagine the possibilities if we teach aggressive comprehension and readiness skills to our students today in preparation for the global market of tomorrow!

I agree that presenting these videos in this order is the best idea. They tell somewhat of a story, one that describes our vision of today and the wonderful possibilities of tomorrow's classroom through the eyes of technology. Hopefully, this presentation would begin a positive exchange of ideas and proposals among the decision-makers.

Final Project Progress Report: EDM 310 Class Blog

Green Screen anyone? Please?!

My group mates and I met recently, and discussed what we thought, collectively, might be a great culminating project to showcase our technological savvy and knowledge of its uses and benefits. We want to make it entertaining, informative and of quality. In keeping with the overall strength of EDM 310 in modern education, we have decided to explore the dichotomy that exists between the use of computers in the classroom and the nonuse of computers in the classrooms. Certainly not a new topic, nor one that is lacking in a host of controversy, we have decided to incorporate several skills and programs we have been introduced to in EDM 310 into our final project.
The problem is that we would love to learn all about green screen manipulation so we can use it in our multimedia movie. I have asked about having a workshop or class to learn this element; it would be most beneficial to our project, and a quality technological skill itself. I suppose we could "adapt", and make do with other clever devices to reach our goal, but I am really hoping that green screen will be available to learn and use! It could be so useful in a classroom-a teacher could manipulate pictures from around the world of places, events in history, and other significant happenings and superimpose the students' likenesses to produce a 'virtual field trip' to share with other classes, or as a group project component. I have been to Rome to the Colosseum, but many of my students may never get the chance. Using green screen would make a wonderful aspect of a science or social studies project come to life for students! And they would have much fun telling about their "trip" and new "virtual experiences"!
These ideas and a host of others can be fun and used in the classroom to get students involved, enthusiastic, and ready to learn more about the world around them. My group hopes to make a video movie that shows our skills, enthusiasm and classroom readiness!! Let's please get Elizabeth Brooks to show us green screen!

C4K #10: Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog: EDM 310 Class Blog

Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog

Mrs. Yollis is an example of an extraordinary teacher who uses her and her students' experiences and knowledge to showcase to the world how wonderful the art of using technology in the classroom can be as it benefits all parties involved! She invites and involves the parents, other classrooms and students and the general public into her students' world to see something amazing, on a daily basis. The driving force is the success of her students, and with enthusiasm and detailed guidance, they soar with obvious confidence, independence, and well-earned, well-documented learning at the helm.

As I explored the blog, I took notes, jotting down the benefits of each component, as I saw and watched the videos, looked at pictures, and clicked on the links. There is a multitude of resources that Mrs. Yollis has carefully compiled where she encourages students to look, listen and learn, and take responsibility for their own learning. She has posted detailed tutorials explaining the use and development of computer language, dialogue production, and electronic manipulation. Many of these skills meet state standards, and the students themselves have participated in making videos, teaching their classmates on the benefits of technology by using non-examples and etiquette to further ready their writing and storytelling for publication on their blog. "How To Capture Good Digital Images" actually was generated by a student, where she was able to share her mastery of a skill to benefit her classmates!

The concept of monitoring time zones of their friends around the world lends itself to many applications in the classroom. They explored lunch and recess in other countries, which really show the differences and similarities of life, allowing students to use prior knowledge or experiences to learn about the lives of others in various schools and countries. The video on California; shared facts about its population, history, leaders, wildlife and places, and encouraged those watching to leave comments or questions. One class used the green screen effect to show and tell about local places in their community; what a clever way to get others involved in your students community and explore and share places close to home!

In her welcoming video, Mrs. Yollis mentioned her wonderful trip to Hawaii, and piqued her new students' curiosity by putting some great and quite informative video footage from her trip on the class blog. This brings her experiences to the classroom first hand, and allows the students to relish in her excitement by proxy, as she will use hers and her students' enthusiasm to learn in depth about the ocean and its many offerings in science. She definitely succeeds in making learning fun, and works very hard to make sure that her students are engaged and participating in the teaching process.

I copied into my PLN every website, resource, link and idea that this extraordinary teacher had to offer. Her class blog is one to frequent and model, rich in every kind of helpful component of effective teaching. According to her class blog, "Blogging is....Learning, Reading, and Writing", and the students benefit. As their confidence is raised, they become aware of global consciousness, independence, and the direction of their own learning. The number of visitors their class blog has seen proves that as students become aware of the world around them, so does the world become aware of these 21st century learners! I can only hope that EDM 310 can aspire to raise that much interest in our class's learning!

Blog #11-Ms. Cassidy Tells All!: EDM 310 Class Blog

Ms. Cassidy's Skype Interview

Ms. Cassidy's Skype Interview with EDM 310 

Ms. Cassidy is a shining example of an effective teacher! Given the chance to utilize something of which she had little knowledge, she took on the challenge of educating herself AND her students; what we see today is an exemplar pioneer whose wisdom is sought out by educators and pre-service teachers alike. Having formulated a working resource base, Ms. Cassidy had some smart ways for students to use classroom computers to be successful and gain confidence and allow all those involved in a child's education to benefit.

In the beginning, a webpage was her first production. She mentioned the strong support she had, and the importance of involving the parents in the whole process, from online safety issues to flexibility that putting their child's work online afforded parents. I would involve parents of my students by granting them access and involvement, as their willing of permission and understanding is key to its success.

The students feel proud of their work, as it is viewed by other classmates, classes, schools, parents, grandparents, and many more, as they enjoy their virtual audience. They like the encouragement, and it helps them begin their educational portfolio of learning. Since technology is here to stay, as she points out, these kids will continue blogging, tweeting, etc. Having them begin as youngsters keeps their mind actively learning and maybe even start a PLN they can use and improve over time.

Ms. Cassidy encourages us to take opportunities and participate - if not, we possibly handicap ourselves and our students in the classroom. Every teacher should be technologically aware, and students need an online network of their own, so you (as their teacher and tech person!) must keep learning. I want to have my students use twitter to find resources for subjects we are studying; they will have to use them to develop their PLNs. The benefits of twitter are: the students could see how immediate access and information can be delivered and utilized; resources for videos, webcasts, podcasts, webquests, interactive posters and websites, and discussion forums (such as edchat) can be joined in real time; threads of discussion and replies can lead to interesting and useful information and people; projects can be formatted to include tweets, twitter polls, and networking sources.

Focusing on the importance of safety and self-reliance in using the computers, Ms. Cassidy directs the students how to navigate safely and stay on task. Being positive is important, and they model it through their blogs, posts and responses. Time is essential, and the teacher can use it accordingly in class activities. Using it in rotation not only gives every child more time, but it keeps the activity fresh and novel, so that students look forward to what they will write and how they will write it, which makes them spend their time more wisely. With the virtual 'eyes' of the cyber world peering at them closely, children relish the idea of sharing their lives with those who are interested and will give them feedback. These computer websites, used effectively, facilitate confidence, pride, respect and a sense of accountability in students; they also obligate teachers to share in their accountability for students learning.

PROJECT #13 My Book Trailer:Sammy Snail's [State] Adventures:EDM 310 Class Blog

The author of this book, Gene Embry, is a local playwright and friend. He directs many of the plays I participate in, and recently approached me about illustrating the remaining books. Sammy Snail is set to visit every state eventually, and I am proud to be a part of his adventures! Thanks to Mr. Gene Embry! I hope you enjoy!