Thursday, April 23, 2015

Summary-Last C4K

Gregory, I am glad I did get a chance to give you a short comment. I'm sorry that I wasn't more positive and complimentary. Nothing personal! The main reason for my comment was because of my religious point of view. Please don't take it personal!

Part II-Blog Post #5

Personal Learning Networks are very important. They allow students to search and navigate the Internet to find pertinent information for individual projects done in class. Learning does not just exist within the classroom. It is a continuous process of seeking knowledge from other sources. Life is a learning process whether it be in the classroom or from personal experience. We can learn so much from other people in society. For instance, older people have such a large overview of knowledge for young people. When we allow ourselves to open our minds not just to classroom or textbook knowledge but realize that life is not just by the book but by experiences we have had with our families, our employment, and our experiences in school will lead us to a new and interesting path.

For instance, Randy Pausch (Randy Pausch Last Lecture:Achieving Your Childhood Dreams) had some very interesting things to say about teaching. In his monologue, Mr. Pausch mentioned some of his experiences in college when he was in graduate school. He said that he had met some in- teresting professors. He said that some of these teachers had a greater effect on him more than others. He did comment on his career as a college professor and elaborated on some of the interesting people he came in contact with along the way. He also mentioned his childhood and the things that he liked as a child. He really liked stuffed animals and going to Disney World. These were childhood treasures that he remembered throughout his adult- hood. These things brought wonderful memories to mind. He spoke about his family and the wonderful connection with his wife and children. Life can be a combination of pleasant things and some unpleasant things. We can learn from both experiences. The appalling thing that really got my attention in his monologue to the world was his experience with cancer. His overwhelming enthusiasm about an illness that they had no cure for especially got my attention. I noticed that he realized defeat in curing his illness but somehow he had made peace with it. I really thought that was very mature of him and I admired his zest for life! We should be so lucky to learn some- thing from this sad experience. We do not know what type of card life will deal us. But Randy Pausch was able to deal with the cards that were dealt him and allowed himself to grow right along with his family and friends.

I really got what was being said in that video and monologue. It's like I said in the beginning, life is not just strictly by the book but an abundance of other experiences. This helps us to grow mentally and spiritually. When we explore life and experience those sad things we learn to grow and teach others how to cope with whatever life brings us. We can teach younger ones about grown-up subjects and things in the world. As younger ones, children can learn how to deal with the more serious subjects and grasp the meaning of it all.

I also remembered one of Kelly Tenkely's blogs, How We Got to Now: a student created mini museum, where students were allowed to actually create inventions. The teacher allowed her students to have a mini museum of the many small inventions in a large auditorium. She allowed the students to be exploratory and creative. I'm sure it took a great deal of research and inquiry to create some of those inventions. They were able to think outside the box and put something together. The idea and concept of invention can be very exciting and different. Allowing young students the power of invention gives them the opportunity to focus on inventions for the future of society. Bravo! Bravo! I thought it was a great idea to put together. As adults we can learn so much from these younger ones.

Also Mr. Paul Andersen's  Blended Learning Cycle  brought some interesting points about learning. He spoke of six steps in the Blended Learning Cycle that should be followed carefully. They are as follows:
(1) Questions
(2) Investigation/Inquiry
(3) Video
(4) Elaboration
(5) Review
(6) Summary Quiz

In the video, he was able to take each one of his students through these steps to ensure that the class would incooperate The Learning Cycle into their classroom work. It is true if students are thinking about an idea or concept then that will enable them to do the research and look for reliable and informative material for the entire class to learn from. This will encourage research and investigation on the student's part. Questions will cause the student to inquire or look for the answers and do the necessary research.


Thursday, April 16, 2015

Blog Post #13

How Should Teachers Reward Students When They Behave and Do the Right Thing? 

These are pertinent questions that teachers should entertain throughout the classroom. We all know how to reprimand and punish students when they don't behave, but how do we handle the situation when they are positive and resolve to do the right thing in all respects. Just how does a good teacher handle that situation. We in turn must let our students know when they keep the code of good conduct, good manners and politeness in the classroom. We can remember back when we were small and in school and when we got a happy face or a golden star on a fantastic paper we wrote or if we drew this great picture that was hung on the classroom bulletin board for everyone to see. The joy we must have felt as a young person to be cheered on for being great at something or just doing the right thing! Kids need to know when they are in the right lane. We have to let them know when they are smart and when they have all the right answers.

Driving Question: What are some great suggestions and ideas on how to reward our kids when they do the right thing?

Please watch the following videos to help guide you on this assignment:

1. Classroom Management & Discipline, K-2, Dealing with Difficult, Challenging Students
2. Top 10 Proven Classroom Management Tips for Teachers
3. Self Control: Teaching Students About Their Greatest Inner Strength with Nathan DeWall



Friday, April 10, 2015

C4T#3-Summaries

C4T-123D Design was talking about the way to get ideas into 3-D. It helps students to create their own videos and ideas for class. These ideas are able to help with creative design and invention. The students have access to modern printers and they can print out creations of design. I think that this is a fabulous way to get students interested in creating inventions and making the world a more creative place to be. We need to motivate our kids on becoming bigger and better inventors. The future hinges on people who can produce magnificent devices in a more technological world in which we live.

Launching a Conference was very interesting because it mentioned about a teacher getting ready for a conference and comparing it with planning a wedding. She mentioned about months of preparation, sleepless nights and plenty of hard work. This was certainly an incredible comparison. She also mentioned that after all the hard work she put into preparing for the conference she was able to get a great deal out of it. She also said that by the time she got there she was overwhelmed with excitement. Her enjoyment of all the things she had learned at the conference really impressed her. So the bottom line was that she was glad she finally got there and learned so much. Its amazing how much we can accomplish when we really try and put forth the effort.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Blog Post #11-What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning from These Teachers?

The video Back To The Future was very interesting to me. I thought that this video brought some very interesting things about what kids notice and see. Kids are very alert to new things and new discoveries. The classroom became the highlight of the hour. When the weather balloon was mentioned, all the kids in the classroom really got enthusiastic because of the air balloon. They seemed interested in the paper that caught on fire in an instant. All of these things seemed to get the students interests. There is a possibility that because of the science fiction, this could have peaked their scientific interest and caused them to see a little deeper.

Blended Learning Cycle by Mr. Paul Andersen really brought out some new and interesting learning techniques. Mr. Andersen's blended learning cycle consisted of questions, investigation, videos, elaboration, review and summary quiz. He began by suggesting that questions were great to start off with students. The questions would certainly motivate students to inquire about more information and would allow them to investigate further. By seeing the videos, the students would certainly want to elaborate and explain their results. Gathering their information would only result in reviewing the results and ending in a summary quiz. Combining all of these avenues of learning would enable each student to use other resources to their own advantage.

Making Thinking Visible was very interesting to learn about. It emphasized about students being at the center stage of learning. Definite emphasis was put on the students and their visible way of seeing their learning process at work. Being able to visualize a new way of doing things would certainly help each student look at learning in a new and different way. We all visualize what we see in new and different ways, because our brains process things in different ways. This promotes engagement, understanding and independence for all learners.