Project #8

The Kissing Hand Book Trailer

Blog Post #6

What Questions Do We Ask? How Do We Ask?

In The Right Way to ask Questions in the Classroom, Ben Johnson asks, "What does a teacher asking questions of a class expect the class to learn from the questioning process?" Some teachers might say that to ask a question is to ask for understanding from the students; this benefits the teacher more than the student. When we ask a question to the class, what we are really asking is, "If you have any questions, ask now." From experience, we know that this is not an accurate way to gauge a child's understanding due to their fears of looking stupid in front of peers. Johnson suggests that when a question is asked, it tends to be the "smart students" that raise their hands to answer the question regardless of whether they will be right or wrong. The other students in the class tend to stop paying attention at this point thus defeating the purpose of the discussion in the first place. All students need to be engaged in the answering process; this is the only way learning can be effective.

How can teachers ask a question the correct way? First, we should ask a rhetorical or open-ended question instead of a close-ended question. Next, we allow a few seconds to pass so that each student has enough time to contemplate what the answer to the question might be. Last, we call on a student at random to have them deliver the answer. Students tend to think that their response quota for the day is fulfilled once they have answered one question. However, when names are called at random, their attention will have to remain on the current topic so that they will be able to answer additional questions in case they are called again.



In the video Asking Better Questions in the Classroom, Joanne Chelsey suggests that teachers should stop asking questions that can be answered with a single yes or no response. Instead, we should be asking questions that require deep and, sometimes, abstract thought. Students of today need to be challenged to think about more than just the what's and the where's; they need to think of the why's and the how's. For instance, a teacher could ask the question, "Do plants need sunlight to grow?" In the classroom, this would encourage very little imaginative thinking due to the answer being a simple, "Yes." Instead ask, "Why do plants need sunlight to grow?" You are engaging the students by causing them to think of all of the possible explanations for why a plant needs sunlight to grow. As a matter of fact, you could go one step further and have the students find the answers for themselves via project-based research. The students could look into why plants need sunlight and gather more information than you alone would have been able to provide. In the end, the teacher will have accomplished exactly what he/she set out to do which is to give the students a more clear understanding of the question introduced.

Why are questions more important than answers? In For Students, Why the Question is More Important Than the Answer, Katrina Schwartz quotes Dan Ruthstein when he said on the talk show Forum, "We’ve been underestimating how well our kids can think.” By giving way too many lectures and asking close-ended questions, we have been enabling our students to think by themselves and for themselves. How can we reverse this to better teach our students? Schwartz suggests that in an answer driven classroom, the attention is mainly focused on the teacher. However, a question driven classroom keeps the focus right where it should be, on the students. Students are encouraged to answer questions after careful thought and consideration. They, too, are emboldened to ask new questions that may surface during their search for knowledge. Schwartz suggests that we not answer the student's questions outright when they ask them. Instead, we should follow up with a question that may lead them in the right direction. In doing so, the students are learning that they are capable of finding information for themselves which will spread into other areas of learning as well.

Project #7

This Is My Sentence



This Is My Passion

Blog Post #5

iCurio

Project #3

Blog Post #4

Why Podcasts? How do we do a podcast?

In Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting, I have learned that podcasting is an excellent tool to utilize in any subject of teaching. The teacher in this blog was a former World Language Teacher and had used podcasting to help teach her students foreign languages. For one project, she had her students write in Hebrew the Purim Story which taught students who tend to be kinesthetic learners as well as those who tend to be visual learners. Next, she had her students record themselves while reciting the story in Hebrew, arrange the story in correct chronological order, and post it to the class blog. This process allowed those student who are auditory learners to listen to themselves and others in order to learn in a way that best enables them. The students were allowed to watch the podcast from the comfort of their homes while learning in a way that was personal to them. I think that I could use this in my future biology classes. I could have my students arrange and record certain steps in processes related to biology and upload it to a class blog. I could also scramble the steps on the SmartBoard to make the lesson to be more interactive which would allow for more learning in the classroom.

I think the Flat-Stanley Podcast is such a fun way to get students involved in learning about other cities and countries as well as technology in general. Students learn to take a proactive step in their own education by researching the city or country they want to be mailed to and describe what they will experience when they get there. I think this also helps teach children a little bit about imagination and communication. They get to present their knowledge in a podcast and find creative ways to make their stories become much more realistic.

In The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom, Harry Dell presents many positive outcomes to podcasting in the classroom. First, he says that it is an effective way of interacting with students outside of the classroom. I imagine that this is very true since the students are able to download the podcasts from home to receive repetitive instruction if they feel they need the additional help. Another benefit is that it is a form of learning that students of today are familiar with and therefore makes it relevant to them. Times are changing and, as educators, we must change with it to be effective. Students no longer learn as well by listening to a lecture and repeating the memorized material. To be honest, they never learned well that way to start with. However, kids today love technology so why not meet them at their level and let that be a means of learning. Dell mentions that podcast learning allows for creativity and project-based learning. I think it is a wonderful idea to provide a list of projects and let each child pick which project they want to research. They can do research to gather information and figure out how they want to present it to the class. I have had classes where I would have to present a chapter to the classroom and it was that chapter that I understood the best of all. I think that would be the same for everyone. Another benefit to podcasting is that it allows for the parents to see what their child is doing in school. It has been proven that parental involvement creates a better learning and working environment for both students and teachers.

C4T #1

C4T #1 Summary #1 - Start the Year with a Project... or Wait?

John Larmer is the Editor in Chief of the Buck Institute of Education and is one of the main contributors to the blog Experts & New BIEs. He gives an excellent example of how to encourage students to think for themselves.  In the piece Start the Year with a Project... or Wait?, Mr. Larmer recommends that students who are familiar with Project-Based Learning (PBL) should be given challenges as soon as the second day of class. However, if students have not had much experience with Project-Based Learning, gradual steps should be taught so that the students will be able to perform these tasks by themselves or in a collaborative group. There are "4 C's" that are recommended that we teach our students in order to make them more capable of PBL.

The first of the "4 C's" is critical thinking. Ways to engage students in critical thinking practices is to get them to solve puzzles or answer open-ended questions in which they must think of in length. Give students scenarios and ask which ways they could think to improve it. We could also simply ask them how they would define critical thinking in their own words. Another of the "4 C's" is collaboration. Our students need to learn how to work with others. They need to learn how to share ideas as well as listen to the ideas of others. Teamwork is much more capable of greatness due to the differences in the way we all think. In cases of extreme greatness, great minds do not think alike but rather collectively.

Communication is the third of the "4 C's" with which we should be familiarizing our students. We need to get them used to speaking and listening to their fellow peers. Have them learn to speak in front of others, present ideas, and answer questions that his/her peers may have. The last of the "4 C's" is Creativity and Innovation. Students need to know that thinking outside of the box is exactly how progress is made. They need to understand that the great inventors of our time have only been that due to the creativity they allowed to flow from them. We as a nation would never go forward if we didn't have someone who was creative and innovative enough to come up with ideas never thought before.

Mr. Larmer ended his blog with a reminder that it is very important that we create a classroom where students feel they can speak their ideas and not feel the pressure of negative comments from instructors or peers. Feedback is a must whether it be constructive or complementary, but it should never come across in a negative manner. We must create classrooms that encourage and reward abstract thought and communication.

C4T #1 Comment #1

My name is Danya Croft and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am majoring in Secondary Science Education. I love the idea of teaching students how to problem-solve for themselves rather than depending on teachers or peers to tell them the answers to everything. It is very important for students today to learn how to learn. I feel that the steps you have listed are excellent ways to start implementing Project-Based Learning inside of my classroom. I am not a teacher yet, but I am already trying to organize my classroom in theory so that when I actually get started I will have a better idea of what will work best.

C4T#1 Summary #2 - Using Gallery Walks for Revision and Reflection

In Using Gallery Walks for Revision and Reflection, Charity Allen and John Larmer team up to enlighten readers of an excellent, interactive alternative to sharing thoughts and ideas that teachers, classmates, and experts have about the work of a student. Students post their work in an art gallery format so that people can walk around to reflect on the pieces. "Our version of a Gallery Walk protocol doesn't take much time; it provides a structure for critique; and it levels the playing field, since participants are both givers and receivers of feedback."

They deduced that giving a certain set of components to look for made leaving feedback much easier and of higher quality. The feedback was based on: project title, grade level, project idea (summary of main purpose), driving question, content (summary of key topics), major products (what students will create), and public audience (who will see & hear presentations or use products). The feedback "I like..." and "I wonder..." was given by leaving post-it notes around the board to express the positive aspects as well as the aspects that need additional attention. These Gallery Walks were intended to be informative and helpful. Allen and Larmer feel that a Gallery Walk is an excellent tool to improve the effectiveness of Revisions and Reflections.

C4T #1 Comment #2

I think this is an amazing opportunity to engage students in the revision and reflection process. Too many times, students bypass commenting on mistakes/errors on the project of a peer due to not wanting to hurt his/her feelings or seem too critical. However, the Gallery Walk allows for many peers at one time to leave a positive comment as well as a reflective comment. Something that I noticed about this tool is that each project viewed will have the same number of comments. Students will have no reason to feel embarrassed or upset about the feedback because everyone will have the same amount of feedback. Also, I think this will be an excellent way to keep intact the self-confidence of the students and encourage them to keep bettering themselves with every project.

Blog Post #3

How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback To Your Peers

Peer editing is working with someone your own age to help improve his/her work while offering compliments, suggestions, and corrections. The videos What is Peer Editing and Peer Editing With Perfection Tutorial are excellent demonstrations on how we should critique the works of our peers. I have always found it difficult to tell my peers the areas in which they could improve. I now realize that my holding back is doing more harm than good. In essence, I am keeping my peer from learning through his/her mistakes and growing from the experience. As a future educator, I am going to have to critique the work of my students on a daily basis so I had better learn quickly how to do it in a positive way. the videos taught me that there are three steps needed to give constructive criticism: compliments, suggestions, and corrections.

The most important thing to remember when critiquing a peer is to stay positive and offer a compliment. There is always something positive that can be said even if it is only to say "I really appreciate the effort you put into this piece." You should always keep in mind how your words might make someone feel. Ask yourself "would this hurt my feelings?" or "how would I feel after reading this comment?" If you answer that it would leave you with a negative feeling then you should think of changing your wording. Peers can and will get offended when only the bad things are pointed out. No one wants to be put down or made to feel like their work is inadequate. Again, there is always something positive that can be said. When you have a difficult time thinking of a compliment, perhaps you could use one of the following: My favorite part was ____ because ____, I loved when you ____, or I think you did an exceptional job with ____.

Now here begins the tricky part. There will be times when something doesn't sound right or the sentence just doesn't make any sense. What should you do? You should be specific and offer polite suggestions using the words instead, rather, or substitute. The video gives us the example "instead of using the word good, maybe you can use the word exceptional." That is an excellent approach to suggesting the word choice be changed rather than saying "your word choice is boring." We should always remember that the main focus of our critiques are to allow our peers to create the best work possible. By making helpful suggestions, you are enabling your peer to learn how to better convey a message which in turn makes for a better final product.

Making your peer aware of the technical corrections that need to be made can be a tough. However, one of the most important components of a written work is making sure there are no incorrect punctuation marks, misspelled words, or incorrect uses of grammar. Bringing the mistakes to their attention is a must! I would like to recommend a bit of advice in which I write. If I am not sure about something, I don't do it. In other words, when I am not sure when to use a comma, I rearrange the sentence so that it doesn't need a comma. When I am not sure how to spell a word, I choose another word. When I feel a sentence might be too long, I break it into two sentences to be sure I haven't created a run-on sentence. Sharing advice like this with your peer can keep them from making mistakes on future projects.

Furthermore, I believe that when you finish critiquing the work of your peer, you should follow it up with another compliment or a reiteration of the original compliment. I think it is a good idea to leave the writer with a feeling of accomplishment rather than a feeling of failure. You have still enlightened them on the corrections that need to be made all the while reassuring them that their work is appreciated. In my opinion, it is an excellent way to prevent any negative thoughts towards the peer critiquing process.

The video Writing Peer Review Top Ten Mistakes is a humorous illustration of the many mistakes that can be made during the reviewing process. Picky Patty, Mean Margaret, and Defensive Dave are a few of the characters demonstrating how to be too picky, too mean, and too sensitive. Watching a video like this is a fun way to realize the proper ways to critique the works of our peers without being too negative. As future educators, we need to learn how best to encourage our students while teaching them the correct ways of doing things. All parties involved in the reviewing process will learn to be more careful of the content they put into their works and be more confident that the work is the best it can be.

Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancealot
- Carla Young, Nathalie McCarty, and Danya Croft

Subject matter is a very important concept to consider when thinking of how to construct classroom time and energy. Your teaching methods have to be customized to fit your expectations and goals for the class. The lesson plans and activities should be designed and executed in a way that is going to efficiently help the student grasp what you are trying to teach them. For example, a dance class should contain instruction as well as practice. In the video, Mr. Dancealot has presented a dance class where the students are to take notes of proper dance steps and techniques without ever getting a feel for what it is like to do it. It is extremely important for the students to know the fundamentals of each dance and maybe a brief history of the origin of the dance. However, the teachers main problem was reinforcing the knowledge moreover the practice needed to perform those steps. It would have been a good idea for him to have spent most of the classroom time on practice and application as opposed to discussion and lecture. Skills cannot be learned unless hands on experience is allowed, encouraged, and rewarded. Dancing can be easily compared to riding a bicycle. Our parents can tell us what is needed to stay upright on the bicycle, but until we know what it feels like to do it then we will never really learn how to do it.

Teaching in the 21st Century
- Danya Croft

Teaching in the 21st Century is an engaging video that lists many possible tools educators can use to keep up with education in a technological way. I have never thought of teachers as mere filters rather than relayers of facts, but that is exactly what we are. We are not the ones who came up with the information and we are certainly not the only avenues that students can take to get to that information. So often we forget that we need to teach our students how to find the answers they seek for themselves. We need to teach them subject matter as well as incorporate the skills to find additional information. Let’s face it, no matter how little or much that I know and can teach there will always be information for which I am unfamiliar. Students need to understand that they can depend on themselves to find the information as much if not more than they depend on us to teach them. As teachers, we need to remember that true education comes from the engagement of a child. If you can engage a child in a project that you have assigned, you can be sure he/she will invest themselves in it and learn from it. I really loved the part of the video that stated misuse of class materials can come from pencil and paper just as it can come from iPads and computers. However, if you assign projects that are interesting to children and make them want to research then misuse of technology should be a non-issue.

The Networked Student
- Carla Young

After watching the video The Networked Student, the question “Why does the networked student even need a teacher?” has been raised. Personally, considering this is the field I am going into, I have thought long and hard about this. I honestly do believe the future of schools and learning is going to be a collaboration of technology coupled with the aid of a teacher.
Times are changing, children have phones in their pockets that can do almost everything their computer at home can do. The way children learn is also changing and students are becoming more independent learners than they were in the past. Technology is a big part of today’s world and it is quickly making its way into the classroom. Students need to learn different skills now than they did in earlier years. Being technologically savvy is a must to keep up with the advancing times, and it is important for students to be exposed to this as early as possible to be successful in today’s society. The term “Connectivism” has recently been introduced to me and I believe that it is going to be a valuable method of learning not only for future students, but also a valuable tool for me as a future educator. I have been intrigued by the idea of students building a network with other students from all over each contributing ideas and things they have found about a certain subject they are researching to help each other learn.
The thought that teachers may be unneeded or not as essential as they are in present day did cross my mind. So, why does the networked student need teachers? After giving it much thought and going back to what I heard in the video I asked myself another question, “Who is going to teach the students to build this network?” The idea that students will be learning through connectivism is based off of the students building a network to learn from. Knowing how to build this network is a skill the students will have to have. Like most skills, they have to be taught. Things are much more clear to me now, the teaching methods and tools may be different and teaching in general may not be anything like what it is now. Teacher may be considered as more of a guide or an aid, but the concept is still the same; providing students with the necessary knowledge and tools needed to be successful members of society.

Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts
-Nathalie McCarty

In the video Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, the viewer learns how to introduce technology in order to teach a class as well as teaching the class to teach themselves. Teacher Vickie Davis allows the kids to learn modern technology by showing them how they can learn basic skills that was previously taught with pen and paper. She has taken the advancement of technology to make sure that no child is left behind. She teaches every student because she knows them well enough to know what will help them best.  As you watch the video, she demonstrates how the students connect with the world through a blog and with the class allowing them to connect while studying as well. It just goes to show that teachers who are open to learning different teaching methods can and will reach more of their students.