Project #9

Comments4Teachers Summary

Jenny Luca

 

On Jenny Luca's blog, she posted a video titled The Time You Have (In Jellybeans). Jenny Luca watched this video for the first time in a school assembly. The student leaders asked the girls in the audience how they were spending their time that was left. Jenny Luca stated, "I think it made an impact on all of us sitting there watching it. Thinking about how much time you spend doing things that seem inconsequential when you look at life as a collection of jelly beans makes you take stock." She also goes on and says, "Have a good weekend. Make the most of these two days." Jenny Luca posts something on her blog just about every Friday and tells her readers to have a good weekend. I think that is a wonderful thing that she is doing! The video that Jenny Luca shared really makes us step back and take a look at how we are spending our time. It really made me believe that we actually do not have as much time on the Earth as we think we do, and that we need to make our lives greater. I think Jenny Luca's post was great motivation for her readers!

 

Jenny Luca's Blog: Lucacept-Intercepting the Web




 

I read Jenny Luca's blog post titled Technostress and she posted a video that she used to start up a discussion in her classroom.

 



This video sparked a discussion about sexualization of young girls and entrepreneurship as well. Luca says that this video had nothing to do with the lessons that they were learning in class, but that she believes in using anything that will get the brain juices flowing in the morning, which I think is great! The rest of her post simply stated all the technology that she used in her classroom that day. At the end though, Luca says that she believes that even though teachers are somewhat scared to introduce technology into their classroom, she also believes that teachers who do use technology would be even more scared to have it removed. I left a comment on her blog post saying how the video she posted had me in shock, because I had never been able to imagine the Bratz dolls in any other form than their original. It is amazing how someone can be so creative and simply turn a doll into something that speaks to the world in a positive way! Also, I love the way she uses to videos in the morning to get the students ready for the day.

Jenny Luca's Blog: Lucacept-Intercepting the Web

Blog Post #8

After watching the video Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, I believe I have obtained some new knowledge on how to teach and how to become a better learner. Randy Pausch spoke about indirect learning, which I believe is a wonderful way to teach. Pausch chose the topic of football in order to teach about indirect learning. "Indirect learning is a lesson that you learn within a task that you perform such as teamwork, sportsmanship, perseverance, etc.", said Pausch. What I found intriguing is that Pausch allowed the audience to believe that his lecture was about achieving childhood dreams and goals, but at the end of his lecture he asked, "Did you figure out the head fake?" Pausch states that the lecture was not about achieving your dreams, but it was about how to lead your life. Pausch used his own lesson of indirect learning to teach the audience more than what they thought they would be learning about. I believe indirect learning and fun within lessons is a great way to achieve amazing results from students.

 

Pausch said, "We learn from our students." He is absolutely correct. I believe that assessing your students is a great way to learn how much they have learned from you, the teacher. But, it also allows you to learn from them. "Brick walls are there for a reason: to let us prove how badly we want things and to give us a chance.", said Pausch. "Give people more time and they will almost always impress you.", said Pausch's undergraduate advisor Andy van Dam. Let students show you what they know first. Why start teaching when you have no idea how much knowledge your students have? Let students be creative and the might just do something beyond your imagination. I fully believe that we should let our students thrive in as many ways as possible. Students should also continuously improve. Pausch says, "After someone stops trying to help you improve or tell you are doing wrong, then you will know that they have given up on you." No one should ever be given up on; everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves capable of the task or lesson to be learned. Randy Pausch taught me so much from his video lecture and made me think about what I am going to do once I graduate and step inside my very own classroom to teach.

Project #7 Part B

To Parents...

 

 

To Students...

 

Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner

This video shows how kids are learning in the 21st century. I believe that children should be exposed to the technological world, but as Kalie Salen says when referring to technology, "Bring it out when we need it and put it away when we don't need it." I believe that technology can be useful, but I do not think it is necessary in every lesson that needs to be taught. What are your thoughts?

 

 

Blog Post #7

From the video, Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education: iPad, Tablet, Computer, Listening Centers, I have learned why it is essential to for me to use technology in the classroom.

1. Students love it
2. It engages the four key components of learning. (active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real world experts)
3. Professional development
4. Makes life easier for teachers
5. Improves test scores
6. Learn from the experts
7. Helps students with low attention spans
8. Encourages completion of homework
9. Saves money
10. Removes obstacles

Technology will only continue to evolve and some day I believe that it will be required in all classrooms. For most schools that teach through technology, they tend to use Macintosh (Mac)computers, iPads, etc. Mac technology has many more features for learning as well teaching tools for teachers than any other form of technology. For example, I have a Windows computer and my computer works well, but I have recently been looking for a video editor through my Windows 8 apps and it has been an impossible task. All of the apps freeze my computer and do not have enough tools for me to completely edit my video how I would like to. On Mac, IMovie is available on the computer for free and has all the necessary tools for editing videos. This is why most schools choose Mac! Mac computers are great teaching tools, and I believe that I will have to learn how to use Mac before I can become a teacher. I love technology, but since I do not own a Mac computer, learning how to use one is going to be a struggle. I will be working on saving up enough money to purchase a Mac just because I know I will need to learn it in order to be able to teach my students in the way I would like to. Maybe the school I teach at someday will require it too. I also love Smart Boards and I grew up using them in school. Smart Boards are a wonderful way to teach, especially for math teachers. Teaching math on a Smart Board is quick and easy! Using different colors, shapes, and patterns will engage students in the lessons and they will not get bored. Smart Boards are also great for the environment. No dry erase markers, chalk, white board cleaner, or paper towels are being used. Smart Boards are interactive and still allow students to come up to the board and work out the problems or circle the right answer. Technology is now and teachers need to use it! Maybe technology isn't best for all situations, but it is a great tool to engage students in a fun way of learning!

Comments4Kids Summary for Month of February

Angel D.

I had the pleasure of commenting on Angel D's blog from Mrs. Weil's Fourth Grade Froggies class blog. Angel had wrote about how it is hard for her to write on her blog, because she gets stuck with a lot of words. I left a comment saying how her imagination is the key to writing. I told Angel that she should think of a memory or a beautiful dream that she has had that makes her happy, and that she should write about one of those in her blog posts. I even told her my dream that I use whenever my mind is blank, and told her that she could use my dream to help her if she would like. Some children may not have the best of memories or the happiest of dreams due to many reasons. Some children may have a bad life at home or have some sort of medical issue that impairs them. Although I do not know anything about Angel other than she is in Mrs. Weil's class, if she does not have a good memory or a happy dream, then I am glad that I let her use mine.
Angel D's Blog

 

Tyler U.

I commented on Tyler U's blog from Boylen's 8th grade Language Arts Classes, and I would just like to say that Tyler is a great writer! Tyler's post talked about his winter break that his school had and how he was able to spend a lot of time with family and also see some family that he has never seen before. I told Tyler that having breaks from school was great, because it gives you a chance to relax and not have to worry about the more difficult things in life. But, that school was important and going back after break was great, because there is always time for learning!
Tyler U's Blog

Aiden

I loved the topic that Aiden blogged about on the Hartmen/Centeno Readers and Authors class blog. Aiden talked about the book Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Although I had not read the book, I have seen the movie, and I was able to follow along exactly with what Aiden was saying. I thought it was great how Aiden did not spoil the ending of the book just in case someone was reading his blog that had not read the Harry Potter series before. In one part of Aiden's blog he began to talk about a port key. I thought it was wonderful how he defined what a port key was before he continued on with his story. I am sure defining that word really helped the readers of Aiden's blog understand more of the material. At the end of Aiden's blog post he asked a question: "If you could make a portkey on a object where would you want to send the person who touches it?" Aiden really seems to have a lot of interest in the book he was reading, and it is great that he wanted feedback from his readers!

Aiden's Blog

Torrance

I commented on Torrance's blog posted titled Tupac from Moments that Matter with Mrs. Maslowski blog. Torrance talked about how Tupac was a great rapper, but also that Tupac was multi-talented since he was a poet along with other things. Torrance also said that he admires Tupac's poems and song lyrics and that was because he grew up listening Tupac with his father. I told Torrance that I really liked the person he chose to blog about for Black History Month, but I thought that Torrance should have told more about what happened to Tupac. Giving the reader more information about Tupac could help them to better understand Torrance's blog post. Torrance did insert a picture in his blog post, and I think that is a great way to show his reader's what Tupac looked like!

Torrance's Blog