Blog Post #3

Peer Editing Videos

     In the two videos "What is Peer Editing" and "Peer Editing With Perfect Tutorial", I learned how to criticize a peer's writing in a positive way. There are three important steps. The first step is to give compliments explaining what you liked about their article. For example, telling them your favorite part or how you liked their topic. Then, make suggestions on how they could make their writing better. A couple ways to make suggestions would be to advise them on using more creative words or adding on to a sentence to make it have more clarity. The third step, is making corrections including grammar, punctuation, ect. This video gave me many different points to acknowledge when commenting on my peer's writing. It will even help me in the future for when I need to critique my students writing as well.

     The video, "Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes", was adorable! All of the students did a great job of showing how not to peer edit. Meany Margaret was my favorite. There are many different ways to positively  give criticism of a writing. Suggest how to improve someone else's paper like how you would want them to suggest to you how to improve your own! Being pushy, mean, or loud is not the way to help someone fix their writing. The more positive the better; that way your peer won't get defensive towards you. 

     As for the peer editing I did for the C4C this week, I chose to do it publicly. The reason why I did it this way was because there was really no major problems with the writing except a few missing commas. If it were more severe, I probably would've positively critiqued it publicly then privately told them specifically what they needed to revise. That is the way I would want someone to do it for me.

Assistive Technology

     The Mountbatten is like a type writer for the blind. As the student brailles, the machine announces what is being brailled. It can save files and transfer files to a computer. This machine also converts the braille letters into print and displays in onto a screen. It helps to incorporate blind students into the classroom. More machines similar to this need to become invented so the blind won't feel like they are left out of the classroom. I would definitely use it in my classroom for if I have a blind student they can still interact in class discussion by typing what they want to explain.

     Professor Art Karshmer form the University of San Francisco created a very useful invention for the blind. It is a device used for math problems. There are blocks with braille and visual numbers on them. The student can put these blocks on a grid so they will be able to vertically line up mathematical problems. Before this invention, the blind student would have to position the numbers horizontally. This can dramatically improve math skills for the visually challenged. I would highly recommend my blind students to use this invention!

     I never knew how reliable an iPad can be to the blind! In the video,"iPad Usage for the Blind", it shows a blind man and how he can effectively read, search the web, and many other tasks using a voice over program. For example, he would tap once for the options available to him said aloud and twice if he wanted to choose an option. If the iPad were to ding, it means that there is no item to select on the home screen. Sliding three fingers from right to left turns to page for you. It is incredible how advanced technology has become and it has really benefited the visually challenged. If I ever had a blind student I would really recommend them buying an iPad with voice over to stay up to date with activities.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

 

     Vicki Davis is a teacher in the southern part of Georgia. She effectively incorporates technology with learning.  In her classroom,  her students create this virtual world on the computer called Open Sims. My guess is it's similar to the Sims computer game from years ago. Davis encourages her students to research on their own and she eventually found that her students were teaching her! What kid wouldn't want to create their own virtual video world?! Unique way to learn if you ask me.

     In my classroom, I personally don't think I will ever be using anything as advanced as a video game program since I will mainly be teaching 2nd graders. One the brighter side, computers may become handy! My students could learn how to use the internet and search for information needed for certain subjects such as history or reading. They can also start to learn how to type on a computer or even play educational games. Technology is becoming more popular in classroom every year. 

Project #2 Wordle

Blog Post #2

Did You Know?

     The video "Did You Know" by John Strange was very factual. It amazes me how much technology has improved since it was first invented. In the video, Strange states that 48 hours worth of YouTube videos are downloaded every minute! Also, that in one minute 11,491,629 SMS messages are sent world wide.These two facts alone are eye opening. Technology has become the main focus of human living and in future years it will become almost impossible not to have technology all around us. From computers to cellphones, people world wide should be taught accurately and efficiently how to control and operate any technological device.

     In the video, Strange emphasizes that English-speaking Chinese will soon outnumber the native speaking English! This fact alone is quite scary. I'm not quite sure how the Chinese learn English whether it's in school or through technology, but the Americans really need to step their game up. We have all of this technology and we need to put it to use! Americans have become ridiculously lazy over the years and I'm not sure why. I don't know if it's because we have technology to do things for us or we just don't care to learn how to learn things on our own, but it is really hurting where we stand in the world. 25% of India is already smarter than the entire United States according to the video. That is quite embarrassing.

     Another good aspect of the video was the point about jobs. Strange emphasized that the top jobs we will have 10 years from now don't even exist yet. We need to use technology to prepare for these jobs since it is practically taking over the world. Next thing you know we will have robots as maids just like in those futuristic movies! Get fluent in working with technology now so you won't be behind in the future.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

     In the video Mr. Winkle Wakes by Mathew Needleman, schools are not the same as they are now. The high school I went to now has a computer for every student, smart boards in classrooms, and televisions everywhere. In the school Mr. Winkles went  to, there were desks in a line and students were taught threw taking notes and learning from a teacher. In the future, there honestly might not even be a need for teachers because of how advanced technology is becoming. Students could just watch videos everyday and print out notes instead of listening to a teacher lecture and have to write pages of notes. Scary thought, but it could become true.

     Another point in the video is the technology used in businesses and in hospitals. There are more ill people surviving now than there were 20 years ago because of the technology we have. For example, oxygen tanks, lasers, and x-ray machines have become extremely beneficial over the years. In businesses, people can expand their profits world wide because of Skype and cell phones. They can communicate oversees by visually interacting with one another on a computer screen. Incredible if you ask me! Technology plays a major role in our lives today.

TED Video

     Ken Robinson is a very smart man. He believes that educators now have to prepare children for what will be in the future which we do not know of. The unpredictability is extraordinary but yet we must teach them what we know they must have knowledge of for them to be successful such as numbers and letters. Robinson also elaborates that creativity is as important as literacy. Children are not afraid to be wrong and will take chances. This fact is key in being creative, yet he believes schools are taking creativity our of education because they are not allowing mistakes to be made.

    Schools focus more on reading, writing, and arithmetic rather than music, art, and dance. Which pretty much is just getting us ready for the university level of education. Now days, people do not necessarily need a degree to get a job, all they need is determination, creativity, and common sense. Robinson defines creativity as a the process of having original ideas that have value. This idea of creativity is probably what sparked the inventors of technology today. Without creativity in people would not have thought outside of the box and invented something they envisioned in their mind. I do agree with Robinson that creativity should be more expressed in schools. You never know what some people could create and do when they use their creative side of their brain.

Pinterest!

     I think Pinterest is an amazing way to express one's creativity and it also shows many useful ideas from other people. Pinterest could be useful to me by seeing all of the different classroom decoration ideas people have up and the creative techniques people have posted to educate students. Lesson plans, the organization of it, and student use are some of the ways Pinterest could be beneficial. There are many different ways to teach the basic subjects in school, but with Pinterest you can find creative ways to teach from other teachers whom have a Pinterest. There are several folders, documents, and images used when you are a teacher and Pinterest can help to organize all of those items because it has different "boards" you can chose from when you want to remember a certain resource. Students can also benefit from Pinterest. For example, if they have a group project to do, they can create a certain board and collaborate all of their ideas together in that specific board. I plan on using Pinterest for all of my teaching techniques and decorations when I finally become a professional.

Blog Post #1

About Me

     My name is Callie Marie Amond. I am 19 years old and a sophomore at the University of South Alabama. My major is Elementary Education. I chose South Alabama because my family lives across the bay in Fairhope and I wanted to be able to visit them occasionally. My family and I are originally from Neenah, Wisconsin. We moved down here about nine years ago because my Dad transferred jobs. I have one brother named Drew, my mother, LeAnn, and my father Drew. My brother is a finance major here at USA as well. So far, I have really enjoyed South and I plan on graduating from in here in 2015.

     When I was a little girl, I used to always pretend to play teacher in my parents basement. I would use my current school books and pretend to sit in front of a class and teach. My mom even bought me some posters and supplies to encourage my little fantasy. In my real classes at school, I would help teach my peers what they didn't understand. From then on I knew that my passion was teaching others. I chose elementary education because I feel that it is the most crucial time from learning in child's life. These six to seven years are when students begin their study and disciplinary habits. Personally, my favorite grade was second, so I have been leaning towards hopefully teaching second to third graders. My only challenge  is to become patient with the students and to help discipline them in a positive manner.

     My interests include volleyball, painting, shopping, spending time with my family and friends, and helping others. I have played volleyball consecutively for 6 years, year-round, and I will never get sick of it! I just recently started painting pictures on canvases. Usually, I just take a picture and recreate it with paint. Something about painting just relaxes me. I definitely got my creative and "artsy" gene from my mother. Shopping is my stress reliever I guess you could say. Every time I am stressed or mad, I just go to the mall by myself and vent by looking at, trying on, and buying clothes. I like to dress comfortable yet stand out. Another big part of my life is my sorority Chi Omega! I am very involved in school activities and community service which I have always loved doing. I love all of my sisters and I am truly grateful to be apart of the organization.

Future Classroom

     Once I have become a teacher I will try my best to educate every one of my students. One of my techniques will be to create fun, yet memorable songs or activities my students will enjoy. I know for me, songs have always helped tremendously! For example, one of my teachers taught us a song to remember the colors of the rainbow in Spanish and another to remember all 50 states. It is a fun yet effective way to incorporate learning.

     Another method for teaching my students will be through hands on projects. Science is a great subject for this! Weighing, measuring, and calculating experiments can really effect one's learning capacity. For example, mixing certain elements together and seeing how it changes is very memorable. I remember making "goo" one time and I'll never forget how much I learned about the elements on the periodic table.

     The next approach to continue successfully teaching my students will be creating an achievement board. Every student will get a star for every A they make on a test or good deed they do. At the end of the year I will reward them with a prize. I think discipline is very important in growing up. Every time a student misbehaves, a star will be taken away. I will clearly explain what the problem was and why they should not act that way so they will hopefully learn not to do it again.

     I am hoping to teach second or third grade. In my classroom, there will be "cubbies" for every student so they will feel welcomed and cared for. I will also create a comfortable lounge area where the children can interact with each other. Socializing plays a big part in a child's life and what better place to do it at then a place you go to everyday! I will have posters up of positive encouragement and of educational table and maps. I'm not sure exactly what subject I will be teaching but I would not mind teaching a little or everything. Eventually, I will have all of the necessities for a positive learning environment and hope to have a positive impact on my students' education.

Randy Pausch's Time Management Video

     In Mr. Pausch's video, I could really relate to the things he was discussing. I am a procrastinator and I get stressed out a lot. So working on my time management could really help my issues. He made me want to set goals and come up with a plan. For example, instead of waiting until Sunday to do all of my EDM310 assignments, I could incorporate an hour or two a day in between school and work and complete my assignments little by little. This would create less stress and I wouldn't have to worry about cramming everything in at once.

     Another memorable point Mr. Pausch made was creating a to-do list. This would keep me organized and I could determine when to do things. He stated to do "the ugliest thing first", which I completely agree with. If you start with the hardest or most complicated task first, that sets the difficulty standard and things can only get better from there. This technique really relates to stress. You are relieved after you finish something challenging, and become less stressful which may lead to more motivation to finish other tasks. The video taught me very good time management techniques.

Test post #1

Test post #1