Monday, November 24, 2014

C4T Summary for November.

The blog I chose to do my Comment 4 Teacher on for November was A GeekyMomma's Blog.

The first post I read was "Thought Leader's Summit: Who's Leading The Thought?". She wrote about how she was going to be attending Thought Leader's Summit hosted by the National Education Initiative as a part of National Education Week. She asked for questions for certain educators because she was not familiar with a lot of the them and she was concerned there were not enough people to represent the public school educators.

The second post I read was The Vilification of Class Dojo and Other Ways To Avoid Taking Responsibility For Yourself. She spoke about how the website Class Dojo is  being held responsible for punitive classroom management and violating FERPA. She stated that people need to start taking responsibility for their actions instead of just blaming their poor performance on a website or education tool.

Blog Post #5 Part 2

My Personal Learning Network.
My PLN has grown so much since the start of EDM 310. I have discovered so many new websites and have been introduced to many educators from around the world.

We have commented on so many educators blogs through our Comment 4 Teachers assignments. We could contact any of those educators for help or collaboration when you go into your career as a teacher. 

When doing our blog posts we come across so many websites and tools that we can use in our future classrooms such as the SmartExchange. 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

C4K Post for November

The first blog I read was Sam's "Future Reflection". It was an art project where they would take a picture of themselves looking into a mirror and then they would edit it to where their "future self" was looking back at them in at their dream job, which for Sam was an engineer.

The second blog I read was Charlie's "Visiting Places". He wrote about how he loved to visit Florida because it is sunnier than where he lives in Wisconsin. Charlie says that his favorite place in Florida is Orlando to go to Disney World and Downtown Disney.  

Charlie Peacock
Source:Pinterest.com

Monday, November 17, 2014

Blog Post 14

I chose to watch "How to Escape Educations Death Valley" By Ken Robinson for my blog post. I chose it because the title sounded interesting and it seemed like I would learn how to not make the same mistakes over and over again.

Sir Ken Robinson spoke about the "no child left behind" policy and how it is ironic. He stated that 80% of students drop out of high school. He stated that no child left behind is based on conformity and how we focus more on math and sciences than humanities and the arts. He stated that 10% of children are diagnosed with ADHD and how he thinks it is wrong. Robinson says that if you sit a child down for a long period of time doing clerical work, they are going to get bored and fidget and he says that they are just suffering from "childhood."
He stated that teachers are the main component in learning. He stated that most of the learning now a days is based on standardized testing and how it is getting in the way of learning and creativity. Robinson stated that learning should not be treated as a mechanical process and more as an organic process. 

I think I could use his ideas throughout my whole teaching career. I need to remember that not everything is about tests scores, it is about a child's future. 

Source: www.ted.com

Monday, November 10, 2014

Blog Post 13

Instructions:

Find evidence, whether it is a video, article or personal experience in a school, on how the way students are being taught now in our schools is drastically different then how you were taught. Write how you will need to improve on to be able to teach in a 21st century classroom. 


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yPFPPTJ2n9o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I will need to improve on my knowledge of new technologies. I am pretty good at working the technology that I am familiar with, but I do not know of a lot of the newer technologies out in the classrooms today,


Monday, November 3, 2014

C4T Summary for October

William Chamberlain

The first post I read by William was Emoticons,Bernal Diaz del Castillo and Tenochtitlán. He wrote about a project that he came up with that his students would learn about Aztec Glyphs and then they use their "modern glyphs", emoticons, to write their own stories.

The second post I read was Why Audience Size Is Important. He wrote about how if you have a bigger audience you are more likely to find people that share your passion.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Blog Post 11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

By watching these six videos I learned so many different things about teaching and learning.

In the first video, Brian Crosby's Back to the Future, he spoke about how students are disconnected and do not have a lot of passion in what they do. He showed his class and how he is very hands on with them and then instead of having just a normal boring multiple choice test, he has them blog about it. I think this is a good way to test your students because they would need to actually pay attention and learn to be able to write about it. If they were just going to have a a test they would just memorize the information and then forget it the next week. 

In the next video Blended Learning Cycle, Paul Anderson spoke about how he uses the Blended Learning Cycle. The Blended Learning Cycle puts online, classroom and mobile learning and integrates all of them together and then they use it to engage, explore, explain and expand. His method has six parts, question, investigation, video, elaboration, review and then a summary quiz. I think this is a good strategy because it gets the students to try and learn the material on their own instead of having it force fed to them.

In the next video Making Thinking Visible, it showed Mark Church's classroom. It showed the students discussing in groups about how human origins came to be and had them sum it up into one sentence. This is a good example of group work and critical thinking. 

In the next video Super Digital Citizen, Sam Pane discussed with his class how to be a good citizen on the internet. He had his class make a "digital super hero" and make a comic about how to be safe on the internet. This is a very cool idea. The students will get very excited and involved with creating their characters and it also gets a good message across.

In the next video Project Based Learning, it showed how they incorporated PBL in a high school classroom. They integrated technology with the history and English classes. They had each of the three teachers go around and give different feedback to their students and it also gave them more time with their class because they put all of the classes together.

Finally, in the video Roosevelt Elementary's PBL program it showed the class using Project Based Learning. They stated that you can really tell that the students understand the concepts they are learning because they are showing the information in the projects. They also stated that you should give the students different choices to choose from because every student learns differently. The students also learn public speaking skills and they learn to work together in groups. 

Monday, October 20, 2014

C4K For October.

The most recent post I commented on was Katareina's post. She wrote a dictation on the importance of fitness and I commented that I agree that fitness is important and I commended her on embedding her picture she chose.

Next was Madison T's post. She wrote a very lengthy post on what do to when you are babysitting a child, I was very impressed with her writing skills at such a young age! I commented that her post was very informative and that she must babysit a lot.

Next was Maeve's post. He wrote about how he believes that children should not get recess taken away as a punishment and that their should be an alternative. I commented that I agree with his statements and that he had a lot of good ideas

And finally the first post I had was Jikerius's post. He wrote that he wanted to improve his class by getting iPads, having a tutoring class and being able to go get fast food for his favorite subject, lunch. I told him he had some interesting ideas on improving the school and that iPads also help with saving paper!

Source: smartick.es

Blog Post #10

What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

This week I watched four different videos about Mrs. Kathy Cassidy's strategies in her classroom and I learned a lot from each one.

In the first video Little Kids....Big Potential I saw how she used blogs in her classroom in Canada. The children were so excited about people reading their posts! One student said it makes him want to write better when he knows that he has an audience, which makes me glad that we get to respond to students in our class! Blog posts are a great way for young students to improve their writing skills. The class also has it's own Wiki. This is a great way for students to look up exactly what they need for their projects and when they edit the Wikis the students are learning new information as well. I also liked how she used Skype to have guest speakers. It is hard to get guest speakers to come to your class but with Skype you can get anyone from around the world! 

In Mrs. Cassidy's Skype interview  I learned how she started with integrating technology in her classroom ten years ago with five computers and how she has a very good administration that supports her. She stated that parents are supportive as well because they can see what their child is doing and how they are doing in class. Mrs. Cassidy went on to talk about the importance of using technology and how we need to learn how to integrate it now while we are in college, which I completely agree with! We need to learn to accept these new technologies now so when we get are own classrooms later on, we will be prepared and we won't handicap out students.

In Part Two on the interview Mrs. Cassidy stated that we should start technology in the classroom with what you are interested in which I agree with. How are you supposed to get your kids excited about something that you do not care about? If you start them off with something you like, then you'll start the class off right! She also talked about how she uses Twitter to open up her Personal Learning Network. You can use Twitter to get to know different educators around the world.

In Part Three of the interview  She answered a lot of Dr. Strange's students questions and this goes back to how she uses Skype in her own classroom for her students. She stated that we need to start being more creative in the way we ask our students to present their work because they can look up simple answers on the internet, which is not a bad thing. They can use that information in a collaborative way and "piggy-back" off of it and learn new information at the same time. I also learned ways to keep students safe of the internet. She stated that you need to teach the students where to go and how to comment on each others blogs in a positive way. 

I enjoyed watching Mrs. Cassidy's videos. They were very informative and I learned a lot of useful information from it! 

Source: Pinterest.com

Monday, October 13, 2014

PBL Lesson Plan #2

Lesson Plan

Group Rubric

Individual Rubric 

Blog Post #9

What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning? 

Project Based Learning is in my opinion one of the most effective ways to teach. However, it can be one of the most difficult to learn to teach. So, what can other educators as well as our students teach us about Project Based Learning?

In Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning I learned a lot about what is most important to have in you PBL lesson plans. First, we need to pick a topic that the students will really want to get involved in and to start it off by showing a video or having a guest speaker to get them excited about it! Next we need a good, driving question that will prompt them in creating their projects. Next is the "voice and choice" of their projects. This lets the students know that their voice needs to be heard and they can choose to express themselves in any way they feel comfortable and then in the next step we need to make sure they learn to collaborate on their thoughts and ideas. Then each group will come up with questions for their own projects and be able to answer them and by doing this the revision process will be easier and then they finally have a finished project!

The video Project-Based Learning for Teachers is a great way to introduce and show teachers what PBL is and it gives a lot a resources to use!

In the article Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration In Project Based Learning they listed a good deal of websites to use in PBL such as Google Docs and Skype. When I was reading this list I realized we use a lot of these technologies in EDM310!

In the article Project-Based Learning and Physical Education I learned that PBL can even be used in PE class, He even used the exact steps from Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning!

Finally, in the video PBL: What motivates students today I learned first hand what motivates students to do well in school. A lot of the children said that it's because of the career they want to get into. I also learned the different reward systems the students teachers would use.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Special Post

From the recent study by Zogby Analytics, there are some alarming statistics about smartphones. 87% of people said that there phone never leaves there side and 78% of people say they spend 2 or more hours per day using their smartphone. This will lead to students not being able to focus on their schoolwork because they are constantly wondering what is on there phones. Along with this, they will no longer want to socialize with each other because they just want to look at their phones.

However, I think students could use their smartphones and tablets for good in class. In the Zogby study it states that 91% of people say that having a camera on their smartphone is important and that every smartphone now has a camera. 

The students could use this in class by taking pictures on there smartphones of data they need for their projects and share them with the class. They could also take pictures of homework or class work so they do not forget what they need to do for the next class. 

Source: thedigitaldrew.com

Blog Post #8

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

his lecture and his positive attitude even though he knew this was the last lecture he would ever give. It taught me so much about not only teaching, but learning as well. In his story about his days playing football, he talked about how his coach would correct him all day long and never let up and that this was a good thing because that means he did not give up on him. We should be like this with our future students. If we do not tell them what they are doing wrong, they will never get it right and grow from it. 

I also learned that you can never give up on your dreams. Randy Pausch completed every one of his childhood dreams because he never gave up and to quote him "Brick walls are there for a reason. Brick walls are not there to keep us out, they are there to show how badly we want something. They're there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough."

When he spoke about trying to become an Imagineer for Disney. He spoke about two men who he was trying to run his project by. He stated that both of the men said the same thing, but it was how they said it that made the difference. One just simply said "I don't know!" and the other one said "I don't have much information but please tell me more." This is the attitude we need to have as teachers. We need to constantly learn new things and not shut out new ideas.

I enjoyed his discussion of his Virtual Reality class, It was a great example of PBL! The whole class was doing a project every two weeks and having a new group for each one. This class seemed like it would of been awesome to be apart of. Teaching something while having fun is the best way to learn.

Finally, this lecture taught me how we learn from everyone. From our current teachers to our future students, we can learn from everyone. This lecture inspired me so much and I cannot wait for what the future has in store for me.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Monday, October 6, 2014

C4T Summary - EdTech Workshop

I was assigned Andrea Hernandez's blog, EdTech Workshop. Her posts were very interesting to read

and gave me a lot of ideas for my future classroom. The first post I read by her was 3 Tips to Help 

You Survive as an Innovative Teacher. She wrote about how she recently saw the movie "Chef"

and how she realized how much it related to teaching. She states that "As a teacher, I want everyone

to be excited about my 'cooking.' Like the chef, I work hard to create fresh, innovative and delicious

learning opportunities for my students. Like the chef, I pour my heart and soul into my work and feel

devastated when the haters hate." She states we should stay strong by smiling more, connect with

other educators and to share your thoughts and feelings with others so you do not keep everything

bottled up inside. I commented that I loved that she used the chef as an analogy for teachers because

we need to have a wide variety on our "menus" because not all children will learn the same.

The second post I read was Daily 5: Implementation Checklist & Other Resources. She states that

the Daily Five method is being implemented at her school and how it helps with literacy and meets

the needs of every individual learner. She shared her Daily 5 Implementation Checklist which I

commented is a great way to stay on track with your class and to make sure each students is

learning what they are supposed to.

Source: pinnest.net

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Blog Post #7

Even though I have not known about it in the past, I think EDM310 is preparing 

me for the Project Based Learning style that is in schools these days. I believe 

my strengths are that I am very experience with the Internet. I have been using

it since I was about 8 years old. I am very good at finding information and 

navigating websites. However, I am not as up-to-date with all the newest 

technologies as I would like to be. I think before I graduate I need to educate

myself on the new technologies that are being used in schools and learn how to 

use each one very well.

In the video How to make an audio QR Code I learned how to put an audio file 

into a QR Code, which I did not know was even possible! Michelle Bennet shows 

how to make a recording and then went to QRMokney.com and generated a QR

Code. She said this can be used to have your students scan it and hear a 

specific message for that students.

In the video iPad Reading Center The class used iPads to record themselves 

while they were reading so they could play it back while they were reading

it again to see if they made any mistakes. This is a great way to teach 

children to read and I think it would be great for children with learning 

disabilities.

In the video Poplet with Ginger Tuck The class uses an app called Poplet which

allows students to put pictures to words. This app is a great way to teach

words association and teaching them to take pictures and type.

In the video AVL and Kindergarten Students The class uses the Alabama Virtual 

Library website to search for certain words they are assigned to look up.

It gives them different pictures, audio files or videos for each word and 

then they have to draw and write about it.

In the video Tammy Shirley Discovery Education Board Builder Moon 

Project she showed us how to create a project board on the Board Builder app.

I think this is a great way for students to research for projects and make

sure the children know what they have learned.

In the video Students Sharing Board Builders they showed us how you can use

The Board Builder app to have students work together on projects by sharing

what they found on the internet about a certain subject.

In the video Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten The 

teachers at Gulf Shores Elementary spoke about how their students use iMovie 

and the AVL. I loved their enthusiasm about teaching!

In the video We All Become Learners the teachers spoke about how with all of

these new technologies coming out, it not just teachers teaching students, but 

students teaching the teachers and the students teaching each other. 

Source: adultesljobs.com


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

C4K Summary for Sept.

I was assigned R.J.'s blog from Mr. Salsich's Student Blogs. He wrote about how much he loved visiting Florida and going to Epcot and Disney world. He also wrote that he loves the weather and beaches there.

I was also assigned Najeem from Ms. Horst's Class. He spoke about his favorite soccer player, Ranoldo, who plays for Portugal. 

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Blog Post #6

What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

This week I watched seven different videos with Anthony Capps and I learned many different things.


Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher Capps discussed his experiences with project based 

learning in his 3rd grade classroom. He spoke about his different content driven projects such as 

using iCurio to search for females in history to complete the project of writing to the congressmen. I 

learned that children are more excited and involved in project based learning and they learn better by 

using it. 

In iCurio Capps discusses how he uses iCurio in the classroom for his class to find and store 

information for his projects. It makes it easy for the children to find different sources that are 

relevant to what they are learning. 

In Discovery Education  Capps discusses the tool Discovery Ed in his classroom to find pictures and 

videos that goes with what they are learning. This would make it easier to discuss what we are 

learning by watching videos and looking at pictures that go with it.

In The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for Teachers Capps gives his tips about preparing to become a 

teacher. He states that we should enjoy what we do and let it be fun, even when it gets hard. He also 

states that we should be constant learners and continue to learn even if we are not assigned to.

In Don't Teach Tech - Use It Capps talks about how he uses technology instead of just teaching his 

students about it. Instead of teaching them step by step how to use it, he just uses the technology in 

his class and they learn to use it that way. 

In Additional Thought About Lessons Capps discusses that lessons have four layers. It should cover 

the years state standards, the unit size should be connected, then you should have a weekly plan and 

then you should  have a daily plan before you can have one successful lesson.

PBL
Source: www.4teachers.org

Blog Post #5

Personal Learning Networks.

A Personal Learning Network is your collection of people you give and get information from. As

future educators, PLNs' are very useful to us. We can learn new things from everyone else in your 

PLN and others can add you to their PLN and learn new things from you. In Michael Fawcett's video he 

stated that his students used their PLNs' to ask questions and get instant answers. 


I looked into they ways you can organize your PLN and I thought Symbaloo was a great way to start. 

All of your social networks and pretty much anywhere you would go on the internet to gather 

information is right there in an organized grid.

Source: http://www.symbaloo.com/home/mix/13eOcK1fiV#
Source: http://www.symbaloo.com/home/mix/13eOcK1fiV#


Monday, September 8, 2014

Search Engine Blog Post.

I chose these eight different search engines to look at, try out and review.

1. DuckDuckGo. This search engine was pretty good. You kind of had to dig around to find what you wanted but the best thing about it is that it is completely private and they keep all of your searches anonymous. 

2. Blekko. This search engine was very good. It was very easy to find what your are looking for because they edit out all of the sponsored sites and pick the sites that actually relate to your search. I think this would be useful if you are researching something popular or that has a lot of different websites on the subject.

3. Wolfram Alpha. This search engine was very interesting. It uses human knowlege to solve equations. It would be best to use it  to ask logical questions and anything to do with numbers and percentages.

4. Bing. I have used Bing in the past but not extensively. It looks similar to Google in its layout. I feel like this one was the opposite of Blekko. I did not give specific enough results and gave really low quality websites. 

5. Yandex. This search engine is unique in that you can search any website from around the world in English, French and German. This would be useful if you were researching something about another country, especially news stories in that specific country.

6. Gigablast. I liked this search engine because it tells you exactly why the search results are ranked the way they are so you can add more specific details if needed. 

7. Ask. I have used Ask.com many times in the past. It is very useful because you can pose a question and anyone can answer it. This means if you cannot find an answer to a question anywhere online, you can ask it here. This also gives the opportunity for those questions to appear in other search engines.

8. The College Search Engine. Now I was a little skeptical about this search engine because the design of it was very bad but it is very useful. It searches websites of universities and colleges around the entire world. With this you know you are getting valuable and  creditable sources. 

C4T Blog Post

I was assigned Daniel Edwards blog entitled Learning and Innovation. His posts were very interesting, especially for this class. Both of the blog posts I read had to do with different technologies.

The first post I read was Pedagogy First – Technology….. He talked about the different technologies that are being put into classrooms and how some teachers are opposed to them. He states that teachers should use the different technologies we have acquired  and become learners ourselves when we are faced with these new technologies. I commented that I agreed with his claims and that I thought that it related to what we were learning in this class.

The second post I read was Top 10 Apps in an Established 1:1 iPad School, which was a list of ten apps that could be used in specific classes along with general classes as well. I commented that I could use these in my future classroom and that they would be very useful to me.

Source: https://twitter.com/syded06

Blog Post #4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher? I never really thought of this question before. Why do we as teachers need to ask questions?

I learned a new strategy about asking questions from the article The Right Way To Ask Questions in the Classroom by Ben Johnson. He states that we ask questions to make sure our students understand the material, but we need to be careful because only the "smart" or "confident" children will answer and the other children would not be even pay attention to the answers. 

Johnson states that we should ask the question, wait a few seconds and then pick a random student. While I know some students would think this in unfair or mean, I think it would be effective. If you did this on a regular basis as a teacher, it would make your students actually listen to what you are teaching in order to be able to answer your question if they are picked at random. 

Another strategy I like to use is to ask the children their opinion on the subject. It helps me get a good idea if they are absorbing the information and it gives me ideas on how to teach it by hearing it in their own words.  

Source: www.bayberryhomes.com
Source:www.bayberryhomes.com

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Blog Post #3

All of these videos and slideshow had the same thing in common, teaching us how to participate in a peer review. These videos were nice and concise and were very easy to understand, I could use them in my future classroom! In the slideshow Peer Edit With Perfection and the video What is Peer Editing? I learned more of what a peer review entails and that the three steps you need to complete while doing a peer review are to give the paper compliments, to give your peer suggestions and to correct anything you think needs to be corrected. 

I also learned what not to do while in a peer review from the video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes., which was very enjoyable and the children were so funny! You should not be rude while giving your review, you need to be specific while giving your corrections, not to be distracted while giving your reviews and to not take your peers corrections negativity. They are just trying to help! 

Peer reviewing is a great way to help with the writing process, especially in children. It helps them get different ideas for their own papers and helps them get feedback on their papers to make them better.


Class Group Discussion
                                          Source:www.edweek.org

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancealot
1. I think the main idea of this video is that you cannot just teach by spewing out information to students. You have to be interactive and hands on. Like he used in the video, you can't just teach someone how to ballroom dance by showing them the moves on a PowerPoint slide. You would actually have to get up and have them do the moves.

2. At the end of the video, the students had no idea how to dance because they never actually got to participate or even ask questions in class
3. I do agree with the conclusion. If you just sit back and talk on and on about what the students are supposed to learn, they are never going to retain it. I know I have had my fair share of lecture classes where all we did was sit, listen, take notes and hoped for the best and a majority of the students in those kinds of classes do not do well.

Teaching in the 21st Century
Outline:
1. Show how students can get information from anywhere
2.Show students how they can use those tools for learning such as using Google to help solve problems
3. State how most of these tools are used for creativity in the world today such as blogging
4.State how they will learn things such as piracy and plagiarism from using these tools
5. Relate back to how we can use these tools to gather data in the classroom 
6. Talk about how to manage computers in the classroom
7. Talk about the differences between entertainment and engagement 
8. Conclude with how others can start researching on how to to teach in the 21st century

I would have to agree with Roberts on how teaching is changing. There are many different and new technologies that we use to teach, such as Smart Boards and computers. It will effect educators because we will need to learn about these new technologies and learn to teach very differently then how we were taught.
The Networked Student
I really enjoyed this video and found it to be very interesting. I really had no idea that there were that many different resources in which to learn from for students today. I do agree with the video that "Networked Students" will still need teachers. They need to learn how to process all of that information and how to use it properly. 
Harness You Students Digital Smarts
I like how Vicki Davis goes about teaching. I agree with her argument that students can learn well by working collaboratively and by learning to find answers for themselves and learning how to teach themselves in a way. Her class reminded me a lot of EDM310! 
Who's Ahead in the Learning Race?
I would have to say that Elementary students seem to be way ahead in the learning race. It was very surprising to see all the things these children can do that higher education students cannot. They are already learning to use programs that I have just recently started to use! These children probably can work an IPad better than I can and I am a Junior in college! I think I am way behind in the learning race.
Flipping The Classroom
I have never heard of flipping, but I think it would be useful as a teacher. It would help me understand what problems my students are having with the subjects and would give more time to actually teach the students by answering their questions and having discussions on the subjects

Bringing the Locke Room into the Classroom
I think you could use the coaching method to get students to ask questions and collaborate on finding the answers and solving problems.This will help them think critically and help them learn more efficiently.
                                             Source: picsndquotes.com

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Blog Post #1

What About EDM310?
  1. Last semester I heard a great deal about EDM310, mostly because a good number of my fellow classmates were taking it. I heard them say that this class was very difficult and time consuming, but that it gets easier over time.
  2. With that being said, my biggest fear in this class is getting too overwhelmed and stressed with the work we have to do. That is one of my own downfalls in that I stress over the little things but once I actually do the work and figure it out, I do not even know why I was fretting so much in the first place. 
  3. This course is very different from any class I have ever taken. I have never had a course that was entirely paperless and that all the assignments are online. Usually all my classes go through Sakai, which we all know is not the best. I like that EDM310 goes through Gmail and Google Docs because those are systems I use on a regular basis.
  4. I think the most difficult thing for me in EDM310 will be finding time in the day for all the assignments in this class in addition to all my other classes. I have two other courses this semester that require a lot of writing as well so I may run into some writers block eventually!
  5. The best way to overcome this obstacle is for me to schedule out different times and days to do my assignments, which makes everything much easier instead of trying to cram all of your work into one day. I do not have any questions at this time but I am excited to see what EDM310 has in store for me!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Practice Blog Post

                                                                           Outline
1.Talk about where I was born, school life before college, major, how I chose my major, and where I intend to go with my major.

2.Why I chose education through dance and how I want to use it to help those in need.

3.Explain how I think teachers in the 21st century should take each child's individual needs into consideration instead of using "uniform teaching"

4. Show my passion of teaching dance in pictures. Talk about how I liked to teach through creativity to make it fun and interesting.

5. Talk about how I was home-schooled and would like to be better at public speaking.

                                                                         Blog Post

My name is Shelby Courtney and I am an Early Education Major. I am twenty years-old and I am in my Junior year of college. I was born in Nashville, Tennessee and moved to Mobile, Alabama when I was about three years-old with my mother, my father, my half-brother and my older sister. My interests include dance, health and fitness, and a lot of nerdy things such as books and video games.  Even though I am planning on going into a profession in Education, I was actually home-schooled my entire life until I enrolled at The University of South Alabama. I found my love of teaching when I started assisting teachers and eventually started to teach my own classes in the art of dance.

I was never sure on what I wanted to do with my life as far as a career goes, but when I started teaching dance classes it finally clicked in my head on what I wanted to do for a living. I started with teaching basic classes to children from ages two through five but what really sparked my passion of teaching is when the studio I was currently working at started to offer a class for children with special needs. I volunteered for this class and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Helping with that class made me realize I want to devote my career in helping those in need and to make a positive difference in as many lives as I can.

I think teachers in the 21st century need to remember that not all children learn the same, some children learn quickly, some learn slower than others. We cannot expect to teach all children the same way, we need to try to cater to each child's needs as much as we can. Teachers also need to be aware of the changes that are taking place in teaching, we do not teach the same way we did ten or even five years ago. The ways of teaching are constantly changing.

One of my biggest passions is dance and I am very lucky that I get to use it in my career in education.

                                          This is a picture from one of my classes recital's last year.
                                                              Source: Shelby Courtney
                                          This picture is me with my little man, Elijah. He has Autism and Cerebral Palsy.
                                          Source: Gildar Passos

I think what I am best at is anything involving being creative. Because I teach dance, I like to teach subjects through creative measures rather than the normal, traditional ways. In my opinion, when you teach through creativity it makes learning more interesting, and inevitably, more enjoyable. I think what I lack and want to get better at is public speaking. As I said above, I was home-schooled my whole life, so speaking publicly gives me major anxiety. I have gotten better but I would like to improve on that.

While I am passionate at what I do, I still have a whole lot to learn and I cannot wait to continue my journey.
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