C4T #4 Summary Post

On week 1, I commented on Amendment 6 by Kevin on  Anthony Capps Class Blog. In my comment, I agreed to the fact that the sixth amendment should protect us when we need a lawyer to defend us in our cases and our rights as citizens of the United States.

On week 2, I commented on Amendment 9 by Dana on Anthony Capps Class Blog. In my comment, I agreed that the ninth amendment gives the citizens of the United States to have rights that are not listed in the Constitution. There are many examples that go together with this amendment. The Constitution does not have an amendment for the citizens of the United States to choose a job, to get married, or to have children because the citizens of the United States have those rights to do these things when they want to.

Project #15- Smartboard Instruction Part 2

Blog Post #13

This week's blog post was very challenging, yet interesting for me because on the days I do not have class or work to do, I am watching television and on my laptop on a daily basis. When I'm on my laptop, I listen to music as well because music makes me feel calm and helps me concentrate when I'm multitasking as well. To make it through this blog post, i will read a lot of books to avoid using any type of technology. Also, I will go out with friends instead of using a cell phone to communicate. I am not a big fan of using house phones because I have no privacy when I'm on the phone.

Report on Final Project

For my final project, I partnered with Kristen Cobbs. We have been keeping in contact with one another through e-mails. We have met in person twice to talk about projects 15 and 16. For project 15, we have decided to do a lesson plan for kindergarten on the four seasons of the year. For project 16, we have been discussing our different ideas, but we have not yet decided on what we are going to do.

Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts- Special Post # 12A

              

Curiosity and creativity are two essential skills that young children have. In classrooms, creativity is not used because teachers only go by what's on the curriculum, which is the main reason why creativity is forgotten. Creativity is the last thing the teachers are worried about. I strongly believe that creativity is not getting any attention in the classrooms.The creativity of children can be used in any subject.

I do not believe that schools intended to destroy the creativity and curiosity of children on purpose. I strongly believe that schools and teachers put so much more focus on teaching the students what they need to learn  that curiosity and creativity is not important to them. When a child is in  kindergarten, the child does not know what shy means. As the children become older, they become more restrained to talking loud in class.Another belief that kills the creativity of students is the grading system. For some children, taking tests can be stressful, which will result in the children not performing as well on the test. If the children receive a bad test grade, they can become easily sad, and have the feeling they failed. Most teachers often use different projects for the children to    express themselves.


I have a strong feeling that schools are the main source of why children lost their curiosity. If teachers are in the front of their classes, giving them information needed for a test,why would the children opted into learning      anything else? This viewpoint is how the majority of students think. When students think this way, there is no incentive to be curious for the students to learn on their own. Teachers should create their tests based on what they teach instead of trying to figure out what to teach.Class discussions should be added as well to get viewpoints of other students. If a student has a question, the teacher should tell the student to research the question, and bring the answer to the question on the next day. A curriculum should be create to motivate the curiosity of the students. The curriculum should have activities that requires the students to draw and/or color, and writing activities as well. For example, if the students are learning about American Indians in history, imagine yourself as an American Indian chief, and describe how a typical day would go on. This kind of an assignment will bring out the creativity in students,which makes them think about what they are learning. Teachers can contribute to the curiosity and the creativity of their students by engaging their  students to think outside the box.

Who is Elli???
Elspeth was born and raised in Colorado.
Her hobbies include playing sports like tennis and hiking.
She is the writer of a website known as GoodMeasures.net.

Blog Post #12

For my blog post 12 assignment, I choose Kathy Cassidy's Class Blog. I have recently done an assignment pertaining to her skype conversation with University of South Alabama's EDM310's teacher, Dr.Strange. For the assignment, the instructions are to read either one of the post on the class blog, and comment on the blog you read.

For this blog post assignment, I commented on the Easter Craft  from Kathy Cassidy's Class Blog. In my comment, I mentioned that the students did an excellent job with painting their eater eggs using Sandra's special paint. Also, I mentioned that the project was a great project for the students to become creative with Sandra's paint.

C4K #3 Summary Post For April

Week One

On Rachel's Blog, I commented on her "Weekend" post. In my comment, I said that I hope her plans for this weekend go as planned. Also, I said that there's nothing like spending quality time with family and friends. And last, I asked her the question, "Do you have interest in cheerleading and dancing?"

                                                           

Week Two

On the same blog and post, I mentioned my favorite dance movie series, "Bring It On". I mentioned my favorite dancing show, Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew", which brings dance crews from all over the world to compete for the "America's Best Dance Crew" title. I mentioned that I play zumba fitness, wii fit, and wii fit plus on my wii. I also mentioned that I'm not a good dancer,but I like to see the dance moves of  cheer leaders and dance crews. I love all kinds of dance movies, but "Bring It On" series is my favorite.




Week Three
On this week's comment, I mentioned my 3 favorite activities on the wii fit plus games, which are the parade game, the punching game, and the dancing game.

On the last C4K, I left a comment on 

Visit to Butterfly Creek Video. In my comment, I mentioned that I never seen that many butterflies in one place. Also, I mentioned that I would love to take my students to Butterfly Creek. I have never had the chance to see anything like this. In my junior year in high school, I went to Washington, D.C. to get a closer look at how the government works, which is the farthest I have been from home. My trip to the nation's capital was with involved with other students worldwide and about 2 or 3 others form my high school. I will cherish the moments I had on this trip because I made lifelong friends with some of the students from other
countries.
Butterfly Creek Video

Blog Post #11

In the Little Kids, Big Potential Video, the students tell and show you how they use blogs, a classroom webpage, wikis, video, Skype, and Nintendo DS to share, collaborate, and learn in their classroom.I was really amazed with the different ways the students learn and how to interact with other people. The students showed how much they loved to use technology in their classroom, which is what  I enjoyed watching in this video.This video explains how important it is to comment on every C4K assignment every week.

 Ms. Cassidy's Skype Interview
Ms.Cassidy is a first grade teacher from Canada, and she uses technology in her classroom. I strongly agree with Ms. Cassidy that students learn better when technology is involved,than they do with a teacher with teaching them something. I believe that students learn better when they do the work themselves rather than the teacher telling them how to do the work. I believe that student blogs is the best way for students to communicate with other people and to improve in their writing skills. The benefit of having student blogs is that the parents can see the work of their child.In order for the parents to see their child's work, they will need the website to their child's class blog. This idea is a great benefit for the parents because the parents will not have to go to their child's school to see what their child is learning, what they are learning or how they are doing in class.
In my opinion, I believe there are several benefits of using technology in the classroom. The most important benefit of using technology in the classroom is that the students are learning. Blogging or Skyping with others is a fun and creative way for the students to learn. The students might not realize they learning,but in the midst of it all, they are learning. The second most important benefit of using technology in the classroom is that the students are networking, which is an amazing way to meet new people. This benefit will help the students by giving them the opportunity to see how a person writes or to see what a person is doing in a universal way. The third most important benefit of using technology is that the the parents can see the work of their child.In order for the parents to see their child's work, they will need the website to their child's class blog. This idea is a great benefit for the parents because the parents will not have to go to their child's school to see what their child is learning, what they are learning or how they are doing in class.

Blog Post # 10

Educate or Teach by pierre72
This video compares and describes what it means to teach and to educate. The description of to teach was described as  to give information out and to explain. The description of to teach was described as someone who mentors, empowers, and someone who inspires. This video helped me figure out the difference between to teach and to educate. Many people, including me, think that to teach and to educate have the same meaning. My role as a teacher is to clearly explain each lesson to the students and to be a mentor to my students.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home by John Spencer
When I first saw this blog, I quickly went to the blog assignment until I got to the blog post for this week. For this blog assignment, the name that was on the assignment was Tom Johnson instead of John Spencer. Is the author of this blog a mistake in the blog section of the manual?

In this post, John is having somewhat a debate with Gertrude, the school's curriculum interventionist academic  specialist, about having his students take home pencils. Gertrude puts the focus of having students taking pencils home have lowered standardized test scores. John insisted that having students taking pencils home to do pencil and paper homework does not affect how the students score on standardized tests. The main problem was what the students are doing with pencils while at home instead of being about having pencil and paper homework assignments. Even though John disagrees with Gertrude, he tries to figure out a solution that will put the parents of the students involved to explain how to use pencils in learning. Having technology around can result in low scores on standardized test as well because students in classrooms these days are becoming more and more technical independent.

Blog Post #9

Mr. McClung's World
On Mr.McClung's May 27, 2009 post,  I commented that I really enjoyed reading the post because he posts his personal story of his first year and what he has learned. The story was very enlighten to me because I love to hear other's personal experience. From reading this post, I understand why blogging is important in education.

On his June 15, 2010 post, I commented that his second year post is somewhat a reflection to the first post. When I become a teacher, I want to be the type of educator that inspires students to learn, study, and communicate with other students.

Project #14- Smartboard Instruction Part 1

SmartBoard Video