The first student’s blog that I commented on was Caroline’s. In her most recent post she was discussing her new net book. She also expressed how excited she was to explore her new net book and was curious about using the internet on it. I simply commented that I know that it can be confusing when you get a new net book but as she worked with it, she would learn. I also told her that she was doing well with her blog and to keep up the good work. The second student’s blog I commented on was Nezinili’s and he gave a brief biography of himself. In his post he stated that he has 6 brothers and sisters and that his goal for the year is to improve his reading. I commented that it must be fun to have so many siblings. Also, I told him that I thought it was great that he was setting goals for himself and wanting to improve his reading. I concluded my comment by telling him great job and to keep up the good work. The third student’s blog I commented on was Tyler’s he was discussing the subject of friends. He stated in his post that friends were great and that he had lots of friends; however, he did not have a best friend. I merely stated in my comment that I agreed that friends are the best and that it was okay if he did not have one specific best friend, he can have lots of best friends. I completed my commented by telling him that his post was great and to keep up the good work.
Morgan Bayda's Blog Post
Well I really enjoyed the post that Morgan Bayda but I did not care for Dan Brown's video for various reason's. First, he was talking so fast that I could hardly keep up with him and second to be quite honest he was annoying, way too upbeat for my taste. Regardless of his irritating perkiness he did make good points. For instance, something that I could definitely identify with was that as a student I spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks that I never open. This happens every semester and like Dan Brown it is not because I do not care it's because I can find better information elsewhere. Also, I agree with Dan Brown that we have lost site of what education really is but I do not think his definition is quite broad enough. However I do realize education has a different definition for everyone but for me education is not about shoving facts in kids heads so they spit back at us on a test, its about preparing them for the real world. There was a statement in his video that I did not complete agree with, he basically said the way we go about education does not need to change rather the educators themselves do. Well I agree that educators need to change their pratices and the tools they use but unless the system itself changes the educators changing is not going to make much of an impact. The government is in control of education therefore the educators have to follow as they say in order to keep there jobs. Its not educators that make the rules and unless the system changes to allow for educators to transform you would see only subtle changes. In order for a massive change to occur we have to completely revolutionize our current faulty system.
In addition to Dan Brown's video Morgan Bayda also made some good points. I can relate to Morgan's issues with her classes. For example, she stated that she is never encouraged to speak her mind in her classes I too have been in classes where we had to just sit there stare at the professor and try to stay awake. These type of classes seem pointless, because you are not learning anything. Also, she mentioned something about her edu computer class being different and I too feel like EDM is unlike any class I have ever taken. I am constantly learning in EDM, the class teach useful skills that I can actually practice and get credit for them. I wish all my classes were like EDM because I am actually productive in that class.
Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home
Well I really did not really understand this article. But one statement that I did like was, "I take issue with that research. The only measurement of learning was a drill-and-kill bubble test. How is that measuring authentic learning?" Standardized testing is pointless!!! In the real world there is never a black and white answers, life comes in shades of gray. I am completely for abloshing standardized testing. It is probably one of the worst ways to evaluate a student for many reasons. For instance, many students might do very well in class, they will participate and complete their homework correctly but come test time they will not do well because they have such bad test anxiety. This brings me to another reason children would not have such bad test anxiety if standardized testing did not exist. People put so much significance on standardized testing. Furthermore in today's time standardized testing will affect a persons whole future. If a student does not do well on their ACT/SAT's then they will not be able to get into decent college, if a student fails their EQT's there is a high chance they cannot advance to the next grade, if a student does not do well on their GRE they cannot get into a graduate program ergo changing their future. So,of course America has such bad test scores its because the kids are under way too much pressure to do well. The United States have been trying to raise their test scores for years and all they have accomplished is terrible test anxiety in our students. The American government is expecting these kids to perform miracles and they don't because their constantly second guessing themselves because they are too worried of how it will affect their future. STOP PUTTING PRESSURE ON OUR KIDS, ABOLISH STANDARDIZED TESTING!!!
This was amazing! Definitely one of my new favorite blog post assignments. I have actually been to this blog before I found it through one of the people I follow on twitter. In fact this blog is a part of my PLN and I was excited to see that someone from my PLN was part of a blog assignment. This post was great it was very eye opening. Somethings I was already somewhat aware of that he discussed but there was a lot that was brought to my attention. For instance, how teachers tend to forget to form their lessons to meet the expectations of their audience (their students)rather they make them to please their superiors. Looking back on my experiences I have to say I have seen this a lot, teacher's forget about the students because they focusing too much to make their principals happy. Also, I have personally seen that poor communication can definitely influence a work environment. So, if you are have issues with co-workers you should talk it out and that does not just apply to only teaching, it can be applied to any working environment.
One thing that stood out in this essay was his comment, "NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT." I tend to be a perfectionist and I realize that my students will not be perfect. So, I definetly know I a going to have to work at being flexible. Also, another thing that I noticed was his advice to really listen to students. I know how much simply really listening can impact students. One of the main reasons why I went into teaching was because of my high school english teacher, Mrs.Blackburn, and I think it was because she really listened and truly cared about her students. Also, I am in agreement with his statement about learning. Learning is a never ending process and even though as teachers we are helping others to learn that does not mean we cannot learn something new ourselves.
I believe I am ready to write with multimedia to an extent. This class is preparing me to write with multimedia and I have learned a great deal. However, learning is a never ending process; I still have plenty to learn. For example, in order to write with multimedia I need to improve on my skills with collaboration tools such as, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Since I am an elementary education major writing in multimedia could be somewhat over my students’ skill level. But I do realize that they can do a lot of multimedia writing and I will have high standards for my students and I will expect them to write in some multimedia form and to learn new ways of multimedia literature. Even though I understood the message behind this lecture I did not care for this lecture at all. To be quite honest I found this lecture to be boring. However, not because of the material presented that was interesting, but it was because I found the speaker to monotone and just plain boring. I feel like if I had this speaker as a professor that I would fall asleep in his class. Definitely not one of my favorite blog post it had an interesting concept, but a boring speaker.
The chipper series was hilarious and poor chipper always mess, but in the end she figures out that she needs to change her ways if she wants to live a productive life. The statement that stood out the most to me in this video was when chipper told Dr. Strange that “she wanted to be taught so she would not have to learn.” Unfortunately in my opinion many students feel this way but that’s only because it is our fault as teachers students are brought up being taught instead of actually learning the material. This must change, students must become learners. In this fast changing world students need to learn to be diverse and pick things up quickly so they can keep up with their completion. A teacher’s position has changed, a teacher is more there to be a guide for the students. A teacher is not there to stuff information in a student’s head so they can just spit out at them on the next test and then forget all of it as soon as the test is finished. A teacher is just another tool for the students not the whole computer. Edm for dummies was hilarious and it was exactly how I felt in the beginning of the semester, very frustrated. Seriously Dr. Strange you should really make this book. I think an extension to edm fo dummies would be good. For example, a funny tutorial of how to use twitter or how to set up your PLN. So it would be tweeting in edm for dummies type video.
This is a good video, very true. As stated in the video we have a classroom system when we could have a community, which I completely agree with. Obviously the classroom system is not working because nationally students have not progressed educationally. If we did have a community system I think we would see great progress. Our students would able to collaborate with other people all over the world and would be able view information that is internationally known. Also, my favorite comment in the video was that if we have the view of simply applying standards and standardized testing that it would work but in fact it does not because these jobs that the students will have do not ask for simply right and wrong answers these jobs will be calling on their artistic abilities, abilities to work as a team, and being multicultural. However, we do use standardized testing as if it is a miracle machine and generally we do not teach students to have artistic and teamwork skills or to be multicultural. As teachers we are suppose to be educating our students for their future careers but how can we do that if the system has our hands tied behind our back. Our system is flawed and needs many changes, I agree with the title of the video we must “learn to change, change to learn.”
The first video was basically the concept that there six times zone that people live in which are: two past focus either negative or positive, 2 present focus including hedonistic, and 2 future focus. Also, the video showed depending on which time zone a person lives how it can affect their whole world. It was a very enlightening video and I definitely see what there talking about. I think I live in the future focus because I do not think I would be in college if I was not future oriented. The second video was about the theory that rewards can be motivational and will result in more of the behavior you are looking for. However, according to many studies if the test were only mechanical than the rewards worked but on the other and if the test were anything higher the basic cognitive skills then the rewards resulted in worse performance. Also, the video showed if they got rid of the rewards all together the results were amazing if people did the work for their own self gratification the end product was remarkable. Overall, I enjoyed both of this video and I liked the technique of the animation their used in the videos.
This was an amazing video it was so inspiring. This man looks death in the face and laughs. He refuses to feel sorry for himself rather he chooses to live his life to the fullest. In addition to being inspiring Randy Pausch also brought up some interesting points. First of all, I really liked what he called the "head-fake," which is simply learning something unintentionally. One of his examples was playing football but learning teamwork. Another example that he used was Alice which is a special program that “head-fakes” students to learn computer programming by doing fun things like making games and movies. “Head-fakes” are great ways to learn.
Some of the best advice he gave was to “never give up.” I truly believe that persistence can pay off. I have learned from personal experience that never giving up works. After graduating high school I had a lot of difficulties getting into college in fact I often questioned myself back then if college was in the cards for me. After many non-acceptance letters and phone calls, I finally got into South Alabama. However, I got in on academic probation but I was determined and I did everything I could to make college work for me. Now I am a junior and at the top of my class and will soon be graduating and then pursing a graduate degree. It was amazing to know that Randy Pausch too did not get accepted to his schools right away in fact he was first rejected by both his undergrad school, Brown and then his graduate school, Carnegie Mellon, but then he became this prestigious professor that is known and loved. So I do firmly believe and live by the quote “never give up.”
I also believe in his statement to work hard. I really thought his personal story about working hard was motivating. His story started when he received his tenure early and his colleagues asked him “what’s your secret?” and his answer was, “call my office at 10:00pm on Friday night and I will tell you.” I also liked his story about working hard and Jackie Robinson which I never knew. Jackie Robinson had it written in his contract to not complain but to work harder even if people spit on him or threw things at him and now he is one of the most famous baseball players ever. Even though this video was an hour and 16 minutes it felt like no time at all, I really enjoyed this video. This video was so motivational and definitely one of my new favorite blog post assignments.
So far my PLN mainly consist blogs and websites and a lot of them I have learned about through EDM for instance: What Ed Said blog, which I discovered because I was assigned to this teachers blog as a part of Comments4Teachers Middle School Matrix, which I discovered through being a Twitter follower to the writer of this blog Sir Ken Robinson's website and The TED website, which I learned about through a blog post assignment.
and, Scott McLeod's website, which I also learned about through a blog post assignment
But, I have discovered a few members of my PLN on my own and I found all of them through Twitter. However, their Twitter page's are not in my PLN their blogs/websites are for example: At the Teacher's Desk, which is all about collaboration. for the love of learning blog I Know This Much is True blog Classroom Talk blog
My PLN is still very small in comparison to others but I plan to keep adding to it as I learn. Also, as I add more to my PLN I plan to use it more frequently but I feel like once I am actually in the field working I will use my PLN daily.
In Comments4Teachers #2 I was assigned to Beth Still's blog. The first blog post that I commented on was a blog post called, Educon 2.3 Part 1. This blog post was simply the reflection of her experiences at Educon. Also she specifically mentioned some of the interesting people that she meet and she put up links to those people’s Twitter page. I simply commented that I did not know much about Educon but she made it sound interesting so I would look into it. So, I did look into it and I found out according to educon23.org ,“EduCon is both a conversation and a conference. And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas — from the very practical to the big dreams.” The second blog post was titled Controversy Over Grades. This blog post was about the latest trend on Twitter “Let’s Abolish Grades!” and her opinion on the matter. She made some very good points that I felt that you should read them for yourself, “ Controversy Over Grades- Filed Under (Uncategorized) by Beth Still on 02-03-2011 After being on Twitter for nearly 3 years I have learned to spot a bandwagon from a mile away. The latest bandwagon to come along has the words, “Let’s Abolish Grades!” written on the side of it. Maybe I am not as forward thinking or as innovative as I thought I was, but I don’t get this movement. Grades, whether they are letter grades, percentages, scales, or something else help students, parents, and teachers measure growth and progress and also indicate the level at which a student is performing (average, below average, above average). Students are admitted or denied access to certain programs, classes, and other things based on grades. Many times grades dictate scholarships and scholarships dictate where a student will attend college. This decision will have a lifelong impact on a person. In a perfect world grades would reflect mastery of a subject, not necessarily growth. For example, I might have a student take a US Civil War course with me and already know most of the content of the course. I strongly believe grades should not reflect behavior, but there is not much of a way around this. I have a few students who flat out refuse to complete their assignments. I have no choice but to put zeros in the gradebook, but I know the F they receive does not represent what they are capable of doing. The F doesn’t reflect their ability, but rather their lack of action. Do any of you who buy into this idea think it is a realistic option? I’ve been watching for the last few years as we have tried to convince naysayers that technology is a good thing and that its use should be adopted across the board. I have not witnessed much change where I live. I cannot even begin to imagine what my administrators and school board would say if I proposed we abolish grades. Are there really enough people in favor of abolishing grades that make this topic worth of discussion?
I really hope someone will reply who can shed some light on what is wrong with grades. I’m feeling a little left out since I have not jumped on this bandwagon, but that is OK. Recently, I was reminded that it is perfectly acceptable for me to make up my own mind without being pressured by my PLN. Too many people have gotten caught up in the need to fit in and comply with the will of the majority. I got caught up in that trap for the longest time. But that is a topic for a different post.” As you can see, Beth Still is against his trend where as I am not which I reflected in my comment. I am very passionate about this subject I firmly believe that we should abolish grades. Grades put too much pressure on students to do well rather than putting emphasis on actual learning. I learned a lot while I was assigned to Beth Still's blog so I do plan to comtinue to follow her blog and following her on Twitter.
