Blog Assignment #13

A Vision of Students Today

The video, A Vision of Students Today was created by Michael Wesch and the students of Introduction to Anthropology, class of 2007, from Kansas State University. This video summarizes some of the characteristics of students today, including how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, dreams, and hopes, and what kind of changes they will experience in a lifetime.

I found this video to be informative and eye-opening. The setting for this video is a classroom full of 200 students. As the video plays on, each student holds up a piece of paper with a fact or statistic about college life and how students must multitask to get everything done in a day. A day that consists of 26.5 hours! The video talks about how students pay hundreds of dollars for textbooks they may use only a couple of times in class. Students don't attend class, even though they are paying for it, and when they are in class they spend their class time on their phones, the internet, or Facebook. Students will be in extreme debt by the time they graduate college. They may have a job that does not even exist today. The video also brings to light how these students are indeed lucky. Over one billion people in the world make less than a dollar a day. A laptop costs more than what some people make in a year!

This video about students in college hits the nail on the head. I am already dreading having to pay back my student loans. I feel like students are cheated when purchasing textbooks. We spend hundreds of dollars each semester on books, and when we try to sell them back to the school, we don't even get half of our money back. Professors have been sympathetic to this problem and inform students if they need to buy the book or not. They even encourage renting books online. I wish I had done that from the beginning. I try not to miss class because I know I am paying for it, but it's astonishing to see the number of students who drop the class or just skip it. They are still paying for it! I enjoy and learn more from classes that require doing homework assignments and projects. Classes that are lecture-based are not only boring but not an effective way to teach and learn. Also, students are more tempted to skip. A class like EDM 310 would absolutely motive students to do their work and prepare them for the future. Furthermore, I personally think the cost for attending college is a bit ridiculous, but who's going to listen to me? Overall, this video is so true and I am glad these issues have been brought into perspective.

Blog Assignment #12

For this blog assignment, Dr. Strange gave his students the opportunity to write their own blog posts. The instructions for this blog assignment are simple. Explore Krissy Venosdale's blog Venspired and read her post, If I Built A School. Who is Krissy Venosdale? Write a quality blog post summarizing the post and describing the type of school you would build given the opportunity. Send Mrs. Venosdale a thank you tweet (@ktvee) and be sure to include #edm310.

If I Built A School

For this blog assignment, I researched and found the blog of Krissy Venosdale. Mrs. Venosdale has been teaching for ten years and is currently a gifted education teacher. She started blogging when she began teaching and hasn't stopped! She draws inspiration from her students and maintains a classroom that is always busy. She believes in teaching STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She is very passionate about space science, as well. Her classroom is a place where students can "imagine, create, dream, and explore." Mrs. Venosdale believes in teaching her students how to think, not what to think. I find Mrs. Venosdale to be an energetic and creative educator who loves teaching and learning.

Mrs. Venosdale's post, "If I Built A School" is a creative article that manages to somehow link Willy Wonka to education. She starts off with the whole, "If I had the golden ticket..." and ends up creating a school that reminds me of sunshine and rainbows. Mrs. Venosdale may go a bit overboard in her dreams for building a school; however, it shows her enthusiasm for teaching and got me thinking about the type of school I would build. Actually, to be more realistic, this post gave me some creative ideas for managing my future classroom.

In Mrs. Venosdale's school, there would be a huge neon sign on the door saying, "Welcome: Now Entering an Innovation Zone." The walls would be colorful and the seats comfortable. There would be endless places for students to collaborate, discuss, and dream. She even puts a tree house in the library! The cafeteria has a coffee house vibe and it is open all day long. Grade levels based on age are nonexistent at this school. The students progress through the grades when they show readiness and ability. Mrs. Venosdale's school supports collaboration and project based learning. Technology integration would be part of a normal school day. All forms of technology would be readily available for students to use. The list of must-haves for this school goes on and on! The point Mrs. Venosdale is trying to get across is that she believes in teaching more than the standard curriculum. Se wants to go further with education and teach her students to have dreams. Big dreams. She wants to build character and promote the concept of thinking for oneself. Nowadays, students do as they are told and have little say in how they learn. Mrs. Venosdale is striving to better education for our students.

I highly doubt I can top Mrs. Venosdale's dream school. However, I will imagine for just a moment what my school would look like. I would want for there to be color on all the walls and art work covering every square inch. There would also be lounge areas throughout the school for students to go and work on school assignments and projects. Collaboration is encouraged and creative thinking is a must. I would have a different classroom for each subject and elective. Students are welcome to explore each classroom as they see fit. This means if they feel like going to art class instead of math, then so be it. Of course, they would eventually get to all their core classes each day. I would like to be able to provide an exuberant supply of laptops, iPads, desktops, and other kinds of technology for the students to check out and use. My school would be a place for students to learn and grow. They will build character and learn how to set goals and accomplish them. I have this desire to shape my students into successful human beings, and in doing so, I need to go beyond teaching only the core curriculum and work on their character and development.

Okay, so maybe my idea of a school is not as detailed or elaborate as Mrs. Venosdale's. She thought of everything! My overall thought of Mrs. Venosdale is that she absolutely loves being an educator and works hard to create a classroom full of promise and energy. I can only dream that I someday am able to replicate her teaching styles. Lucky for me, Mrs. Venosdale encourages dreaming big.

C4T Teacher #3

This week I was assigned to read and comment on Lara Bishop's blog titled, "Welcome To Ms. Lara's Jungle. The first post I comment on was called, "Reaching Out To The Community, Even In 4-K." In this post, Ms. Bishop explains how important it is to help out in the community, even in preschool. Ms. Bishop says, in her post, how even the younger children can help give to charity. Simply ask the child to pick out some clothes and toys he or she no longer uses. They can also pick out a few grocery items to donate to a food pantry. The children will be learning a valuable lesson that will stick with them the rest of their lives.

The comment I left Ms. Bishop included words of praise for being such a good role model to her students. I agreed with her that it is never too early to start teaching children how to be caring and upstanding citizens. I was surprised to see from the picture Ms. Bishop included, all the grocery items her class collected for the food pantry.

The second post I commented on is called, "In 4-K, We're Always Up To Something! Look to see What We've Been Doing." This post consisted mostly of class pictures of Ms. Bishop's students during holiday programs. They did a fall nursery rhyme program, a Thanksgiving dinner, a pumpkin decorating contest, and a Christmas program. I enjoyed looking at the students in their costumes and at their unique pumpkins. I told Ms. Bishop that I could hardly wait to have my own classroom so I could find fun and educational activities for them to do. I always enjoyed class programs because the planning and practice was always fun and then we got to invite our families to watch. Ms. Bishop seems like a fun and caring teacher who believes in having lots of activity in the classroom. I hope to be a teacher like that, as well.

C4K October

Reilly's Blog

For my first C4K assignment for October, I was required to comment on a post from a student named Reilly. Reilly is in the 4th grade and the post I commented on is a poem called, "Morning Greetings." Reilly's poem was so descriptive and well written. I can picture myself standing in a beautiful garden watching the sun rise. The birds are chirping and it's going to be a beautiful day! I advise everyone to click on the link and read this poem first-hand. I told Reilly his poem put the biggest smile on my face and to continue writing.

Claire's Blog Post

This was by far my favorite post to read and comment on. Claire's post is called "Decreasing Biodiversity And Why You Should Care" and it's about how important biodiversity is because it creates the complex patterns of life that exist on Earth. Claire mentions how global warming is destroying our ecosystem, and why we must step into action and change the way we live or we could face serious consequences. We must protect the endangered plants and animals for they livelihood, as well as ours.

The comment I left Claire on her blog post included me mentioning how passionate I am about the environment. If only people took the time to reduce, reuse, and recycle! Along with her post, Claire has a picture of a couple of polar bears on ice caps. Polar bears are a species on the brink of extinction due to rising temperatures and melting ice caps. If we don't do something now to protect our planet, we will certainly regret it.

Kailin's Blog

This week, I was assigned to read the blog of a young girl named Kailin. Her blog is cleverly called, "Keen Kailin". The post I decided to comment on was called, "Kailin's Poem." Her poem is actually a cheer that her softball team chants during their games. I told Kailin that I remember this particular cheer because my softball team used to chant it too. This was her cheer:

"Once there was a froggy that sat up on a log

he cheered for the other team and had no sense at all

he fell into the water and bumped his little head

and when he got back up this is what he said

go go go go you mighty rebbles fight

fight fight fight you mighty rebbles win

win win win you mighty rebbles go fight

win until the very end."

I told Kailin that it was nice to know the cheer is still being used all over the country because it used to be my all-time favorite.

Miyu's Blog

The final blog post I read for October was by a young girl named, Miyu. Miyu's post was titled, "Whale Shark." In addition to her post, Miyu added a vivid image of a whale shark. In her post, Miyu mentions that the whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean and they can grow larger than a bus! I told Miyu that I didn't realize whale sharks could get bigger than a bus, but it gives me a good idea of how large they are. Although many people are afraid of whale sharks, these sharks are truly magnificent creatures.

Blog Assignment #11

Little Kids...Big Potential

I must say it's hard to believe that was a first grade classroom in the video, Little Kids...Big Potential. I was really impressed with how much the children know and how interested they seem in their assignments and projects. The students are blogging, Skyping with other classes and experts, and using Wikis. I believe Ms. Cassidy's approach to teaching exemplifies how a 21st century classroom should look. The students were able to explain just how they use all different forms of technology every day.

The students really seemed to enjoy blogging and receiving comments on their blog posts. They are proud of the fact that their writing gets better every time they blog. They understand the proper ways to comment on someone's blog. The main rule for commenting is to never leave a negative comment on someone's blog. Only say kind words! They also use their blogs as an online portfolio for their work, which I think is a neat idea. The students know never to use their last names on the internet, which is a very important safety procedure.

Ms. Cassidy has a class webpage that the students can refer to when they want to look for something on the internet. The webpage is student friendly and set up so the students have no trouble finding what they are looking for. The webpage has places where the children can go to learn. They can practice their math and reading, among other subjects. They can choose to go on the webpage during center time and from home.

In the video, viewers were given an idea of how the students used Wikis. The students wanted to use the Wikis to ask about traditions. They invited people from all over the world to share their family traditions. The students asked what were some family traditions for the holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc). This also gave the students an idea of how different people and cultures celebrate certain holidays.

Overall, I was overly impressed with this video and how Ms. Cassidy uses all forms of technology in her classroom. She even enlisted the help from current and previous students to make the video! Watching this video has given me so many ideas for projects involving technology. I really like the idea of Skyping other classes from all over the United States and even the world. This helps students learn how to communicate with others and become more connected. Blogging is another fun way for students to practice their reading and writing. I plan to have a class blog when I start teaching and require my students to keep their own blogs. They will have weekly blog assignments and be required to comment on a classmate's blog post. I also rather like the idea of having my students comment on student's blogs from around the world. This would be exciting and beneficial for the students. Kudos to Ms. Cassidy for showing viewers just what a 21st century classroom looks like.

Special Blog Assignment

A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind

As USA Today celebrates its 30th anniversary, they interviewed a few of USA's greatest visionaries to talk about the world of tomorrow. In the article, A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind, Sebastian Thrun is shares his vision for education and how it may look in the next thirty years.

Sebastian Thrun is a Google vice president and Stanford research professor who decided to forgo teaching in a traditional classroom for an experience in education he calls Udacity. What is Udacity, you may ask? Udacity is an education company Thrun founded in January of 2012. Here is the link for the website for those who wish to explore: www.udacity.com. Udacity offers a catalog of free online courses taught by professors from all over the world. After teaching a single course that had over 160,000 students enrolled, Thrun decided that he could not return to teaching in a traditional Stanford classroom. He had seen "Wonderland" and there was no climbing out of the rabbit hole.

Thrun vision for this education company is actually pretty simple. The courses are free but certifications and exams will require a fee. Grades are nonexistent. Thrun believes in allowing students as much time to master a particular skill or concept. As the classes progress, they will offer more challenging exercises and quizzes to help the students with the curriculum. Classes have the potential to hold thousands of students at a time. This ultimately gives more people access to a quality education that they may not be able to afford otherwise.

I find Mr. Thrun's visions to be quite interesting, however, I do have a few reservations. For one, as much as I sometimes complain about grades, I feel like they are important. I like to know how I am progressing throughout the semester in my classes. Another concern I have is whether students will receive a legitimate degree and if so, will jobs view these degrees as they do traditional college degrees? Will they accept them? Aside from these concerns, I rather like Thrun's vision of the future. His company will offer more opportunities to receive an education, with a more flexible schedule. He is helping define education for the future.

Thrun isn't looking to get rid of colleges and universities, he merely has a vision that offers more options for education. His program will not replace traditional schooling, it will offer a different form of education to a larger crowd at low prices. I admire Sebastian Thrun having this vision for a 21st century education, and for seeing that his vision became a reality.

Blog Assignment #10

Adventures in Pencil Integration

I must say, it took me a few minutes to figure out the metaphor for this picture. However, I realized John T. Spencer's cartoon, I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga. is comparing a PC to a Mac. The Papermate pen is representing a PC and the Ticonderoga is representing a Mac. Spencer is showing in his cartoon that although a Papermate pen, like a PC, is cheaper, it might not be as reliable as a Mac and have more problems. The Ticonderoga is a more expensive purchase, like a Mac, but people might be unwilling to spend the money on one. The cartoon is saying that buying a Mac is a better choice, because in the long run, it will last longer and buyers will experience fewer problems than with a PC.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?

In this post, Mr. Spencer has written a dialogue between a principal and himself, as a teacher. In the conversation, the principal makes inquiries about Mr. Spencer's teaching methods. It seems as though Mr. Spencer was playing games with his students to go along with his lessons. The principal does not approve of this teaching method. He mentions that he understands that Mr. Spencer is trying to connect the games to learning, but he says it's a stretch. The principal wants Mr. Spencer to use worksheets and have the students fill out packets of algorithms. Mr. Spencer's solution is to create an algorithm factory and integrate it into a Conflict-Oriented Reading and Writing Project called the "Factory Game".

I think in his post, Mr. Spencer is saying that there is nothing wrong with playing games to get a lesson across to the students. I thought it was clever how he managed to side-step the principal's rule and still find a way to integrate games into his lessons. I think the principal is narrow-minded with his approach to teaching. He is only concerned about the students passing their rote memorization tests, therefore he wanted Mr. Spencer to focus on rote memorization skills. In my opinion, the principal should be more concerned with making sure the students will remember what they are learning. Active, hands-on learning will produce these results, not worksheets.

The second post I read is called, I Banned Pencils Today. In this post, Mr. Spencer talks about how he has fought and continues to fight for the use of technology in his classroom. He says there is a need for media in his classroom. These tools are highly important, as are pencils and paper, but we cannot forget that the most important tool is our brain. Basically, he says that he asked his students to put away their pencils and paper during their math lesson. He asked his students to find the volume of a cylinder that is twenty inches wide and twenty inches tall. His students fidgeted a bit and seemed to be uncomfortable with solving this problem without writing it down. It took awhile for them to answer the problem but eventually, they all reached an answer and then shared how they came up with their answers with a partner.

Mr. Spencer wanted his students to realize that the greatest learning tool they possess is their minds. We rely too much, I believe, on calculators, the internet, and auto correct for learning, especially when it comes to math and spelling. Students need to sharpen their brains and not be afraid to come up with answers without outside help.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Scott McLeod is currently serving as Director of Innovation for Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency 8 in Iowa. He is also the founding director of UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, or CASTLE. Dr. McLeod's blog Dangerously Irrelevant addresses technology leadership issues.

In the post, Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?, Scott McLeod pens a sarcastic poem to parents, teachers, and school administration telling them not to let children use the internet. Children don't need to learn how to search the web, blog, collaborate, make videos, or PLNs. He basically says that nothing good comes from the internet. Children will look at pornography, hook up with predators,and become victims of cyber bullying. We don't need our children creating, thinking, sharing, and learning. How repulsive! Then Dr. McLeod proceeds to say that he is using technology and the internet to teach his students. He will take his chances and show everyone how well his students turn out.

I found Dr. McLeod's post to be humorous and very true. Children need to be exposed to the technology and tools that the 21st century has to offer. It is impossible to protect our children from all of the bad that happens in the world. We can, however, educate them on how to properly use the internet and monitor their usage. Children deserve to have the best education possible and that includes using all forms of technology.

Project #14

Project #11