Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Blog Post #14
In the article Teaching Can Be a Profession, by Joel Klein, Klein states many problems that we encounter with today's educators. He is asked "If you could change one thing, what would it be?" He states some things that he wishes he could change, but the one thing he is very certain should be changed is that way we pick our teachers. He says that we need to "professioinalize teaching." He then states ways to make teaching more professional. They are:
- Better academic training
- New approach for recruiting teachers
- Change how we reward teachers
Klein then states the ways to solve these problems:
- Have better programs that provide "solid" preparation for the teachers
- National Teacher Examination and Evaluation every 3 years
- Like other countries, pick the top 3rd of our graduates
- Teachers should create their own board to police their profession
- Develop a demanding "knowledge base"
My thoughts:
I honestly can say that I do agree with Klein and his beliefs. These are some problems that need to be looked at and fixed. I think that it would be very beneficial to have better academic training for prospective teachers. They want to be future educators, so it is adement that they have proper training and proper knowledge. Learning different ways to teach things and learning how to use technology tools would be a way of training the future teachers.
I think that it takes a special kind to be a teacher, so I think that a new approach for recruiting teachers is an excellent idea. Why should a really bad school in a poor area have "bad" teachers? Or, why should a really good school in a great area have "bad" teachers. There should be no such thing as a "bad" teacher. That is why not just anyone with a degree should be allowed to be a teacher. Those with an education degree should be allowed to teach. We have to take many courses on studying how a child learns or behaves, so why should someone who got a degree in business be allowed to teach a math class?
Finally, I think that just because you have been teaching longer than the other teacher down the hall, should not put you on a "caste" system. I don't think that layoffs should automatically effect a new teacher. It should effect the ones who have done a poor job of teaching. Let the new teachers have time to really get in the flow of things and figure out what is the best way for THEM to teach. Overall, I enjoyed reading this article. It kind of opened my eyes to different ways that the education system could be bettered. Hopefully these points Klein made will be put into consideration.
Blog Post #5--Final Summary of PLN
Before this summer, I had never used Twitter or any other social media website for educational purposes. I also had no idea what a PLN was. When we first learned about what a PLN was, it really didn't click with me. Now that I do know what a personal learning network is, I think it is EXTREMELY important for an educator to have.
I was kind of dreading the use of Twitter and Blogger, but honestly, now that EDM comes to a close, I can say that I really do enjoy the use of them. I really enjoy blogging. I think that this is my favorite out of all the tools we have learned thus far. I also like the idea of using Skype in the classroom. One video that stuck out for me this semester was the one made by Mr. Crosby called Back to the Future. He used Skype in his classroom to incorporate a little girl in his class who was sick with Leukemia. She would set up her Skype from her home computer and Mr. Crosby would have his Skype up so she could be involved with class. I thought that this was not only helpful for the little girl, but I think it said a lot about how Mr. Crosby cared for his students. I would use Skype for interviews with other teachers, or whatever the case may be. Overall, I think that EDM 310 has really made my PLN 100 times better than it was when I first entered the course.
I was kind of dreading the use of Twitter and Blogger, but honestly, now that EDM comes to a close, I can say that I really do enjoy the use of them. I really enjoy blogging. I think that this is my favorite out of all the tools we have learned thus far. I also like the idea of using Skype in the classroom. One video that stuck out for me this semester was the one made by Mr. Crosby called Back to the Future. He used Skype in his classroom to incorporate a little girl in his class who was sick with Leukemia. She would set up her Skype from her home computer and Mr. Crosby would have his Skype up so she could be involved with class. I thought that this was not only helpful for the little girl, but I think it said a lot about how Mr. Crosby cared for his students. I would use Skype for interviews with other teachers, or whatever the case may be. Overall, I think that EDM 310 has really made my PLN 100 times better than it was when I first entered the course.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Blog Post #13
I am all about my students knowing what is going on in the world. I want them to know what is going on in not only their community, but in their country! With the use of technology, I plan on doing a current event activity in my classroom once or twice a week. For this blog, you are to go to the Newspaper Map and pick two different balloons on the map and go explore the different local newspapers that it pulls up for you. Then pick an article to read and write a summary on what you read.
For my first newspaper, I picked "The Miami Herald" from Miami, Florida. The article I read was about a TV series that is premiering on the Discovery channel this summer called "Cuban Chrome". It is about the classic cars that the people of Cuba drive on an everyday basis. This TV show looks very interesting because Cuba is extremely behind on technology and all of the advancements that we have in our everyday lives.
For the second newspaper, I picked The Manchester Evening News. The article I read was about a woman who is getting married in just a couple of days when she finds out that the store where she bought her
dress has closed without warning. This article was kind of sad. I feel so bad for the soon-to-be bride!
Overall, I really think that this would be a great blog assignment. It gets you to see what goes on around the world, and it is kind of neat to see what other countries thinks is "big" news. I plan on doing this activity with my future students. I may even have them do a project where they gather a collection of articles from a newspaper in a different country and compare it to our country's newspapers.
For my first newspaper, I picked "The Miami Herald" from Miami, Florida. The article I read was about a TV series that is premiering on the Discovery channel this summer called "Cuban Chrome". It is about the classic cars that the people of Cuba drive on an everyday basis. This TV show looks very interesting because Cuba is extremely behind on technology and all of the advancements that we have in our everyday lives.For the second newspaper, I picked The Manchester Evening News. The article I read was about a woman who is getting married in just a couple of days when she finds out that the store where she bought her
dress has closed without warning. This article was kind of sad. I feel so bad for the soon-to-be bride!
Overall, I really think that this would be a great blog assignment. It gets you to see what goes on around the world, and it is kind of neat to see what other countries thinks is "big" news. I plan on doing this activity with my future students. I may even have them do a project where they gather a collection of articles from a newspaper in a different country and compare it to our country's newspapers.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
C4Ta #4
Summary:
This blog is called Moving at the Speed of Creativity and is written by Wesley Fryer. Is blog is VERY in depth. He pretty much blogs every other day, which I think is great! The first post that I looked at on his blog was a "guest blog" written by Fryer's colleague, Jennifer Reyher. The blog is Kidblog Update. In this post, Reyher updates us on how her students have been reacting to the "Kidblog" she uses in her classroom. She tells us that the principle at her school has been so impressed with the Kidblog, that it will be used school-wide in the upcoming school year. Like many other blogs, Kidblog allows the students family members comment on their posts that they put on their blogs. This is such a great way to have other people involved in your student's blogging. Kidblog would be something that I would use in my future classrooms.
Comment:
Hello! My name is Taylor Calvi and I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I thought that your post was great! I think Kidblog is such a neat way to really have your students actively involved with writing and gaining social skills. I think it is awesome how excited they get whenever you receive an email saying that there is a new comment on their blogs. Great post, and good luck with the upcoming school year!
This blog is called Moving at the Speed of Creativity and is written by Wesley Fryer. Is blog is VERY in depth. He pretty much blogs every other day, which I think is great! The first post that I looked at on his blog was a "guest blog" written by Fryer's colleague, Jennifer Reyher. The blog is Kidblog Update. In this post, Reyher updates us on how her students have been reacting to the "Kidblog" she uses in her classroom. She tells us that the principle at her school has been so impressed with the Kidblog, that it will be used school-wide in the upcoming school year. Like many other blogs, Kidblog allows the students family members comment on their posts that they put on their blogs. This is such a great way to have other people involved in your student's blogging. Kidblog would be something that I would use in my future classrooms.
Comment:
Hello! My name is Taylor Calvi and I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I thought that your post was great! I think Kidblog is such a neat way to really have your students actively involved with writing and gaining social skills. I think it is awesome how excited they get whenever you receive an email saying that there is a new comment on their blogs. Great post, and good luck with the upcoming school year!
Summary:
The second blog I read by Fryer was called Using iPads in the classroom? Check out ClassKick. ClassKick is a website where students and teachers can work on things collaboratively. Teachers can help other teachers, and students can help other students with the use of this site. There were two video to watch on more information on ClassKick. Students are able to turn in their work to the teacher through ClassKick and the teacher can grade it on ClassKick as well. They can give the students immediate feedback and ask questions about their work. Another video showed how a teacher struggled with "paper" assignments, so she then switched to ClassKick. This is a great way to save paper and get students more comfortable with the use of technology and school work. I think that this is a very cool and effective way to teach lessons.
Comment:
Hi! I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed this post because I have never heard of ClassKick, so it was really interesting to learn about it through the two videos I watched. I think that ClassKick is a very good idea, and it seems like teachers and students are pleased with it. Thank you for a great post!
Friday, July 3, 2015
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