Final Reflection Video

Part 2 of Blog Post 5

After reading the first part of this post, I can see how my PLN has changed throughout the semester. At first I wasn't really sure what a PLN was, but now it has really come to me. I see now after communicating with all of the students and teachers from across the world is a great PLN. My blogger has really showed me how to communicate better with people I don't even know. I think it is great I was able to see what students and teachers around the world were doing in their classrooms. I will have a PLN when I become a teacher. It really teaches you things and you are also teaching other people things they might not have known. I have really enjoyed this and hope to continue to let my PLN grow. I also hope to allow my students to become a part of a PLN and learn new things from all around the world.

C4T#4 Posts 1 and 2

For my teacher I chose Lana. She seems like a fun and busy elementary teacher. Her post was about drug free week at her school.
My Comment:
Hey! I'm Breanna and I am an elementary education major at the University of South Alabama. I also chose your blog as my teacher blog for the week. I LOVE your blogger profile. I think it is so cute and kid friendly. I have siblings in elementary school and they did the same kind of activities for drug free week too. I think it is cute to let kids enjoy days like this, but also teach them something good.

I sure would be tired if I was you too. I've heard that is what comes with being a teacher. Hope you get some rest. :)

Lana's second post was about an animal project they are currently doing in class. She also posted a note a student wrote her. They seem to love her and she makes a great positive impact on their lives.
My comment:
Hi Lana. Hopefully you've gotten some rest from the last post i've read. The note was too sweet. I cannot wait to start having a positive impact on little one's lives. Hope y'all have fun on your animal projects and Happy Thanksgiving :)

Blog Post 14

In the article by Joel Klein, he talks about many problems that should be worked on in the school system. The first problem he talks about is the training for teachers. He basically thinks the the way teachers are trained should be better. The next problem is anyone with a college degree can become a teacher. He thinks the top 1/3 of the graduates should become a teacher. The last problem is teachers are interchangeable and decisions are based off of seniority. Teaching should also be more professionalized. This would not only benefit the teachers, but the students as well. The article then talks about how this radical change would bring a board of police to the profession, established standards and providing mechanisms for removing incompetent teachers. Teachers would also need to take an exam, just like lawyers and such, and complete an internship of 3 years.

I very much agree with all of these solutions to these problems. Becoming a teacher just seems too easy. Children rely on us to educate them and with it being so easy, anyone can do it. I do not think just anyone should become a teacher. Great teachers have a passion for the job and their students. Not everyone has passion for this profession. I think the way people look at teaching should be changed and it should be more professionalized. This could help students in the long run and help teachers become better in many ways. If it weren't for teachers, you would not have doctors or lawyers. Teachers teach them to become what they are. I'm thinking the exam is just like what we have to take and yes, I do agree with that. Once again, not just anyone should be thrown into this profession just with a college degree. I do not so much agree on the no mandatory assignments policy. I think progress should be shown throughout the year with any assignments (PBL etc).

I think this article really makes one think about teaching as a profession. People are quick to say teaching is easy & don't take it seriously. I think teaching should be taken more seriously. I could use some of these solutions as I pursue in my career. It was a very helpful article.

C4KSummary for November

My first child was Taine. He showed a picture of the life cycle of a frog. He didn't write anything, but he just showed a picture of it.
My comment:
Hey Taine! I'm Breanna McCormack from the University of South Alabama. I remember learning about the life cycle of a frog. It is very interesting to learn about. It has been a very long time since I learned about it, but your post has reminded me how cool it was. This is a great post. Keep up the good work in school!

My second child was Alex. He has an art blog. He showed us how to make a digital art project with an alter ego.
My comment:
Hey Alex. I'm Breanna and i'm from the University of South Alabama. Your post was awesome! I have never done anything like this before, but it looks like lots of fun. Your finished product looks great! Thanks for sharing that with us.

My third child was NONE. Happy Veteran's Day!!

My Last child was Alex. His post was about his first quarter in school. He also talked a little about Harry Potter.
My comment:
Hello Alex. I'm Breanna from the University of South Alabama. Your post is very creative. It is awesome you love to learn in school!! I love Harry Potter movies. They are awesome. I'm glad your 1st quarter went great!

Blog Post 13

What are your thoughts on Inclusive Learning?

Read the following articles and a answer the question above.

1. Intervention Central
2.Mainstreaming Special Education in the classroom

Also watch the YouTube video Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In and give your thoughts on the video.


Answer the question in a post that adheres to the standards found in the ACCRS and in Writing A Quality Blog Post.

I will start by saying I have wanted to be a Special Education teacher since I was in high school. I had my mind set on it. I started doubting myself, so that is when I decided to change my major to elementary ed. I am still wishy-washy about it, but hopefully it will come to me soon.

Reading Intervention Central really tells how you can make the classroom setting easier for everyone. Not all children learn the same or can handle every day tasks like others can. For us, as teachers, it is our job to include everyone equally, but make it best for everyone. Some students may need a daily routine that is set. You can try as best as you can to have good structure in your classroom. Any routine is good for the students and yourself.

Mainstreaming Special Education in the classroom is somewhat like inclusion, but different as well. They are both including students with any sort of need to be in a classroom with other students. Personally, I think this is awesome and everyone should be treated equally. I know when we had students with learning disabilities in the classroom, they stayed in the classroom with everyone else, they just had a teacher to help them in their time of need (this is inclusion). In the article it states Mainstreaming is "earning" your right to be in a classroom. I don't really agree with that because being there is a right in itself to be in the classroom.

The Inclusive Learning Video is a great example of just what Inclusive Learning is. I think it is awesome to watch things like this and see teachers who actually put time and effort into children with needs. There are always ways to change a classroom setting to make it suitable for all children. I think all children should be involved with everything everyone else does. The video gives great examples on how to do so.

Project 12B

Project 10 Interview Movie

Blog Post 12

C4T #3 Posts 1 and 2

I was assigned the teacher Doug: off the record.
His first post was an interview with another teacher. The other teacher is a seventh and eighth grade Science teacher. Doug asked the questions as Brian, the other teacher, answered them. They just talked about the use of technology in the classrooms.
My comment:
Hi Doug. I’m Breanna and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your interview with Brian. It is always great to see what other teachers are doing in their classrooms and with their students. I’m still getting used to younger kids using technology so much, just because I didn’t in school. I think all of these new things are great in schools.

His next post was about a convention they had for technology. It was called BIT. Bring it Together is what BIT stands for. I thought it was an awesome idea. In his post he just explained how it was when he got there and what he did.
My comment:
I think this is an awesome idea. It is always great to go and meet others and share fun experiences together. Having something big like this can give you an opportunity to teach someone something, as well as you learn something new too.

Blog Post 11

After watching Back to the Future, I was actually really touched by it. I think it is awesome he includes 2nd language students in so many things to try and help them learn as much as he does. He really has a passion for teaching. Blogging for students at such a young age is great. At first, I thought it wasn't a good idea and was pointless really. In the video when he talked about how happy the students were to see others around the world acknowledge their posts, it made blogging that much more important to me. I also thought it was great how other students wanted their class to teach their teacher how to do something just so they could learn. The way he included the sick little girl in the classroom with the other students really touched me. I think that is beyond awesome for her to be treated as if nothing is wrong.
I watched a video on Paul Anderson's Blog. I like the way his mind is set on learning. He believes it should be something fun and a good experience for the students. I also think it is good how he lets students know it is okay to fail at something. We were always taught to just pass the test and move on. Teachers now, including Paul, want students to learn beyond what the state standards say we should. The Blended Learning Cycle was also a good and informative video. Like I said before, it allows students to learn beyond what they are told. They actually get to have more hands on and get more involved with what they are learning. I do think the QUIVERS is more for Science, but could be used for all subjects.
In Making Thinking Visible Video, they do something like our group is making our students do in the lesson plan part B. Letting the students begin by saying what they think at the beginning of the project. This can get an idea of what they know starting out, then ending to see if they wanted to change their assumption.
Building Comics was a good video/assignment for students now-a-days to use. This teaches them so many things in just one assignment. They learn how to be safe online and how to work better with technology in the classroom. This was a great idea. Both thisPBL Video and this PBL Video are great just to see how teachers engage their students in the classroom by using PBL. It is always encouraging to watch things like this and see how much the students enjoy doing what they are doing. PBL is great.
So overall I think what I have learned from all of these links is teach beyond what you are told to be teaching. Make sure students have fun, but are learning at the same time. Getting students involved and doing things they enjoy is the best way they learn. Having students do more hands-on activities lets the be able to explore things themselves, but also learn what they should be learning at the same time.

Project 14, Project Based Learning Plan #2

Calendar
Lesson Plan
Individual Rubric
Teacher Rubric

Project 12 A

Blog Post 10

After watching The First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's class, I found it very neat to know that they are doing more with technology than I do. Of course when I was a first grader, computer labs were part of a reward for us. We did not use them to learn with or communicate with others from all around the world. It was great to hear a teacher who hasn't always been familiar with technology, to work it into her classroom. For most of us, we weren't taught this way and still learning how to use all of it as well. I think privacy would be a big concern with parents with their first graders using computers and communicating with people around the world. In the first interview, I think it is a great idea to send notes home at the beginning of year with the parents. This lets the parents know what's going on in the classroom. In the first video the kids talked about family members commenting on their blog posts. This could be a great idea because the parents can also see what their children are posting and what other students are posting to their child's blog. Blogging would be my main technique I would use within my classroom. After having this class, I have realized how much helpful it really can be. Seeing what others do is great encouragement and very helpful when doing things and learning. In the second & third interview, I found it very informative to just hear the rest of how she does things in the classroom. My main concern would be the privacy issue, but her idea with the letter is probably the way I would approach the situation. All of the questions the EDM students asked were some I would have also asked. One other concern I would have would be how long does it take to teach a student to use the technology? If a child just doesn't get it, how do you handle that?

Once again, I very much enjoyed this interview because I love hearing other teachers ideas.

C4KSummary for October

The first child I had was Grant in Mrs. Ripp's class. In his post, he talked about his family. He told us his siblings, parents and about his pets.
My comment:
Hey! My name is Breanna and I am from the University of South Alabama, but I live in Mississippi. I have 2 sisters and a brother. They are 12, 10 and 7. They are alot younger than I am, but I love them with all of my heart. I have a puppy (black lab) named Huntlee. She is such a goofy puppy. She is very playful and loves to give puppy hugs. I love animals and wish I could own a zoo. I love your post and your cat sounds very pretty. Cats are sweet and loving.

The next child I had was Caylixx. Her post said she likes school.
My comment:
Hey! I’m Breanna and I’m from the University of South Alabama. It is a very good thing you like school. I like school too. School may get hard sometimes, but always be sure to stick with it. School is very important. Your post is great!

The last child I had was Promise from Pt. England. He talked about how he played basketball the day before he went back to school from the holidays.
My comment:
I am not able to see my actual comment, but I just told the child how great it was that he played basketball. I was very positive with him.

Blog Post 9

After watching/reading the links provided, I can get an even better understanding of what a PBL is and how it works. In the Seven Essentials for PBL article, it was interesting to see how another teacher used a PBL in her classroom. The reading was very informative on how to create one, but also gave examples of what each essential was. It was very helpful. The video PBL for teachers was also interesting and informative. Although the article was more interesting, the video also gave good information. What I noticed they point out a lot in these two links is a driving question. To get your whole PBL started, it must have a driving question. It is like the goal you are trying to reach.
In the article PBL and Physical Education, it had the same points as the first article I mentioned. I think it is great PE is being involved with PBL because being active is so important in our lives. The project they tell us about in this blog post, is great. With our obesity rate rising and children becoming less active, including it in school work is a wonderful idea. It is also something fun and what they would like to do, rather than just a regular school assignment. It also involves middle and high school students, which is also great.
And last, but certainly not least the Motivational Video was very cute and inspiring. Hearing what kids think about school and how they really want to learn to become better in the future is awesome. Also, hearing what they like their teachers to do can give us some examples of what we can do to be a great teacher. They spoke a little on being rewarded too. Being rewarded, verbally or another way, is always a great thing. No matter what the age, we all love to know when we are doing good.

So after summing up everything I have read or watched from the links, I can see PBL is getting better and better. Teachers can teach each other about different PBLs and students can teach each other or teachers about their topic. PBL is great and I think it is an awesome way for students and teachers to get involved and learn.

Project 9

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

Part A:
It is obvious smart phones are consuming the lives of teens and adults. There are ups and downs of smart phones, but that is with everything. According to Zogby Analytics, smart phones are trying to make everyday life simpler. I would agree it is making life easier because it is easy to get to and obtain information. This website gives all of the statistics of how smart phones are becoming so popular in the world. Smart phones and technology in general are advancing more and more everyday.

On the EDM310 Class Blog, it also gives us the percentages of the ages from 18-24, what they think about smart phones. From what I can see, all of the percentages are fairly high. Smart phones are really what we rely on for most things. As far as social life goes, we really do too much on our phones (me being a victim too). We never have actual conversations anymore and when we are trying to "spend time" with others, we are always on our phones. As teachers, this could make the job "easier" in a way. Everything could be online or used by smart phone instead of worrying about papers. Since most kids have smart phones these days, they could be used for internet in the classrooms, but this could cause problems. Students could do social things with their phones during class time instead of working. I believe the rates will continue to grow with time and eventually all we will use are smart phones for anything. As the technology advances, I believe this will make more of a positive impact on the world.

Part B:
My stepmother is an elementary teacher. They are given ipads for the students to use in the classrooms. There is an app they have on the ipad used for spelling words. For a kindergarten class, I could call each student up at a time to make sure they know their spelling words for the week. Each week, depending on the lesson, we would have a list of spelling words for each student to know. As I would call each student up, we would pull up the app and begin practicing. The student holds the ipad and I call the word out to the student. The student would then type the word and it would show up at the top of the screen. If the word was spelled incorrectly, it would tell the student to try again. I think this would be a great way for students to learn spelling as well as typing skills. According to ALEX, English and Language Arts 38D standard, it states students should be able to spell simple words. I feel this would be a great way for students to use the ipad in the classroom.

Blog Post 8

Well I can start off by saying after watching Randy Pausch's Video, I am truly amazed by him. He is one of the most positive people I have ever seen/listened to. Hearing his story and the way he achieved everything he did is absolutely amazing. Also, the outlook he has on life is awesome, even if he is sick. What I gathered about teaching and learning is to just go for it. Making learning fun is the best way to teach students and yourself about all things. We are so quick to be so serious and think learning or teaching is about book work and nothing more. The way Randy taught, by doing the videos, was great and could really make learning fun. All of his educators or "bosses" taught him to go for whatever he wanted to do, he did and was very successful in doing so. I think we, as teachers, should really teach that in today's generation. Everyone should go do what they want and that is the way to be successful in life, just go for it! I have noticed now group work is in schools a lot more. I also liked the bar graph he demonstrated for students to go by after working in groups. They are able to see their strengths and weaknesses when working in groups. That can help the student and others around them when learning. So really, to answer the question "What can we learn about teaching and learning?" is to go for it. Strive to be the best as an educator and as a student. If we go beyond our comfort zone we can learn so much more and have fun doing it.

C4T #2 Posts 1 and 2

I was assigned The Tempered Radical for my teacher. In the first post I read, he talked about principals in schools failing to recognize teachers are just as diverse with students. Not all teachers may be the same or interested in the same thing. Some principals may not realize that, so he thinks it should be recognized.
My comment:Good Morning, Bill. I’m Breanna McCormack. I am a junior at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in EDM310 class, so I am new to the blogging stuff. I enjoyed reading your post and thought it was very helpful. I very much agree with you.

Of course I really did agree with what he said. He replied back challenging me to find something in a post I disagreed with. So I took on the challenge for the next post.

As I got to the next post, I honestly agreed with that one too. He explained in the post communication between teachers and principals could be improved. He created a survey for teachers to take, the principals read them and they could be discussed at a meeting during the week. They could all work together to improve the school.
My comment:Hello! You told me a few weeks ago to try to find something I disagreed on in one of your post and honestly I just cannot find anything. That may sound impossible because we all disagree on something, but I love the way you think. The survey was great and could really help in schools. It seems to be based on communication. Principals communicating better with their staff. I like that idea! I will continue to look to try to disagree, but so far they are great posts and I enjoy them all.

I will continue to try and find some disagreements, but it will be hard because all of his posts are great.

Project 13

TT2 Group 2 has decided to do our Project Based Learning lesson on The Solar System. Our students are to construct a project on an assigned planet. Below are the components of our unit.

Lesson Plan
Calendar
Project Rubric
Individual Rubric

Project 7 Part B

Meet the students:


Meet the parents:

Blog Post 7

1) I very much enjoyed these videos. I thought it was helpful seeing actual teachers in actual classrooms. I am somewhat good at using technology. I think my weakness would be not knowing enough about technology. Of course, as everyone said, we all learn something everyday. My strengths are knowing as much as I do about the ipad and Apple products. I think, as a future teacher, I will need to learn more how to use all forms of technology and get to know what is out there for students to learn. In my opinion, it is all about experience. It is something you have to play around with and gain different knowledge everyday.

2) The reading center video was neat. I find it so weird such young kids are using technology like this, but it is a good thing. The students being able to listen to themselves re-read is great. Students may learn better by hearing what they say and finding their own mistakes. Poplet was something I have never heard of before. It is somewhat like a thinking map I once did in elementary school, but much more detailed. I found thinking maps very helpful as a kid, so i'm sure being more detailed now, it is even more helpful. It is amazing how one app can teach so much. There were two different videos of children sharing Board Builders, but once again this was something I have never heard of. This is a useful app as well. It gives students a chance to be creative with the information they obtained, but a good teaching tool too. I found the video on iMovie neat as well because this was something we just did. I enjoyed doing the movie trailer because it was different and fun. I find it cool how elementary students are doing the same things we are doing at a university. Technology can have its ups and downs, but it is what we are turning to and it can always teach us something new.

C4KSummary for September

The first child I had was named Jayden. His post talked about the primary colors on the color wheel. I informed him how I was in an Art class and just studied the color wheel. It is great seeing that children across the world are learning the same things we are.
My comment: This post was great! I am in an art class at the University this semester. We just learned about the color wheel. Art can be so much fun and you can learn so much.

The next child I had was Xavier. His post was simple and cute. He said he was awesome because he is a best friend. It is also great seeing how positive kids are because that is rare these days.
My comment: Hey Xavier! I’m Breanna and i’m a junior at The University of South Alabama. I actually like this post because it shows you are a positive person and think very highly of yourself. I think being positive is the best way to be. Having confidence in yourself will also allow others to be confident in you. Being a great friend is pretty awesome too. Very nice post.

My last child's name is Arianna. She also seems to be a positive person. Her post was "This is the best school ever". Her post was very positive. I was glad to see she likes school. I hope she stays that way.
My comment: Hi Arianna! It is very good that you think positive about your school. I’ve always loved going to school to see my friends. Of course I love to learn too! Keep staying positive about school because it will pay off in the end. Great post!

I love reading all of the kid's posts because some of them are so different, but also the same as we are. Kids are so funny with the things they say.

Project #8 Book Trailer

Owl Moon

Blog Post 6

I enjoyed the videos with Anthony Capps. They were very useful and informative. It is always encouraging hearing someone talk about how rewarding it is to be a teacher. In the video Tips for teachers, I thought all the tips were helpful. I have always heard teaching never ends, you will bring it home with you, but like he said you learn to make it fun. If being a teacher is really what you want, creating new ideas to share with your students should be fun. Also in the video Discovery Education, I actually had never heard of this. It sounds like a very useful tool when teaching. I agree with Anthony about visuals helping students learn. Anything visual could help anyone learn better, in my opinion. The other video about technology I found was also informative. He makes a good point to not teach technology, but to put it to use instead. I would, once again, agree with him. The way we should all learn technology is to use it, not just be taught how to use it. Like with everything, practice makes perfect. The use of technology is hands on and she be taught that way. I found all these videos helpful, these three just stood out the most to me. It is always helpful to get to hear of experiences with a new teacher and how teaching for us will be like.

Blog Post 5

PLNs seem to be a great learning resource. I was not too sure what they were to begin with, but looking deeper within, I finally understand. PLNs are great for teachers because the teachers can give each other different ideas. I think it would be great to start a PLN now and keep it throughout my career. It allows people to get together and learn new things or just share ideas with each other about a topic they are all interested in. PLNs seem to be formed just by choosing a topic you are interested in and start finding others on social networks with the same interest. After reading a previous blog post, I was able to get a better understanding of what PLNs are and how they are formed. As it said in the post, you are somewhat of a detective and researching deep to find information about your topic. Michael Fawcett's Video told a good story and example of how you can begin your PLN. It is amazing how people all over the world can communicate and share the same interests and ideas. This 7th grader's video is also a good example of a PLN. This would be great to show younger students to show how interesting it could be. I'm very interested in grammar, as far as teaching goes. Of course, I have a Twitter account. I could start by searching with hashtags, different teachers or students interested in the same subject as me. That could be some sort of start to my PLN.

Project #3 Presentation

My Sentence Videos

My sentence is...


My passion is...

C4T #1 Posts 1 and 2

I was assigned Dr. Joseph McCaleb for my teacher. He refers to himself as Doc Horse Tales. Doc comes from his Ph.D. Horse comes from his love for riding. Tales comes from the stories he loves to tell. He is a very interesting person.

The first post I commented on was something very different. He posted many pictures of nature and wrote something about each one of them. He made the writings something different, from just a simple caption to a rhyming poem. I very much enjoyed reading the poems, just because I love rhyming. He seems to like to take things beyond what they really are and make them into something else.

My comment: "Good evening Doc. I'm Breanna McCormack and I am a junior at the University of South Alabama. I am currently enrolled in EDM310 with Dr. John Strange. I love the name you call yourself. It is very unique and seems to describe you well. Your latest blog is also very interesting. I love how you rhyme the words like a poem. Rhyming is something I love, but not very good at. The pictures are very nice. I love to see pictures of the outdoors. Great blog!"

The second post I commented on was also pretty interesting. I did not understand it very well, but I went with what I thought he was trying to say. He took a simple question and made it into such a detailed answer, you really forgot what the question even was. He went into lots of detail about life and what destiny is. He looks at it his own way and makes something so much greater than what it really is.

My comment: "I very much enjoy reading all of your posts. I like how you take a simple question and turn the answer into something much more detailed. Creativity is the key."

Project 15

For my 8 resources I used Bing, Gigablast, Monax, Yahoo, Soso.com, Blekko, Wolframalfa, and Munax. Bing seems to be a lot like Google, but looks more advanced. It could be used for web search, images, videos etc. Gigablast does not seem to be very helpful with searching. It is less advanced than Google, but of course still a search engine. I am not too sure about Munax resource. It does not really have a way to search many things, but rather websites to visit. Yahoo is a very popular website. You can do all kinds of searches, images, videos or even email. I love Yahoo. Soso.com looks similar to Google, but in Chinese. It is literally all in Chinese. Blekko seems to be very helpful. It allows you to search things and also shop for things. Wolfram Alpha was an education search engine. It would be very useful for anything to do with school. It could be used for other searching, but more for education. Yandex was the last resource I chose. This resource looks much like yahoo or something of that nature. You can view pictures, videos or email through it. It looks very useful for all searching or just playing around.
List of resources:

Bing

Gigablast

Munax

Yahoo

Soso

Blekko

Wolfram Alpha

Yandex