Thursday, February 26, 2015

C4K: Summary for February

C4K #1 - Keegan

Keegan is a student in Mrs. Smebys 5th grade class. The blog post I chose to comment on from Keegan's bog was about superpowers. Mrs. Smeby asked the class if they were able to have any superpower what would they want it to be. Keegan stated that he wanted to have superman powers because he could do more than just one thing.

My comment to Keegen: 

Hi Keegan!

Superman is one of my favorite superheroes too! I think it awesome that he can do more than just fly. If i had to choose just one favorite superhero it would Cat Woman, because girls can have superpowers too!

Do you have a favorite villain?


C4K #2 - Hailey H.

Hailey is a student in Mr. Boylen's 8th grade class. The blog post I chose to comment on form Hailey's blog was titled Intro to the World. This blog post was Hailey introducing herself to the readers of her blog. She let the readers know what she was interested in doing outside of school and how even though she didn't enjoy the work that much at school she enjoyed being able to come to school to see her friends and teachers.

My comment to Hailey H:

Hi Hailey,

I'm Johanna Logan, I'm a student at the University of South Alabama currently studying to become an Elementary teacher. I enjoyed reading your blog. I find it interesting that you enjoy hair and makeup along with skate boarding and camping. Having a versatile personality is a good trait to have, especially as you get older.
I also like to go camping. What are some of the places you have been camping to? Do you have any future places you would like to go camping to?
Here's a link to my blog.
Johanna's Blog
 
kids holding hands

C4K #3 - Hailey N.

Hailey is a student in Ms. Leatherwoods 8th grade Language Arts class. The blog post I chose was titled "An Unsual Pet". This post was about Hailey talking about how her Yia Yia, which is Greek for grandmother, suprise her with an unsual pet. A Australian Sugar Glider. Hailey talks about how she loves to antagonize her sugar glider when shes bored, and how she's thankful to have him.

My comment to Hailey N:

Hi Hailey!
I’m Johanna Logan, I’m a student at the University of South Alabama studying to become a Elementary Teacher.
I enjoyed reading your post. I never really knew what a Australian Sugar Glider was until I read your post. They seem like a really neat pet to have!
I have a rabbit, her name is Eloise. Pets make the best friends!
Do you have any other pets? Here's a link to my blog.
Johanna's Blog


C4K #4 - Joey

Joey is a student in Mrs. Maslowski's class. They were to choses thier favorite famous African American and write about why they felt they were important. Joey chose Kevin Hart and explained why he liked Kevin Hart. His reasoning for liking Kevin Hat were because he was a funny comedian and a good actor.

My comment to Joey:


Hi Joey!
I'm Johanna Logan a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama studying to become an Elementary teacher.
I enjoyed reading your post about Kevin Hart. I agree that he is very funny and well known for his comedy. He is also a very good actor!
Do you have any other African American actors/ comedians that you enjoy?

Thanks for sharing.
Visit my blog, Johanna's Blog

Friday, February 20, 2015

Blog Post #6: What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

The videos between Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange were very insightful. I gained knowledge on several things I previously did not know about. I enjoyed taking the time needed to watch these videos because I know as a new teacher I'm going to need all the background knowledge and help I can get.


Teaching and Learning tree.In Project Based Learning Part 1 and Part 2, Anthony Capps did a great job at explaining what PBL was. He explained that we think PBL is when you have project following a lesson so the children can recreate what they learned, but PBL is really a means of learning a lesson. Project Based Learning should be the lesson, not necessarily following the lesson. When creating a project, you must create a project that not only incorporates what you want them to learn, but it must also include the standards that the state needs the kids to be accomplishing. Projects that students interact in must be content driven. What I enjoyed most about this, was in Part 2 the students had to research and write what it would be like to be a child in Afghanistan. He had a student whose parents did not want him to research what life was like in Afghanistan because he was a soldier and knew what went on. So Capps came up with a way for that student to learn what was required but without having to research about the country. To me this showed that as a teacher, Capps wanted to make the parents happy as well as the student.


iCurio was something I found to be very neat. Capps explains how iCurio is a curated search engine that allows students to surf websites safely in a kid friendly way. iCurio doesn't search for just text, it also searches for audio, video, and images related to the search and that also meet state standards. iCurio also has a storage capacity feature that allows students to create folders saving what they found from different sites. You can even search iCurio by criteria using the Historical feature. Capps did a great job a expressing the importance of iCurio if you are using search engines in your classroom. iCurio is a good site to use if you are trying to help students develop virtual organization skills.


Discovery Ed allows you to generate background pictures, audio, and video related to the text you are teaching. Capps explains how he used it in his classroom by allowing the students to research plants because he didn't know much about plants, so he let the students use Discovery Ed to search all they needed to know about plants. I thought this was a great way to incorporate Project Based Learning into the classroom, because even though Capps didn't have much background knowledge on plants the children were still able to learn what they needed to learn.


The six essential tips I learned from The Anthony - Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1
  1. In order to be a good educator, you must be willing to learn. 
  2. Flexibility is key. 
  3. Start with a goal. 
  4. Regardless of how hard it gets, have fun with what you do. 
  5. Engagement, make sure ALL of your children are engaged in some way. 
  6. Reflect on your own work.                          


Schoolhouse computer
Technology is everywhere, and having a classroom without technology not only is a loss for your students but also for you as a teacher. Capps said in Use Tech Don't Teach It that he gives the students a chance to navigate and learn about the device and then gives them the project they are supposed to do. I think it is important for students to learn using the technology around them so that when they enter the real world they are not oblivious to the way technology works. Dr. Strange couldn't have been more accurate when he said that Capps 3rd graders could probably learn how to work iMovie in a shorter amount of time than I could. When I was growing up the only thing I was learning how to use on the computer was Word, Excel and PowerPoint, any other technology I have had to learn how to use on my own, including iMovie which I am just now learning how to use. This video taught me to never teach technology, to just introduce it wisely.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Project #7: Four Movies Part A







Blog Post #5: PLN's What Are They? 1

What are Personal Learning Networks (PLN's)? How can they help you as a teacher? How are they formed? How can you create your own PLN? Who will be the additions to your PLN?

the word LEARN in chat bubbles
A Personal Learning Network, also known as a PLN is a personalized network of resources you use on a daily basis. The beauty of PLN's is that they are constantly changing as you grow as an educator. A PLN can include both real life relationships as well as relationships you develop with people over social media. Personal Learning Networks let you personalize who you are as a teacher. You will find new things that you feel help you become a better educator and add them into you PLN. You will also find things that you might have added a long time ago that no longer suit the type of educator you have become. I personally found Symbaloo to be really helpful in establishing a social media PLN. It was very organized and user friendly, especially to beginners. It gave easy access to all the sites I use on a daily basis on one page. Now that I have a clear understanding of how PLN's work, my additions will be the teachers I comment back and forth with as well as a the kids I have been commenting back and forth with. Another great addition would be some of the blogs I have been reading lately, a lot of them have given supplemental information I feel would help me as a future educator.

Project #3: Google Presentation

Saturday, February 7, 2015

C4T #1: Buck Institute for Education - Experts & NewBIEs

Authenticity to Self: Engaging Students’ Identities in Project Based Learning

Sam Seidel's blog was about introducing an authenticity step to PBL's eight steps. His step is called Keep It Real. Keep It Real is about students being able to incorporate things into PBL that relate more to  their everyday life. He posts and example project of high school students using the Keep It Real step and it blew my mind. Isaiah the student in the video sings a song about his life and how he grew up, he uses facts and credited information to inform the viewer about a child's growth and development as well as telling about how he grew up and what it was like for him.

My comment to Sam Siedel:

Hey Sam, I’m Johanna Logan currently a student majoring in Education at the University of South Alabama. I just wanted to take a moment to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog. As a Education student I am learning more and more about PBL and the more I learn the more I’ve come to believe in it. I love the authenticity your Keep It Real additon brings to PBL. Seeing the tears in Isaiah’s face let me know how real this experience was for him.
I also enjoyed the three questions you left for teacher to ask their selves when incorporating PBL.
Thank you for sharing! I look forward to reading more.
Here is a link to my blog if you are ever interested in a good read.
BLOG

Picture of a teacher sitting at a desk

Viewpoint on PBL: What Students Say

This blog post was written by Miles, Gaby, Ethan, Lauren, Madison, and Aiden from Novi Community Schools District, in Michigan. In this post the six children give their viewpoints on PBL. One of the main reasons these six kids enjoyed PBL was because they were "secretly learning". They enjoyed what they were learning so much that they didn't realize they were learning. Another major reason why these kids enjoy PBL is because they were given tips about what they were going to be learning about but actually got to learn abut it on their own, and this sparked an anticipation in the kids. they actually began to look forward to learning.

My comment to Miles, Gaby, Ethan, Lauren, Madison, and Aiden from Novi Community Schools District, in Michigan:

To Miles, Gaby, Ethan, Lauren, Madison, and Aiden.
I'm Johanna Logan, I'm a student studying Elementary Education at the University of South Alabama. I wanted to take a moment and let you all know how much I enjoyed reading your blog. I am currently learning about PBL so that I can use it in my classroom one day. I myself LOVE all PBL has to offer. It excites me to know how much you enjoy PBL. I am hoping, and I think you are too, that PBL begins to be incoporated in every classroom.
Thank you for sharing! I look forward to hearing more about your thoughts on PBL.
Here is a link to blog if you find yourself wanting to read.
MY BLOG

Blog Post #4: Asking Questons: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

three students sitting at a desk raising their handsAsking questions is a vital part of learning. Ben Johnson states in The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom that "we as teachers need to come to grips with the fact that we really do not know everything, and there is no reason for us to assume that the students know nothing." Which couldn't be more correct. I think we as teachers get in front of the class thinking we have all the answers and expect the students to not know anything at all, when in reality we probably learn just as much form them as they do from us. It is important for teachers to stress the importance of question asking in the classroom. I can remember back to when I was in elementary school where the majority of my teachers had a motto, and that was that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Now as a future educator myself I realize the importance of that. Question asking sets the stage for the type of student you will have. If teachers address children's questions in a positive way, then the student is going to think positive about asking questions. The Teaching Center has an article, Asking Questions to Improve Learning that gives several effective ways on how to respond to questions. One I found most important was "show that you are interested in students’ answers, whether right or wrong. Encourage students when they are offering answers by nodding, looking at them, and using facial expressions that show you are listening and engaged. Do not look down at your notes while they are speaking." I feel like this is the where most teachers go wrong. Children become disengaged in question asking because their teachers are not showing encouragement in their answers, regardless of the accuracy. As educators we need to focus more on making sure the children understand, instead of rushing to move on to the next lesson. Just because you ask if everyone understands and they all nod yes, doesn't necessarily mean that they all actually understand. Patience is key, make your classroom an environment where students aren't afraid of asking questions.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Project #15: Search Engines



1. Dogpile

Dogpile was created by InfoSpace and is powered by Metasearch. It was created to time efficiently provide its users with the best quality of information. Dogpile finds the results its users search for from various different providers including Google and Yahoo! From the information gathered, Dogpile sorts out what they find to be the most suited information and returns it to the user. The idea of Dogpile is to save time of the users by piling all the information a user could possibly need in a timely manner. Hints the name, DogPILE. One thing I found interesting about about Dogpile is that it has a mascot, Arfie. Arfie is on the page at any time and is ready to help the user search.


2. Bing

Bing, formally Live Search is a search engine created and powered by Microsoft in 2009. Microsoft refers to Bing as its "Decision Engine". Bing was created to address the searchers needs as well as providing them with related searches. Something I found useful that Bing offers is a quick link to see your recent search history. Bing is technologically powered through a company called Powerset, which is also Microsoft owned. Bing had several other interesting features such as its mouse over feature. When you mouse over a Bing search result it provides you with a link with more information about the search. It also gives you a contact email link if there is one. Bing has become well known for its social media and travel search.


3. Yahoo!

Yahoo! is a search engine that provides it users with more than just traditional web search results. You can search for maps, music, images, and videos. Yahoo! also has features such a email and live groups that users can access through them for free, and with our economy free is the way to be! Yahoo! was created by two college students as a bookmark history and has became such a bigger success than what it started out to be. Yahoo! is powered by the corporation itself, Yahoo incorporated.


4. Ask

Ask was originally created to allow its users to ask common ever day questions in to a search bar and the search engine be able to find it an answer. The corporation then decided to change things up and made Ask.com a search engine where users could search anything on the web. Do to competition with search engines such as Google and Yahoo! there wasn't as much success in web search as there was when they just had Q&A. So now Ask.com is strictly a Q&A based search engine. Ask has a huge downfall though, when the website is accessed it automatically downloads the Ask Toolbar without the users permission, this toolbar allows Ask to access personal information form the users computers without consent of the user.


5. Duck Duck Go

Duck Duck Go is a user friendly search engine that allows users to search the web without being tracked. Duck Duck Go does not use your current location for any searches. So users who want results similar to Google but without the invasion of privacy, Duck Duck Go would be a good option. Duck Duck Go also has a few neat features. One being, in the margins of your searches they are steadily updating national news stories for users to read. Duck Duck Go is beginning to become very popular, corporations such as Apple and Mozilla are starting to recognize them.


6. Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha was created by Wolfram Research, the corporation that created Mathmatica. Wolfram Alpha goes beyond a basic web search engine; it allows you to search questions, problems, and data and also allows you to calculate answers. Wolfram Alpha provides its results based on facts, not opinions or suggestions. This search engine would be more user friendly towards a student or teacher due to it being a knowledge based search engine. Wolfram Alpha seems to be more of a study engine, particularly in mathematics. For example, when given a math problem it shows you step by step how to get the solution, which can be very useful to a studying student.

7. Yandex

Yandex is very universal and user friendly, it can be searched all around the world in languages such as English, German, and French. Yandex would be useful to someone trying to learn more about another country. It allows users to search images, videos, and maps. Users can also set up a email account through Yandex. Yandex is basically Google but used in countries other than the USA.


8. Mahalo

Mahalo did not seem to be a useful search engine. The majority of its offerings were how to videos. It claims to be a learning site, so I guess users who are looking for directions on how to do things (tutorials), Mahalo would be the best search engine to access.





Sunday, February 1, 2015

Blog Post #3: How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

Image: I want you for feedback What is peer editing you might ask?
Peer editing is when you constructively edit the work of a person the same age as you, usually a classmate. In the What is Peer Editing? video it states that when peer editing you should begin with leaving compliments so that your peer knows that there was actually something that you enjoyed about the paper. Let your peer know their mistakes but do it in a concerned manner, you should never correct a peers paper in a rude or disrespectful manner.
Remember, no on likes a Mean Margaret!

Peer editing is something I find quite useful especially in classrooms where students are learning to write paragraphs of information. Peer editing, if done correctly, can tremendously benefit the students. Sometimes children can't always see all their mistakes and and having a peer edit can give the students an extra chance to have someone else look over their paper before they turn it in for a grade. As a future educator, peer editing is something I will strongly encourage. I will also be sure that my students know the correct ways to peer edit so that it can be done efficiently.