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
 

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

Project #8: Book Trailer

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.

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.                          

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.

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?

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

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

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