C4K 7,8,9,10

C4K#7
I commented on a class blog called McClungs World. The students are in 8th grade at Woodland Jr. High in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The students are in Mr. McClung's social studies and computer application classes. I commented on a post called Prosser’s Gabriel which is a social studies post. The post is about a song the students hear in class, the song is called Prosser's Gabriel. In the comment I left on it I introduced myself first and I told the students that I thought the song was pretty cool. I also said that the students are lucky that their teacher has introduced them to a singer that sings about history in order to make their class more interesting.
C4K#8
I commented on Evan's blog page. Evan is from Sydney, Australia. He is in year 6 in Miss Pikes class at Epping Heights. In Evan's blog post he says " HI, my name is Evan. I hope that you enjoy my blog. In my blog I’m going to tell you some things about me and show you some pictures on my adventures". So in my comment I introduced myself and said I look forward to reading about him. I really enjoy reading these childrens' blogs, it is so interesting to read what they have to say.

Blog Post #9
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Mrs. Yollis is a 3rd grade teacher of 24 years and an amazing one at that. Her blog was about her class blogging and how she uses it in her class blog and incorporates the parents into the class. I commented back to Mrs. Yollis and told her how much I loved her idea of blogging and the safety that she introduces with it and how she has inspired me to incorporate blogging into my own class. Mrs. Yollis is an absolutely amazing teacher.
.Blog Post #10
Miriams blog was about her vacation to Hawaii and kayaking to captain Hook Monument. She had several pictures of her vacation and her kayaking and being close to the dolphins. She had a beautiful vacation and displayed beautiful pictures to show us that. I responded saying that I had recently visited this same monument and I had an amazing time as well}

Blog Post 13

ALEX stands for the Alabama Learning Exchange. This is a free online resource that teachers can use. I have actually used the ALEX website when making lesson plans for one of my classes. There are many different resources on the ALEX website alone. You can look up: the course of study for any subject, any grade, and lesson plans. They have a search tool as well as web links specific for your job (teacher, principal, etc.). There are links to further professional learning. You can create an account and build your personal workspace. There is a link for ALEXville, which will give you resources for different projects and news around the state. Last but not least, there is a "podcast treasury" that you can access that gives you many, many, subject based podcats. The ALEX website is extremely useful for teachers, and pre-teachers. This site is so useful because it has almost everything you need, all in one place. The information is valid and up to date. It is very easy to understand and navigate as well.

Blog Post # 12

Visit the blog:
http://itsnotallflowersandsausages.blogspot.com/

The best "TELL IT AS IT IS BLOG"

The lowdown: A second-grade teacher with the pseudonym Mrs. Mimi dishes about the crazy side of teaching.
Why We Love It: Fantasies of throwing down with that colleague who –rummages through your desk? Horror field-trip moments that have carved a permanent groove in your mind? Faculty-room shenanigans that rule your day? Thanks to Mrs. Mimi, we never have to feel alone.
Why She Loves Blogging: Says Mrs. Mimi, “It’s comforting to know that I am not alone in my frustrations.”

Visit this post and choose to comment on one of Mrs. Mimi's  posts, I think it is important to know that teachers do struggle and students need to know what they are getting into and weather they can handle it.

Final Project Progress

For our final project we have formed our group including myself, AnnMerritt Taylor, and Courtney Mathis. We are currently brainstorming ideas...

Project 14

How to Tie Your Shoe

You will need:

1. A shoe
2. your shoe laces
3. your hands

Procedure:

#1 First you take one shoe, and lace it up with your shoelace.

#2 To lace it up, criss cross your shoelace over and under the holes in your shoe.

#3 When the ends of your shoelaces meet take one end, lay the other down, then go over and under your laid down end.

#4 Take one end of your shoelace and make a loop.

#5 Take the other shoelace and wrap it around the loop.

#6 By doing that, you will make a smaller loop.

#7 Put the middle of the shoelace you haven't looped, through the small hole.

#8 By putting your shoelace through the hole, you make another big loop.

#9 Pull on the big loop very hard, this will make it tight.

#10 That's how you tie your shoe!

Extra Help to Double Knot!

#1 When you have two loops, you seperate them.

#2 Place one down, then hold the other in your hand.

#3 With the one in your hand, go over then under the one placed down.

#4 Pull tight! That's how you double knot!

Blog Post 11

This video was so interesting! It was really great for me to actually see technology being used in the classroom, rather than just reading about it. I have never seen a classroom like this, but it is very inspiring to know that it can be done. The fact that its in an elementary school made it even better because that is what I want to teach. The amount of technology this class uses is incredible and these children are very lucky to have a teacher that is willing to bring technology into the classroom. I loved that they got to Skype to people all around the world, this makes being at school way more intersting. I would honestly have never thought to do this with my class, but it is definitely something that I will use now that I have seen it done. I really would love to meet Ms. Cassidy. It is so inspiring to see and hear an elementary teacher using so much technology in the classroom. I can only hope that I can use this technology in the same way she does. Many administrators do not find this amount of technology to be necessary but I absolutely believe it is best for the students to start using technology in the classroom. I also worry about the parents' reactions. Ms. Cassidy's parents all were very happy in this setting, and hopefully my parents will be as well. I think it was very obvious from the video to see how truly advanced her students are! They seem to really enjoy their classroom setting and clearly they are learning more and more every day.

Blog Post 10

Morgan Bayda:I am not sure that I can fully relate to Dan Brown or Morgan Bayda, but I do understand what they are saying. We truly are using an educational system that was designed for a different time. The world has change immensely, however education has not seemed to catch on so well. Hopefully in the next few years will change for us because this is not how people should feel about their schooling.
     
I do not have the same experiences that Morgan Bayda had. She says that she often felt cheated in her university classes because they were either too big or too small for communication to be comfortable. I have been in classes as big as 200 people with auditorium seating and classes as small as ten people. I never seem to have a problem speaking my mind. I think it all depends on how outspoken you are, if you are shy you are gonna have trouble getting your point across in any class size.
     
So much can be done over the internet. Dan Brown is right when he says that information is now free. If the education system does not start realizing this fact and changing the way things are done, I do believe that more students will do just what Brown did: drop out. Literally almost anything can be found online, so why would people pay to have someone tell you in a lecture? This makes sense right? I do believe so!
    
Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home:

     Wow! This post was pretty funny, but rather sad at the same time. I am very glad that he stuck up to the woman because that was just ridiculous! I have to wonder why people would think that students taking pencils home results in lower test scores? I would think that it would result in higher test scores! Apparently not...

Summary C4T 3

Freakish Final Four?
ESPN had over 5.9 million entries to its Tournament Challenge. Only two of them have the final four correct.Given what you know about college basketball, the NCAA Tournament, and probability, are you surprised there are two that are correct? Or would you have expected there to be more that were correct? Or less?

My response:
At first glance I thought there should be more but I agree that 2 is about correct, I do not know much about NCAA basketball but calculations show that 2 would be correct.

I'm Going (to) Nowhere, How About You?

If you live in the Denver metro area, considering attending a screening of Race to Nowhere on Tuesday, April 5th, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm at Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary School in Littleton. I'll be there and I hope you'll join us. You can purchase tickets for $10 (plus $1.54 fee) online or pay $15 at the door (space available, I assume).

My response:
I believe this is a imortant film to watch for future educators and also for parents. I am interested to see what the student discussion afterwards holds.