Blog Post #10

Little Kids...Big Potential

In Mrs. Cassidy's first video, her first graders talk all about writing their blog and how much fun it is for them. They know that blogging on a regular basis improves their writing and the comments their parents, siblings, and other students are really exciting to them. Their classroom home webpage is accessible at any time and the students use it as a source. Another source they use is Wiki. They've used it to get different information on traditions and rituals. They have made videos about things they learn, which is something that is useful to look back and review. As first graders, they use Skype! They use it to have reading buddies, something different from when I was that age.

Interview with Mrs. Cassidy #1

Mrs. Cassidy got into computers when her class was given 5 computers 10 years ago. She started trying to make different webpages and utilize the online resources since those computers could not have applications be downloaded. They finally settled on blogging. Mrs. Cassidy's class is very excited about how much technology they have to use. To discouragers, Mrs. Cassidy says that technology is not going away and it is a necessity to use it as it comes.

Interview with Mrs. Cassidy #2

It is important to start the technology where you're interested - video, photography, blogging. She also discusses the importance of Twitter, calling it the "old people version of Facebook." I disagree with that. More people from my high school would scroll through hours of Twitter before Facebook. While Twitter might be useful, I still have not gotten a hang of using it, it is still quite pointless to me.

Interview with Mrs. Cassidy #3

Mrs. Cassidy has very good views on cheating. She believes that as long as it is presented differently, it is just collaboration. It's an additional source of information, like googling a topic. Every time we do something we collaborate on it, but as long as we make it our own it should not be considered cheating. She has become very involved in her laptop during the evening and in her personal time, but she says that is just the way her life is at the moment.

Mrs. Cassidy had some very good points throughout her video. Like it or not the times are changing and technology is happening all around us. As she points out we need to get with the times and accept it, or face the risk of hurting our students in the future.

C4K March

Alex Gu's Blog Post
In his blog post, Alex talks about Senator Crawford coming and talking to his class. She told them about the unicameral government and talked about the way it works.

Kirstin Bailey

Your comment is awaiting moderation. 

March 10, 2015 at 11:49 AM

She sounds very educated and smart. It would be fun to learn about unicameral government from someone who was in it herself! I have never met her but she sounds amazing! Hopefully you get to sit and talk with her sometime!

Xochitl's Blog Post
Xochitl gives advice on starting high school. He talks about the importance of going to class and joining clubs and being a part of things.

Kirstin Bailey on March 22, 2015 at 1:39 amsaid:Your comment is awaiting moderation.
My name is Kirstin Bailey. I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. I moved the year I started my freshman year of high school and I really could’ve used this advice then! It’s very important to go to class and it’s great to join in on things. Good luck in high school.

Alivia's Blog Post

Alivia talks about Jonah from the bible and what he did in Biblical times. I think it's wonderful there is a school letting students discuss religion still. 

Kirstin Bailey (Guest)

Your comment is awaiting moderation. 

March 24, 2015 at 5:48 PM

Alivia, my name is Kirstin Bailey, I am a student at the University of South Alabama. First, I think it’s awesome that your school let you post something religious. You really have the story of Jonah down and you did a great job!

Project #9

The New Role of the Teacher!
Team Serval's Video Book Commentary

Project #13

Team Serval's Project #13
Team Serval's Lesson Plan
Team Serval's Rubric

Blog Post #9

What can teachers and students teach us about project based learning? There is so much we can learn from everyone about Project Based Learning. It is forever changing and there is always new ideas and thoughts that we would never have thought of on our own.

The Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning taught me many things I had not previously known. There are great ideas about introducing the projects and having a driving question. All seven of the topics listed are very important for PBL and essential to having a good PBL experience.

Project Based Learning for Teachers tells us about all that you can do with PBL. It explains how it ties in with common core standards and gives some benefits of using PBL over regular instruction in the classroom.

 High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL is all about high school teachers who come up with PBL for every subject - even math and PE. They discuss about how to come up with good ideas and presentation. This video bothered me a little because the teachers kept saying it was hard. You can't go into teaching for the summers and weekends off.

 In What Motivates Students, students tell us what motivates them and what they like as rewards. There are all kinds of things that motivate them, like being told they did well and their visions of the future. It's hard to believe that project based learning can be used in every aspect in education, but it can!

PBL in PE is an article that starts telling us about the six standards PBL easily meets. It also gives the students to be more creative in an area that they don't always get to be creative in. They can meet higher fitness levels, and set their own goals.

PBL is so amazing. There is so much we have to learn and so much we can use it for. It's interesting, exciting, stimulating, and all around fun for everyone. The teacher gets to put their creativity into the project and then the students can take that and spiral it off and way they see fit. It's a great look for the future to have things this cool and easy so readily available.

Blog Post #8

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?
Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
It's hard for us to accept death. We turn away from it, wanting to ignore it. Dr. Pausch embraces it and knows it will be his time soon and he gives some of the best lessons in his lecture.
Randy Pausch gave a great lecture about his childhood dreams. It is so important to pursue your childhood dreams and we often forget that, we just want a job that pays the bills. We never go for it like Dr. Pausch did. What he did was fantastic, following his dreams and going to teach at Carnegie Mellon, expanding their resources and knowledge into everything he did.

The way Dr. Pausch taught his students was very special. It was encouraging and exciting for them and rewarding for him. When they thought they'd done all they could on a project he would tell them they could do better. He got an entire school and even parents involved in what his students were doing, just by letting them do their own thing. It's interesting what you can learn when you're given the opportunity to an almost rule free project with endless possibilities. "Brick walls let us show our dedication." Dr. Pausch says that many times throughout his lecture. It's a reminder for what he did all throughout his life and what we as people need to do every day.

Randy Pausch gave notice to a lot of different people in his speech. He seems to recognize everyone that's helped him over the years, he's appreciative of them. That's a special trait because not everyone can appreciate people like that, let alone recognize them for all the help they've been to him in his lifetime. He really knew how to give thanks and give that special kind of recognition.

There's a lot we can learn from Randy Pausch, he was an excellent teacher and person. He allowed his students to be creative and use their own imagination. He is the true start of good project based learning. It's inspirational what he's done.

C4T #2 Angela Maiers

Post #1
WOW! Classroom Habitudes is all about the culture, I love that! Mrs. Maiers mixes all of the civilations she has to cover and allows children to make of list of what it would've required to work and live in that time period.

Kirstin Bailey • a few seconds ago

Hi Mrs. Maiers! My name is Kirstin Bailey, I am a student in the college of Education at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. You have just given me the first true concrete thing I know for 100% that I will do in my classroom! This idea is wonderful! You engage your students and they stay interested! That's something you can't always find. You're very inspirational!
Kirstin

Post #2
This post talks about how we do not teach children how to go beyond just the cookie cutter work. We don't teach children how to change the world. She gives 9 ways to change the world that we should be doing and we don't everyday. Children need to learn things like this.

Kirstin Bailey • a few seconds ago

This is very eye opening. We don't really think about how little we do this until we're faced with a post like this. It was wonderful to read and gave a good insight on how life should be. We need to stick together instead of breaking one another down, something that happens much too often. This post is a really good example of how we need to be living