My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now COMPLETE.

I enjoyed being in EDM 310 and wish everyone the best of luck. I hope the rest of your careers are full of learning and leading. Good luck with student teaching and know that the first year of teaching is going to be tough, but hang in there! Teaching is the most rewarding occupation out there. When you see the light bulb go off in a student who is struggling, or when you here a student say,"You're my favorite teacher" you will understand what I mean.

ACCESS visit

I chose to visit Alba Middle School to observe the ACCESS lab. Alba Middle School is located in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Bayou La Batre is my home town and I graduated from Alba High School.  At one time the campus was home to grades K-12. A new high school and elementary school were built and the old facility became the middle school. I thought only high schools had ACCESS labs, but to my surprise this middle school has a fully functional lab.  I contacted the science department at this school (because I wanted to know how a science teacher incorporates this lab) and a 7th grade teacher named Andra Meredith was able to give me a tour and answer my questions. She was very helpful and accommodating.

    

 The lab had 6 round tables with 4 to 5 chairs around them.  There were two 42 inch flat screen monitors on opposite walls of the room and a teacher's station in the front of the room.  Mrs. Meredith had used this lab several days before my visit.  Her students have been learning about food chains and predators and prey.  She had scheduled a field biologist to talk with her students about predators and how owl pellets (owl pellets are oval shaped masses of indigestible remains of animals preyed upon by birds of prey) are used to determine many factors about a certain area.  On the day of my visit Mrs. Meredith's class was dissecting and examining owl pellets that the biologist had talked about.   Click on this link to see an example of the lab and how to order them.  I have dissected owl pellets before and it was interesting to see how another teacher presents the same  lab.  I loved how she incorporated the learning lab into her lesson and gave the lab a real life application.  Mrs. Meredith is eager to incorporate other classes into this activity by using their portable lab and by making contacts at various schools in the county.

My visit to see the lab and how it is used has been very beneficial. Once I return to the classroom and if I am teaching at a high school with an ACCESS lab, I have a better understanding of how the lab can be used.  Mrs. Meredith gave me so many ideas, and I was encouraged to see how easy it is to incorporate into a class.  I look forward to this opportunity that has been made available to teachers by the state of Alabama.

Did I learn?

I have a confession to make. I took the 1997 version of this course at USA, and from what I can remember of that class (12 years ago) I did not learn near as much in that class as I have in this class. The topics covered in this class (EDM310) have been practical, interesting, and will easily be Incorporated into teaching. Before taking this class I did not know anything about blogs or pod casts. I am very capable of creating, editing, and maintaining a blog or two. I am excited about the possibilities of blogging in the classroom. I liked the fact that our blogs were a project that lasted the entire semester and it was an ongoing responsibility for the students. I enjoyed looking at everyone else's blogs. I was able to look at the others and confirm questions I had about assignments. The podcast was right up my alley. I enjoyed creating and recording the podcast. Working with other classmates on this project made the podcast enjoyable and interesting. Before completing this assignment I had no idea what a podcast was or why they were necessary. I now understand what a tremendous tool a podcast can be for teachers. I get excited just thinking of the possibilities of pod casts in the classroom.

The only thing I can think of that I would have liked to learn about in this class would be the actual process of recording, editing, and unloading a podcast. Mrs. Averrit explained to me briefly the process that is involved in pod casting and it sounds fairly simple. Recording the podcast was fun and novel, but would have been more beneficial for the "soon to be teacher" if the how to podcast was covered.

This class was a pleasant surprise for me. I did not know what to expect, and have been very pleased with what we have covered and how it was covered. This class may be the first useful education class I have taken (no offense to previous education classes) in a while.

Week 15 post

The Edible School Yard video podcast was about Martin Lither King Jr. Middle School's gardening program.  The students and teachers are responsible for planting, maintaining, and harvesting the garden.  As the garden is being taken care of the teachers use every aspect of gardening to teach the students in a way that is most beneficial.  It is almost like the students are learning and don't even know it.  The garden helps the students develop a huge amount of pride in what they are doing and learn teamwork and basic life skills.  In the video the students seemed to very engaged and interested.  In this type of setting the normal classroom problems did not seem to occur.  The gardening experience is so novel that traditional classroom management does not apply.  The smartest kid may not stand out as such and every type of student has a chance to shine.

The second video podcast was about students spending a day in the shoes of the less fortunate.  The students are placed into groups and then sent to different "camps" to live out the night as hungry, poor people.  Each group is given different supplies and no one has everything they need to cook food.  They have to interact within their own groups and go out and work together with the other groups.  Through this experience they are able to get a small glimpse into the lives of people that live in countries like Guatemala, countries in Africa, Thailand, and refugee camps.  The global village activity is an outstanding way to get kids out of their comfort zones and get them to thinking about others and how to help those who need our help.

Both of the podcasts have given me ideas of things I can do, on a smaller scale, in my classroom or in my school.  Teamwork was highlighted in both these podcasts, and I think that this is one of the most important parts of an effective and positive learning experience.  In science classes the teacher gets to have lab groups and the students are placed in groups and are expected to work well with one another.  At the beginning of the school year I would have to give points to groups that worked well together in order to get them to work as a team.  As the year went on and the students became a team, the points were not necessary.  Students must be part of the team and learn to work with those who are not the easiest to work with.  This is a life skill that is necessary for a healthy adult hood.  

Another aspect that was mirrored in both podcasts was the real life application.  The students with the edible schoolyard were able to use what they learned in their own lives and it helped them understand the world around them.  The students in the global village were able to understand better the circumstances of people of different races and cultures. These students were nudged in a direction of action.  Some of them wanted to find out more about how to help others in need.  As a teacher I need to find ways to help my students learn science while at the same time learn real life lessons.  By looking at the big picture and analyzing lessons in that perspective I could fit more life skills into my class and know that these lessons could open the eyes of students to a needy world they live in.

Week 14 post-Pluses and Minuses of Blogging

I chose Lynda's blog for this assignment.  I enjoyed her point of view on certain topics.  I could almost imagine her talking to me through the blog.  She was very informal and laid back when she wrote about the topics covered.  This laid back attitude made her blog an easy read.   I took the time to look at two other student blogs and when I compared all four of ours it was interesting to see how we thought alike and at the same time we were completely different.  

There are many pluses to using blogging in the classroom.  I want to focus on 3 major pluses.  In reading Lynda's  blog I could see right off the bat one of the pluses of blogging in the classroom.  I was able to see exactly what she had learned through doing her assignment and posting to her blog.  It is homework.  Blogs are very beneficial when it comes time to check certain  homework assignments.  Students would know the deadline and that deadline would have to be met.  No more excuses like,"I put it on your desk yesterday", or "I found it on the floor next to the basket, and you never graded it".  The excuses that drive me crazy would be no more.  So I guess Plus #1 would be student accountability.  A classroom blog would hold the students accountable on a whole new level.  Plus #2 is the efficiency of blogging.  Less paper would be used, and teacher's would have all students assignments at her fingertips.  There would be no more huge stacks of papers to grade.  All the teacher would need is her computer and the Internet.  We have used hardly any paper in EDM 310 and Mrs. Averitt was able to check our homework at her leisure.  Plus #3 about blogging in the classroom is the fact that everyone is entitled to voice their own opinion.  Lynda was able to share what Randy Pausch's last lecture meant to her at this stage in her life, and I really enjoyed reading about what she thought.  It helped me know her better.  Blogging helps us get to know one another without even talking.

Since I mentioned 3 pluses in the above paragraph I will list 3 minuses in the following paragraph.  Minus #1 would be the inability of a teacher being able to ensure that each student is doing his or her own posts.  Anyone could log on and write a post for me and no one would be the wiser (not that I am guilty of this, but it could happen).  I knew of a person in college that would write papers for people and this person made a good bit of money.  So why would it be any different in the age of technology.  Minus #2  is that the information that is posted to the blog is out there and pretty much anyone can read it.  That is a little worrisome when it comes to younger students.  Parents would have access to student work and could compare and question certain aspects of your assignments.  The last minus I think is worth mentioning is the students' access to the Internet.  It seems that everyone is on-line these days, but teachers can not assume that every student has access to the Internet or even to a computer at home.  Probably 95% of students do have access, but a teacher has to consider the other 5% that does not have access.  

Blogging offers so many options to teachers.  It is a teacher's responsibility to make sure how blogging is used is beneficial and fair to his or her students.  There are many positive aspects to blogging and there are just as many negative aspects.  This is just the way it is.  Talented and innovative teachers are able to enhance the positives and reduce the negatives.  Over all I think that blogging is going to become a more prevalent part of the classroom.

Week 13- EDM310 podcasts

I listened to the following podcasts for this weeks assignment:  ss0513, ss0414, ss0216, and  the interview with Dr. Strange (there was no identification number for this one).  The first podcast I listened to was about burp back education.  This is a topic that Dr. Strange addresses in his class.  This group did a good job.  Their introductions were nicely done and I like how they stated their goals along with telling us a little about themselves.  I followed this podcast easily and thought it was very organized and very well thought out.  The students gave good explanations and good examples when needed.  The group leader kept the podcast moving and the group members responded well to one another.  There were a few "ums" and one group member needed to be careful of how she pronounced certain words.  For example, she said "thang" instead of "thing".  This podcast had a good flow to it, a good pace, and very good direction.

The second podcast was a interview of Dr. Strange.  His voice was clear, and loud.  He made the listener feel comfortable and his thought process was easy to follow.  The podcast had a good flow, but I was a little distracted by the clicking noise I heard every now and then.  The third podcast I listened to about useful websites was a good example of how a group should take turns.  This group was very informative and kept the conversation moving.  The sites that were provided were good and were each a little different than the other.  The guy in this group needed to be careful of his "um"'s and "uh"'s.  He seemed to not be as comfortable about what he was saying.  One lady in this group needed to be careful of the grammar she was using.  But over all this podcast was good and the group seemed very comfortable with what they were doing.

The fourth and final podcast was about technology used in the classrooms at USA.  This was the least informative podcast I listened to.  The guy in this group talked about a cool technology that some of the teachers use and he was very informative.  He answered questions from his group members very well.  The other two members did not shed any light on technology being used that I did not already know about.  I feel they could have dug a little deeper and came up with better information than what they did.    I tried to listen to my podcast but it is not available yet, but I was there when it was recorded and have a feeling that we did a good job.

The 

Week 12 Post

This weeks assignment was to listen to 2 podcasts given by Judy Chanlder, a math teacher in Maine. Her topic was using technology in teaching math. She began her first podcast listing many of the excuses teachers use to justify their decision not to use technology in the classroom. A few of the excuses were: "Technology is an add on", "I have not time to learn how to use it", "I have to cover what's in the book first"' "I have students who are successful with out technology", "Students are getting it"' "What would technology bring to my class?". The National Teachers of Mathematics states that technology is essential in learning math and enhances learning. When technology is used the students are more interested and become more engaged. There are many advantages to using technology in the math class. A few of them are as follows: Students receive instant feedback with technology tools that are used, Technology uniquely address the individual needs of students and encourage different levels of critical thinking, technology gives good visual examples, and technology gives a teacher alternative ways to present information. What teachers don't realize is that they actually gain class time by using technology, because some of the technology that is available can cover several lessons at one time. Using technology in a class room promotes greater learning and engages students in multi-sensory learning.

The second podcast focused on what type of questions teachers ask their students. The questions that guide learning and focuses the learning of the students. Using technology helps the students explore, investigate, "play with", and ask why? The questions that are generated guide the students to think and reason, and in return they remember better what they are learning. A traditional math class is lesson by lesson and chapter by chapter. Some students are not able to learn this way and become frustrated and become dis-engaged. Other students memorize useless information and do well on the test, but soon forget what they memorized. By engaging them with the latest technology (visual models, differentiated instruction, real world applications) the teacher creates a different way of learning.

As a former teacher I remember how frustrated our technology coordinator would get when "those" teachers refused to attend any workshop that had anything to do with new technology. "Those" teachers used the computer for making tests and checking e-mail and that was enough for them. I was the opposite. I was eager to use whatever I could in my classroom to enhance my students learning. And by doing this I saw first hand what a difference it made in student participation, pride, and grades. I have a son who is 6 and can use a laptop better than I can. Technology is here to stay and will only get more popular. Teachers should feel an obligation to be "up to snuff" on the latest and be able to incorporate it into their lessons. 

Technology opens the door to so many possibilities of learning.  I used it as often as I could when I taught.  My students participated in making and using a database, completing a webquest(that I created), played review games on Quia(that I created), made travel brochures, power points, and many others.  On the days we used technology a person could feel the excitement as the students walked in my room.  It is true that sometimes technology isn't easy to use or the server is down or a kid forgets his password, but it is worth the headaches and the temporary frustration.  Every teacher should do their best to incorporate as much technology as possible.  The students will love them for it.