Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Blog Post #13
Brian Crosby's video "Back to the Future" was very interesting to see. He teaches a set of students through 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. Of course some will move and come in and out, but I am assuming most stay essentially the same. The students he teaches, more than 90%, are second language learners. The students are also children of poverty.
In Brian Crosby's class, he has one computer for every student. He goes into a couple of the projects that he does, and the students response. Instead of testing the students on why the class did the project and the outcome, he will have each student blog about the project. The students will embed the video on the project and talk about why the project works.
One of the projects the class did is send a balloon into the earth's atmosphere. Mr. Crosby had the students write a story as if they were the balloon. They embedded pictures taken from the camera attacked to the balloon, and pictures taken from the launch.
Active learning is Mr. Crosby's main teaching thought, much like Dr. Strange's thought process. I have said many times that I disliked this thought process for the first part of this semester. It took me a couple weeks to get use to this idea of rather than asking the teacher what to do or having the teacher tell me exactly what to do, I had to figure it out for myself. It was mind blowing to me and honestly, has changed my outlook on learning.
Mr. Crosby's students look excited and wanting to learn in all of his videos. In the times I would shadow teachers, the second language learners never looked like that way. They looked bored, and when called on to answer a question, they 80% of the time did not know it or need help to understand what the question was asking. Which I though was understandable, because they were second language learners. Although I have not seen Mr. Crosby's students when called upon but active learning did them like it has done to me then they are doing fantastic in their classes.
Another thing I like about Mr. Crosby is that he teaches through activities. I am a hands on type of girl. I guess I learn better than way. I learn and want to teach by the motto of "Teach me; I'll forget. Show me; I'll remember. Involve me; I'll understand." It actually is a Chinese proverb. I have a feeling Mr. Crosby goes by it too.
The first thing that anyone watching "A Vision of Students Today" that is a student in any college or university at least in the US that is "I Know!" The 200 students at Kansas State helped to form what was to be said in this video that ranged from "18% of my teacher know my name", "I complete 49% of the assigned reading", "I will spend 3 1/2 hours a day online", "I will be in $20,000 in debt after graduation". This video did not just mention all the things that the teachers, students, or the colleges and universities are doing wrong, but what is happening in a whole.
I think that this video is a dramatic message to teachers and administrators. First, the thing that I think a great deal of college student will be going through is that debt. I understand some of the thing that a college student has to pay for, yet some are a little much. I am not going into specifics on that subject. I know that I as a college student do not read all of my assignments. I do not think any college student could and get all their work done. Also there are some teachers who still give us busy work, which I do not understand. The reason for busy work in the grade schools was literally to keep the students busy, yet we, college students, have a lot of other work more than likey to do for that class as well. So we could just work on that big project at the end of the semester. I am not talking about this or any class I have this semester. I actually love all my teac
Monday, November 19, 2012
Final Report on my PLN
Progress Report on Final Project
Comments for Kids: November
The first comment I did for November was for two teachers that were in a conference in Ireland. They were blogging about all that they were seeing. The blog I commented about was telling about the National Gallery of Ireland. The blog was fittingly titled "National Gallery of Ireland", and my comment was this:
Hi! My name is Maria and I am also a student at University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange's EDM 310. I am currently going to school to become an elementary teacher. I loved reading about the National Gallery of Ireland. My great grandparents emigrated from Ireland when they were children. So naturally I enjoy anything for Ireland. I am excited to look through more of your blog posts. Have a great time in Ireland.
http://eschbachmariaedm310.blogspot.com/
C4K #8
My second comment for November was for Daniel. He did a blog post about the Eiffel Tower which was very informative. The blog was titled "The Tower of Eiffel", and my comment was this:
Hi Daniel.
My name is Maria. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your blog post about the Eiffel Tower. I never knew that the Eiffel Tower had so many steps! I also was intrigued to find out that the Eiffel Tower was made in celebration of The French Revolution. I hope you continue blogging!
Maria
My blog
C4K #9
My third comment for November was for Emma. Emma's blog post was about what she did for during the month of September. She said she build a ski-ball game out of used cardboard which I loved! Emma's class also had Dot Day where they went around and drew dots on the sidewalk in celebration of "Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. Emma's post is titled "September Reflections". My comment was this:
Hi Emma,
My name is Maria, and I am a student at University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I wish I could have seen your ski-ball machine! It sounds like it would be a lot of fun to build and play with. Keep using your imagination and building things!
My blog
Maria
C4K #10
My fourth for comment for November was for Brooke Emmons. Brooke's blog post was about "The Caged Bird". She compared Melinda and the caged bird. Brooke said that both Melinda and the caged bird want to be free. Brooke's blog post is titled "Melinda- The Caged Bird". My comment is this:
Hi Brooke,
My name is Maria. I am a student at University of South Alabama, and I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I liked your analysis of "The Caged Bird". I have not read it before, but I feel as though I understand the story with your description. Keep reading!
My blog
Maria
Friday, November 16, 2012
Blog Post #12
For this week, Dr. Strange has us making our own blog post. After much deliberation of how I wanted to do this, I found a great blog post, and it did can be used for all grade levels. After which I found a video by Sir Ken Robinson dealing with the same subject.
The instruction would be this:
1. A. Read this blog:
Engaging Parents: An Elementary Teacher's Field Guide
Summarize and describe your thoughts and reactions.
B. Send Gaetan pappalardo (@gaetanp ) a thank you Tweet. Mark it #edm310 so I will see your Tweet.
2. Watch this video. You can start at 35mins into the video. :
Sir Ken Robinson - Educating the Heart and Mind.
Summarize key points and relay your thoughts.
Follow the requirements in Writing A Quality Blog Post.
My assignment
Engaging Parents
Gaetan Pappalardo caught my attention by his first paragraph in Engaging Parents: An Elementary Teacher’s Field Guide. He talks about how he loves watching new teachers. How new teachers are pretty much running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Another thing I liked is that he was honest. In the next paragraph, Pappalardo said that the beginning of school meetings with parents may be the only time teacher will see or speak to parents. Teachers need to take advantage of this. This is the basis of his blog post.
He continues his blog by saying that parents do not care about teachers qualifications. Pappalardo follows this by saying that “Parents value how a teacher makes their child feel, over if he/she remembers the capital of Utah.” Parents want their child to be valued and loved in school. Pappalardo then brought up the obvious point that love is not the “in” thing right now. The “in” thing is getting the numbers in standardized test scores which will case less of the love. So what is the answer? Pappalardo does not know, but he believes that a part of it has to come from parents. Yet all this has to start with dialogue. He ends his blog saying that he will post one positive tweet a day. He shares all his hash tags so you can do or follow them.
I really liked the picture he gave of first time students. I know that the teachers he describes, in part, will be me. I found it surprising at first that parents do not care about teacher’s credentials. I feel like this whole blog post is like Pappalardo says “a hippy moment” but if more than two people are saying it, one of them being the Dali Lama. Then it has to be true.
I feel as though teachers are on such a tight teaching schedule that they do not have any time do to activities let alone make sure that the student feels loved. Not to mention in some places a teachers are not even allowed to hug the younger elementary children because it is not professional. That is not showing the love.
As for parents having the power, I totally agree. I think teachers have been complaining about this since it started and we still have standardized test. If parents were more active in the dialogue or more parents were active in it, then more people may listen.
Sir Ken Robinson - Educating the Heart and Mind
“Most people have no idea what they are capable of.”
Sir Ken Robinson says that the dropout rate in the US is 40% in his video “Educating the Heart and Mind”. He continues by saying that the suicide rates, especially in people from 15-20, are in historically high rates. Young men are four times more likely to commit suicide than young women. Suicide is also the 4th highest cause of death in the world. He continues with more statistics about people in jail or going to jail and unemployment. One that startles me is that 900,000 cases of ADHD were misdiagnosed in the US.
Sir Robinson touches on the creativity that he talked so strongly about in the TED conference, but his main objective here was to talk about the empathy of humans. He says that “we shut empathy off so we can do things that are unimaginable.” The reason that people are so lost and depressed is because they lost their connection to themselves. They have no sense of themselves.
What does this all have to do which education? Sir Robinson says it is part of the problem for this, and it also needs to be part of the solution. What do we do about it? First to recognize that education that is personal. Sir Robinson suggests Alternative Education, although he thinks that it is funny that it is called Alternative Education. The second is that arts need to be a part of education. Music and art is how we experience our own individuality, Sir Robinson points out. The third and final is mindfulness or to focus in on themselves, to have the children practice a form of meditation essentially.
Sir Robinson’s first point has the same problem that Gaetan Pappalardo’s blog pointed out, standardized test. It is hard for a teacher to make education personal while the pressure. It is not impossible. Many great teachers do a fantastic job at it, but I believe it is at the core of our problem. Teachers are not allowed to teach to the students but to the test.
I think that a good point that Sir Robinson pointed out that in this technology age especially after learning so much in this class we need to remember that children are not data driven. I do not mean I am not going to teach with technology. I am so excited about the prospect of it. I mean that we need to use technology as a tool and be able to teach the whole child.
The instruction would be this:
1. A. Read this blog:
Engaging Parents: An Elementary Teacher's Field Guide
Summarize and describe your thoughts and reactions.
B. Send Gaetan pappalardo (@gaetanp ) a thank you Tweet. Mark it #edm310 so I will see your Tweet.
2. Watch this video. You can start at 35mins into the video. :
Sir Ken Robinson - Educating the Heart and Mind.
Summarize key points and relay your thoughts.
Follow the requirements in Writing A Quality Blog Post.
My assignment
Gaetan Pappalardo caught my attention by his first paragraph in Engaging Parents: An Elementary Teacher’s Field Guide. He talks about how he loves watching new teachers. How new teachers are pretty much running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Another thing I liked is that he was honest. In the next paragraph, Pappalardo said that the beginning of school meetings with parents may be the only time teacher will see or speak to parents. Teachers need to take advantage of this. This is the basis of his blog post.
He continues his blog by saying that parents do not care about teachers qualifications. Pappalardo follows this by saying that “Parents value how a teacher makes their child feel, over if he/she remembers the capital of Utah.” Parents want their child to be valued and loved in school. Pappalardo then brought up the obvious point that love is not the “in” thing right now. The “in” thing is getting the numbers in standardized test scores which will case less of the love. So what is the answer? Pappalardo does not know, but he believes that a part of it has to come from parents. Yet all this has to start with dialogue. He ends his blog saying that he will post one positive tweet a day. He shares all his hash tags so you can do or follow them.
I really liked the picture he gave of first time students. I know that the teachers he describes, in part, will be me. I found it surprising at first that parents do not care about teacher’s credentials. I feel like this whole blog post is like Pappalardo says “a hippy moment” but if more than two people are saying it, one of them being the Dali Lama. Then it has to be true.
I feel as though teachers are on such a tight teaching schedule that they do not have any time do to activities let alone make sure that the student feels loved. Not to mention in some places a teachers are not even allowed to hug the younger elementary children because it is not professional. That is not showing the love.
As for parents having the power, I totally agree. I think teachers have been complaining about this since it started and we still have standardized test. If parents were more active in the dialogue or more parents were active in it, then more people may listen.
“Most people have no idea what they are capable of.”
Sir Ken Robinson says that the dropout rate in the US is 40% in his video “Educating the Heart and Mind”. He continues by saying that the suicide rates, especially in people from 15-20, are in historically high rates. Young men are four times more likely to commit suicide than young women. Suicide is also the 4th highest cause of death in the world. He continues with more statistics about people in jail or going to jail and unemployment. One that startles me is that 900,000 cases of ADHD were misdiagnosed in the US.
Sir Robinson touches on the creativity that he talked so strongly about in the TED conference, but his main objective here was to talk about the empathy of humans. He says that “we shut empathy off so we can do things that are unimaginable.” The reason that people are so lost and depressed is because they lost their connection to themselves. They have no sense of themselves.
What does this all have to do which education? Sir Robinson says it is part of the problem for this, and it also needs to be part of the solution. What do we do about it? First to recognize that education that is personal. Sir Robinson suggests Alternative Education, although he thinks that it is funny that it is called Alternative Education. The second is that arts need to be a part of education. Music and art is how we experience our own individuality, Sir Robinson points out. The third and final is mindfulness or to focus in on themselves, to have the children practice a form of meditation essentially.
Sir Robinson’s first point has the same problem that Gaetan Pappalardo’s blog pointed out, standardized test. It is hard for a teacher to make education personal while the pressure. It is not impossible. Many great teachers do a fantastic job at it, but I believe it is at the core of our problem. Teachers are not allowed to teach to the students but to the test.
I think that a good point that Sir Robinson pointed out that in this technology age especially after learning so much in this class we need to remember that children are not data driven. I do not mean I am not going to teach with technology. I am so excited about the prospect of it. I mean that we need to use technology as a tool and be able to teach the whole child.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Project # 13
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Comments for Teachers #3
Jarrod Robinson or Mr. Robbo is is a Physical Education teacher from country Victoria Australia. I commented on his blog post "The Video Analysis App Battle". This post was about the apps for video analysis for coaching and which are the best. He had six apps listed that the reads were to click on and vote on which were the best in a poll at the end of the post. Mr. Robbo's poll concluded that Coaches Eye was the best video analysis app. Although I do not know for sure what makes a good app, I made a go at it in my comment:
Hi,
My name is Maria. I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I do not know a lot about these types of apps, but I like Ubersense and Coach My Video because they are free. I like any app that is free because then students, parents, and teachers (or in this case coaches) can all have the app. I also liked the look of Coaches Eye. I liked that there were different colors for different highlighted points. Only down point about that app it was one of the more expensive.
My blog
Maria
App for Android
The second blog post I commented on from Jarrod Robinson was about an app for an android phone for PE teachers. This app was to help measure the fitness level of anyone. Although I am a newly lover of all things Mac, I am glad there is things out there for those who disagree. The blog post is titled "Fitness App for Android". My comment was this:
Hi!
Maria Eschbach from Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class here again. This app is interesting. I think that it is great that this is available for those who do not have apple products. Also I think that this app will be very beneficial to PE teachers. I know that mine did a lot of guess work. So there would be no excuse now.
My blog
Maria
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Blog Post #11
In the video "Little Kids...Big Potential", the first graders talked about all the technological things that they do in Ms. Cassidy's class. The first graders talked about how their writing has improved while writing on their blogs. Before this class, I would not have understood this, but I agree. I think that my writing, or at least my grammar and editing have improved. They went on to talk about using wikis, videos, Nintendo DS, and Skype.
I love just seeing the pictures and how focused the children are with the computer. It would be hard to see a child that focuses on a book in first grade. I loved the idea of using wiki to better understand things like traditions. I think that using something online and getting several people to comment on it will get a more comprehensive answer to a question. I thought it was interesting to hear about using an Nintendo DS to help with problem solving and sharing.
Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy
In her interview with Dr Strange, Ms. Cassidy goes into detail about how she started with technology. She mentions that she started with five computers that she could not put any software on, but they had internet access. She started to research what she could do with them which expanded into blogging and other things.
Ms. Cassidy says in her interview that she is always pushing the envelope with her technology coordinator. I hope I can say this when I become a teacher. I want to be at my administrators door saying, "Look at this cool new thing!". She goes on to say that not all administrators support her technology driven classroom. I wonder how it is to work with that. I asked her on twitter. I am waiting on a comment back.
Although there has been talk about it in my previous blogs and videos I have seen, I guess I have never thought about how much this will be a blessing for parents. Ms. Cassidy said that parents love it because they can see how their children are doing whenever is convenient for them, not just at parent-teacher night. She then mentions: "technology and children go hand and hand". That is a statement I need to remember! "They like not having to power down when they are at school." This mentality is probably the reason why the children in the pictures look so focused. Another thing Ms. Cassidy said that I had not thought was that children get excited about writing for many people. Why write on pencil and paper for just me? I never thought of it that way.
I like the idea of having a classroom hub website. Ms. Cassidy mentions how she tells her students not to click on the advertisements on the sides of the website. I like the idea of having one website where a student can find links to all the websites they need for the class like a symbaloo of sorts.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Comments for Kids: October
My first student I commented on in October was Anttub954. This student wrote a very imaginative story about Thanksgiving called "The Wacky Thanksgiving". It started like any normal Thanksgiving story, but then everything went wrong. This student has a great imagination. This was my comment:
Hi Anttub954! My name is Maria. I am a college student in Alabama at the University of South Alabama. I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I really enjoyed your story. I thought it was going to be a normal Thanksgiving story, but it changed into something I have never heard before. You have a great imagination. I hope you never lose it and continue writing stories.
C4K #4
The second student I commented on was themcpatrick. The blog was called "Group Work" which got my attention. This student had great ideas about how to successfully work in a group. Some things that I learned the hard way. My comment was this:
Hi themcpatrick! My name is Maria, and I am a student at University of South Alabama. I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I like you do not like to have group projects. It seems I always get paired or grouped up with someone who does not want to do any work. You made great points about how to improve any situation. Even if there is no problem with your group members, with these points the group will make sure that no problems arise. I am going to save these and use them later on. Great job! Wish I read this when I was in high school.
C4K #5
The third student I commented on has the code name Skywalker which he said in an earlier post was not his real name, but he liked it. I liked it as well. He wrote in his blog titled "A Long Weekend" about Terry Fox Day which I did not know what this was. I looked it up and found out this day is about cancer research and exercise. I think this is a great day to have for students to help them understand what cancer is. My comment to Skywalker was:
Hi Skywalker,
I really like your "name". My name is Maria, and I am a student at University of South Alabama in the US. I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I found your post interesting because we do not have Terry Fox Day in the States. I looked Terry Fox Day on the internet and now know what it is. I hope you continue with you blog, and the use of the internet. I know it has been a great help to me.
C4K #6
My fourth and final student I commented on for the month of October was Matthew. He did an analysis of "The Outsiders" titled "The Outsiders Characterization: Dally". My comment was:
Hi Matthew. My name is Maria. I am studying at the University of South Alabama to become an elementary teacher. I like your analysis of “The Outsiders”. I have not read the book since I was in the 7th grade, but your thoughts on it brought me back to the story. Keep reading!
Maria
http://eschbachmariaedm310.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Special Blog Assignment
A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind
USA TODAY was celebrating its 30th anniversary and commemorating this event, some of the USA's greatest visionaries were interviewed for an article titled "A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind". Mary Beth Marklein, the author of the article, asked these people to talk about the world of tomorrow as they see it.
She first interviewed Sebastian Thrun who is a "Google vice president and Stanford research professor best known for his role in building Google's driverless car." He is the founder of Udacity which is a free online educational company. Udacity offers courses like Programming Languages, Design of Computer Programs, and Artificial Intelligence.
The next visionary Marklein interviewed was Sal Kahn. He is best known for flipping classrooms. Flipping a classroom is where students learn the lesson at home and then do activities, homework, or further learning in the classroom.
The article mentions Kahn's thoughts on the future of education, or the way he would like education to look in 30 years. He mentions that grades are "the failure of the education system". I have heard that many people want to get rid of standardized tests, and I agree with that. Yet his thoughts on getting rid of all grades caught me off guard. Kahn said he would like a system to be on mastery of a concept or skill. The student would be able to take as much or as little time as needed to master the skill. I honestly do not know how I feel about this. All I think about is the simulation lab in nursing school. I wonder how mastery of a skill would be tested. Would it be tested?
Another thing that struck me was that Kahn is "aim(ing) to make an online college education as affordable as a cellphone bill," and Thrun has a free online college. I am with the rest of college students out there wanting cheaper tuition cost, but I am a realist to a point. I wonder how it is that there is enough money to pay teachers and other staff if the cost is as low as a cellphone bill or lower. I do not see this happening. I wish it would, so I would not have to save up for my children's education.
She first interviewed Sebastian Thrun who is a "Google vice president and Stanford research professor best known for his role in building Google's driverless car." He is the founder of Udacity which is a free online educational company. Udacity offers courses like Programming Languages, Design of Computer Programs, and Artificial Intelligence.
The next visionary Marklein interviewed was Sal Kahn. He is best known for flipping classrooms. Flipping a classroom is where students learn the lesson at home and then do activities, homework, or further learning in the classroom.
The article mentions Kahn's thoughts on the future of education, or the way he would like education to look in 30 years. He mentions that grades are "the failure of the education system". I have heard that many people want to get rid of standardized tests, and I agree with that. Yet his thoughts on getting rid of all grades caught me off guard. Kahn said he would like a system to be on mastery of a concept or skill. The student would be able to take as much or as little time as needed to master the skill. I honestly do not know how I feel about this. All I think about is the simulation lab in nursing school. I wonder how mastery of a skill would be tested. Would it be tested?
Another thing that struck me was that Kahn is "aim(ing) to make an online college education as affordable as a cellphone bill," and Thrun has a free online college. I am with the rest of college students out there wanting cheaper tuition cost, but I am a realist to a point. I wonder how it is that there is enough money to pay teachers and other staff if the cost is as low as a cellphone bill or lower. I do not see this happening. I wish it would, so I would not have to save up for my children's education.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Blog Post # 10
When I saw this cartoon, I thought of the commercial that was seen a couple of months to a year ago comparing a PC to a Mac. The Papermate would be the PC in this cartoon, and the Ticonderoga would be the Mac. The Papermate is saying he costs least, but he breaks more, which I feel is like PCs now. I feel that my PC might just shut down sense I said that. While the Ticonderoga says that he is the most expensive purchase a hipster will ever make. I know that there is a joke in there that I am not aware of or do not understand. Yet what I do understand is that even though Macs are more expensive, they are more trustworthy and have technology that is easier to use once you understand how to use them.
This reminds me of a comparison I found which compared PC and Mac owners. Which made me think, which person do I what to be?
Adventures in Pencil Integration
In "Why are your kids playing games?", John Spencer uses his a satire approach to get people's attention. In this story, a principal calls in his character and scolds him for allowing students to play games. John Spencer's character even says that doctors use the approach of playing games to learn, but the principal will not listen.
I think that this way of writing is fantastic. It makes people think about how silly they are thinking, especially about a topic such as this. Students need to be able to play games. Playing games helps them learn and helps them to connect what they are learning to the bigger picture.
I read several more of John Spencer's blog post, but another one stood out to me. This blog was titled "The Con Academy". This post has the same unique way of spelling out John Spencer's thoughts on a topic. The topic though was flipping the classroom. He has quite a different view on flipping a classroom than other blog post and videos I have seen. Spencer's post mentions that this is not a true flipped classroom, yet it appears that he has some strong words against it.
Don’t teach your kids this stuff.
Dr. Scott McLeod's blog titled Dangerously Irrelevant. Dr. McLeod is the co-creator of the Shift Happens series which have been seen by over 40 million people worldwide. In his biography, I found that he is also "is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues." Dr. Scott McLeod's blog post, "Don't teach your kids this stuff, Please", had great sarcasm to it. It spoke how parents, teachers, administrators, and board members should not teach children about computers. Dr. McLeod did not stop at computers though. He continued with scanners, PLN, how to make videos, do social networking, and so much more that I do not think he missed one. I also think he did not miss one of the reasons why parents, teachers, and so on do not teacher the children about all that is listed above.
I enjoyed reading this because I know these people. They are in my family. I will not say any names. Yet after learning how much technology can help in schoolwork and in a classroom, I wonder why it is that people are afraid of technology. I think it is because they do not understand it. It is the American way. If you do not understand something than it has to be bad for you, we cannot learn what it is.
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