Blog Post 10

Interview with Kathy Cassidy 

In the introduction video to Mrs. Cassidy's classroom we learn from her students how they incorporate technology in their learning. The students use blogging, wikis, and learning games throughout the semester. The students ask experts(or people with person experience) to answer their questions.

In the first interview session with Mrs. Cassidy she explain to us how and why she uses technology in the classroom. Mrs. Cassidy explains that in her classroom she likes to use blogging as a reading and writing tool. Many students will be asked to write a sentence on what they have read and share it to their blog. I noticed that when you put students in front of an audience they will put their best foot forward, giving their hardest work. I believe this is a great way to keep the school work meaningful. As we remember reading many short stories in grade school we probably do not remember any of the actual text. While these students are blogging about their reading they will be force to pay attention to the text and hopefully later retain more information on it. Mrs. Cassidy also share that she does most of the class blogging while in centers. She shares to us the first time she received 5 computers in her classroom she used this as a center. I thought this was a very resourceful task and as we know all educators must be resourceful.

Mrs. Cassidy also discusses technology literacy. She explained it best as keeping up with the times. She shared with us that times are changing which means our students our changing. Being able to make a power point and type would be able to cut it 5 years ago but would not today. Teachers must be able to keep their students engaged and with technology today possibilities are endless.

In the second interview session Mrs. Cassidy shares to us where to start. Many educators today want to include technology or at least get started with it in their world of education but have no idea where to start. Mrs. Cassidy suggest to start with the thing you are interested in, such as videos one could create a YouTube account.  I believe this advices transfer directly to our students. Find out what your students are interested in and go from there.

In the third interview session students sit down and ask Mrs. Cassidy questions they had about technology in the classroom. The question that stood out to me the most was "could blogging be a source of cheating" Mrs. Cassidy answered this question with a no and turned it back on the professors. She said we go all over gathering information from others, learning and brainstorming, how we are asked to present the information is the real task. Professors should ask their students to create causing them to make it their own and present the information they have gathered.

Blog Post #9

Project Based Learning

I believe the most important part of project based learning is meaning. The project should having meaning to your students, your audience, and your school curriculum. In Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning we learn the steps to create and affective PBL.

1. Introduction- The introduction to your projected should be presented in a creative way, to grab the students attention.
2. Driving Question- This step should capture the heart of the project. What will your students learn from this project?
3. Student Voice- "The Key" Gives the project more meaning to your students. Let them create and explore. 
4. Build 21st Century Skills- Project should involve technology.
5. Build New Questions- Along the way students should begin to answer questions and create new ones from that. Always challenging themselves. 
6. Feed Back- Feed back throughout the project is crucial. This will help motivate your students.
7. Show work- Have and audience for your students. This will make the project more meaningful to them and make others more aware. 

In the video Project Based Learning for teachers we learn as educators how important it is to include PBL in your classroom. PBL's requires students interacting, it is a great way to get everyone in the classroom involved. It also gives students a chance to explore, create, and share their work with others. PBL's should always having meaning not only to the students but to the curriculum and the community. 

What Motivates our Students?

This was a very informative video from the students perspective. Why do students want to learn? I noticed most of the answers revolved around the fucture. We are all getting an education with the fucture in mind but as any college student know it is very hard to keep the bigger picture in mind all the time. If we are unmotived when this close to finishing it must be even harder for our younger students to see so far ahead. This video gave helpful hints on how to keep our classrooms motivated.
1.) ClassCash. I remember being very young and saving up my stickers in the second grade so I could get something good out of the treasure chest that week. Kids love toys and we should reward them for good behavior but while also teaching a life lesson, saving and responsibility.
2.) Outdoors. We all love the outdoors and although I believe outdoors should be included in our school routine everyday, it could also be a reward. Students shared with us in the video that their teachers would let them go outside in the garden to explore as a reward.
3.) Food- Although I do not like the idea of sweet treats as a reward it can be very affective. I know every time I do well on a project or test I make sure to treat myself out. I like the idea of the teacher buying that students snack that day or an extra snack instead of bringing outside food into the classroom.

Two Students Solve the Case...
I found this video to be very motivating. Two high school students share their new idea of how to fix ketchup tops. I have never thought to sit down and think about a project like this. From the way the video explained it the students were able to chose the problem of their choice and work with it all year. The two boys work very hard on creating a new top for ketchup. It was amazing to see technology working so well in the classroom.

PLB- High School Math
In this video we learn about PBL's from the teachers perspective. A high school decides to sit down and recreate their entire curriculum around Project Based Learning. Math and Literature were the two hardest subject to recreate. We learn at the end of the video that the students actually become the teachers they are asked to create games around math problems to share with the classroom. I found this very interesting once teachers feel they are at a stop we ask our students and they take over with creativity.

Project #13

Project Based Learning Lesson Plan 

Project Calendar 

Project Plan  

Project Rubric 

Project Checklist  

Slide Show  

Project #9

Blog Post 8

The Last Lecture 

In the lecture Randy Pausch explains to us a very important role in education. Putting others forward Randy explains that reaching our goals in life is very important but helping others is what life is really about. 

• Feed Back
• Show Gratitude
• Work hard/ Don't complain 
• Be good/ be Valuable 
• People will show you their good side if we give them time 

In education I believe teachers know their main goal, which is our students but sometimes other things can cause us to lose sight of that goal. If we follow this list I believe we will reach our personal goals as well as helping our students reach theirs.