Blog Post #14

For our blog post this week we were required to read Teaching can be a profession. This article contained some very good ideas on how the school systems can be changed for the better. It also provided some ideas that I was unsure about. I couldn't decide whether they would be useful, or destructive to school systems. Here are a few examples.

Picking from the best
This is a topic that suggests a new and improved approach on recruiting teachers in schools. There has been a study that says most graduates chosen to become teachers are not advanced in certain areas of teaching reading, or math procedures. Mr. Klein suggests that instead of just randomly picking new teachers from a graduating class, they need to pick the students who graduated at the top of their class.

I agree with this. I think that schools who want to make a difference in the way their students learn need to go the extra mile, and choose the top graduates. Working hard in college to become the best possible teacher always pays off in the long run. Because the students are so advanced in todays society, only teachers who are serious about their jobs should be hired into the school system.

Radical change
Mr. Shanker made an overview of all his ambitious ideas for a new and improved school system. He included new standards that teachers have to follow, and promoting teachers based on exams they take. He states that our schools won't get anywhere is teachers continue to work using their old ways.

I agree that schools today need to alter their teaching methods to improve. However, I don't believe that teachers should be advanced on how they answer an exam questionnaire. I think if their had to be something that would qualify teachers on advanced pay, it would be their in class teaching skills. If a teacher is able to teacher his or her students in the most affective ways then they should be able to qualify for an advance.

Senority Distraction
Seniority distraction, is a point that was made about how teachers are all treated the same, and are given the same rules no matter what the consequences are. For example, when there comes a time for a teacher to be layed off, the teacher who was most recently hired takes the plunge, even though that teacher may be the most well educated for the job. This also means that all teachers are paid the same in a school system. It doesn't matter if one teacher out shines the other, they still get paid the same.

I agree and disagree with this topic. I agree that all teachers should be paid the same. There will always be critics who want to put certain teachers down who don't deserve it. There is also no completely fair judge on how much more or less a teacher should be paid. However, when it is time to lay off a teacher, I don't believe the teacher layed off should be the most recent hired. The teacher who was most recently hired is often times the teacher who can bring the latest teaching methods and technology to the classroom. It is unfair for that teacher to be the first one chosen to leave the school system.

C4K Month of Novemeber

C4K #8
Natalier:STL Declaration of Independence
Summary
This blog post was actually really serious on her part, but I thought it was just really funny and cute. The blog post is a declaration for Mike Matheny, coach of the STL Cardnials baseball team. Natalier is very passionate about this team and really expresses how he feels. It was very enjoyable to read.
My comment
I really enjoyed reading this blog post.I think your passion for your team is incredible and i would love to sign your declaration.

C4K #9
Daniel P: What we do on an average school day
Summary
Daniel's blog post is about how there day goes in his classroom. They start at 8:15 am and go to about 2:45 in the afternoon.
My comment
I really enjoyed seeing how your day goes in school and compare it to when I was in school. Things are very different. One piece of advice I could give you is to enjoy every second of being in school because when you get to college you will wish you were back.

C4K #10

C4K #11
Noelle W:My amazing weekend
Summary
On Friday she watched two movies. The first movie was at the schools movie night where she got nachos and spent time with her friends. The second movie she watched was Pocahontas at her friends house. On Saturday she actually saw another movie. She went to the movie theater with her mom and saw Big Hero 6. She loved it. Then on Sunday she just stayed home and relaxed.
My comment
I loved hearing about your weekend. Surprisingly your weekend sounds just like mine and I am in college. It is always okay to stay a kid at heart. What is your favorite Disney movie? My favorite movie is The Little Mermaid.
NOELLE BLOG POST

Project 12 part B

Project 12 Part B

Blog Post #13

Special education is very important in the school system. Without this program schools would be completely different. Special education programs and children use technology in many different ways.

Special education teachers are one of a kind. You really have to love what you are doing. That is not a job you could just go and do every day. It is a challenge for you and your students. You have to come up with many different ways to teach your special education students. Maybe because they can't communicate, or many other reasons.

There are many different ways that special needs children use technology.
In Introducing iPods into Special Education, teachers use the iPods for many things. They use the iPods for communication between teachers and students, parents, or siblings. They do this by leaving voice memos. The family members can listen to the voice memos and leave one in return to give back to the teacher. They also use the iPods to help students at home. They record sign language used to teach the lesson. This lets the students work at home and even review. They also read book and put the sign language on the iPods. These are just a couple of the ways they use an iPod in Special Education.

In Technology in Special Education, they show actual reactions of student when they are asked about technology. Most of these students use technology to help them communicate with their peers, their parents, and their teachers. The students feel that technology has made their life so much easier. One specific instance, a student has a vision disability. There is an app that makes all the words appear larger. You can really tell that technology has helped them for the better.

In Assistive Technology, many different assistive technologies are used. One is a Seven Level Communicator. They use this to make different choices, retell stories, and also tell what they want. A Partner Four is similar to a Seven Level Communicator, but it has four buttons instead of seven. The example she showed has yes, no, potty, and all done on the Partner Four. She shows videos called "We Sign", even though she only has one child who is deaf. All children need to know this so they can communicate with the deaf child. Higher Function was another tool used. This tool is for children who can't communicate at all. It uses tech speak and pictures for the student to choose what they want ot communicate. She uses two forms of buttons, a Step-by-Step and a Big Mack Switch. The Step-by-Step is used to answer question, along with the Big Mack Switch. One difference is the Big Mack Switch actually has a visual with it.

How special needs students benefit from technology

C4T #3

Cathy Jo Nelson: Professional Thoughts

Cathy Jo Nelson Blog Site

So what do school libraries do today?

My comment
I realy loved watching this video. I really believe that librarys do matter especially this day in age. Kids these days are all about technology and that is great, but they also need to learn about books. There is a lot of technology in the library as well. Libraries are Important

Summary
This blog was a video explaining why librarians are important. It shows how librarys have not been noticed but they should be the focal point in school.

I did it again

My comment
I think it is great that you renewed your National Board Certification. I cannot wait until I get to say that I renewed one of my teaching certifications. I have always wanted to be a teacher and I cannot wait for the day that my dreams come true and I can call myself a teacher. Thank you for blogging and doing what you do.

Summary
This blog post was kind of an exciting one for me. It was about her getting her NBCT. That stands for mational board certification. Her certification is in Library Media. She also talks about some advice she would give and some key elements in a successful journey to becoming a national board teacher.

Blog Post 12

BLOG POST #12

Project 10

Project #14

Blog Post #11

Back To the Future
Back to the future site
In this video I learned about different ways of learning and how to teach for your students and personal. He talks about different ways of teaching, he does a lot of hands on things with his students and kinda lets them teach them self like Dr.Strange does for his classroom. I like this video because he is vey excited for his students and what they are learning.
He talked about how his students use blogs and a flicker account for the lass room. I think that is pretty cool because it is the same stuff we are doing now.

Blended Learning Styles
In this video Paul talks about the Blended learning cycle and I like this video because I feel like I can relate to what he saying. He talks about what blended learning looks like. The three steps are 1.Online 2.Mobile 3.Classroom and then he talks about his 5 E's in the learning cycle. 1.Engage 2.Explore 3.Explain 4.Expand 5.Evaluate. He puts all of those together in his classroom to make a blended learning cycle. That might have to be put on the list of things to try in my classroom.

Sam Pane 4th Grade
Sam Pane seems like such an amazing teacher. He is very hands on with the children and knows what they like. He gets them very interested so they will work harder. In this video I learned that there are a lot of different ways to use technology in a classroom. The way he was using those super heros to make comic books about online safety was a great idea.

Project Based Learning
I like this video because I feel like that is something I can do with my classroom. I think it is more about blending classes rather than pbl. I plan on teaching 3rd grade so I have the same students all day so this really only works for 6th and up. They took three different subject and put them in the same classroom with three different teacher. This way they can use the information from each class in the others and they can also have more time for questions. I think it is a wonderful idea.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL program
I loved this video because I will 100% be using PBL in my classroom. I know it might be hard on the teachers sometimes but the way that the students catch on and show you that they know something is great. I am not a huge fan of the standardized test I think that doesn't show someones knowledge. But if you put a task in front of them and tell them to figure it out then you will see more about their knowledge.