Saturday, October 27, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
PLN Project 10- Progress Report
PLN Project 10 Progress Report
After getting acquainted with Symbaloo, I love it. I like the fact that most all of the tools that I will use online can all be accessed in one place, and it is organized well. I added some sites that I use regularly (for educational purposes as well as for my own pleasure,) and I will add more when I feel I need to. I think my PLN is coming along well, and I will definitely use Symbaloo in the future as an educator.
Below is a screenshot of my PLN tools using Symbaloo.
I am also really enjoying the tweets from the many professors I am following on Twitter. They post a lot of neat information that I will be sure to consider in the future. I really like the fact that I am becoming a teacher at this point in time as far as technology is considered. I think communicating with other teachers via Twitter is really neat and so simple. My PLN is coming along well, but can always use more work.
After getting acquainted with Symbaloo, I love it. I like the fact that most all of the tools that I will use online can all be accessed in one place, and it is organized well. I added some sites that I use regularly (for educational purposes as well as for my own pleasure,) and I will add more when I feel I need to. I think my PLN is coming along well, and I will definitely use Symbaloo in the future as an educator.
Below is a screenshot of my PLN tools using Symbaloo.
I am also really enjoying the tweets from the many professors I am following on Twitter. They post a lot of neat information that I will be sure to consider in the future. I really like the fact that I am becoming a teacher at this point in time as far as technology is considered. I think communicating with other teachers via Twitter is really neat and so simple. My PLN is coming along well, but can always use more work.
Blog Assignment 9
Mr. McClung Year 4
I enjoyed reading the posts from Mr. McClung. What I've Learned: Volume 4 was really enlightening. Firstly, I really like the idea of writing at the conclusion of the school year about all you've learned as teacher. I really think it is a great way to reflect on the year, and to read over at the beginning of each year to see some of the things you should do differently. I don't know that I would publish it to a blog though. I personally would prefer to keep my reflection to myself. That's not to say I don't think anyone should publish their thoughts, I just wouldn't. I definitely am going to try this.
In Mr. McClung's post, he talks about two things that he learned during the school year. The first thing he shares is that he noticed that he started to let the way his peers viewed him influence his mood. He explains that he realized that he doesn't need to pay attention to their perceptions, and that he needs to stay true to who he is. He says that he wouldn't have gotten as far as he has if he had been paying attention to they way others felt about him. He exclaims that the reason he has gotten to where he is career wise is that he works for and worries solely on the perception of the children.
The second thing Mr. McClung talks about learning is that he needed to challenge himself. He talks about how he started falling back on old lesson plans and that he wasn't being creative with his lessons anymore. He explains that he had been teaching the same subject for so long that his teachings were starting to lack in imagination. He states that in the coming year he will be teaching a different subject, and that it will help with the fact that he has fallen into a funk as a teacher. He advises his readers to challenge themselves as well.
I agree with Mr. McClung that it is important to challenge yourself as a teacher as well as his notion of working for the children. I will have to remind myself that the children's opinions are the ones that matter and I need to do my best to make sure they are having fun and learning.
Mr. McClung Year 1
After reading Volume 4 of Mr. McClung's posts, and then Reading Volume 1, it is easy to tell that in the latter he was a new teacher, and in the former he was a little more seasoned just by the way he came across to the reader. In Volume 1, Mr. McClung talks about the things he learned during his first year of teaching.
One of the things he learned was that, as a teacher, you have to be flexible. This is going to be hard for me to come to terms with. I like organization and rules. I understand that there is no such thing as a perfect lesson, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to make it happen. I think that the first few times I get upset because a lesson did not go the way I planned, I will need to remember Mr. McClungs words of wisdom.
Mr. McClung also talks about listening to your students. He gives an account on a student's answer to one of his questions on an end of the year survey. The child stated that Mr. McClung listened to what he/she says. I feel that being a good listener, as a teacher especially, is extremely important. You never know what students do outside your classroom and how their lives are. Like Mr. McClung said, you may be the only one who actually listens to that child. I try to be an excellent listener with my peers, and I only hope I am an even better listener for my students.
I enjoyed reading the posts from Mr. McClung. What I've Learned: Volume 4 was really enlightening. Firstly, I really like the idea of writing at the conclusion of the school year about all you've learned as teacher. I really think it is a great way to reflect on the year, and to read over at the beginning of each year to see some of the things you should do differently. I don't know that I would publish it to a blog though. I personally would prefer to keep my reflection to myself. That's not to say I don't think anyone should publish their thoughts, I just wouldn't. I definitely am going to try this.
In Mr. McClung's post, he talks about two things that he learned during the school year. The first thing he shares is that he noticed that he started to let the way his peers viewed him influence his mood. He explains that he realized that he doesn't need to pay attention to their perceptions, and that he needs to stay true to who he is. He says that he wouldn't have gotten as far as he has if he had been paying attention to they way others felt about him. He exclaims that the reason he has gotten to where he is career wise is that he works for and worries solely on the perception of the children.
The second thing Mr. McClung talks about learning is that he needed to challenge himself. He talks about how he started falling back on old lesson plans and that he wasn't being creative with his lessons anymore. He explains that he had been teaching the same subject for so long that his teachings were starting to lack in imagination. He states that in the coming year he will be teaching a different subject, and that it will help with the fact that he has fallen into a funk as a teacher. He advises his readers to challenge themselves as well.
I agree with Mr. McClung that it is important to challenge yourself as a teacher as well as his notion of working for the children. I will have to remind myself that the children's opinions are the ones that matter and I need to do my best to make sure they are having fun and learning.
Mr. McClung Year 1
After reading Volume 4 of Mr. McClung's posts, and then Reading Volume 1, it is easy to tell that in the latter he was a new teacher, and in the former he was a little more seasoned just by the way he came across to the reader. In Volume 1, Mr. McClung talks about the things he learned during his first year of teaching.
One of the things he learned was that, as a teacher, you have to be flexible. This is going to be hard for me to come to terms with. I like organization and rules. I understand that there is no such thing as a perfect lesson, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to make it happen. I think that the first few times I get upset because a lesson did not go the way I planned, I will need to remember Mr. McClungs words of wisdom.
Mr. McClung also talks about listening to your students. He gives an account on a student's answer to one of his questions on an end of the year survey. The child stated that Mr. McClung listened to what he/she says. I feel that being a good listener, as a teacher especially, is extremely important. You never know what students do outside your classroom and how their lives are. Like Mr. McClung said, you may be the only one who actually listens to that child. I try to be an excellent listener with my peers, and I only hope I am an even better listener for my students.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
C4T Comments For Teachers 2
For my second set of comments for teachers, the teacher I was assigned to was Joe Dale.
The first post I read was about aPLaNet, which stands for Autonomous Personal Learning Networks for Language Teachers. This is a project that's purpose is for teachers who don't normally use social networking, to start to use it in order to become aqcuainted with it and to create their own PLN.
I left this comment for him:
"Hi Joe,
Thank you so much for sharing so many great resources about aPLaNet with your readers. It was very helpful that you included links and embedded videos straight into your post so that I didn't have to hunt them down. I really like that. I am currently studying to become an educator, and I had never heard of aPLaNet before and after reading about it I think it is a great project. Social media is a great tool to use in many different aspects. This is such an amazing way to get others introduced to it.
Thank you again for sharing, Victoria"
Mr. Dale hasn't blogged in some time, so I had to travel back to find something else to comment on. The second post I read from him was about Ligu@net World Wide. This was neat to discover. I played around with the website for a while, and it seems like a great tool to use for learning languages. There are many different choices of languages and there are plenty of tools, links, and tips to use. I think this site could definitely be useful in high school and college for anyone needing plenty of sources for learning a second language, or for anyone who just needs to brush up on one.
This is the comment I left for Mr. Dale:
"Hi Joe,
This is such a great site! Thank you for sharing this awesome source. I think it is a great way for anyone learning a language to not only have many sources, tips, and tools at their fingertips, but it is a great way for them to interact with others who are learning or teaching a language just like them.
Thanks again for sharing, Victoria"
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Blog Assignment 8
This is How We Dream
The videos by Dr. Miller, This is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2, were a bit boring to me, I must say. I watched them once, yawned several times, and had to come back and watch them again just to find out what the presentation was about. After watching the videos again, they weren't any less boring, but I did figure out the point Dr. Miller was trying to make, and I agree with him.
Through the videos, Dr. Miller tries to get the point across to educators that they shouldn't be teaching only through reading or writing information, but through videos, and presentations, and audio clips. By having the children listen to and view things, it is a better teaching tool than having them just read the information. I feel that it is also important for the teachers to be the ones who create the videos and/or audio clips, etc. By having the teacher comprise the information, it is certain to pertain to what the students are learning at the time and not an already made video that may have any additional information that they do not need.
I love the idea of collaboration while producing documents and multimedia. Being able to work with others, whether they are from your class, school, state, country, continent, or across the Atlantic is important in creating contacts, but it can also be a way to get others' insights on topics being taught in your classroom. They can also help you to produce the medias you will use while teaching your students.
I feel that it is important to incorporate as many different medias while teaching that you can. Doing the same old, reading from the text and listening to a lecture can be very boring, but the same goes for always watching a video. I think that the way a teacher approaches each lesson should be different so that the students are introduced to not only different types of media, but to different ways of learning.
Carly Pugh
Carly Pugh writes in her blog post about ways to get students more interested in the teachings. I think her last paragraph sums up her opinion on this very well. I love that she says "Not everyone loves to read as much as I and some others do, maybe it takes getting them interested in the story and the characters, and then the words that paint that picture. Modern technology can assist in the education and growth of our youth, and there is more out there available than videos. I think they could be very useful when combined with blogs and podcasts and other things.Videos alone are not an answer to our problems, but they can make us think: what other seemingly simple things can we employ to help us? To keep the attention of our digital learners?" I couldn't have said it better. To get your students engaged, you need to find something engaging. Videos may do the trick, but why stop there when there are many other medias that could be used in addition.
I think that Carly did a great job of writing with media. All of her links are wonderful! I know I appreciate being able to click on a link to get directly to a source, video, or additional blog or website. It helps to get even more information than you bargained for, and it informs readers who have no idea what you are talking about. Carly does a great job of that and provides a plethora of links to additional information throughout her post. I feel like this is something Dr. Miller would be proud of.
EDM 310 is Different
The videos for this portion of the assignment were great. I really would love to own the book EDM310 For Dummies that was the inspiration for this video. It would have really helped a lot in the beginning of the course. I think now I have gotten the swing of things and could pass the book along though! I also liked the Chipper Series video. It was very entertaining.
After watching these videos I started to think about video projects that I would like to produce and/or take part in. I have done musical parodies in the past to introduce difficult concepts, (that was for bonus points in Organic Chemistry,)and I feel that those work well. If anything, they are entertaining. Explaining things through song can be very useful, and song lyrics can be extremely catchy. Come on, how many of you can honestly say that you don't chant in the styling of Gwen Stafani when you have to spell the word bananas? That's what I thought. If you introduce a difficult concept, the list of presidents, or even a math formula through song it is most likely going to be easy to recall not only for a test, but for years after. I still can't recite the Preamble to the Constitution without singing it like the folks in the School House Rocks video, and I learned that literally 12 years ago. Making up a parody, or song of your own can be a great tool to use in the classroom.
Learn to Change, Change to Learn
In the video, Learn to Change, Change to Learn, the statement is made that children do not learn solely at school, but in many places. These places, such as their communities, homes, and even online give children knowledge in many ways aside from classic "schooling." I cannot agree more. The point is made that students should be learning, in school, how to retrieve information from the world outside of the classroom, and to be able to use that information in the correct way to solve problems. Teachers are there to teach their students the skills needed to do these things to prepare them, not only for college or even high school, but their lives after college and for their professions.
I definitely agree with what is being said in this video. I can't remember having a teacher who really explained to me how to go out and find information. It was something that I picked up or figured out on my own, especially by using a computer. I guess growing up in my generation, most teachers were getting acquainted witch computers at the same time I was. I think, now, it is very important to show students how to make global connections and work with people, or find and validate information and how to use it in order to solve problems. One of the easiest ways to get information and make connections is online. Most children today know how to use a computer, some better than adults. I feel it is important as a 21st century educator to show those children how to use computers meaningfully, in a way to further their educations.
Scavenger Hunt 2.0
Animoto/Education-
I have never used Animoto before, and was very interested in it. I was attracted to it because it is made specifically for use in the classroom. It is an easy way for teachers to comprise a video for their lesson without having to put forth a ton of effort. Animoto takes all of your pictures and music and automatically makes it into a video, so all you have to worry with is adding audio, if you want it. I think this is a great tool to use in the classroom that doesn't take a lot of time.
Edmodo-
Edmodo is a social networking site for teachers and students. I signed up as a teacher like the prompt said, and looked around the site for a while. I love it! I will be using this for my classroom. You can create groups, and give out a code for the students to enter in the site in order to become a part of the group. So, any one who does not have the code will not be able to join the group. This site can be used to post any announcement the children might need, or give homework assignments. It is a great way for students to interact with their teacher if they happen to have any questions after school hours. You can also interact with other teachers. I'm very glad I found this site!
Poll Everywhere- This is the poll that I made using Poll Everywhere. This site was extremely easy to use. The only thing I don't really like is that you have to text in your response instead of just being able to click on a button within the poll.
The videos by Dr. Miller, This is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2, were a bit boring to me, I must say. I watched them once, yawned several times, and had to come back and watch them again just to find out what the presentation was about. After watching the videos again, they weren't any less boring, but I did figure out the point Dr. Miller was trying to make, and I agree with him.
Through the videos, Dr. Miller tries to get the point across to educators that they shouldn't be teaching only through reading or writing information, but through videos, and presentations, and audio clips. By having the children listen to and view things, it is a better teaching tool than having them just read the information. I feel that it is also important for the teachers to be the ones who create the videos and/or audio clips, etc. By having the teacher comprise the information, it is certain to pertain to what the students are learning at the time and not an already made video that may have any additional information that they do not need.
I love the idea of collaboration while producing documents and multimedia. Being able to work with others, whether they are from your class, school, state, country, continent, or across the Atlantic is important in creating contacts, but it can also be a way to get others' insights on topics being taught in your classroom. They can also help you to produce the medias you will use while teaching your students.
I feel that it is important to incorporate as many different medias while teaching that you can. Doing the same old, reading from the text and listening to a lecture can be very boring, but the same goes for always watching a video. I think that the way a teacher approaches each lesson should be different so that the students are introduced to not only different types of media, but to different ways of learning.
Carly Pugh
Carly Pugh writes in her blog post about ways to get students more interested in the teachings. I think her last paragraph sums up her opinion on this very well. I love that she says "Not everyone loves to read as much as I and some others do, maybe it takes getting them interested in the story and the characters, and then the words that paint that picture. Modern technology can assist in the education and growth of our youth, and there is more out there available than videos. I think they could be very useful when combined with blogs and podcasts and other things.Videos alone are not an answer to our problems, but they can make us think: what other seemingly simple things can we employ to help us? To keep the attention of our digital learners?" I couldn't have said it better. To get your students engaged, you need to find something engaging. Videos may do the trick, but why stop there when there are many other medias that could be used in addition.
I think that Carly did a great job of writing with media. All of her links are wonderful! I know I appreciate being able to click on a link to get directly to a source, video, or additional blog or website. It helps to get even more information than you bargained for, and it informs readers who have no idea what you are talking about. Carly does a great job of that and provides a plethora of links to additional information throughout her post. I feel like this is something Dr. Miller would be proud of.
EDM 310 is Different
The videos for this portion of the assignment were great. I really would love to own the book EDM310 For Dummies that was the inspiration for this video. It would have really helped a lot in the beginning of the course. I think now I have gotten the swing of things and could pass the book along though! I also liked the Chipper Series video. It was very entertaining.
After watching these videos I started to think about video projects that I would like to produce and/or take part in. I have done musical parodies in the past to introduce difficult concepts, (that was for bonus points in Organic Chemistry,)and I feel that those work well. If anything, they are entertaining. Explaining things through song can be very useful, and song lyrics can be extremely catchy. Come on, how many of you can honestly say that you don't chant in the styling of Gwen Stafani when you have to spell the word bananas? That's what I thought. If you introduce a difficult concept, the list of presidents, or even a math formula through song it is most likely going to be easy to recall not only for a test, but for years after. I still can't recite the Preamble to the Constitution without singing it like the folks in the School House Rocks video, and I learned that literally 12 years ago. Making up a parody, or song of your own can be a great tool to use in the classroom.
Learn to Change, Change to Learn
In the video, Learn to Change, Change to Learn, the statement is made that children do not learn solely at school, but in many places. These places, such as their communities, homes, and even online give children knowledge in many ways aside from classic "schooling." I cannot agree more. The point is made that students should be learning, in school, how to retrieve information from the world outside of the classroom, and to be able to use that information in the correct way to solve problems. Teachers are there to teach their students the skills needed to do these things to prepare them, not only for college or even high school, but their lives after college and for their professions.
I definitely agree with what is being said in this video. I can't remember having a teacher who really explained to me how to go out and find information. It was something that I picked up or figured out on my own, especially by using a computer. I guess growing up in my generation, most teachers were getting acquainted witch computers at the same time I was. I think, now, it is very important to show students how to make global connections and work with people, or find and validate information and how to use it in order to solve problems. One of the easiest ways to get information and make connections is online. Most children today know how to use a computer, some better than adults. I feel it is important as a 21st century educator to show those children how to use computers meaningfully, in a way to further their educations.
Scavenger Hunt 2.0
Animoto/Education-
I have never used Animoto before, and was very interested in it. I was attracted to it because it is made specifically for use in the classroom. It is an easy way for teachers to comprise a video for their lesson without having to put forth a ton of effort. Animoto takes all of your pictures and music and automatically makes it into a video, so all you have to worry with is adding audio, if you want it. I think this is a great tool to use in the classroom that doesn't take a lot of time.
Edmodo-
Edmodo is a social networking site for teachers and students. I signed up as a teacher like the prompt said, and looked around the site for a while. I love it! I will be using this for my classroom. You can create groups, and give out a code for the students to enter in the site in order to become a part of the group. So, any one who does not have the code will not be able to join the group. This site can be used to post any announcement the children might need, or give homework assignments. It is a great way for students to interact with their teacher if they happen to have any questions after school hours. You can also interact with other teachers. I'm very glad I found this site!
Poll Everywhere- This is the poll that I made using Poll Everywhere. This site was extremely easy to use. The only thing I don't really like is that you have to text in your response instead of just being able to click on a button within the poll.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Blog Assignment 7
The Networked Student
When first viewing The Networked Student, my first thought was, “Wow! I love the design of this.” It is so easy to follow with each of the graphics being lain down by a person behind the scenes. I like how this video is done much better than staring at a power point presentation. Even if it is the same exact information, it has a different feel to it, and is less boring.
My second thoughts about this video were, “What?” and “Let me re-watch this.” I admit I was confused at first, but after watching the video again I understood what was being presented. Connectivism is a way to help students become more self-motivated learners with only guidance from a teacher. The teacher is there to guide the students when they struggle with their own personal networks and connections. By letting the students go out and find their own information and present it to others, the teacher is helping them to get acquainted with and receive information from other people around the world, who in the future may return the favor. We, as students in EDM 310, of course, are doing this to an extent with most of our assignments. The resources are being presented to us, but through Twitter and other blogs, we can follow people and read material that they have found and felt the need to pass on to their peers. It is exciting to think about all of the information that you can access through social networking like Twitter, and that you can turn around and pass along to others with just a single click.
I think that it is important for older students to understand this. It can be extremely helpful in college, and I feel that high school aged students would benefit from the idea of connectivism. I don’t feel like younger students will appreciate the concept as much, however, it can definitely be presented to them.
So, why does the networked student even need a teacher? I think that question is answered pretty well through the video. The teacher is there to be a model to the student, to advise them when they get stuck, the teacher shows the student how to find good information, and can help the student to find new contacts. The teacher of a networked student sounds a lot like any teacher I’ve had. I think it is important for any teacher to be all of these things no matter if their style of teaching mirrors connectivism or not.
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
I really enjoyed taking the tour of the 7th Graders PLE, in the video Welcome to My PLE. It was really neat to see how anything she needed could be accessed from one place. She didn’t have to hunt anything down and it seemed like everything was really easy to manage. I really like the note-taking tool because marking things you may want to use in the future that also records where you got the information from is extremely important, especially when you have to cite all of your information.
I don’t think that I really have much of a Personal Learning Network or Environment. I do use a lot of the tools that the girl in the video uses, but I don’t have them all available in one place. I feel like I should, and am going to see what Symbaloo is all about. I think it will help me in the future, and it is definitely something that I will introduce to my peers as well as my students. It seems to simplify doing assignments and/or projects because everything is in one place and easy to get to. This video was very informative for me. I also think it is important for children to have freedom while learning. The child commented that this was one of the reasons she liked this way of learning. Being able to let a child find the information him/herself and to share it with others is more fun for the child, instead of just giving them the information as a teacher and not giving them the liberty to find more about a topic. I hope to, as a teacher, be able to share things with my students and have them want to learn more by finding more information and in turn, share those things with me.
When first viewing The Networked Student, my first thought was, “Wow! I love the design of this.” It is so easy to follow with each of the graphics being lain down by a person behind the scenes. I like how this video is done much better than staring at a power point presentation. Even if it is the same exact information, it has a different feel to it, and is less boring.
My second thoughts about this video were, “What?” and “Let me re-watch this.” I admit I was confused at first, but after watching the video again I understood what was being presented. Connectivism is a way to help students become more self-motivated learners with only guidance from a teacher. The teacher is there to guide the students when they struggle with their own personal networks and connections. By letting the students go out and find their own information and present it to others, the teacher is helping them to get acquainted with and receive information from other people around the world, who in the future may return the favor. We, as students in EDM 310, of course, are doing this to an extent with most of our assignments. The resources are being presented to us, but through Twitter and other blogs, we can follow people and read material that they have found and felt the need to pass on to their peers. It is exciting to think about all of the information that you can access through social networking like Twitter, and that you can turn around and pass along to others with just a single click.
I think that it is important for older students to understand this. It can be extremely helpful in college, and I feel that high school aged students would benefit from the idea of connectivism. I don’t feel like younger students will appreciate the concept as much, however, it can definitely be presented to them.
So, why does the networked student even need a teacher? I think that question is answered pretty well through the video. The teacher is there to be a model to the student, to advise them when they get stuck, the teacher shows the student how to find good information, and can help the student to find new contacts. The teacher of a networked student sounds a lot like any teacher I’ve had. I think it is important for any teacher to be all of these things no matter if their style of teaching mirrors connectivism or not.
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
I really enjoyed taking the tour of the 7th Graders PLE, in the video Welcome to My PLE. It was really neat to see how anything she needed could be accessed from one place. She didn’t have to hunt anything down and it seemed like everything was really easy to manage. I really like the note-taking tool because marking things you may want to use in the future that also records where you got the information from is extremely important, especially when you have to cite all of your information.
I don’t think that I really have much of a Personal Learning Network or Environment. I do use a lot of the tools that the girl in the video uses, but I don’t have them all available in one place. I feel like I should, and am going to see what Symbaloo is all about. I think it will help me in the future, and it is definitely something that I will introduce to my peers as well as my students. It seems to simplify doing assignments and/or projects because everything is in one place and easy to get to. This video was very informative for me. I also think it is important for children to have freedom while learning. The child commented that this was one of the reasons she liked this way of learning. Being able to let a child find the information him/herself and to share it with others is more fun for the child, instead of just giving them the information as a teacher and not giving them the liberty to find more about a topic. I hope to, as a teacher, be able to share things with my students and have them want to learn more by finding more information and in turn, share those things with me.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Blog Assignment 6
Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
While giving his last lecture, Randy Pausch continues to inspire educators as well as future educators to enable the dreams of others. In his lecture at Carnegie Mellon University, he talks about all of his childhood dreams including the ones he accomplished as well as the ones he didn't accomplish. Pausch recounts what happened through his journeys of trying to accomplish each of his dreams, each of which is a truly inspiring tale. He continues his lecture talking about the time he spent as a professor at Carnegie Mellon, as well as the different projects that he was a part of.
During the first part of the lecture, Pausch talked about all of his childhood dreams. One that really stood out to me was becoming a Disney Imagineer. I can remember being a child and being very interested in Disney's Imagineers and wondering just how much went into their jobs. I can only imagine his joy when he got to finally work with them. Throughout his lecture, the quote "brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things" was repeated in his presentation. This reminds me that bad things are going to happen, and you can either stop and run from that brick wall, or you can plow right through it. If you want something badly enough, there are always tools available somewhere for you to use to break that wall away. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted," was also used in his presentation. This is also very meaningful in that even when you think you have failed, you always gain experience.
As Pausch talked about his time as a professor, I couldn't help but to make mental notes of things that I wanted to try when I become an educator. For example, I love the "head-fake" way of learning. He explains that this is a way for students to learn one thing, while thinking they are learning about something else. It is a way for the student to have fun while they are learning something hard. I think that this is very important. Children get so bored with challenging things, and by making the learning process fun, they will be more apt to pay attention and get something out of the lesson. Pausch also took part in a lot of project based learning with no book work. This is something that, for the right subject, could be so beneficial to the student. I know that I would learn and know so much more by "doing" rather than reading. When he was talking about the projects that his students did in groups, he mentioned a group feedback chart. This was a bar chart of all of the students names, ranked to show who was easiest to work with. This let the students know when they needed to step up and be better group members. I really liked this. If I do a lot of group work with my students, I will definitely try something to this effect with them to not only grade their group performance, but to show them that they could be doing better and/or that they are an excellent group member.
As his lecture comes to a close, he makes a few suggestions and lists things that we all should remember. The first, decide whether you are a Tigger or Eeyore. The second is to never lose your childlike wonder and the third is to help others. He continues with a fourth thing to remember, which is that loyalty is a two-way street. The fifth thing is to never give up. He then asks how you get people to help you, and his answers are to tell the truth, be earnest, apologize when you screw up, and focus on others. He reminds us to not bail out, and to get a feedback loop and most importantly, listen to it. He reminds us to show gratitude, and lastly to not complain; just work harder.
I enjoyed, so much, Pauch’s last lecture. He truly is inspiring, and I can say that this is by far one of the most entertaining and interesting lectures I have ever listened to. From all of his accomplishments to the way he was accepting of his last days, it was clear that he led a very rich life. I could have listened to this lecture an hour more! He was so humorous and easy to listen to. I found myself laughing one minute, and being moved to tears the next. I wish I had had the pleasure of knowing him. He seemed to be such an encouraging and hands-on professor and I can bet he was a fantastic mentor. You could tell that he really pushed the limit with everything, and it paid off. I hope that the Alice project is everything that he wanted it to be, and that his legacy lives on.
While giving his last lecture, Randy Pausch continues to inspire educators as well as future educators to enable the dreams of others. In his lecture at Carnegie Mellon University, he talks about all of his childhood dreams including the ones he accomplished as well as the ones he didn't accomplish. Pausch recounts what happened through his journeys of trying to accomplish each of his dreams, each of which is a truly inspiring tale. He continues his lecture talking about the time he spent as a professor at Carnegie Mellon, as well as the different projects that he was a part of.
During the first part of the lecture, Pausch talked about all of his childhood dreams. One that really stood out to me was becoming a Disney Imagineer. I can remember being a child and being very interested in Disney's Imagineers and wondering just how much went into their jobs. I can only imagine his joy when he got to finally work with them. Throughout his lecture, the quote "brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things" was repeated in his presentation. This reminds me that bad things are going to happen, and you can either stop and run from that brick wall, or you can plow right through it. If you want something badly enough, there are always tools available somewhere for you to use to break that wall away. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted," was also used in his presentation. This is also very meaningful in that even when you think you have failed, you always gain experience.
As Pausch talked about his time as a professor, I couldn't help but to make mental notes of things that I wanted to try when I become an educator. For example, I love the "head-fake" way of learning. He explains that this is a way for students to learn one thing, while thinking they are learning about something else. It is a way for the student to have fun while they are learning something hard. I think that this is very important. Children get so bored with challenging things, and by making the learning process fun, they will be more apt to pay attention and get something out of the lesson. Pausch also took part in a lot of project based learning with no book work. This is something that, for the right subject, could be so beneficial to the student. I know that I would learn and know so much more by "doing" rather than reading. When he was talking about the projects that his students did in groups, he mentioned a group feedback chart. This was a bar chart of all of the students names, ranked to show who was easiest to work with. This let the students know when they needed to step up and be better group members. I really liked this. If I do a lot of group work with my students, I will definitely try something to this effect with them to not only grade their group performance, but to show them that they could be doing better and/or that they are an excellent group member.
As his lecture comes to a close, he makes a few suggestions and lists things that we all should remember. The first, decide whether you are a Tigger or Eeyore. The second is to never lose your childlike wonder and the third is to help others. He continues with a fourth thing to remember, which is that loyalty is a two-way street. The fifth thing is to never give up. He then asks how you get people to help you, and his answers are to tell the truth, be earnest, apologize when you screw up, and focus on others. He reminds us to not bail out, and to get a feedback loop and most importantly, listen to it. He reminds us to show gratitude, and lastly to not complain; just work harder.
I enjoyed, so much, Pauch’s last lecture. He truly is inspiring, and I can say that this is by far one of the most entertaining and interesting lectures I have ever listened to. From all of his accomplishments to the way he was accepting of his last days, it was clear that he led a very rich life. I could have listened to this lecture an hour more! He was so humorous and easy to listen to. I found myself laughing one minute, and being moved to tears the next. I wish I had had the pleasure of knowing him. He seemed to be such an encouraging and hands-on professor and I can bet he was a fantastic mentor. You could tell that he really pushed the limit with everything, and it paid off. I hope that the Alice project is everything that he wanted it to be, and that his legacy lives on.
C4K Summary for September
C4K Post 1
For my first C4K assignment, I commented on Jaden's Blog. Jaden is a fourth grade student from California. He wrote a very informative post about the things he has learned from blogging. He included some things that you should do while blogging, as well as some things that you shouldn't do, and ways to make sure you blog safely. It was very well written, and I enjoyed reading it. This is the comment I left for him:
"Hi Jaden,
My name is Victoria. I live in Mississippi, but I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am studying to become an educator, and I must say that I really like your blog! This post is wonderful to share with others. I feel that it is especially important to share with children so that they understand the rules of blogging as well as safety measures that should be taken into consideration while blogging. You seem like a very smart young man to understand the importance of all of these things. I look forward to reading more wonderful blog posts from you in the future!
Take care, Victoria"
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Jaden has blogged in a while, and my comment has yet to be approved by him in order to appear on his blog.
C4K Post 2
For my second C4K assignment, I left a comment on Fauea's Blog. Fauea is a grade six student from New Zealand. I chose to comment on their post about making ice cream comets at school. Fauea wrote about how they made the comets and how they tasted, and her post really made me want to try one! This is the comment I left:
"Hi Fauea,
My name is Victoria. I live in Mississippi in the United States, but I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am studying to become an educator. After reading your post about making ice cream comets at school, I got a huge craving for ice cream! I had never heard of an ice cream comet before. After you gave such wonderful instructions on how to make one, it made me want to try myself. In the United States we call biscuits cookies. My favorite cookies to eat with ice cream are chocolate ones with cream filling. I think when I make my own ice cream comet I will crush some of those up and then add some rainbow sprinkles. I hope mine turns out as delicious as you described yours! You are doing a great job blogging, and I hope you keep it up. Thank you for sharing this unique way of eating ice cream with me and the rest of your readers!
Take good care, Victoria."
For my first C4K assignment, I commented on Jaden's Blog. Jaden is a fourth grade student from California. He wrote a very informative post about the things he has learned from blogging. He included some things that you should do while blogging, as well as some things that you shouldn't do, and ways to make sure you blog safely. It was very well written, and I enjoyed reading it. This is the comment I left for him:
"Hi Jaden,
My name is Victoria. I live in Mississippi, but I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am studying to become an educator, and I must say that I really like your blog! This post is wonderful to share with others. I feel that it is especially important to share with children so that they understand the rules of blogging as well as safety measures that should be taken into consideration while blogging. You seem like a very smart young man to understand the importance of all of these things. I look forward to reading more wonderful blog posts from you in the future!
Take care, Victoria"
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Jaden has blogged in a while, and my comment has yet to be approved by him in order to appear on his blog.
C4K Post 2
For my second C4K assignment, I left a comment on Fauea's Blog. Fauea is a grade six student from New Zealand. I chose to comment on their post about making ice cream comets at school. Fauea wrote about how they made the comets and how they tasted, and her post really made me want to try one! This is the comment I left:
"Hi Fauea,
My name is Victoria. I live in Mississippi in the United States, but I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am studying to become an educator. After reading your post about making ice cream comets at school, I got a huge craving for ice cream! I had never heard of an ice cream comet before. After you gave such wonderful instructions on how to make one, it made me want to try myself. In the United States we call biscuits cookies. My favorite cookies to eat with ice cream are chocolate ones with cream filling. I think when I make my own ice cream comet I will crush some of those up and then add some rainbow sprinkles. I hope mine turns out as delicious as you described yours! You are doing a great job blogging, and I hope you keep it up. Thank you for sharing this unique way of eating ice cream with me and the rest of your readers!
Take good care, Victoria."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)