C4K February Summary

This month I was able to comment on some wonderful blogs.




Cody's class was playing the game "Guess Who" using books they had read.  This made it difficult for me to understand the blog post, but the questions he asked did lead his classmates to guess the book he read.



Coylan did a wonderful video on verbs.  He was able to define the word "verb" and give examples of what verbs are.

Danielle wrote a narrative on her favorite vacation.  She described her vacation so well, she was able to give a clear picture of the fun she had.

Breanna wrote about Valentine's day.  She wrote what this holiday meant to her.  She also gave comparisons between the celebration in different cultures.

Project #7 Part B

To My Parents:



To My Students:

Blog Assignment #6

I was able to learn a lot for the videos between Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps.  During Project Based Learning Part 1 and Project Based Learning Part 2 I learned what it means to use a project in order to teach instead of review.  When using Project Based Learning there are goals to meet in order for your students to receive the most information possible.  These goals are;

• Authentic Audience
• Student Interest
• Community Involvement
• Content Driven

It is also important not to limit your students' creativity.  As a teacher, you need to create the opportunity for your students to go further in their projects.  With Project Based Learning everything is meaningful.

Two of the tools discussed by Anthony Capps are iCurio and Discovery Education.  iCurio is a safe search engine for students in all grades.  Students are also able to store the information they have found.  This helps to teach students organization skills.  A students can also search by criteria in a directory fashion.  Discovery Ed is a science and social studies search engine that offers text and visual aids.

The Anthony- Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1 offers an insight to what qualities a teacher must possess.

• Interest in learning
• Hard work can be fun, if you let it
• You must be flexible and creative
• Start your lessons with an end goal
• Strive for 100% student engagement
• Reflect and self- evaluate

Anthony Capps describes teaching technology as scaffolding in Don't Teach Tech- Use It.  As teachers, we need to focus on one type of technology at a time and then build on that knowledge.  Scaffolding is also mentioned in Additional Thought About Lessons to organize your lessons.  Successful lessons start the these four components acting as "Russian dolls";

• Year
• Unit
• Weekly scale
• Daily lessons

Project #8 Book Trailer

If You Take a Mouse to School

Blog Assignment #5

What are Personal Learning Networks (PLN)?

PLN's are another form of reference and research.  PLN's are the people, websites, and other tools you can use to help in your classroom.  You, as a teacher, want to show your students the world beyond Google.  You can pull up your Symbaloo account to find the correct way to write an MLA formatted paper.  You can use the professions you have met through your networks for advice on forming a thesis on "Romeo and Juliet."  Instead of googling a questions about The Hunger Games, why not ask the author of that novel?  These things are all made possible through the use of Personal Learning Networks.

My Sentence Videos

Project#7 My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...

My Passion Is...

Project #3 Presentation

Introductory Explanation of Project Based Instructions to new teacher

Common Core elements for 11th grade English in Alabama

Seal of Alabama

Blog Assignment #4

What questions do we ask?  How do we ask?

Teachers have the daily task of pulling answers from their reluctant students.  We have all been in a class where we are confused about our lesson so we hide our faces and hope the teacher does not call on us.

As teachers we will have to find the correct questions to ask our students to get the most engagement. Edutopia has a wonderful list of questions to get your students engaged in your classroom discussion.  The questions used in this text go back to the basic questions we learned in elementary school; how, what, and why. I have included the list how www.edutopia.org.

#1. What do you think?

This question interrupts us from telling too much. There is a place for direct instruction where we give students information yet we need to always strive to balance this with plenty of opportunities for students to make sense of and apply that new information using their schemata and understanding.

#2. Why do you think that?

After students share what they think, this follow-up question pushes them to provide reasoning for their thinking.

#3. How do you know this?

When this question is asked, students can make connections to their ideas and thoughts with things they've experienced, read, and have seen.

#4. Can you tell me more?

This question can inspire students to extend their thinking and share further evidence for their ideas.

#5. What questions do you still have?

This allows students to offer up questions they have about the information, ideas or the evidence.

 http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-powerful-questions-teachers-ask-students-rebecca-alber

The next question is "How do we ask?"  We, as teachers, have all been warned about asking close-ended questions.  How do we ask questions to engage the entire class, not just the students who actually enjoy your class?  Ben Johnson on Edutopia has a simple and engaging suggestion to keep your students focused.  When we are asking our students a question, do not immediately call on a student to answer.  When you immediately call on someone to answer, the other students disengage with a sigh of relief.  Instead, let the question hang for a minute before calling on someone to answer.  This allows each student to think about an answer in case they are called upon.  I have included an ex cert from Johnson's The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom.

A Simple, Effective Approach

Most of us have been exposed to the questioning strategies researched by Mary Budd Rowe. She proposed that teachers simply ask a question, such as "What do you call it when an insect kills itself?" pause for at least three seconds, and then say a student's name: "Sally." By doing this, all the students will automatically be thinking about an answer and only after another child's name is said will they sigh in relief because they were not chosen.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/asking-better-questions-deeper-learning-ben-johnson

Project #15- Search Engines

The Internet is flooded with different search engines.  How can a student sift through all the sites to find valuable research?  I have compiled a list of different search engines that specialize in different areas.  Students will be able to use these search engines based on the information they need.

1. WolframAlpha is a search engine based on equations.  If a student needs any type of equation, from math to art, WolframAlpha would be the search engine to use.  This website would be greatly beneficial to any student having trouble in math or science.
www.wolframalpha.com

2.  Sweet Search is a search engine your students can use to search validated sources.  Everything found on this site has been validated by research experts.  This site would be a great resource when researching a research paper.
www.sweetsearch.com

3.  Mamma can be used in two different ways.  This search engine can be used as a traditional engine or the student can modify it to search only local results and social media.
www.mamma.com

4.  If your students are researching people, pipl would be a good search engine to use.
www.pipl.com

5.  There is also a search engine directed toward students and teachers.  This website searches educational documents.  I think this website would be greatly beneficial to teachers.
www.iseek.com

6.  Students will also need to use videos in their research.  Blinx is a search engine for videos where students can also upload their videos.
www.blinkx.com

7.  Ref Seek eliminates the advertisements which might distract your students.  Ref Seek is an academic search engine and document locator.
www.refseek.com

8.  The last search engine is for smaller children.  There is a special filter in this search engine so questionable websites will not be shown.  This is a perfect search engine for small children learning to find stuff on the internet.
www.kidrex.org

C4T Live the Conversation

Mrs. Goerend's Live the Conversation 

http://mrsbmg.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Goerend made the decisions a lot of teachers face.  Do I stay where I am at or try teaching a new grade and/ or subject?  Mrs. Goerend decided to give the "new" a chance.  She went from teaching in an elementary classroom to being an elective teacher.  Over the course of the year Mrs. Goerend realized she was still able to make the positive connections with students, something she missed from the elementary classroom.  It doesn't matter what you teach as long as you have the heart and passion for what you do.  A teacher, who loves their work, will always have a dramatic influence over their students' lives.

In the second blog post I commented on, Mrs. Goerend gave insight into the lives of future educators.  Mrs. Goerend is unable to go anywhere in town without running into a student, a parent, or another educator.  This is something future educators need to be made aware.  Once we start teaching, we will always need to be the person we want our students to see.  We will always need to act in a way that is respectful and professional.  When I clock out of work at school does not mean Mrs. Gates stays behind with all my books and red pens.  Mrs. Gates will need to be the one at the grocery store or the restaurant.