Project 16 (Final Project)

Blog Post #16

Project #12 Part B

This is our lesson on Greater Than, less Than, and Equal to.

Blog Post #5 Part 2

PLN: Personal Learning Network

Throughout the EDM 310 course we have started to build our own PLN as well as connect with other teachers and students allowing us access to all types of teaching and learning resources. Having a variety of other students and teachers in our PLN will insure that we can branch out and ask for help, advice, or even just have an educational conversation.

The first additions to my (PLN) will first be my professors. At this stage in my education they are the closest quality tool I have to help me in all aspects of my education.Second, would be through some of our EDM310 assignments comments for teachers (C4T) , comments for kids (C4K), and Twitter. I hope to continually build and expand my (PLN) as I continue to grow as not only a student but also as an educator. 

C4K (Final)

C4K

Mrs. Lombard's 7th Grade Class

Student: Jack R.

Jack wrote about how to hit a dinger ball while playing baseball and talked about the best way to run the bases after hitting one.

I commented, My name is Danielle and I am a student at the University of South Alabama I myself do not know a whole lot about baseball, I’m more of a football fan so I have never hit a dinger ball or a home run ball. I am guessing that you have though because you seem to know the coolest way to run the bases..bald eagle and American flag, that sounds awesome! Maybe one day I will get to hit one and see what it is like. I enjoyed reading your blog and good luck in the future!






John Hanson French Immersion School in Prince Georges, MD
Ms. Thomas
Student: Gabby


Gabby wrote,
I am going to make mark by going to college majoring in experimental physics and then going into the Marines and fighting in the war. If I live after the many wars I will hopefully fight then I hope to work at a very prestigious Universty in the physics department and hopefully confirm string theory then go into cosmology or dark matter or even stay in experimental physics.



Hi Gabby, 

I am a student at the University of South Alabama studying to become an educator. I think you have some amazing goals for your future and all of them can be attained if you put your mind to it and work hard. Physics is such an interesting subject, however I will have to do my research on the string theory because that sounds very intriguing. Thank you for introducing me to something new. Happy blogging!  

Mr. Webbauro, Room 3

Auroa School in South Taranaki, New Zealan   

Student: J. Forsyth

Jayden wrote about his family farm and how some of their cows were acting weird. One cow jumped over their fence and the cows got out and had to be rounded up by him and his father.

I commented, 

Hi Jayden!

My name is Danielle Fields. I am a student of EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I am also very curious about the cow disease you mentioned above. I was thinking that maybe some sort of disease caused the cow to jump over the fence and act weird. Hopefully none of your cows were hurt because of this. I hope you continue to blog, keep up the good work.

Blog Post #13

What Did I Leave Out?

This week's blog post is centered around EDM 310 and something that I felt my professor may have left out that we should have done in this course.

We have done so many creative and useful things in this course throughout the semester. Many of the activities we have learned about and had to demonstrate I anticipate I will bring to my own classroom. There is only one thing that comes to mind that I feel might have been beneifical in our journey with EDM 310. I think if we did a blog post or video post that centered around a classroom observation in our area of education by taking a so called "field trip" to in my case an elementary classroom and observed their use of technology and ability to access and use the technology. 

This assignment could be done either as a collaborative or individual blog post. This type of assignment would give future teachers a first hand look at what we will be surrounding ourselves and our students with as well as techniques and first and ideas and experiences from a teacher and their students' use of the technology.

I observed Ms. Beck's first grade classroom at Mary B. Austin. In this classroom they have a Smart-board and only four Ipads available. The Smart-board is used a lot for all subject areas such as spelling, phonics, math, grammar, even art and science activities. It is great for interactive activities for the students' to not only view but also participate in. The Ipads are also great for practicing and reinforcing what the students are learning through interactive games and other apps. A down side to the Ipads is that there are not enough to issue each child one to use for the school year. This means that access is very limited to the students and they do not get the full benefactors that the Ipads could be giving them. Overall, it is great to see technology being used at such a rapid rate in today's schools and I look forward to seeing our classroom technology progress even more in the future.

Blog Post #12

Assistive Technology

C4T Summary#3

Beth Knittle: Beth's Thoughts on Technology in the Classroom

Updating the Curriculum  

Beth's blog post was about ways that the curriculum in the classrooms needs and should be updated for the students currently. Also using technology in this type of updated curriculum in the form of project based learning.

I commented, There are schools in my area on the gulf coast and surrounding areas that are integrating technology in to the classrooms at a much faster pace than previous years. Most classrooms have Ipads or Macbooks for each child as well as a SmartBoard, helping to encourage and expand project based type learning in the classroom. A lot of the high schools are also offering new vocational and trade programs such as welding, and other mechanical type classes for students to earn college credit and decide if they may want to continue a career path in one of these fields.

Beth Knittle: Beth's Thoughts on Technology in the Classroom

Communicating and Collaborating: Being a Digital Citizen

 Beth's second post discussed the influences and changes technology has had over the way people communicate with one another both personally, and professionally.

I commented, I agree, proper communication skills including letter writing should still continue to be taught to this generation. They live in a time where some of them have not and will not ever write a letter as a form of communication on their own. Although technology is a great thing and when used the right way is quite efficient, it has in some ways created an" out of sight out of mind" attitude towards communication and human interaction.

Blog Post #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

Brian Crosby's "Back To the Future" video does a excellent job of showing the potential of project based learning in the classroom. Crosby demonstrates through his students that no matter where you come from, what part of the world you are in, or your financial state everyone is capable of learning. Crosby's students conducted a project where they sent a balloon in to the atmosphere and used this project as a base for other assignments, such as papers, blog posts, and Skype sessions. This was a very creative take on project based learning in my opinion.

In Paul Anderson's video " Blended Learning Cycle" he talks about blended learning being base for online, classroom and mobile learning combined into one basic way for students to learn. He mentions that the learning cycle consists of the 4 E's engage, expand, explain, and evaluate. In his classroom he stresses the importance of questions and encourages his students to always ask question.

These videos as well as the ones below do an excellent job of actually demonstrating ways and techniques to use project based learning in the classroom as well as the best ways to blend technology into students' learning toolbox in way that is fun and exciting to them.

Mark Church, "Making Thinking Visible"

Sam Pane 4th Grade, "Building Comics"

Project Based Learning, "Dean Shareski"

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program