Sunday, December 9, 2012

Blog Post #13 Report

This was a challenging project. Without being able to use traditonal means of
communication with my partner, we skyped our project ideas to one another. I am
responsible for the content and he is responsible for the on screen performance.
We hope you enjoy it.

Final Reflection

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Final Project #16

Final Report on PLN

I have an exclusive PLN. I try to learn as much as I can from others, who have
traveled the road I am on, before myself. I am a member of various online forums.
I also follow blogs such as Smart Football, Fishduck, and Stong
Football. I was doing this before taking this class, and never knew it was my
Personal Learning Network!


C4T Summary
The past C4T's have been okay. The comments I have been leaving have been centered
around the content of the videos.


C4K
The kid's posts I have been commenting on have been interesting to say the least.
I have enjoyed the experience. To summarize the comments, I
introduced myself and left encouraging comments.

Blog Post #13

Back To the Future
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Mr. Cosby enhances the educational experience and makes it fun to learn!


A Vision of Students Today
This is an interesting video. It appears to me, the message being sent is,
the way education is setup now, is doing more harm than good. I do not agree with
this message. I view present academia as a process, part of the process is
attending class (which happens to coincide with showing up at work). College
is setup to not only educate in the classroom, but to educate on the ways of the adult
world! Not all the classes college students have to pass correlate to their
major!

The present setup of attending class is not going anywhere anytime soon,
so instead of complaining and dreaming up new ways to reinvent education, we
should think of ways to enhance the education experience. In the video there
is a segment where percentages were being shown of what people do during a day
and the total of hours was 26.4. Obviously there are only 24 hours a day,
however the amount of wasted time was astounding! Three hours a day on
facebook! 2.5 hours a day talking on the phone! 2.5 hours listening to music!
That is eight wasted hours, one third of the day wasted on frivolous endeavors.
Even if listening to music was combined with the time on facebook, that would
still be 5.5 hours wasted. The present setup of academia is not perfect, yet it
is the only one we have!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Progress Report For Final Project

My partner and I have kicked around some ideas and will narrow the ideas
down and focus on the task at hand this week.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Blog Post #12

We are to create an assignment and do it, in our particular area of study.
I am a Special Education major (secondary education), I want to coach football at
the middle school level. Make no mistake about it football coaches are teachers!
Instead of a classroom the football field is the classroom!
1. Select three NFL coaches and NCAA coaches whom you admire. Place their
pictures in your blog.
2. Tell why these coaches were selected. In other words, what specific
qualities drew you to them. Qualities can overlap and be used more than once.
3. Embed a video clip in your blog of each one that embodies those qualities.

Mike Tomlin

Mike has a cool intenseness about him. I wnat to bring this to my classroom
as well as my team. No moment or nothing seems to big for him, he takes everything
in stride. In the the clip, he ask the question "what are you willing to do?".
That can apply to any and everything we do in life!


Bill Belichick

Bill has made a career out of being consistent and doing what is best for his
team. I would like to take these to qualities and bring it to the classroom
and the football field. There are only two current coaches who have been with their
franchises for over ten years and Bill is the only one with a superbowl title.
In the video Bill's consistency is the theme.


Sean Payton

Sean's willingness to lay it all on the line in the biggest moment to enhance
his team's success is the quality I am taking with me. He was not going to
hold anything back. I want to impart this to my students and players, give it your
all and hold nothing back! In the video, Sean takes a risk that pays off and this
is the insight behind that decision.


Nick Saban

Nick is consistent, very intense, and highly successful, however I want his
ability to communicate with his kids. I think this is an overlooked quality
in education. It is not what we know, but what do the kids know! In the video Nick
talks about star and money, postions in his defense that he assigned
these nicknames. What I take from this is his ability to take a position and
give it a cool name like star, kids want to be the star and now at Alabama they
can play the star position!

Chip Kelly

Chip's offense is FUN. That is what I take from him. The kids want to have fun
and if learning takes place, it is all the better! In the video Chip and Urban
Meyer break down Oregon's high powered offense!



Cool Intensity, consistentcy, making tough decisions, taking risks, communication,
and having fun, these qualities are what I am taking with
me to make a positive influence on kids lives whether it be on the football
field or in the classroom.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Blog Post #11

Ms. Cassidy

Ms. Cassidy uses some very effective techniques, however I cannot help but
wonder how much of this is being retained. As the father of a first grader, I know
first hand the aptitude of a first grader and this seems to advanced to actually
be retained. Ms. Cassidy herself said he students are only blogging one sentence.
Believe me a first grader cannot put a sentence together much less be able to
spell the most of the words in the sentence! I believe making a video is quite
possibly the most effective of her techniques. Making a video would only be
limited the child's vocabulary and not the ability to write effectively.

Making videos would definitely be something I would be interested in doing with
my class. As a Special Education major, I would be challenged as to how I could
make an effective learning experience out of the video. A potential impediments
would be administration, fellow instructors, and student's parents. To get the
buy in from them I would have to show them how effective this would be to the
student's learning experience and also how this would enhance them as students.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Special Assignment

A world where grades will be left behind
This article was written by Mary Beth Marklein, for USA Today Newspaper, about
Sebastian Thrun, a Google vice president and Stanford research professor best
known for his role in building Google's driverless car. In the article Mr.
Thrun talks about his ideas about education. He taught an online class in
January that had over 160,000 students attend, after teaching that class he
felt like he could not go back to teaching his class at Stanford University. He
went on to found an education company named Udacity, where he hopes to develop a
catalog of free online courses taught by star professors from around the world.
The article goes on to state that Mr. Thrun does not believe in grades, in fact,
he calls grades the failure of the education system. The classes would be free
and will have tens of thousands of students.

I whole heartedly disagree with this article! Let me begin with the fallecy of
such endevors would be free! No one is going to volunteer their time to teach
with out being compensated. Mr. Thrun can do it because he is rich! Education
does not need to be revolutionalized, students need to want to learn and
educators need to want to educate! Education is a one size fit all area! That
is what creates competition, without grades, how does one differentiate between
barely passing and exceptional achievement?

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Project #11

Post #10

Adventures in Pencil Integration: I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga.
John T. Spencer

I do not know how to explain this cartoon. The Artist/ Author says it is him
making fun of the I am a pc I am a Mac commercial. What else is there to
explain?



Why were your kids playing games?

pencil integration
I am at a lost here because the directions do not say what to do other than
identify and create a link to a complete blogpost, and follow the requirements
in writinga quality post.
2. Read Why Were Your Kids Playing Games? You will probably enjoy
all posts on this blog. Look it over. Read at least one other complete post.
Identify it and create a link to it in your blog post. Be sure you are clear
about what Mr. Spencer is saying. Looking at other posts (and other items) on
his Blog will help you understand his approach. Think about the title to his
blog as well. Explore BEFORE you reach your conclusions. Follow the requirements
in Writing A Quality Blog Post.



Don't teach your kids this stuff.
Dr. McLeod's Bio taken from his website
Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., currently is serving as the Director of Innovation
for Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency 8 in Iowa. He is on leave from his
position as an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University
of Kentucky. Dr. McLeod also is the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the
Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), the nation’s
only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators,
and was a co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift
Happens). He has received numerous national awards for his technology
leadership work, including recognitions from the cable industry, Phi Delta Kappa,
the National School Boards Association, and the Center for Digital Education.
In Spring 2011 he was a Visiting Canterbury Fellow at the University of
Canterbury in New Zealand. Dr. McLeod blogs regularly about technology leadership
issues at Dangerously Irrelevant and Education Recoded and occasionally at The
Huffington Post. He also just completed his first book, What School Leaders
Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media.
Dr.McLeod makes two central arguments in this post, do not teach your kids
various technology and because he is, his kids will have a "leg up" on your kids.
I find the things listed in his post as do not teach your kids are things
they will discover by playing around on the internet. I hold the whole post
as cynical. The fallacy of technology users are ahead of non users is hog wash!
Being technological literate offers nothing in the way of being ahead of other
students.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Book Trailer

Post 9

Mr. McClung

What I Learned This Year 2010-2011
Know Who Your Boss Is
Here Mr. McClung asserts the kids are his boss and try not to get so wrapped
up into pleasing others. Pleasing others is rather time consuming and did not
leave time for him to tend to the needs of his students. "Our decision
making process should always be student centered and not centered around
pleasing adults."
Well put, the students should be priority number one!
Don't Expect Others to be as Excited About Change as You Are
Not everyone is excited about teaching as I will be. Do not be discouraged by
the naysayers who have all the answers. Professional developement is exactly
what it says. It is to devlope teachers as professionals. I am forward thinking
by nature and will try to always keep moving forward in my
profession.
Don't be Afraid to be an Outsider
Status quo is not always the thing to be! Teaching is a job, with individuals
and just like every other job, everyone will not "hang out" with each other. It
is ok to be yourself and true to yourself.
Don't Touch The Keyboard
"This means that our students will struggle a little bit in the front end but
it will help them excel in the end game."
While I was in the Navy, I served as
the training Petty Officer (PO). As the training PO, I was responsible
for training my division in all facets of our job. One of the ways I trained was
to let the trainees to operate the controls. My thinking was, how were
they going to learn if they never did it themselves!
Don't Get Comfortable
He problably should have said do not get complacent. I can understand how
comfortability can translate to lazy and complacentcy. "While routines are
good in the sense they allow me to be more effective, they can also be bad
because they can foster apathy."
In the midst of a routine, the challenge
is to do things to keep the routine exciting.
What I Learned This Year 2011-2012
You Gotta Dance With Who You Brought to the Dance
I think Mr. McClung should have read his previous years' post, because he would
have realized he said he learned this in last years post. Here he is saying be
yourself, stick to what got you here, which is what he basically said in last
years post Don't be afraid to be an outsider.
Challenge Yourself
I think here he lost his way a bit. In my opinion the challenge is in keeping
things fresh and not moving on to something else. Keeping things fresh is where
you get your experience from. Moving on to different things makes one a jack of
all trades, yet a master at none! The teaching profession would be better served
with masters!

Post 8

This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

Dr. Richard Miller begins this video by explaining the process of how he went
from a writing books with a paper and pen to writing books with his computer.
He explained how he read books to write his book and how his book was published
and now his book is available at amazon.com for 59 cent. This video gives a broad
description of how books and articles can be written without pens and paper.

Dr. Miller demonstrated how he used search engines as well as general searches
for the information he used to write an article on the Virginia Tech tragedy.
Not only does the article get printed, but it also lives on forever on the
internet.


Blog Post #12 by Carly Pugh

This is a wonderful post and very creative. It makes me think about my teaching
technique. I am very impressed with the thoughtfulness that went in to this project.
It is hard to evalute if this is what Dr. Miller meant by
writing with multimedia since he was using examples of writing books and papers,
and Carly used Youtube to make her point. Dr. Strange said in his comment it
was a perfect example of what Dr. miller's writing with multimedia is.


The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies

Without being given a subject to do s video on, I would like to make a youth
football offensive line video, my take on youth football offense and how to
effective teach offense to youth football players. I believe the primary message
in these videos is to stay focused on the task at hand and do not
procrastinate with assignments and if you are struggling, the EDM310 staff is
here to help you.


Learn to Change, Change to Learn

I feel there are some interesting arguements being made in this video. This video
was produced in 2008 and strides are being made in the direction
of technology based learning,we are not there yet in academia as a whole.


Scavenger Hunt 2.0

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Blog Post 7

The Networked Student


This video centers around a student in a class that has no books. The student must
learn to learn through the internet and connecting with others via the
internet. This can be accomplished through blogs and or search engines, just to name a few.

My reaction to this video is, it is a great concept. I do not think I would
implement it in my classroom as a sole purpose learning platform, however it
could be used for three to four projects a year. I think that would maximize
the effectiveness of such a learning platform.

In the last minute of the video the question was asked "why does a networked
student need a teacher"? The role of the teacher, in this case, is to be
a learning architect, modeler, learning concierge, connected learning incubator,
network sherpa, synthesizer, change agent. As one can tell, the teacher has
many roles and can be in multiple roles at any given time.



A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)


That was great information. It is amazing how technology is changing the way we
learn, as well as the way we are being taught!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Project 8

Project 9a

Blog Post #6


Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch is a phenomenal lecturer. His teaching methods are innovative and
from watching this lecture he is a good person. He stated in the lecture, he
hated book learning and thought one could learn more from doing things than from
reading a book. I agree with his position on book learning.

Randy started a masters program at the university he taught at, and the
curriculum consisted of a series of projects aimed at learning to work with
others as well as pushing the envelope of what education should be. He also
entitled this lecture "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" and went about
the story of how he made his dreams his reality.

Interestingly, Randy introduced the concept of "head fake", which has any names and
applications, however he used it to take advantage of your attention and
make one think one purpose while all along having a totally different
purpose. When used in the classroomit can be a powerful tool in capturing the
attention of your class. Kids love learning indirectly, because it is fun and
does not seem like learning.

In reacting to this lecture, I find this to be something that everyone should
view. I believe what is said in this lecture could be used by everyone in thier
everyday lives. Randy's contributions to education are remarkable and are going
to stand the test of time.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Assignment #5


Travis Allen

Travis makes arguments for ischool, cost reductions, cost of an ischool education,
and ease on the enviornment. I do not know how much research
went into the cost analysis, however if those numbers are correct then he is
definitely on to something. Travis says it costs school systems $600 to educate
one student and $150 for the ischool. Travis also states with the reduced need
for paper and pencils, the enviornment will be helped. It was a wonderful
presentation, he even included some apps that are in use now as a basis for
his presentation.

My reaction to his presentation is, I need a more detailed plan. By more
detailed I mean, what grades whould use the ischool? Would this be left to
individual states or federally mandated? Those are just a few of the questions
that comes to mind. I do believe it is a great idea and we are 10 to 15 years
away from it being embraced.


This Use of the Internet

http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2010/05/eric-whitakers-virtual-choir-lux.html

The most creative way to use the internet that I can remember. I am sure the
logistics of this project was a nightmare!


Teaching in the 21st Century

Teaching is changing. The classroom is also changing, the days of opening books
and following along as the instructor is going over the planned lesson is fading
fast. Mr. Roberts poses the question, should we focus on facts, content, or
skills? With the ever evolving classroom, teaching styles and content will have
to keep pace. I see this effecting myself, as a future educator, challenging
myself to keep my students engaged.


Flipped Classroom

I could definitely see myself using this teaching tool! I certainly would not use posters, I would use a smartboard and powerpoint presentation, I think that would make it more professional looking.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Assignment #4


Podcast

Pod-casting is a wonderful tool to reach an audience without having to write
an article. I would much rather listen to a pod cast, than to read an article on
the same subject matter. I did not know how much work went into producing a
pod cast. Judy Scharf's Pod cast collection is the most helpful to myself, as she
goes through the entire process of producing a pod cast. I think producing a
pod cast will be challenging, however I think it will also be fun and I can not wait
to get started.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Assignment #3

Peer Editing
Peer editing can be a "sticky situation". On one hand no one is trying to hurt
anyone's feelings or break someones spirit towards the specified classwork. On
the other hand, we must under take this task and be very professional about it.
We as students should take our feelings out of the process and look at it
objectively.

The learning that occurred after viewing the videos, include being specific in
the editing. Also, compliment, suggest, and correct when involved in peer
editing. I think the suggesting part may be the most helpful because this,
in my opinion, is where the sharing of ideas and learning occurs.


Technology in Special Education
I think it is phenomenal the way technology has changed the way special needs kids
are learning and being taught. Computers alone have changed the way course
material is being presented as well as learned. Technology has given a voice to
the voiceless.

I would definitely use tablets, smart boards, and basically anything that would
enhance and enable the learning experience in my classroom. Tablets would have
reading programs on the to read to kids. Smart boards could be used to display
power points and videos.


Apps
Read & Write: Letters, Sounds, and Combinations is the app of my choice. It
helps students to recognize letters,pronounce letter sounds, practice blend
and digraph combinations. This would help any special needs students with language
deficiencies.


Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Great video! This is the type of learning I expect for my kids! It is very
exciting for myself to see this going on. Ms. Davis is an excellent teacher,
in my opinion, and shares the same views on learning as I do.

Ms. Davis is teaching her students, in a rural community, how to connect with
the world. They are connecting with other students around the world through
forums and blogs. Once again, this is very exciting for myself!

Project 2

myles wordle

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Assignment #2

Did You Know?
This video is full of insightful information. Also, this information may be
concerning to us, as Americans. I find it alarming, to say the least, that India
is generalized as, for a lack of better word, smarter than us Americans.

I have a hard time believing China will have more English speaking citizens
than the United States. I understand China's population plays a huge role in
drawing this conclusion, however America's population is not at a stand still.
China is "westernizing" their society by hiring American teachers to live
in China and teach English. I would have to see it to believe it.


Mr. Winkle Wakes
This is a very interesting video! As interesting as the video is, it is also
a very real look into what could happen if one were to sleep and awaken for
same amount of time as Mr. Winkle. Technology continues to grow and advance.
The rate of advancement gets faster and faster.


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Mr. Robinson captures my exact views on children
in respect to creativity. We as a society do not foster or nurture kids ability
to be creative, in my opinion. The fear of being wrong has overtaken the
boldness of being creative. Can one be wrong and creative at the same time?
I for one think not. There is no right way or wrong way to be creative.

I too think the arts are undervalued in our educational system. With musicians,
artists, and choreographers playing a huge role in our society, more attention
should be paid to nurturing these skills as well as our traditional reading,
writing, and arithmetic. I feel the traditional skills can be blended with
nontraditional skills to enhance the learning experience.


Think about the FUTURE
The future is exciting and unknown. We all hope to see the new technology,
but in reality we may or may not be alive to see it. Are we being taught in
preparation for the future? Are we going to be able to teach our future students
with our eye on the future?

When I think of the future, I envision a great place of new ideas and a wealth
of technological advances that is beyond my imagination. Learning will be
integrated into said technology. The classroom would be the platform for
preparing students for the brave new technical world!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Assignment #1

About Me
I am from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I served in the United States Navy for ten
years, five years aboard the Nuclear Powered Submarine Henry M Jackson SSBN 730B
and five years as a Recruiter. While serving in the Navy, I enjoyed living in
various places in the United States. Among the places I have live are: Great
Lakes, Illinois; Groton, Connecticut; Silverdale, Washington; Bremerton,
Washington; Pensacola, Florida; and Daphne, Alabama.
I have a passion for kids and education seemed like a natural fit. I like to
read and have a thirst for knowledge. I enjoy sports and coaching sports.
Time Management
Having served in the U.S. Navy as a recruiter, time management is a huge part
of the job. I can not say I learned anything from the video, however I can say
the planning stage refreshed my memory. Time management is all about planning and working your plan.