Last Lecture

I loved Randy Pausch's Last lecture. I thought it was very interesting and inspiring. In his lecture he talks about various teaching techniques that he used that I thought were great. First of all he did project based learning. The students would do 5 projects a year. This means the the students spent the whole time making things and getting experience in the field. This was also great because he avoided what he called "book learning." By avoiding "book learning" the students were probably way more engaged in the material and got much more out of the course.

Another teaching technique that he talked about was group work. All the projects the students worked on in his class were in small groups. I think this is great for students. Through group work students have the opportunity to learn from each other and the teacher. They can also practice communication and collaborating with others to make a product. Another part of this was that the partners would be switched around at the end of each project. This allows the students to meet new people and learn something from everyone in the class.

The third technique I thought that was very important was that the students had to share their projects with others. At the end of each project the class would show off their projects to each other. Eventually it grew and other people came to watch these presentations. This is beneficial to both the students and the people watching. The students get practice showing off their products in front of large groups of people. The people get the beneifit of seeing what bright young minds can do with technology.

The last technique that Randy used that I thought was amazing was not setting a bar for his students. He let his students make whatever they wanted for their projects and they surprised him with the results. He didn't let them stop there however and each project got better and better. He had high expectations and his students rose to meet them. I think Randy did a great job of describing these techniques and I will definitely try to work some of them in when I become a teacher.

Fischbowl Post

I read the August post of the Best of Fischbowl 2007. It was titled "Creating Personal Learning Networks: Part 1." I thought this post would be very relevant since it's one of the things Dr. Strange wants us to do. This blog focused on how teachers can help students create a personal learning network, so it's extra helpful because it gave me ideas to use when I become a teacher. The author talks about a Language Arts teacher who is assigning the students a semester long project. They have to have a blog and they have to have an RSS Reader. She gives them a list of things that they have to subscribe to, then they can subscribe to whatever else interests them.

Another part of the assignment is that the students have to share interesting articles that they find throughout the semester. This assignment is great especially for language arts, but it would be an amazing experience for all students. The students practice reading, thinking, writing and presenting, not to mention that the topic will be something that is interesting to them. Students are also practicing, "Critical thinking skills [and] information literacy skills." All of these skills are important for every student to have.

Class Podcast

I listened to "Watchers and Listeners- How do we respond" by John Hardman, John Strange, Keri Ashworth, and Autumn Jordan and "Can You Tube be used for Educational Purposes?" by Adrienne Lynch, Joylyn Reese and Brian Stevens. I thought both podcasts were very good and well thought out. I liked it best when everyone was free to contribute at any time, it sounded more like a conversation. One thing I would definitely improve on is awkward pauses. I noticed this more in the second one, a person would be talking and they would pause after a thought. I think they paused because they were looking at their notes and trying to figure out if they had anything else to say. I'm going to try to learn my notes very well so that I can talk naturally.

I also noticed that sometimes there were pauses between when different people started talking. I think we could cut down on that time in our group if we loosely plan when someone is going to pass the mic. Perhaps when someones done they could say "okay now back to what you where saying," or "was there anything else you wanted to add." One last thing I noticed, when the group is free to talk sometimes concepts got repeated over and over. I think if we loosely plan were we want our podcast to go we can avoid this problem. Other than that, I think my group will be very enthusiastic about our topic, which will make it more interesting for our audience.

My life in 14 slides

Teachers can't be technologically illiterate!

I thought The Fischbowl article was very interesting and made a lot of good points. I agree completely with the author that teachers cannot be technologically illiterate. I think the set of standards he wrote was very important. We need to start holding people accountable for having teachers that do not know about technology. Whether we go back to the collage where they were educated, or if we hold the principals who hired them accountable, someone needs to take responsibility. I think the analogy he used comparing people who were proud of not being good at math to how some people feel about technology today was very meaningful.

We have to start thinking about our students, as the author said, "they can't wait for us to figure it out." Students need knowledge of technology to be successful in this world. We can't expect them to be taught meaningfully if the teacher barely knows what he/she is talking about. When a teacher has and in depth knowledge of technology he/she can not only tell the students how to do something, but model it in everyday life. As the world is becoming more and more reliant on computers it is important that our students don't fall behind.

Podcasts

I listened to five of the six podcasts Dr. Strange recommended. I did not listen to ConnectLearning because I could not find it, instead I listened to The Podcast for teachers. It can be found in the Listeners Also Subscribed To tab from the SmartBoard Page. I learned a lot about podcasts from listening to these six. They each had unique characteristics about them, but there was a bit of a formula present in each one.

The first thing I noticed was that each podcast started out with an introduction. Some had music, which made it a little more interesting. During this time they usually said the title of their podcast and a website it is connected to. I think it's a good idea to have a website so that that audience has something to look at while they are listening to the program. Also they usually introduce the topic that they will be talking about. They have to make it sound as interesting as possible so that the audience will continue to listen.

Usually after the introduction the people in the podcast talk informally to each other before jumping straight into the topic. This helps the audience get to know the people talking and helps make the beginning interesting and usually comical. After that they get to the meat of their topic. I noticed that the topics were subjects that the speakers were passionate and very knowledgeable about. Also they usually brought up different websites associated with what they were talking about. This helps the audience more clearly see the topic and may help them understand what the speaker is talking about.

There were also a few other random things that I noticed in these podcasts. I noticed that in most of the podcasts the speakers were in different locations. I think it is amazing that people in different states or even different countries could get together and create a podcast. I also noticed that it is important to talk at the right pace. Too fast and people will not get your message, but too slow and people may get bored, normal conversation pace is the best for podcasts. Finally, I noticed that when the speakers gave examples they would describe them in depth. When the audience just has the speaker's voice to rely on it's important that the speaker describes everything in a way that the audience can visualize what they are talking about.

Examples of blogging in the classroom 2: International Edition

The first blog I found was made by a teacher in Manchester, UK. He teaches year 2 students (6-7 year olds). His blog is mostly for the students. He posts questions and pictures and asks for their comments, he also posts homework assignments. To encourage kids to take up blogging he gives out weekly blogging awards. He also posted links to math games that dealt with the concepts he would be teaching in class. Of course he also keeps in contact with parents on the site by putting up pictures from class and explaining special projects the class did. Here is a link to the blog: Mr. Sloan's Year 2 Blog.

The second Blog I found was created by a Primary school teacher in Ireland. She uses the blog to talk about what projects the class did. She posts a bunch of pictures of the students' finished products. She even has a special page for parents to go to where she has listed important upcoming dates. One of the entries said how she showed the students an internet safety video. I think this is important, she is preparing the students to get on the internet and view her blog. Here is a link to her blog: Mrs. Quinn's Class Blog.

Examples of Blogging in the classrooms

The first blog I found was made by a second grade teacher in a New York City Public School. The main purpose of the blog was to communicate with parents and to let them know about special projects the students are doing. She puts pictures up of the students doing activities. I think this a a great resource for the parents, not only do they know what's going on, but they can help their children prepare for upcoming projects. It helps parents that may never be able to come to the class to visit feel like they have on certain days. It was pretty basic. Here is a link to the blog: Mrs. Phillip's Second Grade Blog

The second blog was made by a third grade teacher in a Birmingham School. This blog had a lot more information on it and was updated almost every day. Everyday the teacher would post the homework the was due soon. She also posted information and pictures about special projects the class was doing. On the side there were a ton of links to various resources. She posted a curriculum overview and links to the school's main website. It was a little more in depth than the first blog, but I think each blog fulfilled their purpose. Here is a link to this blog: Mrs. Harvath's Class Blog