Blog Post #15

Final Project

Post # 13

Blog Post #1

Ask yourself...

Who am I? Why will English be an important factor in my life? What are my passions in life and literature?

1.Construct an OUTLINE of what you intend to say
2. Write two paragraphs about yourself. Tell us where you have lived, and what your major interests
are. Provide us with some personal information such as some information about your family.
3. Tell us why what you learn in this class will be an important asset for your future.
4. Tell us your passions with a picture, movie, song or some other medium (can be links) that demonstrates your passion. Also include a picture and description of a favorite book of yours or one that you have read recently. 5. What you do best and what you like to do more than other things? What do you want to get better at doing?
6. Let us know about any other things which you think would be interesting or important for us to know about you.

Source for design of post: http://edm310.com/edm310/spring2014/blogposts.pdf

Post #12

I most enjoyed watching the video, Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children, that was suggested by Dr. Strange.I have taken the education class for exceptional children and I am aware that tools such as text to speech devices, text telephones, talking calculators, note takers, sensory aids, speech to text devises, FMradios, iphones, ipods, screen magnifiers, and flip cameras that were listed in the videos are used in the classroom. However, watching this video showed more of what it is like to be in the classroom and the extra effort on the teacher's part it takes to accommodate and help these children learn. Like the changes in technology are changing and improving learning for all students, it is also allowing for huge strides to be made in the field of special needs children. This new technology that is available can allow for deaf and blind students to easily blend in with the general classroom. As a high school English teacher, I will make sure to know how these devises work and how to incorporate them in to my lesson plan in case I do ever have a deaf or blind student in my classroom. Excluding the talking calculators, I know that all the tools listed above will be valuable for writing papers, hearing my lessons, and communicating with other classmates. Also, another important part of having a deaf or blind student is to have good communication with the student's parents. These are two sites I have found that I would like to keep up to date on and would be able to share with the parents of the deaf or blind student.

http://www.blindness.org/
This site is dedicated strictly to people affected by blindness. On the main page, an article written by a girl who went blind at an early age is displayed. It has a positive message and explains how she can still enjoy life. This could help parents better understand their child with lost site and help them to inspire them that the future is not lost. Also, this site provides information on the different eye disorders that effect sight and health options available to fix them. Understanding the problem thoroughly can provide further comfort about what is going on with their child. Another beneficial aspect of the site is the “Your Community” section. It includes local chapter that will allow these families to connect with others in their area with similar disabilities. There are also message boards, blogs, chat rooms, and stories of hope so that parents can communicate with many others and share their feelings and learn what others have done to thrive in life. Also, the site reports on news and events in case the parents and their child would like to get more involved in the blind community.

http://www.deafchildren.org/
This is a site created by the American Organization for Deaf Children. ASDC was founded in 1967 as a parent helping parent network, and now it has grown to be a national non-profit organization. It includes the latest news about the subject and many resources and links to explore about the deaf community. It also offers a connection to Deaf Autism America which “aims to increase mutual support, understanding, learning and collaboration among families and professionals in order to enhance the quality of life for Deaf and hard of hearing children with autism. The goal of DAA is to improve education, networking, resources and advocacy services for this special population.” This could be useful to parents that have children with multiple disorders including deafness as well as autism. Last, the site has useful videos on vocational rehab services, early intervention for deaf children, and a video that stresses the importance of American sign language as an ability to connect, stimulate, and converse with others, most importantly, parents.

Project #12 Part B

C4T#3

C4T#3P#1
This blog post was entitled "Schools Can Be." He begins this post by describing how afraid and he was to share his actual opinions and angry that he could not do so teaching at his previous, more conservative school. He goes on to describe his anger and disdain he had towards the establishment for not being able to do so. Then he describes how he has let all of this go because he has such freedom and flexibility at the new school he is working at in Singapore, UWCSEA East. The post continues with examples of the positive and liberal of this schools different approaches to teaching. This is the first of such activities that he shares:
Last week, I was part of a Share Your Beliefs session with our current grade elevens, as part of their TOK (Theory of Knowledge) exploration of faith. It looked a bit like this: Your role is in session 1; when you be based in a single -classroom and you will have three sets of some 13 students come your way; one set at 8.30am, one at 9.00am and one at 9.30am. The students are all mixing up for each session, so all will hear from you and two different people; in all cases students hear from an atheist and two people of different faiths. We have several speakers from outside school coming too. The aim is for you to share with students your beliefs, and to have a short discussion/debate with them. This will then form a solid platform for later analysis and comparison.The following faiths were represented: Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Reikei, Baha’i, Hinduism, and Atheism. This is the second year in a row that I have been able to talk about my unique melange of Zen inspired spiritual atheism with a group of young people. I spoke about how my Buddhist principals have shaped my ethical and moral choices when it comes to teaching, parenting, and being an active and thoughtful member of the human race. I pulled no punches and spoke about my animosity and disdain for organized religion based on the effects of Islam on my country of birth, Iran. I spoke about how a belief in a patriarchal omniscient deity just doesn’t jive with how I view the natural world. In short, I was able to have a very open and frank conversation with a group of young people about who I am and what I believe, without fear of reprisal from an angry community member, because by making this sharing of ideas possible, UWCSEA is telling students and parents that we value a range of ideas. We are saying that no one idea is correct or carries any more weight then any other. We are free to hold our unique beliefs, but we must be open to the idea that others may disagree. This melting pot of ideas may seem obvious to anyone who has studied or worked in a progressive environment, but I think we all know that open-minded is not always the case especially when it comes to religious matters.
His next experience of freedom at his new school is describing how his daughter, grade two, was recently visited by Cowboy James, who spoke to them about his experience on a dairy farm and growing up in rural Canada. He said that she was curious and excited to hear about this process and it led to them talking about his current decision to become vegan. They negotiate her understanding of their family’s choice to be vegetarian in the light of Cowboy Jame’s message. He goes on to describe how they wanted to share some of her thoughts from their conversation with her class. So, they prepared a 25 minute presentation they showed to her class about why their family chooses not to eat animals. Her quote being: “We simply love all animals like our pets and don’t want to eat any of them.”

Then, he shares that he is an Atheist, Vegan, long haired, bearded and tattooed, He describes that working at this school is the first time in his career where he feel at home where I work, and that it is the first time he feels he can be be his complete self. He goes on to say, "I think a school with such freedom of ideas should be celebrated and upheld as a model for effective learning communities everywhere. I cannot imagine having opportunities like the ones I just described in too many American schools. It is precisely because of this celebrated diversity that I work internationally."
This was my response:
Hi Jabiz, I am currently a student at the University of South Alabama and I am an aspiring high school English teacher. I am so happy that I was assigned to comment on this wonderful post of yours because it addresses so much of the issues in my own life and has inspired me to work hard to seek out a place where I can work and contribute in my own way. I have been an atheist since I was in middle school. I actually did not even know what the term was until one day my mother was questioning me on my beliefs in god and religion. Immediately after I decided to research all the religions I could before I committed to the label because calling yourself an atheist in Alabama tends to invoke either dislike or attempted "saving" from others. I have always heard from people that I must not have any reason to be good and that is why being an atheist is such a bad thing. I used to lash out and use my knowledge to break down their religion, but now I simply try to explain that I have morals that come from myself and the common sense of being a good person. I have also always loved the principles of Zen Buddhism in that I believe everything is of the same and should be treated as such. My philosophy of religion professor even pointed out that many scholars consider the first Buddha to be an atheist himself. I would love to have a chance to discuss this with students and try to enlighten them that there are so many layers to a person's beliefs no matter what label they have chosen to describe themselves. I am also very impressed with the way that your school arranged for the students to visit and discuss with people of so many different faiths. I am amazed that you can discuss such things at a high school level! Noting on your second story, I love that you and your daughter took the time to offer a counter to Cowboy James' presentation. I too have been a vegetarian since the day my father decided it would no longer affect my growth (he is a doctor so there was no arguing) and I think it is fantastic that your daughter was able to voice her opinion on the issue and hopefully help create a few more veggies out there! Your school sounds so amazing and I am very glad to know that there are teachers out there who care about their students and have such wonderful lessons to share with them. I hope to one day work in such a place!

C4T#3P#2
In this blog post, Jabiz discusses his new found tool for encouraging his students to partake in reading for pleasure. He first describes how he has been a bit of a book snob in that he only values the noted literary works and more intellectual novels. Then, he reveals his epiphany about the usefulness of actually reading the books that his middle school students would be reading and how it has benefited the quality of their relationships. He describes how now that he is actually reading the books for teenagers and not just scoffing at them has led to a new found excitement between his students and his own reading experiences. Now that he is involved with "what teenagers read," he has been able to make specific recommendations for individual students based on what he knows about them. He even now has students bringing him their own copies of books that they feel that he would enjoy. He also makes a very strong point that this was intended originally for teachers, but it that this could be an invaluable tool for parents as well. He goes on to encourage parents to try the same methods at home because of the importance and benefits of reading for pleasure.
This was my response:
I love this post! I am not yet an English teacher as of yet, but I think it is fantastic that you are taking time to find ways get your students more in to reading books for pleasure. I also really like that you point out to encourage parents to experiment with reading these YA books as well. I grew up during the “Harry Potter Era” right as the books were coming out and both of my parents are book junkies regardless of the genre. I say this because it became an activity of sorts that involved the entire family. We would order one book and it would go down the ranks of who got to read it next. First was my dad, then my mom, and then usually myself because I am the next in line book junkie of the family. The fun part of it was discussing the book and giving my thoughts about “who is the bad guy this time?” with my parents as I progressed through my reading. I have always been a big reader on my own, but having that type of stimulation as I read made me all the more passionate about the book. As a teacher I very much hope to encourage my future students to read for pleasure and I am so happy that you have reminded me of that time in my life that helped me to do the same at that age. I can’t wait to incorporate this idea into my teaching like my parents did for me!

Posts done on Intrepid Teacher by Jabiz Aisdana

C4K Summary for March

C4k#6 Conan:

In his post, Conan wrote about how math is one thing he is good at. These are the reasons he gave that it is important to be good math: 1.I just kept practicing at it.2.Its important to be good at it so you wont get ripped off.3.Never give up on your hopes and dreams and just never give up.

This was my response:
Hi Conan, I’m Jenny Hinton from the University of South Alabama EDM310 class. I think your post has a very positive message in it. It is great that you are good at math. It is not only important to help keep you from getting ripped off with your money, but it is also the key to finding out many things about our Earth and the entire universe when you become very good at it! You should continue to follow your hopes and dreams and maybe one day you can become a mathematician and accomplish great things with your life!

C4K#7 Jorja:

Jorja reported on Cyclone Lusi in her post. First, she points out that all over NZ events were cancled due to the torrential rains and "horrendous conditions." She said that the cyclone lasted for at least two days. She goes on to tell about the power outages the cyclone causes and a tree hitting a family home. She then tells of the deaths that occurred in Vanatu, where Cyclone Lusi also hit. She ends her post by describing how the weather was really not that bad by the time Lusi hit where she lived and stated that, "In my experience nothing big really happened that you could call a storm."

this was my response:
That sounds like it was a very tragic event. However, I can not say that I am too unfamiliar with such weather where I live in Mobile Alabama. My name is Jenny Hinton and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. Because we live on the Gulf of Mexico, we are frequently subject to hurricanes. This is because the water in the gulf is so much warmer than it is in the Atlantic ocean that by the time a tropical storm reaches it it can literally triple in size. This allows for such tragedies like the breaking of the levies in New Orleans which led to countless deaths and loss of homes. You did a very impressive job of reporting on Cyclone Lusi, and I can relate to the strangeness that you must have felt when everyone is expecting the worst and receive so little compared to others. Weather is a crazy interesting phenomenon, and I would encourage you to research it further. Very good post.

C4K#8 Vaifoa

Vaifoa used her post to do an animal report on anacondas. She had an introduction describing what Anacondas are and where they live. In her first paragraph she describes the most common, Green Anaconda, and how it is migrating to the Gulf of Mexico because the everglades are overpopulated. Her second paragraph tells about what kind of food anacondas eat and how big this prey can be. Paragraph three talks about the myth of Anacondas being man eaters, and her fourth describes what size anacondas are when they begin breeding and how large they can grow in a lifetime. In her conclusion she says anacondas are not an endangered species, but they are subject to being pushed out by man. She also advises against people keeping them as pets due to the fact that they can be highly aggressive.

This was my response:
This is such a cool post! I actually love snakes and I find Anacondas very interesting. Although it is a bit unsettling to hear that they are expanding more into the Gulf of Mexico because I live in Mobile Alabama and we are on the coast and not very far from the everglades! I found your post very informative and I think you are doing a very good job :)

Project #10 Interview Movie

Post #11

For this post, our group decided to have a conversation about one of the videos suggested by Dr. Strange by using a shared Google Drive Document. You can see what we all had to say by clicking on the link below.

OMAHA

Post #10

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson?

Most people do not enjoy what they do for a living. In his speech, Sir Ken Robinson pointed out that there are two types of people: people who enjoy the way they make their living and those who simply work to make money to live. The majority of people fall into this second category and as Sir Ken puts it, "just waiting for the weekend." He suggests that a major reason for this is that the way education systems are set up today does not leave room for students to find out what they are passionate about and good at, not just what they are capable of doing. This is where the use of technology should come into the mix. Kids today are so much more adapt to this technological age than any generation before them. Sir Ken makes a clever comparison of this phenomenon by pointing out that no one under twenty five would typically be found wearing a wrist watch. He goes on to explain that this is because it is a "single function device." Even though it also tells the date. So, what does this say about kids and technology? Everything. The advanced technological devices that are available today are capable of accessing information and accomplishing tasks with that information like nothing that has been seen in the past. It would be a massive folly for schools and teachers not to utilize this technology and catch up to their students' knowledge of it to do what they are meant to do: mold students into productive and successful members in their societies.

Sir Ken describes the current form of education as a linear system that begins in kindergarten and is to be followed all the way to college. He illustrates the idea that schools are following an industrial design where every student is being modeled in the same way and are being left no room to find out their own individuality. He goes on to tell that each person is organic. People grow as their lives go on and how they grow is based on who they are and what they are being surrounded by at any given time. Sir Ken uses this point to suggest that the shaping of schools should be done through an agricultural approach. Given that society today has changed so much over the past few decades due to technology, schools should adjust to their surroundings and take that leap into the twenty-first century! It is not only that technology is around to be improve the quality of education, it is also that it has the ability to allow students to gain the freedom to find their passions while still having the guidance and support of their teachers.

Thank you Dr. Strange for assigning Sir Ken, I really enjoyed listening to his opinions and I believe he has a very deep, very understanding, and very inspirational grasp on the world and how it works.

"Every day, everywhere, our children spread their dreams beneath our feat, and we should tread lightly." - Sir Ken Robinson

Project 12 Part A

Post #9

Watching how Ms. Cassidy runs her class was very interesting. Her use of Skype to connect her students with other students that are commenting on her class' blog is en especially inspiring idea to me. This is because although they are already communicating and learning about and from one another online, I love her idea to allow the students to meet and interact in a way that is a on a more personal interface. She also makes it clear that staying up to date with technology is an unavoidable asset given that it is an enormous part of kids' lives today, and it is essential for teachers to know what their students know in order to better relate to them and to use it as an opportunity to help them learn.

On the subject of Twitter. I am not a fan! I have been trying to improve my use of twitter, but I my patience is constantly being tried when I am being limited to so few "characters" to express myself. I am all for little blurbs of thought and I understand how it can be useful to post a question and be answered through messaging. However as she does mention in her video, there are message boards and pages of that nature where perhaps the more long-winded teachers, such as myself, can feel more at home and have productive exchange of thought.

The two student questions that I was was most concerned and interested in were the ones on plagiarism and the option to have a class Facebook page.

One major concern of mine as a future high school English teacher is indeed plagiarism. English is especially easy to steal work from others and make it look like your own, given that the students are usually asked to write papers to be turned in and graded. This problem actually has been very much curbed with internet sites such as Turnitin.com. Since high school English students will be working on their grammar and writing abilities, this will be a useful incorporation of technology into the classroom. The issue of plagiarism lies more on the projects they will be turning in. A media project is very easy to mimic or completely rip off if it obscure enough or simply made the same way. Although it is alright for students to be inspired by others, these media projects can also be made by students that have not learned or read the material at all. This worries me as an English teacher because this can be very tempting (especially for high school students) and the literature is still the core of high school English.

One idea from the students that I loved was he use of Facebook as an interactive tool. Most students already use Facebook and are actually quite fluent on how to upload video, pictures, comments and questions to it already. I believe that if I set up a page for my class it would be an excellent hub of communication for my students. This is because this age group of students are already checking their own accounts daily anyway so they will not be going too far out of their way to visit the class page, or notice notifications about it. I really like this idea because the students are already so familiar with Facebook and it is incredibly user friendly. I plan on incorporating many other aspects of technology into my classroom, but I am very glad that I heard this as a suggestion!

Video Book Presentation Project #9

C4K Summaries for February

C4K#1 Conan Grade 3
In his post, Conan talks about his gymnastics class the previous week. He describes how they practiced on spring board jumping ,cart wheels and the balance beam. He states that his group started with the balance beam and how easy it was to walk on it both frontwards and backwards. He goes on to state that cartwheels were easier than he thought they would be. Then this was his sentence about the spring board... "Last but not least the spring board jumping you had to get a run up and jump on the top of the board and swing your arms in the air and then you had to land."

This was my response:
I love gymnastics! I used to take it when I was younger. My favorite part of it were the cartwheels and the trampoline, but you make the springboard sound like so much fun! Nice post!

C4K#2 Daqualyn Grade 6
In his post, Daqualn is reporting on his reading so far for The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. This is what he posted: I think a good title for chapter two would be “settling in” because the whole chapter is about lennie and george meeting everybody and getting their stuff together. I also think the title of the book should be “The hard times of George and Lennie” because this book is about their struggle.George has told Lennie to avoid Curley because Curley took an immediate dislike towards Lennie and the two of them don’t want any trouble. Curley could get Lennie and George fired if they don’t watch out,I don’t think I could get along with Curley because he’s rude, and overly aggressive. I think I’d get along better with Lennie because George looks to have a bit of a short fuse too but Lennie is a nice guy.

This was my responce:
Hi, I am Jenny Hinton, an EDM student in Mobile, Alabama. I remember reading Of Mice and Men when I was in high school and I really liked it. I very much enjoyed reading you post about this book and I think you make some very good points. I think you are right in saying that you think the title should be changed to “The Hard Times of George and Lennie.” These two men never seem to get a break in life. I also agree with you about Curley. He is very rude and overly aggressive. I don’t know if the chapter should be called “settling in” though, because as you pointed out, Curley is clearly not making them feel very welcome. I also believe that you should reconsider wanting George as a friend. He proves to be an honest and hardworking man throughout the book. Also, his love and loyalty to Lennie is not something just any man would sacrifice themselves for. I believe George just gets frustrated at times because Lennie tends to get into trouble and does not always understand what problems he causes for both himself and George. So, I hope you can give George a break as you continue reading and enjoy the book as much as I did!

C4K#3 Amber Grade 10
In her post, Amber first describes that she is a sophomore in high school and she was assigned to make a blog for her Language and Arts class. She states that she is making a blog for posting "funny quotes, inspirational quotes, and overall great quotes." She says that she hopes to help people have better days by reading these quotes. She ends her first post with the quote, "Don’t be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."

This was my responce:
This sounds like a great idea for a blog page! It is very nice to hear that you are using your blog in such a positive way to help people have a better day. Also, I love the name you chose for the blog and the cool Macaws at the top of your page! I hope you enjoy making your blog and putting smiles on peoples faces. Good Luck!

Blog Post #6

For this post, I took Dr. Strange's advice and used Symbaloo to set up my PLN. I first went through the walk-through instructions that explain about the site and then I created my own account. When I looked through to set up my own webmixes, I was fortunate enough to find a set up that is designed specifically for educators.

This will be a good point to jump off my PLN. Now I intend to explore the links provided to me and decide on what others I will want add to it both for this class and for my future as a teacher. Hopefully this will lead to making connections with other students and future colleagues so that we may help one another in our ongoing pursuit to be better teachers!

Project #8 Book Trailer

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka

Post #5

The most significant fact about Project Based Learning from the videos presented by Dr. Strange is that PBL students can become immensely more involved in their work given the freedoms they are given to complete them. First, as I have learned as an English student, it is always important to give thought to what audience you are presenting to. By requiring the students to share their work with more than just the teacher, they become more concerned about what they are creating. Also, through Project Based Learning, the children are given more freedom on what they work on. When the students are able to make their own choices on how to approach their tasks or are able to support a personal opinion of their own they become much more invested in the project because it is more personal for them. Last, I really found it interesting and believe it is incredibly beneficial for the students to work together and have in class critiques where every student is involved in meaningful discussion.

I also learned from these videos about how well third grade students are doing in Project Based Learning versus college level students, and I would like to make some points to defend college level EDM310 students after my viewing. One factor that needs to be taken into account is that most of these students learned the "old fasioned way," using text books and pen and paper. Some, like myself, have not been seeking out new technology and ways to use it for years whereas these children have grown up in this much more advanced technological age and are quite fluent in it already. Also, adult students at this stage have much more on their plates at this point in their lives. These include commitments such as other classes, work, family, money, and many other responsibilities that come with adult life. This is especially true for older, returning students! The students in this class and teachers do need to learn and expand and work hard to do this or not be in this class or profession. However, as reported in the video, Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher, we are at least managing to achieve the same as the nine year old children, some just as good, some just as bad, and not 100% completion on either side. So, please give us some thought and quit picking on us Dr. Strange!

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...


"I like to look at the world through rose-colored glasses."

My Passion Is...



"Animals!"

Project #3

C4T #1

I was assigned to comment on Becky Georend's blog Live the Conversation

The fist post of hers that I commented on was about how many of her students she encounters one day from a morning pancake breakfast until two in the afternoon. She is approached by two students at the pancake breakfast and is then obliged to have conversations with their parents. She also makes the point that she is in her not very clean mommy clothes and has her hair pulled back in a pony-tail. Then later she sees a former student at the grocery store and stops to say hi while "lugging" around her baby. She then waves to two more of her students on the way home and then meets the mother of one of her students slightly after that at a swap meet. She describes that even if she is not teaching at her school she is still "on the clock." Last, she poses the questions "Do you choose to live in the community in which you teach? If so, why? If not, why not?"

This is the first comment I posted on her page:

I really enjoyed reading this post. Although it may seem a bit intruding into your own life at times, I believe that your students constantly wanting to be a part of your life is very flattering. It shows that you are a huge part of their lives and they want to extend that into other factions of their own lives. As teachers we should work to be good examples for our students, and from reading a little bit about you on your bog I think it is great that they have someone like you to look up to. I am not teaching yet and have not quite settled on the community I will be teaching in, but when that happens I hope to be as a welcome member of that community as you are!

The second time I went to her blog, she had posted what appeared to be a filler post because it was a sort of chain post where you list eleven things about yourself that people may not know. However, this one was different because her brother added more specific questions involving her life in education. These are those questions and her answers:
1. What book written prior to 1990 has influenced your professional growth as an educator the most?
Not sure I've ready one prior to 1990 that I can recall right now. I thoughtTeaching with Love and Logic was old, but that's just 1995.
2. Why did you decide to start blogging?
I wanted to share my thoughts, and I enjoy writing.
3. Which educational author do you disagree with the most?
Any that back up letter grades.

This is my second comment on her page for that post:

First I would like to say thank you for commenting on my class blog, hintonjennyedm310.blogspot.com. I very much appreciate your encouragement and would be thrilled to see a video project with your cat in it when visiting your blog in the future! I have seen chain posts like this one on Facebook, though not on a blog before. I never can think of people to send them to either, but I have always thought about filling one out. However, I am happy that you did this one because it is a fantastic way to learn about my first assigned teacher to comment to. By reading it and exploring your blog, I can see that you are a loving wife and mother as well as an accomplished educator and community member. These are all such things that I aspire to be. From reading this post, I can only imagine how much fun you and your brother had hosting "Townsley Times" in college, and I believe that I can actually say Garden of Eat'n is one of the most unique restaurant names I have come across ( keeping in mind that I hail from Mobile, Alabama), plus Adam and Eve on the boxes really ties the idea together. I love that you do not support letter grades. It is especially at the elementary level that children can easily begin to be labeled and compartmentalized. I am especially happy that I caught you on this post because your response to the question about why you blog will inspire me to use my EDM class and blog to help share my own opinions with what I write as well. Thank you!

Post #4

"If we look at the dynamics of any classroom, it doesn't take more than a week for students to figure out who is smart, who is not, and who doesn't care. What is worse, studies show that after fourth grade, students know how they are perceived and play their roles accordingly" (Ben Johnson, The Right Way to Ask Questions in a Classroom, http://www.edutopia.org). This is the most noticeable and problematic dynamic that takes place in the classroom. Being a college student myself, I more than notice this occurrence in my day to day classes. The teachers will either try in vain to ask questions to an responding and silent class room, or they will end up being forced to take the answers of the one or two whom actually want to be involved. Here in my post I have evaluated some techniques for how to ask questions and what questions should be asked, and I have included some ideas of my own that encourage better learning experiences for students.

"Do not interrupt students’ answers. You may find yourself wanting to interrupt because you think you know what the student is going to say, or simply because you are passionate about the material. Resist this temptation. Hearing the students’ full responses will allow you to give them credit for their ideas and to determine when they have not yet understood the material" (Wilbert McKeachie, Asking Questions to Improve Learning, http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu). This piece of advice put forth by Wilbert Mckeachie is not one that I can truly agree with. From what I have both seen and experienced, some students tend to answer a question with an idea of what the answer may be and expect the teacher to be able to help complete this thought or just to help find a more specific answer. Often when the student is left trying to explain further with nothing but a silent classroom in the background and the full attention of the teacher on them, the student will simply panic and lose faith in their idea which could have led to a correct answer. However, I do not believe that the teacher should approach this kind of answer by posing more questions because this may make the student feel pressured and their mind may wander even further away from their initial train of thought. I believe that instead, when a student is not quite able to get out their answer, the teacher should interject if they feel they know where the student is heading, or to use what the student has presented to lead them to what they are trying to say. For example, when a teacher asks the question, "What kind of symbolism do we see in this story?," and the student replies with, "Well, this one guy always has this five pointed star on all his stuff." In this situation, the student may just vaguely have an idea of this significance or they may just not be confident in their answer. So, I would propose that instead of asking the student directly what that means, the teacher should respond by trying to discuss with the student about who "that guy" is and his significance in the story. Then, the teacher can ask what elements about this character would lead him to where such a symbol and what it means to him. Hopefully this would leave the student more confident to respond and possibly work to spark thoughts in other members of the class so that they might have something to add as well.

"Students might be encouraged to write the question in their notes. They might be given a bit of time to write some ideas or discuss potential responses with another student (Maryellen Weimer, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, http://www.facultyfocus.com). I very much agree with this suggestion put forth by Dr. Weimer. Assigning students to write down questions that they have while doing their actual homework to be discussed in class the next class would make it much easier for them to remember what they had problems with given that time has passed since they worked on that assignment. Also, although at times it may seem uncomfortable for both students and teachers to put students in groups, I have found that for small in class assignments they are quite productive. I would encourage a random system for grouping because this allows the possibility of more engaged students helping lesser engaged students. Then when you reconvene as a whole class, all members of the groups should be able to answer questions about their individual activities because the consensus of the group is backing them.

In respect to what questions I would want to ask and how I would go about asking them, I look to what kind of teacher I am training to be. I aim to teach high school English which largely involves reading material that will be needed to be analyzed and interpreted. For this type of class, I believe that first reviewing the text and pointing out some concepts about what we are currently reading to refresh the students minds and get them back in the frame of mind they were in while reading it themselves. After the review, I would begin asking questions on the concepts mentioned earlier.If the students refuse to respond, I would then begin calling on one or more students to answer specific questions to create some dialog. I may briefly suggest some further ideas about the information and ask specific questions while doing so and having the students reflect on what has just presented. So, this could lead to a broader discussion on the topic that can be expanded by introducing more of the students' ideas along the way and then asking them to reflect on the new idea to keep the conversation continuing. Ideally, if enough of the students contribute to the discussion, the entire class will benefit.

Blog Post #3

Do not be a Mean Margaret! Out of the three rules to peer reviews, I believe that the first rule of being complementary is in indeed the most important idea to have in mind. Making specific suggestions and grammatical corrections are very important and helpful as far as proof reading is concerned, but complimenting the peer you are reviewing is a good way to acknowledge that you are on the same level. Since the review is peer to peer and not teacher to student, there is no warrant for a student to "shoot down" another student's ideas. The other obvious reasons to give compliments while reviewing a peer is that it is not only just plain polite, but that it is also good to be encouraging for the student.

Of course the two other rules of peer revues, making specific suggestions and corrections, are very important as well. For instance, as it was displayed in the humorous classroom examples of peer reviews, it is of little help to your peers be vague in your suggestions. Simply stating to the peer that their work was off or needs improvement does not have much benefit for the person being reviewed. The person conducting the review should thoroughly consider what was presented in their peer's work and make genuine and positive suggestions that can be discussed between the two. As far as correcting grammar mistakes, I like how it was addressed in the first video, What is Peer Editing? This is because, as an English Major, I like that the proper symbols used to correct errors in a work of writing was included in the presentation. These symbols are used in correcting papers because they are simple and do not take up much room on a paper that does not have much space already, and it also allows much more room in margins for making suggestions and comments.

Blog Post #1

I have to admit that I was warned about this class in the very first semester I entered into USA's College of Education. Two of the students who were taking the education class I was in were also enrolled in EDM 310 that term. The impression they gave was that they were being expected to produce an educational podcast with very little guidance from their instructor or even knowledge of what he was expecting of them. I now know that the class is not actually what I gathered from them, but at that time I was both frightened and inspired. I was frightened because being on camera is not something I prefer to do. One could describe me as the girl that always had her hand held out in front of the camera in all your pictures by the end of the night. However, I was inspired because I actually do enjoy following the You Tube podcast called vlogbrothers (who you may subscribe to through You Tube) which is basically two brothers that comment and educate on world events. I have enjoyed watching and learning from them, so with the vlodbrothers in mind, I had been trying to prepare myself for this class by thinking of interesting ways how to be on camera and of ways to avoid being the one directly on camera. These ideas varied anywhere from where I should place the camera, what I should ware, and what would a good background should be, and then to the ideas of me just having my boyfriend play his guitar with lessons in his lyrics or using my cats as characters.

I am relieved to find out this class is not only a podcast and that neither the world nor my cats will have to suffer from "Kitty Academy," but this is still like no other class I have taken before. I do feel overwhelmed and fearful that I will not be able to meet the requirements or standards needed to succeed in this class. I am not unfamiliar with blogs,computers, or to use of the internet, but I have not been in any classes so far that were so technologically based. I have even had trouble this week being introduced to a device called "The Clicker" used to answer questions for my drama class. For this class though, I intend to press on, to learn, to follow instructions as they come, to read and watch everything suggested, to pay attention to that Checklist Master, and to ask questions whenever given the opportunity. As far as questions go for right now, I am wondering if Google Docs are documents that appear on my Google Drive. I may have missed that one in class, but I look forward to my specifically assigned project to see if it pops up there. If that is not the case, I will definitely ask in class on Monday.

Practice Post

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My name is Jenny Hinton. My father is a mobile native, but my mother is from Cleveland Ohio. She is a second generation Greek immigrant, but because she happens to have a Swedish grandmother I was able to have red hair. I also have an older sister and an even older brother. I was born and raised here in Mobile Alabama and went to St. Paul's Episcopal School all twelve years of my grade school education. When I was nineteen I moved to California and lived in various places in the greater Los Angeles area. I worked at a pet store for three years and then attended Santiago Canyon College where I studied mostly philosophy and media for two more years after that. I moved back home about two years ago to finish my degree here at South Alabama. I am entering the field of education because I have a passion for literature and am proficient at writing essays. Also, I like the idea of being a possible good influence and help high school students to enjoy what can be learned.

On a more personal note, my true loves in life are movies, books, animals (especially mine), and good TV series. I have too many favorite movies to list, but can say that my favorite genre for books is urban fantasy. I have just begun a book called Dream London that is very promising. I do happen to have five cats, a white husky/golden mix, a turtle and a leopard gecko. I use the excuse that I have always had jobs at pet stores where people bring in day old kittens and puppies that have to be bottle fed, even the turtle is a rescue. What you should know about me that I am talented at playing pool, and I would like to get better at playing chess.

My First Post Title

This is my First Post. I clicked the HTML button which I should always do in EDM310. I am now a Blogger!