Blog Post #16

BEFORE


What I want my students to know I want my students to know that they are important, regardless of how small they are. I want them to know that it doesn't matter if they are a different sex, age, race, or from a different financial background than the person next to them, they are the future, and they will be encouraged to be whatever they felt they can be. I want my students to have confidence in themselves.

I want my students to be able to:I want my students to be able to interact with their peers, and never give into peer pressure. I want my students to be able to use their minds to do math, english, history, etc., without relying on a machine to do it for them. I want my students to be able to use any form of technology confidently. Most importantly, I want my students to be able to be who they want to be, and never be afraid of that.

What tools I will use: With my students, i will use Markers, Boards, iPads, Computers, SmartBoards, Crayons, Games, books, anything goes. I want my students to know how to learn by using anything, while being encouraged to be creative. I will also use emotions as a tool, I want to make sure my students know that someone is always proud of them.

What role my students will play: My students will be the "center of attention". It is all about them, right? They will be the main focus and I will make sure their minds are being filled with new knowledge on a daily basis. There will be so many activities in my class that allows students to collaborate so that they can play which ever role they please, whether it's student, teacher, team leader, friend, decorator, writer, or anything that is needed throughout their assignment. My students will be able to find out what their passions are, so that they can bring them along as they grow, and turn them into their future careers.

AFTER

As I re-read my post, I noticed that not much has changed. I have always wanted to use technology in the classroom, the problem was, I did not know how to properly use it. Now that I do, I have many ways in which I will incorporate it into my daily lessons. I will also add several technology resources that I did not know of before EDM310 such as iBook, iMovie, and podcasts. Another BIG thing I want to add is that I want my students to be independent thinkers. To insure this happens, my lesson plans will be based on project-based learning. I still feel the same way when it comes to my students; they will always be the main focus, and I want them to be confident and never give into peer pressure.

I am still the same heart-felt person who's world revolves around children; that is why teaching is my passion. Thanks to Dr. Strange and EDM310, I now know how to give my students the BEST learning experience.

My Final Reflection

Blog Post #15

Miriah's Post

There are several ways to accommodate children with disabilities in your classroom. A great form of Assistive technology would be a program called “Read and Write Gold”. This program allows students to do several things to help them with their education. One feature this program allows you to do is

convert speech to text. This program also allows you to translate foreign languages to English, if your student happens to be an English language learner. This can be easily downloaded to a Mac, PC, iPad, or tablet, so it can usually be easily accessed in your classroom. I would use this program for any student that could benefit from it and I believe it would be rather useful. For more information and uses of Read and Write Gold, visit this website.

Michelle's Post

To know what assistive technology is available to you as a teacher, you must first know what it is. Assistive technology is any piece of technology that helps students learn with a disability. As elementary teachers, we will come into contact with students with disabilities that are just learning how to learn with that said disability. One newer form of technology is the touch screen on many computers and tablets.

This is an extremely useful assistive technology for students with autism. Students with autism may struggle to grasp the concept between the mouse and the actions on the screen. When they are able to use their finger on the screen as a guide, they learn more easily. A great website with a few tips on how to use assistive technology for autism is here.(specialed.us).

Demetrius' Post

Teaching students will always be a challenge. One of the more difficult things to do is teach students with learning disabilities. Learning disabilities can affect every aspect of learning, like writing, reading and math. There are many assistive tools that can help make these disorders a little easier to manage. Braille embossers convert text into Braille output. This tool allows teachers to convert things into Braille for better assistance with blind students. There is also software tools designed to make text-based

materials more accessible to assist students with reading disabilities. Options can include scanning, reformatting, navigating, or speaking text out loud; this is a very good tool for students who have problems seeing or maneuvering print material. Prufrock Press is a word prediction program that requires a few keystrokes to generate word lists. This can help students with dyslexia or dysgraphia that has severe spelling problems, which do not benefit from spell-checkers.
Click Here!

Click Here!

Final report on PLN

I used Symbaloo as my PLN, and since my last report, I have added 13 additional "tiles". It is hard to keep up with all the sites I come across throughout the semester and Symbaloo is a great place to save them so I can refer to them whenever I want. I use this to access my blog and the class blog, finding lesson plans, watching TED videos, pinterest, google docs and sites, and many more! I have also saved sites that will allow me to create activities and test for my future students, along with interactive classroom games. I can honestly say this PLN is one I will be using from now on, and carrying on to my Teaching career.

Blog Post #14

I know that the academics portion of school is by-far the most important, but me being a very creative person with a very large imagination, I would have liked to express my creativity with a non-academic activity. Since I will be an Elementary teacher, there will be a few programs/shows that my students will put on for parents. I think a good assignment for we EDM students would have been to plan a non-academic activity for students. For example, if you are secondary, you could direct a Talent Show with a tempting prize such as an iPad.You could also have the students reenact a comedy or a funny movie that is popular among their age. Something my highschool did was have us dress as waiters and serve the staff and family members dinner while speaking in our favorite accent, whoever kept character the best, received an iPod (this was not for a "Drama" class, it was assigned to anyone who wanted to do it in the Sophomore class).

Several students participated and it was a fun activity that made students want to come to school to practice and get ready for it throughout the week. If you are an Elementary major, you could arrange a Christmas play that steers away from the traditional religious "baby Jesus" theme, and take on something more modern and accepted. Such as, the Grinch, or Mr. and Mrs. Clause with Elves. In one of the classes I am observing, My mentor teacher put together a "Fairy-Tale" program. In this program, the students acted out several different fairy tales. They dressed up, sang, and acted out the most popular fairy tale stories with their families as an audience. Every day for about 20 minutes before lunch they rehearsed for about two weeks, so it did not take up much academic time. This assignment allowed the students to take a little "brain break" every day and have some fun. So, like I said, EDM students could have created their own program/activity for the student to do that would usually require and audience. This program could help students with personal skills such as their confidence and social skills. An assignment like this would also help student get along better because they would be working together in a less stressful environment.

Here is my Program: My students will put on a "musical". They will dress up and sing the most popular songs from the 70's-80's that would be relevant to their parents. I would have my little boys come out in leather jackets and sing a popular Aerosmith song and my girls come out singing a Cindy Lauper song; While of course, staying cute! They would be all dressed up in the "styles" from that generation and keep parents laughing with the mixture of all the classics. This would allow the student to "let loose" a little, and have some fun, while making their parents proud! They would love to know that the songs they are performing are recognized by their family members. Being a creative person, I would love to put something like this together.I know this is not required by teachers but I believe that if you want to be an educator, you enjoy kids, and should want to do more than what your job title requires so that you can become the best teacher you can be!

C4K November Summary

The first post I read was by a boy named Isiah from Pt England. He wrote a descriptive story about walking through the woods hearing noises. In the story he showed fear and at the end he discovers that the sound was an Owl the whole time.Here is my comment: Hi, Isiah! My name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I loved reading your blog because I love action! Your story was very suspenseful, and very entertaining. I love how descriptive you were because it allowed me to make a movie in my head and really imagine what was going on! Make sure you don't capitalize words that do not need to be capitalized throughout the story, other than that, Greta job, I enjoyed it :) granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com

My new blog post assignment was actually a video by a little girl named Skye. She tells us about Big Bird and how she loves to hug him. Here is my comment: Hey Skye! Great job with your reading! I am in a class called EDM 310 where we have to create blogs just like you and your classmates. I love big bird so I am glad you read about him. Keep up the good work, Skye! granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com

C4T #4 Summary

I was assigned Tom Schimmer for my C4T's, and I really enjoyed several of his posts. The first post was about Tom starting a new Facebook account. He said his goal was to have yet another place where he could connect with other educators around the world. He explained that he would still be using Twitter for shorter posts, and his blog for the longer ones,but his Facebook account would be a "middle ground". Then he tells us how to find him on all of his social networks.

Here is my comment: Hello, my name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I now follow your blog, and I will be sure to add your Twitter and Facebook accounts as well. EDM310 is based on the use of Technology, we had to make several PBL accounts and we do weekly assignments on our blogs. (granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com). I really like how you use these accounts to connect with other educators! I still haven't mastered Twitter, but I am a big Facebook user and I actually enjoy blogging now. Thanks for expanding your knowledge through Facebook.



The next post I read was about the purpose of homework. He asked questions like, should it be assigned, how much is too much, and how much is too little. His all-around reason for posting this was to ask if homework was the "means or the end". Meaning should it just be used as practice, or used as an event itself to individual contribute to a report grade. Tom further discussed this topic at the Pearson-ATI’s 20th Annual Summer Conference on July 8-10 2013.

Here is my comment: Hello, My name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading this post, you made some very valid points. I think I will use homework as a form of practice. I will be teaching Elementary students, so I think i will incorporate it into my weekly parent letters. I will send home a packet every week that explains the work that their students would be learning that week with some example problems/ questions that they can answer. The parents could check their understanding or insure that they practice if they need to improve their grade. Thanks for posting! granthammiriahedm310@blogspot.com

Blog Post #13

Miriah'sPost
On the list of Sir Ken Robinson’s favorite TED talks is a video called Teaching one child at a time by Shukla Bose. In this video, she tells how she started the Parikrma Humanity Foundation from her kitchen table. This is a program that helps the “slums” of India by focusing on teaching one student at a time. She explains that one of the schools she went to was a school that held 165 students and no roof on the building.

Her dream, as she says, is for children to live to be educated and to live peacefully in the “kaotic” globalized world. She not only organized the schools that these children now had access to, but she chose a very difficult curriculum for them as well; which made her receive many crazy looks from outsiders. She explains that the students did more than adapt to this curriculum but excelled with it. Shukla Bose is a very inspiring woman. She shows us that every student has potential, they just need the right materials to succeed; and that “one student at a time” makes a difference. Like she says, “Educating the poor is more than just a numbers game.” It is people like this that should inspire educators around the world every day.


Michelle's Post
Number Eight on Sir Ken Robinson’s list of favorite TED Talks is by a man named Shane Koyczan called “To This Day ... for the bullied and beautiful”. Shane is a poet as he delivers his speech to a full house. He talks about his childhood and how he tried to become himself. As a child he “hid his heart under the bed because his mother told if he wasn’t careful with it, someone would break it.” He claims we have to define ourselves at such an early age now. He continues telling about aspiring moments from his past. He talks about everything children have to deal with:

bullies, finding yourself, and staying true to yourself. As future teachers, we need to remember what it was like for us to be the child. Shane made me remember that every child has the same problems. They want to define themselves. As a teacher, I will give my students room to grow and become the people of the future they deserve to be. Children are often put down by adults, because they think their problems trivial. Remember being that kid that got called names? Bullied? This video taught me to remember that for my future students. If you haven’t watched this, I would highly suggest it. It’s a lyrical reminder of childhood and why we as teachers need to pay attention to every child.


Demetrius' Post
The video Kakenya Ntaiya: A Girl Who Demanded School was very touching. Kakenya is a woman from Kenya that wanted to make a change. She refused to keep the tradition and be married at the age of 12. Kakenya had dreams of becoming a teacher. Unfortunately, Kakeya had to undergo female circumcision as a compromise for her father to let her continue going to school at the age of 12. This was not at all an easy thing to do, but she was very determined to be a teacher. She did everything she could to get to America in order to attend college. The knowledge that Kakenya acquired when reaching America devastated her, and she decided to do something about it.

After Kakenya graduated she went back to Kenya and started an all-girls school. This helped changed their lives for the better. We can learn a lot from this video. One thing we can learn is that it only takes one person to stand up for what they truly believe in to make a difference. Kakenya knew nothing about being a teacher, besides the fact that it looked easy, when she was young. The knowledge that she gained empowered her to do great things. Knowledge should make everyone want to make a difference. This video showed us that it only takes one person to create an opposite path that will help change the lives of many. You may start off with a very small dream, like becoming a teacher, and along the way help others reach dreams that you couldn't imagine.

Project #12b SmartBoard Lesson Plan

Blog Post #12

Miriah's Post
How to Escape Education's Death Valley is a hysterical but informative speech by Ken Robinson, a man who moved to America twelve years before. He tells us that whoever thought of the title "No child left behind" truly understood irony, because it's leaving millions of children behind. He says that America spends enough money and enough resources, but it is all going in the wrong direction. He believes the problem is not enough educators are focusing on Teaching and Learning but, instead, testing. He expressed that education is not a mechanical system, it's a human system; it's about people, and there are condition in which people thrive. He then clarifies why "Death Valley" is in the title by explaining that it is a place where nothing grows because it doesn't rain. Meaning that if we do not provide children with appropriate teaching climates, they will not thrive for success. He tells us that we must do these three things in the education system: We must individualize teaching and learning, we must attribute a high status to the teaching profession, and see Professional Development as an investment, not a cost, and we must make schools responsible and autonomous to get the job done. Centralized decision making is not the way. He concludes by saying that if we all were encouraged to be moved, it would start a revolution, and that is what we need. This man made some valid points about the education system.He made me believe that I can truly make a difference as a future teacher. It is a big process, teaching and learning; it relies on many aspects. If we can provide these aspects to schools, we are setting students up for success, which will lead to a “revolution”.

Michelle's Post
In Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, How Schools Kill Creativity, he discusses how education is diminishing children’s creativity. He starts the talk with stories of how education is meant to prepare children for the future. He considers creativity to be just as important as literature in education. I am going to second him on this. Teachers spend so much time on literature and language arts but very little on evolving a child’s creativity. Creativity is one of the most extraordinary abilities we as humans have. I loved when Sir Ken said that children are born creative, but they grow out of it. They are taught out of it. The arts are no longer taught in elementary school like they are in secondary schools. Why is that? While watching this, I remembered Dr. Vitulli’s arts class. She stressed the importance of incorporating the arts in your lessons. Many teachers don’t do this. Teachers and parents tell the students to not do art or music, because they won’t be either as adults. Creativity and intelligence go hand in hand. So why not teach it? If you incorporate it into your lesson, it won’t take you any longer to teach it. It may also help students remember it easier that just a boring lecture and demonstration.

Demitrius' Post
The video Ken Robinson: Changing Education Paradigms starts off by telling us about the two reasons countries are reforming public education. One reason is economic, which poses the question: “How do we educate our children to take their place in the economies of the 21st Century?” The second reason is cultural, which poses the question: “How do we educate our children so they can have a sense of cultural identity so that we can pass on the cultural genes of our communities while being part of globalization?” Mr. Robinson also reinforces the fact that the school systems are still trying to teach students the same as the students were taught in the past. This is unacceptable, and we must change that if we truly want to educate our children. He also tells us about how students are going one way in the school system and they really should be headed in the other direction (change the paradigm). I learned from Mr. Robinson that every student has the means to be a “genius”, unfortunately that slowly fades away due to the school systems of today. We must change this quickly. In school, we are taught that we should not collaborate on the majority of our work, but in reality, the best learning is done collaboratively. This video taught me to look at school systems differently. We tell students to attend school, go to college and get a degree. In todays society, that is no longer enough to get and keep a well paying job. I learned that things must change if we truly want our upcoming students to be educated and obtain a good job.

Project 15

Teacher Interview

How to use a SmartBoard

Blog Post #11

In Little Kids....Big Potential, Mrs. Cassidy's students tell us about the ways hey use technology in their classroom. They talk about writing in their blogs, and how it makes them better writers. They were so excited to receive comments from their family, and even we EDM310 students. I felt so proud to be involved in helping these students! They also talk about the ways they surf the web, and how they do it safely. They even use skype to video chat with other classes and experts, which I thought was a great idea. This video gave me a lot of ideas for my future classroom.

I think all of her techniques have potential to be used in my classroom. First of all it depends on what resources I'm given. Hopefully by the time I have my own classroom, each of my students will have an iPad. I thought it was interesting that Dr. Strange brought up the students' parents in the interview and what they thought about their students not only being on the internet, but their pictures and work being posted as well.I loved Ms. Cassidy's response though: she only uses first names and she doesn't post their pictures with their names.

I really like how she said, "For every body there's a different entry point and it's good to play off what you're interested in". This is a great statement for teachers because they can get these students started with whatever they want to enforce in their classrooms, for example, if they want their students to be better writers, they can create blogs. When the interview is led by the students, she talks about Facebook, which has never really been considered a great tool for educational purposes. However, Mrs. Cassidy says she believes it could be, as do I. I actually have Facebook groups for several of my classes where students can post questions that can be answered by the teacher or other students, which is very helpful.

I have to say that watching this video helped me realize how important some of these PLN's are, even after Dr. Strange has Emphasized them so much. I picked up some great ideas and got a lot of my questions answered.

C4K October Summary

I read 4 very interesting blogs this month! The first post I read was This book is awesome, by Mara. In this post, she eagerly explains the book she is reading and her feelings about it. She then says that she will keep her blog viewers posted on what happens next.
Here is my comment
Mara, I am also learning how to become a teacher like Jacquelyne. I go to the University of South Alabama and I am in a class called EDM 310. This book does sound very interesting, and I am glad you like it. It is always exciting to come across an “eager reader”! Keep up the good work! You can see my blog here: http://granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com/

The next post was fungus,lichen and moss. He said, "fungus is a type decompose r that breaks down dead thing lichen is a type of type of food that animals eat such as raindeer and caribou moss is a type of agae that grows on trees breaks down stuff".
Here is my comment
Hello, my name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Al. This is very interesting. I didn’t know what lichen was, so thanks for telling me! Great blog :) You can look at mine —> http://granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com/

The next post was Running to the End by Jonti. He gives a very descriptive explaination of a man running a race. He describes the mud splashing, the feeling of him being tired, and the look of all the contestants.
Here is my comment
Jonti, This is a great story! I am in a class right now that requires me to read different blog posts, and I am really glad i got to read yours. Your story had meaning to me. I picked up the motto of "Never give up", because I see that you never did. You gave great visual clues to make your audience be able to imagine what was going on, and I did. Keep up the good work, Jonti!

The next post was Out of My mind by Ashan. Here is what he said, "The lessons you could learn from out of my mind are what is cerebral palsy, how someone with cerebral palsy lives.mellody probably also has a lot of questions to ask people without cerebral palsy because she want know how is it like to move around alot.one of the biggest lessons you could learn is that everybody is the same no matter what.one of my questions that I have is how can mellody survive for that long with her major condition".
Here is my comment
Ashan, My name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM30 at the University of South Alabama. First of all, interesting topic! I like how you brought up Cerebral Palsy, because that is a terrible disease that should be addressed. I would also be interested to know how they move around. One sentence I LOVED was, “one of the biggest lessons you could learn is that everybody is the same no matter what”. I wish everyone thought like this! Make sure you listen to what your teacher has to say, she will help you become the best blogger you can be! Great Post, Ashan! You can go see my blog here granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com

C4T #3

For my C4T's, I was assigned a blog titled, Stump the Teacher. I really enjoyed the posts on this blog because they kept me interested. I actually found myself reading a few more posts that I was not required to read because I enjoyed them so much. The first pot I read was called The "real World". This was about educators try to prepare students for what they will be faced with in the real world. He explains that when he grew up, the only minority was his adopted sister becuase he lived in such a small town where "everybody knew your name, your business and your dog’s name…and your dog’s business too". He them says that once he became an educator, he noticed all these kids that were suffering through things they he could have never imagined. They were all in pain from death, divorce, poverty and may other tragedies. He sums up by saying he will no longer try to prepare his kids for the "real world", because it does not exist, but instead, he would help them learn to navigate the world they are living in now.
Here is my comment
Hello, My name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Al. Just a few thoughts concerning you post. I believe the "real world" is different from person to person. Some people may go through life rather blessed, having everything they ever wanted with nothing MAJORLY wrong happening to them. Others on the other hand, may have it rough. whether it's a death, a divorce, a fight... anything. I do agree with you that you never know what is going on behind the "smiling face", that's why i believe that it is important to develop a student-teacher relationship, which is what it seems like you do. I really enjoyed this post. Although this particular post was the one i was "assigned", i found myself reading some of your previous posts as well. You are very interesting and put things in a great perspective. I will be summarizing your post on my blog.Thank you! http://granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com

The next post, "I used to think", was a series of situations where he explains what he used to think compared to what he realized now. For example, he says, "I used to think the more work I piled on a kid the more they would learn. Now I realize the more valuable the work I ask kids to do the more they will learn." He goes on with a list of 13 of these statements.
Here is my comment
Hello, My name is Miriah Grantham and I am in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I love your posts because I feel like I can always relate to them. I love this one in particular because it shows you how much the education system is progressing. I have noticed the changed you were speaking of whenever you said, "I used to think....now i realize....". It's amazing how when I was in school, it was the first way and now that I am taking these education classes, the second part of each statement is being enforced. I am so happy with your point of view with these situations and if every teacher thought like this, we would have a world FULL of wonderful educators! Great Post! granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com

Project #14

Lesson Plan Overview by Group Dufy Above is the link to our Project Overview. This lesson plan focuses on Grade Level Standard 3: Writing narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure. It is intended for Grade 2. The project duration will be approximately six days with 45-60 minute sessions a day. After they finish this project, students should have an understanding of what an autobiography is and how to write one Lesson Plan Calendar by Dufy Lesson Plan Rubric by Dufy

Blog Post #10

Randy Pausch's last lecture is an inspirational video where Mr. Paush talks about his childhood dreams, how he achieved his dreams and how to enable your dreams and the dreams of others. He describes a "last lecture" as a lecture you would give if you could only give one more before you died (which applied to him because he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer). This was, in fact, a one of a kind lecture that became an internet sensation which was watched by millions. Randy tells us about his childhood dreams of being in zero gravity, playing in the National Football League, being an author in the World Book Encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk, working for Disney—and what it takes to achieve them. Something you can learn from Mr. Pausch's Lecture is to never give up.

Through all the road-blocks that came into his life, he still managed to succeed. This is important for us, as educators, to fully grasp. We should never give up; When you give up, you're giving up on your student. Another thing you can learn from this man is to be optimistic, look on the bright side. Whenever one of his "dreams" did not come true, he still took something out of it. This just gives you an all around better attitude, which is necessary for an educator. I found this video to be my favorite of all the ones we've watched in EDM310 so far. I love inspiration, motivation, i just eat it up. Some words of wisdom I learned from Mr. Pausch are: Don't complain, just work harder(great motto for EDM310), Show gratitude, Loyalty is a two-way street, and find the best in everybody. I believe it would truly make a difference if everyone were to grasp these motto's, and they are especially relevant to to "education world".

Blog Post #9

By: Miriah Grantham, Michelle Detar, and Demetrius Hamner


Back to the Future

Back to the Future is an educational video in which Brian Crosby, a fourth to sixth grade teacher at Agnes Risley Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada, discusses the ways he improves student learning in his classroom. When this video first started It confused us a little. Why? Well Mr. Crosby informed us on the background on his students and just how little they were exposed to. The majority of his class came from low income homes and had very little knowledge of their surroundings.

Less than half of his class knew which city, state and country they lived in. This video shows the difference in the knowledge of students from middle-income and low-income schools. He has students use technology to connect with the outside world and learn from it. The students have their own blogs that they use to post their classwork on to meet state standards. Mr. Crosby reinforced the fact that every teacher should be creative, passionate, and imaginative. We learned that you shouldn't judge students on where they come from because with the right methods of teaching every student will be able to become an A+ student. They are more than capable of learning the advantages of technology and utilizing it.

Blended Learning Cycle

Blended Learning Cycle is a video in which Paul Anderson, a high school AP Biology teacher in Bozeman, Montana, teaches us what a blended learning cycle is. A blended learning cycle is a combination of the blended cycle and the learning cycle. The blended cycle consists of three parts: mobile, online and classroom. The learning cycle consists of five parts: engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate. An easy way to remember the steps in this cycle is the acronym QUIVERS; Question, Investigate, Video, Elaboration, Review, Summary quiz.

Mr. Anderson uses this in his classroom to help his students learn. Each step of this method was to confirm the understanding of the students answer to a driving question. If the student was not able to complete one step of this method, then they were not able to move on to the next step. What can we learn from Mr. Anderson? We learned a new method of teaching. Every good teacher knows to ask a good question. Mr. Anderson’s steps make it easy to make sure students understand your questions. QUIVERS is a method we would use in our classrooms to keep our students engaged and check their understanding

Making Thinking Visible

Making Thinking Visible is a video by Mark Church. He starts by putting his class into small groups. He wants them to think about the topic of human origins. He lets them interpret the topic on their own and create a headline, or question, that helps them start their thinking process. After further discussion of that unit, the students will go back to their headlines and see if their view on the topic has changed.

This is a very good method of learning to help students become critical thinkers. What can we learn from Mr. Church? We learned to let students think for themselves. If you pose a question, the students will find a way to answer it. This is a method of learning that we all could use in our classrooms to encourage our students to think critically and learn to combine their thoughts with others as well.

Project #9

Podcast by Group Dufy

Blog Post #8

21st Century Learning and Communicating Tools

My Post
One of the great sites that I stumbled upon was called Tech4Learning. This is a great place that encourages what we are learning in EDM310. It can be accessed by Parents, Teachers, and Administrators. It gives you all sorts of interesting information including “How to create a 21st Century Classroom”. It offers guides of common core standards that must be followed and “award winning” programs to

download and use in your classroom. There is also a “connect” tab on the homepage that allows you to connect with other teachers, see lessons, and the work of other students. Another interesting site that I found was called The 21st Century Teacher. Here you can find articles, blogs, and videos that offer tips for 21st century learning. I would use both of these websites as an educator. Not only do they offer you great advice, but they also allow you to connect with other educators from all over and share ideas, which is very helpful for creating your own “21st Century Classroom”.


Michelle's Post
I am currently observing in a third grade classroom for three of my other classes. My mentor teacher, Ms. Williams, told me about some great sites that she uses to get worksheets and activities from. One that she told me about was Teachers Pay Teachers. I created an account with Teachers Pay Teachers so that I could access the tools that it provides. Teachers from all over can sell their original works to other teachers. You can sort your options by grade level, subject, or price. This is a great tool to use when you need extra help on certain subjects.

My mentor teacher uses it in reading, because many of the students have a hard time grasping how to find the main idea of a passage. I would use this tool whenever I wanted my students to have a little extra practice on what we have already learned. The prices are cheap, and its quality work that you are buying. Some other great tools that it provides are: bulletin board ideas, classroom decorations, PowerPoints, rubrics, and so much more! Teachers Pay Teachers is an excellent site for teachers in all aspects.


Demetrius' Post
As I searched the internet I came across two very good learning websites. One is called Eduplace and the other one is called Jump Start. Eduplace is a basic site, specifically for second grade, that gives tools to help plan your lesson. It consists of a glossary, manipulative, graphic organizers, and of course games. All these tools are specific for second grade learning. This learning tool could be used often in my classroom mostly for the games and manipulatives. Jump Start has educational resources for pre-K through sixth grade. Some of the resources are games, worksheets, lesson plans, and much more. The movie Madagascar and How to Train Your Dragon are some of the themes used for the different games.

Each game is available not only online but on a number of sources like the iPad, Nintendo Wii, Mobile Device, and Nintendo DS. As you can see Jump Start stays up to date on 21st century learning and that is why it grabbed my attention. This is something that I will use in my classroom on a daily basis to reinforce what we have learned or even introduces something new. The many worksheets, lesson plans, and activities will be of great help in my classroom. Each curriculum is based on national and state standards so my students will always be learning efficiently. Jump Start is also a great way to keep my class interactive in learning. This site will help make the boring or more difficult topic fun.

C4T #2 Summary

In Quilting our Way to International Dot Day at USA, Paige Vitulli tells us about a project she did with her students. Inspired by the book, The Dot, the students decided to express their creativity. This book, written by Peter H. Reynolds, is about a teacher who encourages a student to see where a dot on a piece of paper takes them. Paige's students decided to make a quilt celebrating this book out of paper. The each made their own colorful creation and crumbled and smoothed it out until it felt soft, like a quilt. She then posted pictures of their creation and i was very impressed. Here is my comment: Hello! My name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I really enjoyed your post! What a wonderful idea to make a quilt out f paper and allow the students to express their creativity! Very inspiring and interesting. Thank for sharing :) I will be summarizing your post on MY blog at http://granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com/!

In I am Education: Kids Tell All, Paige expresses her concern about the lack of art programs in certain schools. She tell us that over 4 million schools do not have an art program. She shows us a student that is very creative, but is limited to expressing it at school. There is a video of this little boy, explaining why he thinks art is important. Here is my comment: Hello, My name is Miriah Grantham. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Al. I just wanted to say that i think this is a very important issue and every school should have some sort of art program! I believe it is so important for a child to be able to use their creativity and see what makes them stand out from the rest, what makes them different compared to others! I know there are many other children out there just like this precious little boy. I love the sentence, "There are so many better things to do than watch TV and art is one of the best things to do. Maybe you should try art." Great Post, thanks for sharing! http://granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com/

Progress Report for PLN

PLN is an acronym for Personal Learning Network. it can be described as a collection of people or places that you exchange information with. For my public learning network, I chose to create a symbaloo. This is a cite that allows you to create tiles which contain your most viewd cites, for easy access. For my Symbaloo, i added tiles I viewed most often now, and ones i thought I may use as an educator. Such as, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, TeacherTube, My blog, EDM310 class blog, padlet, prezi, etc. This is a wonderful website that I will be using from now on, and I think it is very beneficial for Teachers!

C4K's for September

This I Believe by:mj01 This blog was very inspiring to me. It was about how playing sports can change your life, for the better. She starts this post by giving us some interesting statistics about students who play sports. She then explains her personal experience about how sports changed her life. She says the she used to be part of the "wrong crowd" and sports made her better. She also explains that sports can open doors such as giving you a scholarship to a good college. I found her points very valid and her blog was very well written. Here is my comment Hello! My name is Miriah Grantham and I am an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama. Your post was very inspirational to me. I have seen almost your exact same story happen to a close friend of mine, sports truly changed her life. I really wish someone who is in the position that you USED to be in could read this, so that they might be able to be inspired as well. I really enjoyed all of your statistics in the opening paragraph because I TRULY learned something while reading.. You made very good points throughout! Great post!

Canberra Mint by:Maggie This blog was about an exciting trip to Canberra Mint. When speaking of the topic she asks the question,"why on earth would it be called a mint?". She then explains the answer, and actually teaches me something, which I always enjoy. Here is my comment Maggie, Hello, my name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, USA. I really enjoyed your post! I also found this information so interesting :) Thanks for teaching me something. Keep posting, your blog is great! http://granthammiriahedm310.blogspot.com/

Weekly Reflection by:Toma This blog contained a lot of sentences, and short statements. Naturally, I picked the one that stood out most to me. It read, "This week I have learned to be the best that i can be Next week I want to learn to do my maths faster".Here is my commentToma, My name is Miriah Grantham and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, USA. I just wanted to say that there is nothing better than being the best that you can be; you should always be yourself! I smiled while reading that sentence, because it inspires me, so thank you. Also, I am impressed that you set goals for yourself. I am sure you will be doing your math faster next week! Great post, Toma!

How much does the sky weigh? by: Mckenzie This week, all of the students were asked to make a post answering the question, "How much does the sky weigh?". My student was short, but to the point. She answered the question and also threw in a few details, teaching me something in the process. Here is my commentMcKenzie, My name is Miriah Grantham. I am an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Al, USA. I wanted you to know that I really like how you answered the question directly, as well as adding in some extra details about the topic. I am very thankful that you taught me something i did not know, that is always fun. Great Post!

Project #13

Investigating Insects

Lesson Plan #1 Created by: Miriah Grantham and Demetrius Hamner for Project #13
Above is a link to my Project Overview. This is a lesson plan on a Science Project called Insect Investigation. Students gather their information by identifying strange insects in a mini-investigation. They are to present their finding to the classmates and the rest of the school. This is targeted for 1st grade students and it takes about two – one hour sessions to complete. This plan covers many 21st-Century standards as well.


Link for my Project Calendar
Link for my Essential Elements Checklist

Blog Post #7

Project-Based Learning Part-1 Experiences of a Third Grade Teacher

In Project-Based Learning Part 1, Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps discuss the usage of project-based learning. Anthony Capps is a former student of EDM310 and is now a teacher in Baldwin County. Projects were once viewed as something you did at the end of a lesson to show what you had learned. Now, they are viewed as a way of teaching the material. Project-based learning is when you use actual projects to help students learn their objectives. Projects shouldn't just be used to reinforce what you have learned, but it should be a tool to learn. One example that Anthony gave us was a letter that his students wrote to Congressman Jo Bohner. He explained that each student wrote an individual letter and peer reviewed each one of their fellow classmates letters. They then picked the eight best letters and mailed them. This was a great way to show the importance of peer editing, collaboration, and project-based learning, which are very important tools to bring to the education system.

Project-Based Learning Part-2

This video gave great insight on all aspects of a classroom. As a teacher not every parent or student will agree with your choice of teaching, and we have to expect that. There are no limits to learning, so we should never limit our students. Always encourage them to go above and beyond. Project-based learning is a great tool for students of all levels. Simple projects such as writing a narrative script can be useful in retaining information about certain subjects. Students have fun while they learn, and they actually want to learn the material. I think that students will be more eager to learn if the learning process presented is engaging for them. Project-based learning is just that. Students are learning to think for themselves. It’s like you’re handing them a lemon, and they make amazing lemonade out of it.>

iCurio

In the video, iCurio, Anthony talks about what iCurio is. iCurio is a great tool for students to use and help them stay organized. Students can use iCurio to search websites that have been filtered for educational purposes. Students look up information on the internet all the time, but most of the time we forget where we got our information from. iCurio puts a stop to this, because it is a great way to retain information about the subjects we searched for. iCurio is a great program for students, because it will give them acceptable results when they search for information, and it is safe and secure. iCurio is also a great way to find course standard related topics.

Discovery Education

In Discovery Education, we learn what Discovery Education is and why it is useful. Discovery Education is used for student searches, and teachers can use it to find fascinating videos that correlate to their lesson. Anthony says that by giving a child a video that goes along with their text, they are retaining a lot more information. Visual demonstrations help students retain the information. One of us has actually seen this program being used by one of our mentor teachers. She used interactive models, songs, and stories to help explain her lesson. The kids responded very well to this. This is definitely something we could benefit from in the classroom setting.

The Anthony-Strange Tips for Teaching-Miriah G.

In this video, Dr. Strange talks to Anthony Capps, once again. He just finished his first year of teaching third grade at Gulf Shores Elementary School in Baldwin County.They both discuss the things that we as educators should prepare ourselves for when we become a teacher. They both give great tips such as: We must constantly learn and model that behavior, be flexible, and get your student engaged. The one that stands out to me most is, “It is hard work, but it can be fun if we let it be fun.” This is an statement I completely agree with.

While observing classrooms for my other classes, I have seen all the work that goes into being a teacher. I have heard a lot of people say that teachers just sit there and do nothing when their students are not there( for example, when they are in P.E. or at lunch), and I have personally seen that is not true. They are preparing for the student to come back, grading papers, rearranging the classroom, etc. This requires a lot of creativity, which is where the fun part comes in. Both Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps gave us some good tips to bring with us to the Teaching Field.

Additional Thoughts about Lessons-Demetrius H.

Anthony tells us about the components of a lesson. Looking at a plan, we

must break it down into yearly, monthly, weekly and daily. There are a few questions we should ask ourselves when constructing a project for our students. Is this project meaningful?Will it cover the material needed to be learned? Can this project get my students’ attention? Will I be able to meet all of my goals? What can I do to measure their progress? Creating projects for a lesson plan is hard work, and it is not to be rushed. As a teacher, we should take our time and do it the right way.

Use of Tech. Don't Teach it- Michelle D In Use Technology- Don’t Teach It, Dr. Strange and Anthony talk about how to use technology in the classroom. Anthony tells us not to teach technology but to use it for assignments. Students in this century have the ability to learn how to use technology on their own. We learned this in the beginning of the course when we watched Dr. Mitra give children in third world countries computers, and they quickly taught themselves how to properly use them. Technology is something that children now are very familiar with.

Most of them could probably teach adults a few tricks. As a teacher, I would much rather use technology than paper supplies. Technology is free. Students who may not be able to afford paper supplies can definitely benefit by the classroom technology. They have a vast variety of different tools to use. It’s beneficial because they are learning the course objectives and learning to use those tools. We can show them how to do it, but we should let them teach themselves with their assignments. Students will be proud of what they have accomplished, and we will be proud that they have learned a new skill!

Blog Post #6

I have always suffered from anxierty with Public Speaking, it has gotten better with age, but it still affects me. I remember being in school and hoping the entire time the teacher was talking, that i would not get called on. If you asked me what the teacher was talking about, I would not know because I was too focused on being called on and giving an answer that was WRONG. As educators, we should stay away from this method. This helps with "burp-back education". It is not allowing the student to think for themselves, it just allows them to give an answer that is either right or wrong, even if it is one word. So, how can we avoid these types of questions?

In Joanne Chesley's video, She explains that opened ended questions are a lot more effective than closed ended questions. This allows the students to engage in discussion and better expand their mind on the material. A close-ended question allows the student to answer with a quick "yes" or "no", which can easily be a guess, so they are not learning as well. She has also mentioned that students are rather unresponsive in discussion without the open ended questions. Ben Johnson brings up a good point in his blog post: "as teachers, we really do not know everything", and he is correct! We need to let the students discuss their answer and their thoughts on how they came up with it. This creates a ripple effect which causes more students to get engaged in the material, and makes them more comfortable. So, when it comes down to asking questions in your classroom, I think it would be very wise to use the "three ways" provided by Martellen Weimer. Prepare Questions While creating or going over your lesson plans, think of ways to include all students in class discussion. Play with Questions. Leave your question unanswered for a while to see what your students come up with. Preserve good Questions Good questions can be kept, hold on to the ones that received great results. I believe that by using the tips and techniques listed above, we can steer away from the unwanted teaching style that many have encountered, and open a new way of teaching,that leads to better futures for our students!

Project #8

Walt Disney's Cinderella

This is my Sentence.....



This is my Passion...

Blog #5

Project #3

C4T 1&2

I was assigned dmlcentral for my required C4T's.

C4T #1 The first post I read was titled "Teaching Surveillance". This was about a teacher explaining to his student what digital tolls they would be using throughout the semester, and correct ways to keep them protected. One example he gives is "dropbox", saying that although it is useful, the company gives itself access to user files, so your material is not always "safe". He strongly encourages his students to back up their data. He explains that he wants to inform his students about all of the potential threats in digital media. Here is the comment I left him: Hello, my name is Miriah Grantham. I am an Elementary education student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I was assigned your blog for my EDM310 class, and it is very interesting to me. I like how you inform your students about the "safety" of their online documents. It always thrills me to read a blog and learn something in the process; You have just taught me things I had no idea about! I look forward to reading more of your posts.

C4T #2 This post was titled "Using Social Media for Women's Rights". This was about helping to protect women like a 23 year old Indian girl who was murdered due to sexual assault. Radhika Takru(manager of social media in Breakthrough, India) started a twitter account to get her voice out in the world about women's rights.She explains that social media is a very successful way to promote organizations to make the world better. Here's my comment:Hello! My name is Miriah Grantham. I was assigned your blog for my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Al, USA. As I was reading your post, I stopped to follow @Bell_Bajao on Twitter, so I could be able to see this work for myself. What is taking place here is phenomenal. Using social media for women's rights is a fantastic idea, and a great way to support women like the 23-year-old physiotherapy student you mentioned. Being a woman myself, I really enjoyed your post.

Blog Post #4

Podcasting with First Graders

This post was about a first grade classroom making a podcast on the book they were reading. All of the studenst would take turns recording their voices reading a story,and help the teacher edit their readings afterwards. The children really began to come out of their shells by acting out the book

and adding expression to their voices. After all the students recorded their voices, they were very eager to hear the whole podcast put together. I think this was a fantastic idea by this amazing teacher. This allowed the students to gain listening and speech skills as well as social skills and boosting their self esteem. I would have never guessed that a first grade classroom would cooperate so much, and this definitely proved me wrong. This is something I am now considering doing in my future classroom.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

In this video,we learned about some ways that podcasting could benefit your classroom. One of the examples was a teacher posting his lectures on iTunes. They used a little girl at home sick for an example.

The little girl tells her mother that she has an important test the next day, and does not want to miss the review, but the mother insists she stay home. Luckily, the girl was able to listen to her teachers' podcast and hear everything her classmates heard to be prepared for the test. Another way podcasting is benefical is by integrating it in your lessons. We are shown a video where a teacher is giving his normal lecture about a slave when all of a sudden a voice of an older lady surrounds the classroom and the students were able to fell her emotion. At the end of the video, students talked about podcasting in a very positive way, saying they like it and it keeps them interested. The principal of the school then mentions that it is wonderful for "project-based learning", and I agree.

Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting

In this post, students work together to make a podcast for the story of Purim. A Jewish teacher helped the students write their own parts in Hebrew to create a script. After recording individual parts, the students worked together to put the lines in the correct order to complete the story. Not only did they learn how to make an edit a podcast, they learned several personal skills as well. Such as, Listening, comprehension, speaking, and critical thinking, which is what this assignment was about. By having the students make and edit the podcast, they were using their brains to learn something they have never done before. This showed me that not only are podcasts useful in the classroom, they also help the children learn.

Blog Post #3

Peer editing is a great way to improve yours or another person's work. Your peers are surrounding you; they are the ones that are the same age as you, usually in your class. After looking at the Peer editing tutorial,I now know how to properly edit the writing of my peers. I know that I always need to stay positive, give complements, and make suggestions for corrections politely.

Now that I've watched the humorous video, Writing Peer Review TOP 10 mistakes, I know not only how NOT to give feedback, but also how NOT to receive the feedback. No one wants a Picky Patty or a Whatever William! Both of these assignments were very insightful and are something that I believe every teacher needs to know. Teaching this to our students will make them better writers!

While reading the blogs of my peers,I realized that they both have good blogs thus far. If i were to find a minor error, I would maybe announce it. If I were to find the error continuously repeated, I would email or text said peer. Peer editing is much different than editing the work of your students, because these are college students who are the same age as you, so the feeling of not wanting to offend, is increased. I believe that it is more appropriate at this time to tell your peers in a more private way, since we are so close to becoming professionals. However, I do not think you should ever not tell your peers about this mistake because all you are truly doing is helping their work, and it is appreciated.