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.

Blog Post #2

Professor Dancealot By:Miriah Grantham, Michelle Detar, and Demetrius Hamner
Professor Dancealot is an entertaining short movie about a professor that teaches but doesn't let the students interact in the classroom.

This movie shows how a lot of professors work now days. This very much confused me because when teaching any class you should allow your students to put into action what was explained. I think it is impossible for a student to learn anything without actually attempting it on their own. How can someone learn something if they only hear how to do it? This is the kind of teaching that we as educators need to avoid. This teaching method, as we can see, is completely ineffective. When teaching your class, you should allow them to think for themselves and try things out so they can actually get a good grasp on it. This was a funny but sadly true movie on the downfalls of certain ways of teaching.


Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts By:Miriah Grantham
The video, Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts, found on edutopia, is yet another video that has seemed to amaze me. So many teachers, and just people in general, underestimate how smart these students really are.

Vicky Davis is a very inspiring teacher that allows the students to brainstorm and find the answers themselves. She unexpectedly throws out new terms to her class and expects them to find the definition themselves, which they successfully do. Three days into their internet project, her class was teaching her how to do things that she did not not how to do. The students really enjoyed the project, and they felt empowered when they used their own minds to find the answers. This inspired them to get involved with digi teen, which was an internet site where students all over the world would post blogs and videos and share them amongst each other. This is another example of how important technology is in a classroom. Like Mrs. Davis said, not every child can learn with a pencil and paper.


Teaching in the 21st Century by: Michelle Detar
In this Prezi turned video, Teaching in the 21st Century, some questions are aroused to make us think about what it means to teach in this day and age. Right now, we have so much technology available to us and very few know how to actually use it. Students have endless amounts of resources at their fingertips. Without us, the teachers, how can they know what is useful or not?

Teaching in the 21st century means having to be current with our knowledge on different ways to use technology as a teaching tool. It is up to us to teach them that sites like Wikipedia is unreliable when it comes to research, to show them how to properly utilize Google and all its functions, to teach them that Twitter and Facebook are not only their for entertainment, but can also be used for engaging educational purposes, and so much more. To teach in the 21st century, one must be technologically literate. Because of technology, future educators will have to know how to incorporate all forms of technology into their classroom. As technology changes and time progresses, so will teaching.


The Networked Student By:Demetrius Hamner
In the video, The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler, a lot of information is given on this particular “networked” student.This video, going into great detail on just how well connected this student is, amazes me on how well he uses all of his resources. Even though he doesn't have class as often. or a book, he utilizes the internet very well when completing his assignments. Connectivism, a theory that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social of many diverse connections and ties, is what his teacher goes by. Before watching this video I had never heard of this term, but in a way it put me in the mind of EDM310 since we are basically being taught in the same manner.

In my opinion, every student needs a teacher/professor at some point. Guidance is always needed, because, as a student, we are still learning. There is no way that we as students could completely do it ourselves. If we could learn everything on our own then what would be the point of us being in school? Exactly, there would be no point. The networked student’s teacher is there to be many things to her student: a learning architect, modeler, learning concierge, connected learning incubator, network sherpa, synthesizer, and change agent. All of which are very important. Without the teacher/professor being there for the student, there would be no way that he could do it alone. Her guidance was the key to all of the success he had as a networked student. Being able to build his own trail with reliable information isn’t something he learned to do overnight, it took time. This was a very informative video, and it gave good insight on the many ways this student stayed connected. Over time he would be able to build his successful, making his teacher very proud.

Blog Post 1

Both Sugata Mitra and Krissy Venosdale's ideas are inspiring. On Krissy's blog, she tells us about her "dream school" she wants to build, which includes a fun learning environment where children are encouraged to use their creative abilities. Sugata tells us about his real life journeys in his inspirational speech, which all started with a "hole in the wall". He reminds us how smart and amazing children are by showing us their progression with technology. I believe that if we were to use the ideas that Sugata and Krissy express, we could build a better educational system for the future.

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.

Practice Blog Post

Hello,my name is Miriah Grantham. Well, Harris now, because I am recently married. I am 20 years old and I am an elementary education major at USA. I just changed my major from Nursing in the Spring because I knew being an educator is what I really wanted to do with my life. I have lived in this area pretty much my whole life, and I recently bought my first house in mobile with my husband and step-daughter. I absolutely love art, whether it's in fashion, drawing, photography, film, etc. it doesn't matter!I'm constantly doodling or falling in love with something covered in glitter(My husband says i'm like a fish, because anything shiny gets my attention). My big sister is one of my favorite people in the world and she is also an elementary education major at South, exactly one year behind me. Whenever i have spare time around my hectic school schedules, I love to be on the water. Me and my family take out the boat and jet skis and stay out for hours! I am also a Disney fanatic, I love everything about it. I can carry on a conversation with a child about anything to do with Disney,and know exactly what they are talking about. I have also been to Disney World six times, and plan on going back this Christmas. I absolutely love children, mostly because I feel like a big kid at heart. I have been a nanny and a teacher at a daycare, and I can't wait until I have my own classroom. I am beyond excited to become an educator!

Test Post 2

Test.

My Test Post Title

This is my first post. I clicked the HTML button which i should always do in EDM310. I am now a blogger!