C4T Summary #3

Keeping Kids First
By: Kelly Hines

The first blog I commeted on was titled Will You Use Rondee. Kelly Hines wrote and published this blog on August 18, 2011. She explains what Rondee is and why she uses it in her blog. Kelly Hines states that "Rondee is a free conference call solution that allows participants to join in a pre-set conference while online or from a standard cell phone or home phone." She lists several things that you can use Rondee for. For example, you can use it when you know you will be late to a conference meeting. You can also use Rondee to make dinner plans with your family as Hines pointed out. She talks about how traffic or emerigencies can get you late to a planned meeting, but with Rondee you can be there. She says how Rondee is great for people who are on the go all the time.

I commented on how I really like the idea of Rondee. I worked at a law office that was 30 minutes from my home and I would have meetings once a week. Traffic was always unpredictable and I would sometimes be late to meetings because of it. Rondee seems like a great solution to fix being late to a meeting. I also like the idea of using Rondee to make dinner plans with the family. I will definitely use Rondee in the future.

The second blog I commented on was Dot Day Is On Its Way. In this blog, Kelly Hines encourages us to celebrate International Dot Day on September 15, 2011. Dot day is based off one Kelly Hines favorite books called "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. She talks about how Reynolds is "an advocate for educators and offers wonderful resources." My niece owns the book, and I found it to be inspiring for kids. It was a great book and I will definitely share it with my future students.

Blog Post #10

After watching the video Do You Teach or Do You Educate? , I definitely plan on being an educator. I like how the video showed the difference between the two. In the video a teacher is is described as someone  who becomes a teacher just to teach. They spit information at you, and expect you to spit it right back on a test. They like to showing how things are done and also like explaining how things are done. Punishment is an option when something isn't done on time or not the way they want it done. An educator is described in the video as someone who inspires you. A person who wants to educate you and in the process be your mentor, a person you trust. That is the person I want to be when a graduate and start working.

I decided I wanted to become an educator about two years ago. Up until that time I had know idea what I wanted to do and it took two years of taking general classes for me to figure it out. During my first two of college, I met a boy who suffered from Aspergers syndrome. I never met anyone before who had suffered from this disease. I got to work with him on his homework and listened to him talk his love for music. He really inspired me to want to work with kids and help educate them. I want to be the person that kids can learn from and come to for anything.

Tom Johnson's Don't Let Them Take The Pencils Home was a well written blog and a reality that I am going to have to face when I become an educator.  In the blog, John Spencer writes about a conversation between him and the School Curriculum Instructional Interventionist Academic Specialist named Gertrude. Gertrude tells him not to let his students take home pencils and paper, that it could result in lower standardized test scores. She also talks about starting a parent pencil program. Gertrude says how parents don't even know how to use pencils, since they don't use them in their jobs.While reading this blog I was confused on what they were talking about, but after reading the comments it makes since. The pencils represent computers. I then reread the blog and understood the message better. I think that parents should know how to work the technology students use in their classroom, so when the students come home the parents can help and know how to use a computer. If parents don't know how to use a computer, then maybe they should attend a program like Mr. Spencer wrote about in his blog.

Blog Post #9

What I've Learned This Year (2008-2009)
By: Joe McClung

In Joe McClung's first blog, he talks about the what he learned after his first year of teaching. McClung states seven things that he learned his first year of teaching. He starts off talking about what he learned first, which is "How To Read The Crowd".  He states how when he first started he was worried what his superiors thought and about his delivery. In the end he realized what really mattered was not his delivery of content but students comprehension. He next learned to be "Flexible". McClung states how it is ok if mistakes are are made when creating a lesson. Don't stress if you make a mistake, just work through the problem. The third thing he learned was "Communicate." Joe McClung says "Communicating is the best way to resolve any issue in the workplace." The fourth thing he learned was "Be Reasonable." Teachers don't need to hold high expectations for their students, they just need to keep encouraging them. The fifth lesson was "Don't Be Afraid Of Technology." Technology is here to stay and don't be afraid using it. The sixth lesson was "Listen To Your Students." He says to listen to your students and take interest in their lives. The last thing McClung says he learned was "Never Stop Learning." He says to never stop being open to learning new things. I really enjoyed his blog post and plan on following his words of advice when I start teaching.


What I Learned This Year (2010-2011)
By: Joe McClung

I chose Joe McClung's blog about his third year as a teacher to write about next. In this blog, McClung talks about third year of teaching. He states how this year was the first year he taught a school for more than a year. He talks about the changes we went through in the year. He lists five lessons he learned. The first lesson is "Know Who Your Boss Is." McClung states, " Instead of focusing on how you are serving the administraion, focus on your students and how you are serving them." His second lesson learned is "Don't Expect Others To Be As Excited About Change As You Are." In this lesson, McClung talks about how to not expect your students to be as excited about the changes as you are. Don't let that influence you and keep teaching. The third lesson is "Don't Be Afraid Of  Being An Outsider." This lesson is an excellent one .Be true to who are as a teacher and don't be influenced to follow others. the fourth lesson learned is "Don't Touch The Keyboard." In this lesson he basically is saying how to not do the work for a student if they are having trouble. Help guide them but don't do all the work for them. The last lesson he learnd is "Don't Get Comfortable." What he means by this is that you shouldn't get to comfortble with your work. You have to be open to trying different things each year and not stick to the same thing every year. After reading about Mr. McClung's third year as a teacher, it makes me excited to become a teacher. I love ready about the lessons he learned and can't wait learn my own lessons when I become a teacher.

Project #13 - Smart Board Instruction

Project #12 Book Trailer

Project #11 Short Movie

Blog Post #8

1. This Is How We Dream Part 1&2
By: Richard Miller

In the video "This Is How We Dream Part 1", Richard Miller discusses what can happen if instead of students reading and writing, they watch and listen to the lesson being taught. Richard Miller is a professor at Rutgers University, who uses multi-media to teach his students. He starts off with the incremental changes before he gets to the fundamental change. Things he says will change are: no more pens, paper, and visits to libraries. Also, he says how desks won't be important unless a computer is on it. With the conversion, students will learn how use multimedia for word processing and doc sharing. He shows an advantage of using multimedia which is that you can search not just your library, but all library across the world for resources.

In part 2 of Richard Miller's video, he talks about how the material is different and changes before your eyes. There is so much more learning done with the new program. He talks about about the academic information you can obtain when using iTunes U. He had a great quote that I agree with him on and it is "ideas do not belong with us individually but as a culture". Culture and background are what helps form ideas. I also agree when he says that "us as educators need to must be in the business of sharing ideas freely". He states four things that are needed to start this program. They are: Ubiguitous Composing Technology, Inspiring Teachers of New Media Composing, Spaces That Foster Collaborative Learning, and Pedagogues That Foster Creativity and Collaborations.

I enjoyed watching Richard Miller's video and liked how he showed examples on what he was talking about. I think it will be quite so time if/till this conversion will happen. I think his example about the libraries was neat, but I actually enjoy going to the libraries. I am also I fan of books. I don't if I could do away with books. I never heard of iTunes U and found it to be helpful. I would like to get rid of pens and paper. Writing with multimedia is a lot easier and isn't as messy.

2. Carly Pugh Blog Post #12
By: Carly Pugh

Carly Pugh's blog post was excellent! Her playlist assignment idea was great. She put a lot of thought into this blog and her end results were good. Carly's playlist that she created is the type of multimedia that Richard Miller was talking about in his video "This How We Dream". Her playlist examples of her favorite authors and characters show what Miller wants when using multimedia. You can still learn about important people without books and paper.


3. After watching the videos, I would make a video about Podcast. I had fun learning about podcast and how they can help in the classroom. In my video I would show why I would use a podcast in my classroom and explain what they are. I would also explain how you can have a audio or video podcast. I mostly would mostly use an audio podcast. I would record all of my lessons for students to listen to on their own time. This is way great for students for students to stay caught up and for them to listen to if they missed something in class.


4. Learn to Change, Change to Learn

The video starts with different individuals talking about how there needs to be a charge when it comes to learning in the classroom. One man even states how "schools are like factories". Another man
 and "hows its all about control and order". Another man talks about how kids are "having a more stimulating and rich environment out of school then in school". I do agree that kids today are doing more learning out of the classroom then in it. Kids are using technology out of school and in school they barley work with it. They have to much fun out of school that they make themselves dread coming to class. Having things that kids use every day out of school, like their social networking sites and phone, be banned from school doesn't help them. I agree with what one educator said in the video and that is " as educators we have to accept technology.....". We do need to accept it and embrace it!

Blog #7

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
By: Randy Pausch

In his last lecture at Carnegie Melon, Randy Pausch’s presentation “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” was really inspiring. I knew going into this video that Randy Pausch was a great speaker and always had great lectures, but after finishing his last lecture I was completely blown away by what he lecturing. He had three points to his lecture. They were: childhood dreams, enabling dreams of others, and the lesson learned:how to achieve your dreams and enable others. When Pausch discusses his childhood dreams, he states how he had several of them. He was quick to state how he knew that even though he had several, he knew he they wouldn't happen. Pausch goes on to show pictures of him as a child and explains how he was a happy child. He states how he had a good childhood. Here are a few of Randy Pausch’s childhood dreams: being in zero gravity, being Captain Kirk, and being the author of an article in the World Book encyclopedia. He explains brick walls, which he says they are there for a reason, to show how badly you want things. He said how he got more out of not accomplishing his dream of being in the NFL then actually accomplishing it. Pausch states a quote, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you want", which I agree 100% with.

After Pausch finishes discussing his childhood dreams, he moves of to the next part which is enabling dreams of others. He introduces the audience to a course he created called Building Virtual Worlds. This course he said is basically about childhood dreams. The course had 50 students from art, design, drama, and CS. The teams were chosen randomly and would change each project. Each team had two weeks two weeks to design, implement, and test. There were five projects each semester. when he first started the program, he didn't know what to expect. He was surprised how well the students did on their first project. He talks about how he talked to his mentor after his students did so well on their project and he said his mentor told him to tells his students they did good, but they can do better. He explains that this advice was good and it motivated his students to work harder. I think this advice would be great to use in all classrooms.

Paush then moves on to talk about his ETC course. It was created by Pausch and Don Marinelli, which they called it the Dream Fulfillment Factory. This is a course where artists and technologists work in small teams and make things. It was a 2-year masters of entertainment technology degree. He explains that him and the other creator Don were two kindred spirits. He says how they are two very different people. Pausch explains how they like to do things in a new way and they were both uncomfortable with academia. Also, Carnegie Melon University (CMU) is the only place that Pausch believes this program can happen. The course is projected based and very hands on. Pausch states how his students were having so much fun, that they didn't realize they were learning.

Lastly, Pausch talks about the lessons he learned and how they were helpful. Pausch believes that it should all start with the parents, which I agree with. Parents are the ones who should teach their children help others. He talked about his parents and how they influenced him. He shared how they helped children in Thailand go to school and now Randy does the same. They were supportive of Randy and of his dreams. Other people who are helpful are teachers and mentors. As a teacher I want to be supportive of my students and especially of their dreams. I want to encourage my students the way Randy encouraged and inspired his students. He was a great educator and and excellent speaker.

Project # 10 PLN report summary

I really enjoyed creating my  personal learning network (PLN). I have never heard of Symbaloo , but after exploring it for a bit I found it to be a helpful site. It was great to have all the sites I visit on a daily basis all on one page and easy for me to visit. It is a great way to keep me organized and helps me focus on my work. I liked exploring the EDU Tool’s page. I found some interesting sites that I would use in my classroom. My favorite tool I downloaded was the translate tile. I will definitely introduce my students to Symbaloo. I think it will help keep them organized and help them use the different tools that can help them with their work.

Project 9b

I received my information from the website WorldWar-2.net

C4T Summary #2

High Expectations
By: Justin Tarte (@justintarte)

The first blog I commented on was titled "High Expectations". In this blog, Tarte discusses if teachers should hold high expectations for their students. He bring up the question, "Should we "standardize" high expectations and expect all students to follow the same set of expectations, or should we "personalize" the expectations to meet our students at their own individual levels and abilities?" Tarte gives a great example in his blog on what he means.

Imagine these two students:

Student A comes from a stable home with two educated parents who are able to provide 3 healthy meals a day, a nurturing academic environment to complete out of school assignments, and are vocal advocates for their child.

Student B comes from a broken home with one uneducated parent who is not able to provide 3 healthy meals a day, requires the child to babysit siblings while the parent works the night shift, and does not have the ability or knowledge to be a vocal advocate for their child.

- Is it fair to hold both these students to the same level of standardized high expectations, or should we personalize the expectations to meet the needs of each individual student at their current levels?

*If we personalize the expectations for each student, student B will get additional resources and leniency's that student A will not.

I really liked the example that Tarte used. It is a good example on the consequence of holding high expectations. Even though many people may disagree with me, I think that all teachers should have high expectations for their students. As a future teacher, I hope that with my support and contribution, students will be encouraged to want to succeed. I think setting high expectations for disadvantage or non-disadvantage is important and can help kids find out what they are capable of academically.



Administrator to administrator
By: Justin Tarte

The second blog I commented on was titled "Administrator to administrator". Tarte talks about how he and a colleague led an adminstrator learning session. They showed the many different adminstrators how having iPads can help benefit classrooms. They filmed students and teachers on the iPads at Poplar Bluff Jr. High School and posted the videos on the school website. They used their iPads to take pictures while doing class walk-throughs to help archive and share some of the great things going on at PBJHS.  It was a great way for parents and other schools to look in on what goes on during a day at the school. They also talked about how they a Facebook page dedicated to the each class. It was a way for students to interact about the particular class they were in. The last thing they discussed was a blog they creadted called professional admininstrator blog. This blog is only about stuff related to education. Also, Tarte and his colleague started a book club for teachers. I commented on how having a Facebook page for students to go to is really helpful. We have a Facebook page for our EDM 310 class. It is a great way for students to interact with each other and find answers to questions they might have. It is also a great way to post news and reminders on. I like the professional development blog that you and your colleagues made. It is nice that a teacher can have information that can help them in their classroom.

Project #7 C4K Summary 1

Room 21
For my first C4k comment, I was assignned to Destiney from PT England School. Destiney made a video demonstrating honesty. I commented on how I really enjoyed her video. I think she did a great showing "honesty" in her video. In the video, a person returned a warrent to another person who dropped it. I told her how I hope everyone gets the message that she is trying to send by creating this video.

C4K #3
I lost the link for my second comment, for C4K comment #3 I was assignned to Mk 2011. I didn't learn his actual name, but student wrote a blog about the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He wrote about how he enjoyed the book and how he related to the main character.He said stated how he loves to play outside like the character in the book. I told him how I have never read any of the books from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, but how my niece has read them all and loves them. I told him how I was glad that he loved to play outside.

St. Elmos Explorers
For C4K comment #4 I was assignned toVatzana. Vatzana and her classmates made a video made a video titled "We are similar". In the video the students each explained how we are similar and how we are different. Vatzana said how she is similiar because she is respectful and how she is different because she is creative. I commented on how it was a great video and how everyone did a great job explaining how they are similar and different. The class did a good job being creative with their pictures. VaI told Vatazan how being respectful and creative are two fine qualities to have.


About My Avatar
In my last C4K for the month of September, I was assigned to Alexandra. She showed the steps on how to make an avatar. She stated how she was a big fan of Harry Potter and that is what she based how avatar on. Her steps were very helpful and descriptive. She made her avatar at home, because the site at school was blocked. I commented on how her steps were easy to follow and how I am also a fan of Harry Potter.

Blog Post #6

The Networked Student
By: Wendy Drexler

The video “The Networked Student” by Wendy Drexler is about a boy who attends 21st Century High School. He attends this school three days a week and on the other two days he does online classes. It is pointed out that early in the video that the boy does not use a textbook. His teacher almost never lectures. The teacher insists that her students use the web to research whatever topic they are studying. His teacher is a student of connectivism, which is a theory that learning occurs through social network.


It wasn’t until the end of the video when the question “why does the networked student even need a teacher?” was asked. A networked student needs a teacher so they can be helped when they need it. The teacher can show them how to build a network or they can explain how to create one. Communications skills can be shown when a student needs help from a teacher. Basically the teacher is there for guidance. Teachers can help sort out what information is needed for the student network. She helps organize the mountain of information he has learned.


The video helped me have a better understanding for network learning in the 21st century. It showed that you still need a teacher to help guide you and help ask the right questions. It shows that you can still without using a book and hearing a teacher lecture. Students can have a better understanding of the web and can have an easier time finding information. This can help prepare students for their future. This video has helped prepare me for what I am going to have to help my students with in the future.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
In the video “A 7th Grader’s Personal Learning Environment”, a 7th explains what she learns and does with her network learning. She shows the web page she created with all the links to the websites she uses for her science class. I think this a great to teach kids how to use the web and learn how to create a network. Networking can help benefit students by helping them be more prepared for their classes. I enjoyed learning about this students personal learning environment and it would be something that I would want my students to use.

Project #8 Podcast

Project #9

Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
By: Scott McLeod

In Dr. McLeod blog post, he lists all the stuff teachers or parents shouldn’t teach. He makes valid points why not to teach these things, but his post isn’t necessarily telling you not to teach them. At the end of his post he makes the comment how if you a teacher who doesn’t teach their students all the different technologies, then you will be setting your students decades behind all others. In my comment that I left to Dr McLeod, I shared how I think technology is rapidly growing and students need to know how to use it, so that they can have an understanding for it in the future. Yes like many others things out there, technology has it dangers, but that can be prevented and parents need to know how to do this. Parents shouldn't look at technology as the enemy and the reason why their child isn't doing well. Students need to be familiar with the different technologies and parents need to let them embrace technology, so it can help them in the future.

After doing some research on Dr. McLeod, I found out he is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. He founded CASTLE, which stands for the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. It is the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators. McLeod is also co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens). Also, he is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues.


The iSchool Initiative
By: Travis Allen

In the video “The iSchool Initiative”, 17 year old high school senior Travis Allen discusses his solution to America’s education problem. His goes on to state how his high school is having massive budget cuts, how teachers are being let go, and class sizes are growing larger. Travis then goes on to show a PowerPoint that he hopes will answer the question, “Does technology belong in our classroom”. His PowerPoint begins with his idea for Americas future in education, “The iSchool.” The “iSchool” will be built on Apple’s popular iTouch platform. He goes on to explain how “iSchool” will save money. He shows many different applications on the iTouch that are classroom ready. He ends his PowerPoint by stating how with the “iSchool Initiative”, corporations, business leaders, and apple tech programmers can come together to revolutionize the education system.

I really enjoyed all the different applications that Travis showed during his PowerPoint. His whole presentation was well put together and he did a good job showing how his solution can save money. I like his idea to a certain extent. I do think that his solution can save money and help teachers communicate better with students and parents. I don’t seeing his idea happening anytime soon, but could see it happening in the future.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
By: Eric Whitacre

When Eric Whitacre’s video started, I thought that it looked really cool that a group of people can get together and perform an awesome rendition of “Lux Aurumque.” Then I read how none of the people have met and/or knew each other. That makes the video that more amazing to me. For a group of strangers to come together to sing that amazing is really unique to see. Eric’s video also shows how far technology has come. For something so grand to be made over the internet is pretty cool.

Teaching in the 21st Century
By: Kevin Roberts

In Kevin Roberts video “Teaching in the 21st Century”, Kevin explains what he thinks it means to teach. He goes on to show how we need to encourage kids to be creative and support them in their future. Forcing information on them and expecting them is to remember is not the key. He wants student to want to engage in education and for them to have hands on experiences throughout their learning process. I agree with him and think that educators need to support them and encourage them every step of the way. As a future educator I want my students understand what they are learning and have fun.

My Sentence Video Project # 6

Blog Post #4

The Benefits of Podcasting in a Classroom

By: Joe Dale


In the video “benefits of podcasting in a classroom”, Joe Dale talks about why podcasting is helpful and useful in the classroom. He starts off with talking about kids that were born after 1980. He calls them “Millenial”. He states how these kids have never experienced a world that didn’t have personal computers and other technology. He believes that since innovative technology is a part of kids’ everyday life and podcasting is form of learning that they are familiar with. Podcasting allows for differentiation in the classroom and project based learning. It is also an effective way to interacting with students outside the classroom. He says for teachers to simply record a lesson and for students to simply play it back. A good example of why podcasting is useful in a classroom is when someone is out sick. If a student is out sick and you as a teacher don’t want them to get behind, then you can record your lecture and put it on iTunes for the student to download and listen to as a podcast. Dale then demonstrates how to upload a podcast.


I have never used podcasting and have to admit of not knowing much about it before I started EDM310. I like the list of benefits to a podcast and would want to incorporate them into my podcast. The reason being I would like to be able to talk about the advantages for the classroom when using podcast.


Practical Principal
By: Melinda Miller and Scott Elias


Practical Principles is a blog created by Scott Elias and Melinda Miller. Melinda Miller is an elementary school principal near Springfield, Missouri. She has been podcasting since May of 2007 and has conducted staff development training on podcasting for teachers in her district. Scott Elias is a middle school principal in Northern Colorado. He met Melinda through their mutual infatuation with Getting Things Done and appeared as a guest on her podcast in July of 2007. Scott and Melinda have been recording the Practical Principals podcast since the fall of 2007. They share a series of podcast that they created. The podcast are powered by FeedBurner and each podcast has a different topic and most are questions that teachers send in. They discuss the different tools and technology that is helpful in the classroom.

I think it is really cool that these two principles from different states came together to create podcast that have really interesting discussions in them. I would like to talk about the important tools and techniques I used creating the podcast in my podcast. They did a good job explaining them in their podcast and how they could be helpful. I would want to do the same for my listeners.


Eagles' Nest Radio and Class Blog


The “Eagles’ Nest Radio and Class Blog” is a blog where third graders post podcasts about what they are currently studying. The kids take turns creating a podcast about the subject they are currently learning. In the podcast titled “ Eagles’ Nest Radio episode #3: Roamin’ with the Romans” they kids discuss the Roman architecture, Julius Caesar, fierce gladiators, and Cleopatra. The podcast started with music and then went to the first student who said the introduction. The student spoke loudly and did a good job pronouncing everything correctly. After a student was done with his/her part they would pass to the next student. They did a great job staying on topic and giving as much information as needed.

The third graders who made these podcasts did an awesome job. The thing that I learned from their podcasts is how they a creative with them. They did so good talking about their subject that it felt like a story. I would want to be creative with me podcast and make it interesting, so my listeners were fascinated with it.

Project #5

Project # 3 C4T # 1& # 2 Summary

Grouping Students for Effective Learning

By: Mike Prater

In Mike Prater’s blog “Grouping Students for Effective Learning”, he discusses how grouping students can be effective in learning. He states how many educators don’t like to group students by their ability level. He believes that kids can learn one concept quickly and struggle with other. He goes on to discuss four critical questions that Ricky and Becky DuFour believe should guide the work of educators. They are:

1. What is it that we want students to be able to know and do?
2. How will we know when our students have mastered those outcomes?
3. How are we going to monitor progress toward those outcomes?
4. What will we do as a school when students don’t master the outcomes or need extended study?

I think those are great questions that every teacher should ask themselves. Prater also states how teachers need to give themselves time to evaluate each of their students. I agreed with Prater that teachers need more time to evaluate their students, so that they can see which students need more help. I also said how I think the student/teacher ratio is getting out of control and teachers get so overwhelmed that by the time they notice that a student is behind it could be too late.

Engaging in a Process of Formative Assessment
By: Mike Prater

In Mike Prater’s second blog “Engaging in a Process of Formative Assessment”, he discusses how important formative assessments are. Prater goes on to talk about the differences between formative and summative assessments. Summative assessment refers to the assessment of learning and summarizes the performance of students at a particular moment in time. Formative assessment, on the other hand refers to assessment for learning. He believes that formative assessments allow teachers to monitor their instruction and make decisions based on immediate student performance. In summary, educators must use a variety of tools to inform them about the level of learning of individual students and be ready to make appropriate adjustments. I believe formative assessments are great for teachers to use, because they can be used for students to practice and can help determine the next steps during the learning process as the instruction approaches the summative assessment of student learning.