Blog Post #5 Part #1

     Coming into this project I was not very familiar with personal learning networks (PLN). I have heard of them before but never looked into them or knew what they were. However now that I have looked into them and do know what they are, I think they are a extremely useful tool and everyone that has not built one should do so. PLNs are a network of people that contribute to your professional development and knowledge. They are built through following people on various social media and internet sites that pertain to your field of interest. For example, I follow Simply Kinder on Twitter because I want to be a kindergarten teacher and they post good ideas on how to conduct class and organize your classroom.
     As a teacher, PLNs can help you gain knowledge on a certain area of teaching that you are not familiar with. Maybe you want to learn more about project based learning. So, you consult your PLN and browse various blogs or websites that pertain to project based learning. You can also correspond with other experts in that field of teaching to see how they conduct their class. You can search the internet, follow blogs, follow sites, sign up for newsletters, etc. There are so many possibilities when building you PLN.
    PLNs can also be useful to students in your classroom. In the video, A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment, the student talks about her PLN and how her teacher creates assignments based on her PLN through the website Symbaloo. Using Symbaloo, the the student has access to various websites that interest her. For example, the teacher asked the students to create a power-point presentation on venomous snakes and the young lady in the video used Symbaloo to complete the assignment. As a 7th grader she has already started to create a PLN that will be useful to her throughout her scholastic and professional career.
   I have started to create a PLN of my own as well. I have signed up for various websites that were suggested to us in this class. I have a Twitter that is strictly used for educational purposes. I receive newsletters from Edutopia and Challenge Based Learning Community. I follow the blogs of the two teachers that we were assigned to comment on. Although, I have not received any feedback from them I hope to very soon. Also, I signed up for Symbaloo and made it my homepage because I think it a very cool and interesting website and I love how everything is right there on the home screen. I strongly suggest that everyone sign up for this website because it organizes all the websites, blogs, or social media sites that you follow right there on the home page. Furthermore, my PLN is still a working progress and I will continue to expand it over the course of my professional development as a teacher.

Project #7

My sentence is......



My passion is....

Project #3 Presentation

Project #15 Search Engines

Ask.com (Ask Jeeves)

• Ask.com is search engine that is most useful for questions like, "what is gluten". The results are very easy to read and it has less ads than the more popular search engines. Another thing I found to be useful is it has a "question of the day" tab right under the search bar and categories of questions. The only thing I did not like about the site is that it did not have an images tab.

Clusty.com

• Clusty.com, in my opinion, was my favorite search engine out of all eight that I researched on. It was easy to use and the results were based on my search criteria. Moreover, the results seemed to be free of ads and had very good content. The site has a tab on the side of the page that shows results that are related to your topic, the times it was posted, the sources used, and the different sites. Clusty is useful for searching for web pages that other search engines do not display because they are hard to find. The only thing I did not like about it was that, for example, I searched "what is gluten" and it displayed an article that was completely off topic but contained the word what. 

Wikipedia

• Wikipedia is mainly used for historical purposes. It is not a very trustworthy search engine because anyone can change what the original author wrote. There is no filtering or editing system in place for the site. Up until high school, I used this search engine for most of my papers because it seemed to be very accurate and displayed a lot of information. The creator of this site, I think, originally set up the site with the mindset that people would update the current information. However, some people are more immature than others and go in and change correct information to incorrect information.

Webopedia

• Webopedia, despite its name, is nothing like wikipedia. Webopedia is useful for learning and searching criteria about technology based information. I found it to be very easy to use and extremely resourceful. It has "Terms of the Day" and articles related to techno-based information on the homepage. The search bar was in big letters at the very top of the page prompting you to enter a term. Also, it allows users to browse terms and references.

Mahalo

• Mahalo is mainly a website for how-to videos. There were how-to videos on anything you could imagine. Moreover, the website's quote is "Mahalo, Learn Anything". There was no search bar on the website but, there were categories at the very top of the site that you could browse through to find what you wanted. The content was relevant to the categories and very high quality. It is powered by a team of editors that sort through the material to make sure it the is the best. 

ixquick

• ixquick is almost exactly identical to Google down to the layout of the website. The ads were at the top of the screen and then the webpages were sorted by relevance under the ads just like Google and other major search engines. I, personally, did not like this search engine and did not find to be useful for anything in particular. The slogan for the website is "The World's Most Private Search Engine" but nothing about the site led me to believe that it was private or that any of the content it displayed was private.

The Internet Archive

• The Internet Archive allows users to search for events that happened in the past. For example, I searched September 11, 2001 and numerous audio and video uploads came up. For my search, there were mostly audio and video hits but on the homepage it has a tool were you can search for old texts, videos, and audios. This website is extremely resourceful and the content it displays is high quality and legit, unlike wikipedia. 

Wolfram Alpha

• Wolfram Alpha is strictly used for mathematical purposes. I have used this website for as long as I can remember because I am terrible at math. You can enter exact equations using the keyboard, upload a picture or a file, or just simply type in the equation on the search bar and it will produce a correct answer for you. It can also be used for finding information on a certain mathematical subject such as, long division. Another feature to this website is it has practice problems to test your skills on a certain areas of math you are struggling or need extra help with. It is very easy to use and I have always loved this website.

C4T Summary #1

First Summary 
I was assigned to comment on David Truss's blog, David Truss :: Pair-a-Dimes for Your Thoughts. In his Invisible Technology post, he talked about how technology should become 'invisible'. Moreover, invisible means that it is the norm and widely accepted. For instance, David used the example that we don't call pencil and paper activities 'pencil activities' and technology should be the same way. Furthermore, he goes on to say that learning can be facilitated easier when technology becomes invisible. This post was a very short post with only three or four sentences but, it was to the point. Also, he provided more information on the topic in a comment below his post. In this comment he clarified what it meant for technology to become 'invisible'.

First Comment
Hi David,
I am a student at the University of South Alabama taking a course in EDM 310, which teaches us how to use and incorporate technology into the classroom. I will be summarizing my visits to your blog through a post in my blog, www.reedjessseedm310.blogspot.com, on February 8th. My class objectives and your blog post topic are both on technology so it was easy for me to relate to what you were saying. Moreover, technology is beginning to become the norm for completing work instead of the traditional pencil and paper. With the use of technology, many more learning doors are opened. Furthermore, I enjoyed reading your post and it really got me thinking about how technology is becoming more "invisible" and pencil and paper are taking it's place.

Second Summary
In the second post I commented on, David used a video of a presentation he did at the Discovery Education YVR Ignite Session called Transforming Our Learning Metaphors #yvrignite. The presentation spoke a great deal to me because he talked about how learning should not just be preparation for the next grade or for college. Yes it should be about those things but, it should also be a journey and not a destination. Also, he said that the subjects taught should all intertwine and relate to one another so the student can better understand. This was a very interesting and engaging presentation. All aspiring teachers should watch it!

Second Comment
David,
I thought that presentation really hit home with me. I have always said that learning should be more than just preparation for the next grade or college. As you said, learning is a great experience and teachers should be able to provide that experience for children. It was a great presentation and really provoked my thought process as I continue in my education degree.

Jesse Reed
Blog Address: http://reedjesseedm310.blogspot.com
Twitter: @jesseannreed94

Blog Post #4

    Teaching encompasses a wide range of duties. It is not just lecturing to students about a subject and expecting them to retain the information without assessing if they have learned anything. Three Ways to Ask a Better Questions in the Classroom by Maryellen Weimer, tells us that students, when a question has been answered with a one-word answer, that they no longer think about that question because the answer was answered correctly without any thought put into it. Consequently, most teachers ask students questions like this. Questions need to provoke students to use their mind and think a while to find the correct answer. In doing so, students are engaged and will be more likely retain and learn the information. Also, she says the leaving questions unanswered is a good strategy because the student can ponder the question in their own way. Without ever knowing the right answer, students are more likely to brainstorm on the question. Moreover, Andi Stix, author of the video Opened-Ended Questions, says that when teachers ask questions they should be open-ended and require students to think more. She also explains that close-ended questions are the type that yield less thinking and require short answers. On the other hand, Right Ways to Ask a Question by Ben Johnson informs his readers that asking specific, clear, and concise questions and waiting 3-5 seconds after the question without calling on any students, makes every student think about the question. He also says that asking questions to the shy students that seem to not understand the topic, allows them to learn even though they are scared to answer or ask questions. The bright students that understand the topic very well are usually eager to answer the question because they know it and know they will get it right. This does not allow the other students who are too scared to answer to engage in the classroom learning time. According to Teaching Secrets: Asking the Right Questions, asking students to recall facts is the not the best method for comprehension. Putting students in to groups and having them discuss the topic and monitoring the conversation allows the students to discuss what they do not understand. We as teachers should ask questions, then extend and elaborate on those questions to further provoke the child's thinking. For example, ask an open-ended comprehension question, then ask them to apply it to their own lives. Being an effective teacher is not just asking questions, it is asking the right ones. In the blog Getting to Know Students Starts with Asking the Right Questions, Dawn Casey-Rowe tells readers that she starts with asking students questions about themselves to get to know them better. For example she asks, what is their favorite subject and which subject they dislike. I think this could be a useful tool to get to know the personality of the student and know whether they will be the shy or outgoing student when questions are asked. The video, Questioning Styles and Strategies, puts all these ideas to use in a classroom setting. One thing that is video points out that I think is a very useful tool, also mentioned in some of the other texts, is the concept of random name calling. A general question is asked to the entire classroom and if no one responds or raises their hand, the teacher would then call on a student at random thus forcing the student to think and answer. Furthermore, when asking or generating questions it is important to keep in mind that all students are as eager to learn as others and teachers need to focus on these children also. If the student answers the question incorrectly, probe the student or ask questions that lead them in the direction of the right answer that way they feel the satisfaction of answering correctly and will be more likely to answer another question without being forced. Successful learning starts with successful teaching. Asking questions that allow for more comprehension on the subject can aid teachers in developing their students into successful individuals.

Blog Post #3

    Peer editing is making compliments and suggestions on a classmates work to help them improve the quality of their work. When preforming or composing a peer review for someone, make sure that you are going about it in a clear, concise, and positive way. It is important to make sure that you are not being pushy or mean. Most of the time, your peers are interested in what they can improve on and value what other people have to suggest about their work. When I do peer reviews I keep in mind that everyone is different and has their own way of doing things. The best way to approach peer editing and the way I do it, is to make compliments throughout your review because people can sometimes get upset if you are making too many improvement suggestions and too few compliments. Sprinkling a compliment here and there will keep your peer from getting their feelings hurt or getting angry with you.

      Peer editing is very important to me because I am interested to see what I can improve on in my writing. Having a second opinion is always good because maybe that person saw a mistake that you made that you did not catch when you proofed your paper. Moreover, when I reread my paper I end up skimming over it and missing my mistakes. Peer editing eliminates this problem because the person reading your paper is strictly looking for mistakes and the paper is new to them so they can see the them better than the you. I love the idea of peer editing and will definitely use it in my classroom because it really helps improve the students writing and points out things in their writing that they can not see.