Project #14, Group 6: Project Based Learning Plan

Exploring Health and PE Topics

      When introducing this project to our students, we would start by going over the basics of the project. You can find this on our Project Design Overview. After we explain the project to them, we would show them this Obesity Epidemic in North America Video by Truelifefitness.

      After the video, we would put this picture up on the screen and give a few other examples on which they could focus their project on. Some of the examples would be as follows:

- The effects of yoga on your life.
- The benefits of daily exercise.
- Social messages about eating and its influence on nutrition choices.
- Dangers and benefits of contact sports.
- Why using weights is important.
- Organic or not?
      As we were figuring our the rest of our learning plan, we were looking at the PBL Essential Elements Checklist to make sure we were making an effective plan. We put together Three Rubrics. The first one is the project rubric, and it will be used to grade the final product. The second one is the individual group work rubric, and it will be used to grade each student's individual effort in the group. The third is a peer review/grading rubric with a spot for praises, suggestions, or concerns at the bottom. The students will grade each presentation and leave notes.
      One the first day of the project after we introduce it, we will assign groups. We will post these Common Core Standards for Health and PE on our class blog. The groups will choose a topic, look at the standards, and then develop their own driving question to be approved by the teacher by the end of the first day. We are requiring an interview with this project, and they will find someone who is credible by study or experience. If they do not know anyone, they can find a credible file online with an interview from the past with someone who is credible. You can check out our Calendar for the rest of the details on the project! The students will not only post their projects on their blog, but we will have an "Exploring Health and PE Topics Seminar" that the students will host for family, friends, teachers, and community members.

I hope you enjoyed our learning plan!
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #6: C4K Summary for October

October 1, 2014: Brodie from Mrs. Tharp's Math Gaming Class Blog

      Brodie is in the 7th grade. He loves playing football and baseball. Brodie enjoys doing fun things and being adventurous. He also likes to travel. He wants to learn more about The Bible. I commented on his "How schools should change" blog post.
      Brodie was writing on what he thinks schools should change. He thinks schools should allow students to research on their phones in class. He also wishes that more recruiters would check out there teams to give more scholarships. He thinks schools should learn more about The Bible. Brodie thinks that school uniforms should be spirit shirts with normal shorts. The last thing he wrote on was simply amazing. He wants people to stand up for what they believe in.
      When I responded to his post, I introduced myself as a student at USA working on a degree so I can teach high school math. I told him that phones are very useful tools and that the use of my laptop is beneficial in some of my classes. I told him that more scholarships from recruiters would be amazing because school is expensive. I told him that it's great that he wishes schools learned about The Bible. Then I told him about different programs my school use to have, and I asked him if there is anything like that now. Then I told him about how I pay for uniforms for both of my daughters, and I asked him if he knew that preschoolers had to wear uniforms sometimes. Then I complimented his statement that "[m]ore people should stand up..." To end my comment, I told him to have a great day.

October 9, 2014: Xavier R from Miss Jacklin's Grade 5 Class Blog

      Xavier is in the 5th grade. He likes to spend time with his friends. He goes to the pool and the park. Xavier also likes to play basketball. I commented on his grandfather blog post.
      Xavier was writing about his grandfather. He said that his grandfather is from Puerto Rico, and he likes taking walks and hanging out with his family. Xavier celebrates Puerto Rico Day with his family.
      When I responded to his post, I told Xavier that it sounds like you have a good relationship with his grandfather. I also told him that I'm glad he likes to hang out with family. I asked Xavier if he ever takes walks with his grandfather. To end my comment, I told him that it's good to have traditions with his family, and I asked him what else he does with his family.

October 17, 2014: Madison T. from Naugle AM Block's Class Blog

      Madison is in the 4th grade. She seems like a sweet girl, and she is very detailed in her blog post. I think that she is going to love blogging for her class! I commented on her How to Babysit post.
      Madison was talking about everything you need to do when babysitting. First, she talked about all of the materials needed to take care of a baby, and she went over how to burp a baby. Second, she went over a couple of fun things to do with babies. Third, Madison went over many safety tips for babies. A few examples are as follows: "[D]on't leave a baby by a fireplace," "Be careful if you have stairs," and ""Don't leave babies around small objects." She also said "I would advise you to get two pairs of glasses, and wear the old ones around the baby." She closed with saying that babies are cute, and they cry. Then she said to not look at the negative but focus on the positive.
      When I responded to her post, I told Madison that she knows a lot about babysitting. I also told her about how I started babysitting in the 6th grade. I told her that burping a baby can be hard because all babies like different ways to be burped. I told her that my daughters liked the "Where did the baby go?" game. I told her she is super careful with babies and that is a good thing. I closed with telling her that I am going to use her idea about wearing old glasses when playing with a baby and thanking her for sharing information on babysitting.

October 24, 2014: Collin from Pt England School

      Collin is in the 6th grade. He loves sports because they are fun and energetic. He also likes writing and math. He seems like a cool kid. I commented on his Reading Maps post.
      Collin had posted a slide show that he had worked on. There were two maps that he either created or altered, and there were also directions to tell him how to create or alter it. Under the slide show, Collin said that he learned how to read maps carefully. He also learned how to use "polyline" in Google Docs.
      When I responded to his post, I told Collin that I enjoyed seeing his maps. I told him that being able to read maps carefully is a beneficial thing. Then I told him that developing skills in all of the tools Google offers is really good. I asked Collin if he has ever used any other Google tools and recommended that he check them out.

I love commenting on children's blogs! I hope you enjoyed my post!
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #12, Part A: Mastering SMARTboard tools

I hope you enjoyed my video!
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 10: What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

Ms. Cassidy Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 uploaded by Dr. Strange

      Ms. Cassidy was not used to using technology in the classroom, but she knew that she needed to incorporate it. She was passionate about doing what was best for her students, and she knew that bringing technology in the classroom was what was best for them. She started using technology about 10 years ago because her classroom was given 5 computers. She started with a webpage for the class, and then she started having the kids blogging about 5 years ago. Then two years ago she started to use video. She started with what she was comfortable with then moved on from there by developing other technological skills. She received funding from the government to get professional development help in bringing in this technology. She didn't have much help from the school or the district, but she had a very supportive technology coordinator that helped show the administration the importance for technology in school.

      Ms. Cassidy uses blogging in the classroom but how often depends on her class for that year. If she has a smaller group of kids, they blog once a week sometimes twice a week because they blog all together. If she has a larger group of kids, blogging is used as a station. There are also some kids that blog from home, and they gain more experience with blogging because of that. With a blog, her students have a bigger audience. Why have just the teacher see their work when they can have the entire world available to see it? Her students even talk to college students on Skype to help develop their writing skills. Students love technology because it is a part of their world. It is only natural for them to be engaged by it in school. Their parents also love it because they can see their child's progress at any time of the day. If you would like to know more about what the students think about technology in the classroom, you should check out Ms. Kathy Cassidy's video Little Kids...Big Potential.

      I will be using a blog in my classroom like Ms. Cassidy does. I think it is a great way to give fun assignments, and allow the students work to have a large audience. I am also planning on having a class webpage. I think this is an amazing tool. I can post links to websites. I can also make videos and post them on there or organize the webpage to offer a lot of additional math problems and help for the students. This way they can see every step I took and why I took that route. I can put the rule/theorem/property that allows me to algebraically manipulate problems so they can be solved.
      There are a few issues that I might encounter when bringing technology into the classroom. Just like Ms. Cassidy, there might be other teachers in the school that oppose what I am doing because they don't want to change. The way I can overcome that issue is to show the importance of it. I can show how technology in the classroom can truly help students grasp information better. This way they can grow in their understanding of math and other students. If this happens, they will want to continue their education past high school. Isn't that what every teacher wants for their students? Another issue I might face would be my technological skills. I know that I have a long ways to go before I am well-versed in all of the technologies that can be used in education. However, I am fully prepared to learn as many as I can so that I can offer the most to my students. I want them to succeed, and I will make sure I am doing everything in my power to help them make that happen.
      I expect to see many benefits from using technology in the classroom. The webpage, as I said in the previous paragraph, will help them truly understand math and all of the steps and concepts involved in it. With the blog, they will feel like their work is important. They will try harder and see the value in the work that they are doing. Using technology in the classroom will also help them develop 21st century skills. Collaborating, critical thinking, creativity, and many other skills can be cultivated through technology!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog!
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 9: What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning?

Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning by John Larmer and John R. Mergendoller

      First off I'd like to say that you should check out this article! There is a lot of information in here, and there are some examples that I will not be going over! There is also a story that is woven throughout the seven essentials, and it is pretty interesting. Now it's time to get to the article!
      The authors start by describing the difference between projects and busy work. Then they go into what every good project needs. It has to be personally meaningful to the students as well as fulfilling an educational purpose. Now that the authors have set the tone, it is time for them to give us seven essentials for Project-Based Learning. Here is the list with a summary of that section of the article and comments of my own:
    1. Need to Know - Here the article is saying that a project needs to be introduced with an "entry event" so that the students feel a need to know the information. I think this is great! This way, you get the students excited about the project instead of them feeling like they're just getting it finished.
    2. Driving Question - Here the authors say "[t]he question should be provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn." That one statement pretty much covers it; although, they did provide a lot more information on this part. I think that the question is the most important part of Project-Based Learning.
    3. Voice and Choice - Here they are saying that the project will mean more to the students if they get to choose their resources and what products they will create using the technology they want to use. I think this is pretty important too! You have to allow the student to work with their strengths. Allow them to explore where they want and produce the type of media they want. This way, you don't limit the creativity of your students, you are encouraging it!
    4. 21st Century Skills - This part of the article is talking about how it is important to expose our students to the skills needed to succeed in the 21st Century workplace. I believe that Project-Based Learning is the best way to urge our students to develop the skills that are so critical to their success!
    5. Inquiry and Innovation - "[S]tudents follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and often ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusions." This statement was just too good for me to summarize! This is perfect! This is exactly what we want our students to do! Learning is evolving into the students taking charge of their education and moving forward with it. Students today can take things much farther than we think they can, so we don't need to limit them!
    6. Feedback and Revision - This sections shows us that we need to emphasize the importance of high-quality work. Students need to understand that in order to get something to a high quality, you need to revise it. This is so very true. It is important for students to know how to take feedback and apply it to their work ethic to become better students and workers in the future. This also allows the students to develop their own personal peer review skills.
    7. Publicly Presented Product - They are saying that work means more when others will see it, and it might produce usable products for others to use in the real world. This makes the students feel like their work is actually worth something, and that is an amazing feat to accomplish! I think that having a blog is the perfect way to accomplish this!

Project-Based Learning for Teachers by Tony Vincent

      This is a short video that is talking about Project-Based Learning. This video explains what a driving question is and how students will be working on it. Then the video goes over some traits of the Common Core State Standards, Project-Based Learning, and skills the students will be developing. Here is a list of them with some comments of my own:

Common Core State Standards

1. Rigorous Content - This encourages our students and pushes them to do their best!
2. Aligned with College and Work Expectations - This gives parents comfort in knowing that after going through a project-based learning education, they are ready to succeed in college and the workplace.
3. Clear and Understandable - Since it's easy to understand, it will be easy to work with and truly delve into.
4. Application of Knowledge - This focuses on the students knowing why the information their learning is important and what it relates to. This will help keep the students interested and engaged.
5. Evidence-Based - This is where having credible sources come into play.

Project-Based Learning

1. Inquiry-Based - The questions make the students want to learn more.
2. Open-Ended - When you ask a student a yes or no question, you are limiting what they can learn. If you ask open ended, the students will delve more into it so that they can learn everything. This will also allow them to create their own questions.
3. Problem-Solving - This is one of the 21st Century skills that is extremely valuable in college and the workplace.
4. Personalized - This allows teachers to tailor around individual student's interest so that they will be willing to learn more. This engages the students in the work.
5. Look at Project-Based Learning as:
    a. Questioning - With a driving question in place,
    the students can take control of their learning!
    b. Investigating- - This shows how the students delve
    into all of the sources at their fingertips to find
    credible information.
    c. Sharing - When the students get to share their
    work with people around the world, they feel like
    what they are doing matters! This is why a having
    a class blog is really important!
    d. Reflecting - This allows the students to look back
    not only at the process they used to finish their
    project but also the effort they put into it.

Skills Students Develop

1. Collaboration Skills
2. Communication Skills
3. Critical Thinking Skills
4. Career and Live Skills

      Then the video shows how technology is used in Project-Based Learning. It provides a long list of different sites and programs that can be used. Then this video gives us this quote from Einstein: "I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn. Then a list of things that PBL includes is shared with us! You should check out the video if you are interested in seeing the rest of the information on it!

Wing Project: Crafting a Driving Question by Buck Institute for Education

      In this video, teachers are trying to derive driving questions from what they want their students to discover through their exploration. They are deriving questions from one main concept they want the students to understand. Eva Reeder says, "The academic teachers typically have not applied what it is they teach. So it's head knowledge... And coming up with project ideas is very difficult because they're not talking from the depths of their own experience. So how do you remedy this... the simplest way is to pair teachers up with subject matter experts." I think this is a great idea. I can definitely see how this can be an issue for teachers that teach certain subjects. In this video, it is designing wings for a plane. I highly doubt the teachers have actually designed wings for a plane for a company to use in building one. It would be extremely beneficial to work with people working in the fields you are teaching.
      Thom Markham says, "A good driving question sets up a process of inquiry that the students are interested in and that guides them towards how they're gonna do the work and what the kind of work their going to have to produce in order to answer the question." This is extremely important! If you want your students to be engaged, they have to have a good driving question. There is a lot of good information in this video, so you should check it out if you want to see the teachers develop their questions.

High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation by Edutopia

      This is a video showing how hard it is for teachers to adapt their courses to Project-Based Learning. The school in the video is on year three of a five year transition. The teachers needed to rethink how they teach and then change the curriculum to fit the new teaching style. They are shifting from teaching the books to engaging them with the text in a different way. So what they end up doing is apply the lessons learned in the text to modern issues and current problems in the world today.
      Emma, a 9th grade student, says "I think using PBL in English classes or in any other class really kind of changes your perspective on what that subject is and what that subject entails. You really see how the subjects you're learning at 15 years old, how you can use them for your future and the rest of your life." To have a student say this is extremely inspiring! I personally believe that she is experiencing what Project-Based Learning is meant for. Angelo, a 12th grade student, says "The project helps me... focus more. Making the game project, it's fun. And then, there's like a connection to it. It makes me more engaged though math." This is pretty awesome too! Since I want to be a math teacher, it is encouraging to know that PBL is helping students grasp concepts. There was a lot of insight and perspectives from the students that is interesting in this video. I shared a few of them with you, but feel free to check it out yourself!

PBL: What motivates students today by Suzanne Ball

    This is a video showing responses from students. I think this is super cute! It is really important to get feedback from your students! If you want your students to learn, you need to see what is working and what isn't working. Then you need to adapt your teaching style! If there was a certain aspect of a project they didn't like, change that in the next one and see if they like it better. The children were asked two questions. Here are the questions and their responses:

What motivates you to do good in school?

      - When a teacher acknowledges something a student did well.
      - Want for future prosperity with a good job.
      - Business degree aspiration.
      - Vet aspiration. Be successful in college.
      - Parental punishment of grounding.

Rewards

      - Color chart for behavior. They receive money.
      - Candy. Walks in a garden, and do work in the garden.
      - Food. School Supplies. Cool notebooks, pencils, and stickers.
      - "Brownie Points." Teachers start to like you.
      - Different activities each day.

Thanks for reading my post!
Jennifer L. Cole

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

My Special Assignment from EDM310 Class Blog

Part A

      The main implication that I got from the data on this post was that technology is unavoidable. This means that education has to change. We need to adapt to our generation so that our children can learn and lead us to a better tomorrow. Schools need to be able to support this change. They need to have the technology available for students to learn. Teachers need to change their methods to adapt project-based learning with technology and stay within or go beyond the curriculum requirements.
      There are a couple other implications in this data that stem off of the above one. It proves that we need to use many types of technology. Computers, smart phones, cameras, iPads, and any other technology device or program that comes into existence can be used to enhance the learning process. That is a process that never ends because our world is always changing. It also implies that our generation can not function without technology, and that they can be easily distracted by technology. So why not use the appeal of technology to the teachers advantage. Let their learning activities distract them from pointless activities.

Part B

      I think that technology can enhance the learning process for my future students. This post is focused on using a camera. Since I am going to be teaching high school math, this limits my usage of a camera. I know that I am going to use the project-based learning method to teach my students, and I know that I am going to have a class blog. I will have them post their thoughts on their project on the blog, and I can get the students to post pictures of their group as they are doing the project. I think this can help create a fun, friendly environment when working on their projects.
      I was also thinking about how I could use a camera with Popplet. When I have the students in groups working on a problem, I can have the students post a picture of their work on Popplet. With math, this can be very helpful. There are many different ways you can approach a problem. One group may use the easiest way possible, and it could make sense to everyone. Other groups may use harder methods that can help other students understand the concept of the problem better. Some groups may go completely wrong, and that can help other students understand why that method for that problem is not good. This will help them experience all of these paths in a shorter time.
      Another idea is to have them manipulate the pictures of shapes. You can take a picture of a triangle and blow it up or make it smaller. The students will be able to see how the angles are the same but the sides are different. They can also see how some triangles fit together to make a rectangle, and this can help them teach the properties of a line that passes through two parallel lines(the angles the line creates and the similarities between them). I'm sure this can help with all of the shape's properties in Geometry. This way they can experience first hand the relationships and properties between shapes.
      I know that there are many other ways I can use a camera in the classroom to enhance learning. I plan on collaborating with teachers across the world to learn more ways to incorporate technology into my classroom. I look forward to using project-based learning with cameras and other technology! I also look forward to being a life-long learner, not for my benefit but the benefit of my future students! It is all about them, right?

Thanks for reading!
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 8: What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams posted by Carnegie Mellon

      First, I'd like to start by recommending this video to you. Click the link above when you have can spare an hour and change. Second, I would like to give you a quote from the video. "Millions of kids having fun while learning something hard. That's pretty cool." I think that this is a nice way to start my blog because it is where everything in his speech led to. I think that it is a good quote, and it can tell you a lot about what needs to be learned about teaching and learning. Kids need to have fun while they're learning.
      Now I want to talk about what Randy Pausch did while he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon. He piloted a project-based program where students built virtual worlds. He got 50 students from art, design, drama, and CS. Once he did that, he randomly chose teams and changed those teams for every project. There were two weeks to design and test these virtual worlds. I think this is really cool. The students got to experience working with other people. And since this changed with every project, they figured out how to adjust to different people. After all, in the real world, they don't get to choose how easy the people they work with are.
      Since Randy Pausch was piloting this program, he wasn't sure where to start. With content, he said anything with a couple restrictions. He was super amazed at what everyone came up with, and he wasn't sure what to do next. Randy called a friend of his to figure out what he should do, and his friend told him to tell them they can do better. Since Randy didn't know how high to set the bar, don't set one. This part of the video proves that students can learn on their own, and that they will do much better if they get to. I learned that I need to not set a bar and allow my students to fly as high as they can!
      This led to Randy Pausch and Don Marinelli heading up a two year professional degree at Carnegie Mellon. It was called the Masters of Entertainment Technology. He believes there were a several keys to the success of this program, but I'm only sharing a few of them. Their curriculum was project-based, and the students had a lot of fun and went on field trips. I've learned that project-based learning truly engages students and makes the students thirst for more knowledge.

I hope you enjoyed my blog post,
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #9: Video Book Commentary

I hope you enjoyed our video and slides! We LOVED making it!
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #4: C4T #2

For the Love of Teaching Math by Andrea Kerr

C4T#2, Comment 1: Revisiting Integer Operations with a Freebie!!!

      On this blog post, Andrea Kerr is talking about her favorite activities when teaching on integers. She also made a couple videos in the past, and she put links on those older posts on this blog. I went back and read those posts and watched the videos, and she has a lot of good ideas! She sells stuff on Teachers Pay Teachers, and she is going over some of her products on her posts and videos.
      In response to her blog post, I introduced myself as a student planning on being a high school math teacher. I told her that she approaches teaching in a great way and that it is important to keep students engaged. I told her that she has some cool resources on her Teachers Pay Teachers website. I told her that I wish I could use her games in high school, but that the concepts of them can be changed to fit high school curriculum and interests.

C4T#2, Comment 2: Some of My Favorite Things……

      On this blog post, Andrea Kerr is going over a few of her favorite products on her Teachers Pay Teachers site. She has one that is for graphing, and the picture the students end up with is the mocking jay pin from Hunger Games. She also posted games that relate to graphing, fractions, and a couple more. Feel free to check it out yourself!
      In response to her blog post, I told her that I love her resources and asked if she made some for high school. I told her that the mocking jay pin was cool, and I remember doing something similar when I was younger. I told her that I might purchase some of her resources when my daughters get old enough because I think the reinforcement would be nice.

Thanks for reading my blog!
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 7: How Do We All Become Learners?

Part One: How am I doing?

      Hello, readers! This past week, I have had the privilege of watching many videos and learning from them. You can learn from them too! They are all below with some information on them and a few opinions of my own. When I think about how classrooms are focusing on Project-Based Learning, I get super excited! I think technology is extremely important in education. I use to not think this way. Especially since I'm going to be a high school math teacher. I use to not see the relevance of PBL with math in high school. It has always made sense with elementary students, but I was worried I wouldn't know what to do. However, I also found out that is okay. I will always be learning, and I have a long journey ahead of me to prepare me for when I get to that point. I have a personal learning network to build, and I'm sure there are plenty of experienced educators I can learn from! I plan on engaging my students fully with technology in a PBL emphasizing classroom!
      I think my main strength is that I WANT to be a lifelong learner. Even though I haven't experienced all of the things below, I am willing to learn it even if that means my students would be teaching me! My main weaknesses are the fact that I haven't used most of these programs before and I'm not sure how I can incorporate a lot of technology in the teaching of math. The importance is not what my weaknesses are, it is how I approach them. I will succeed, and no weakness will stand in my way. There are a few things I need to do before I graduate and begin my career in education. I need to learn more programs. I know that I will not be able to learn all of them, and I also know that there will be new, cooler programs available by the time I start teaching. However, I think it is important to go ahead and learn as much as I can from the ones that are currently available. I think the knowledge of them will help me learn the new ones that come out! I also need to build up my personal learning network! If there are teachers all around the world that want to help other teachers, I would be silly to not take them up on their offer!

Part Two: What did I learn?

How to make an audio QR Code by Michele Bennett

      This video taught me how to make an audio QR-Code. First, you have to create your recording. Then after you save the recording, it will generate a URL for you to copy. Now it is time to create your QR-Code. You will paste your URL into the box then click create! This is pretty neat. I can see how this can be helpful!

iPad Reading Center with Ginger Tuck uploaded by Michele Bennett
      In this video, Ginger Tuck explained one of her reading centers. After she explained it, she had one of her students demonstrate. With this center, her students record themselves while they're reading. After they finish a reading, they listen to the recording and follow along to see if they see any mistakes that they might have made. Ginger Tuck says that this is extremely helpful and fun. Her students enjoy it, and she can walk around the room and help other students while the students working on this center help themselves.

Poplet with Ginger Tuck uploaded by Michele Bennett
      This video explained Poplet. It is a free app that you can download. Ginger Tuck uses them as another center in her classroom. Basically, the children take a picture of an image in a book, and write a sentence about it. They usually write the same sentence that is under the image in the book. The children do this 5-8 times and it creates an image web on a page. This helps them with reading and their typing skills. I think this is amazing! I'm thinking about downloading it for my daughters. I didn't start learning how to type in school until I was in the 8th grade!

AVL and Kindergarten Students with Ginger Tuck uploaded by Michele Bennett
      This video is talking about the Alabama Virtual Library. The students use AVL to research a word that pertains to their lesson. There are pictures and information. The information is given by video or audio along with words. Then they use the worksheet they have to draw a picture, and the next time they use the center they write a sentence to go along with the picture. I think an interesting thing about this video is that the teacher learned from her students. She didn't originally have the students writing the sentences, but then she noticed them doing it anyways. Then she added it to that particular center.

Tammy Shirley Discovery Education Board Builder Moon Project uploaded by Michele Bennett
      In this video, Tammy Shirley talks about how they worked on a PBL on the moon by using Discovery Education Board Builder. They started with a video, and then the students collected facts about the moon. Now it is time to use Board Builder! The students sign in and begin setting up that particular board. They get to choose the background, title, images/videos, and facts. Then one of her students showed a little more detail on how to add images, and she told us the information she put on her board about the moon. Then they got to write a story about their adventure on the moon. The student shared her story with us on this video. This video is super cute! This is probably because there is a little girl that is explaining things.

Mrs.Tassin 2nd Grade students share Board Builder Project and Mrs.Tassin students share Board Builder Project uploaded by Michele Bennett
      On the first video, there were two boy students that introducing themselves and went over their board that they created for whales. One of the students then explained how to find and upload an image to the board. On the second video, there were a group of three girls. The girls go over their board for The Haven. They are collecting money for The Haven, too. Then they talked about their resources. They used Word Hippo to expand their vocabulary, and they used the new words on their board. I think it's really awesome that children are having so much fun with PBL. I wonder if using Word Hippo is required or if they just chose to use it. With the way education is working today, it wouldn't surprise me if they just chose to use technology to learn new words for projects!

Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten by John Hadley Strange
      This video is a conversation between Dr. Strange from University of South Alabama, Elizabeth Davis from Daphne Elementary, and Michele Bennett from Gulf Shores Elementary. First, Michele Bennett talks about kindergarten students using iMovie. She is amazed at how the students are able to use iMovie to make book trailers. She talks about how the students use iMovie. She is super excited about how the children get so deep into the technology. They learn to edit and all sorts of things! Second, Elizabeth Davis talks about Alabama Virtual Library. This is amazing on teaching students how to do basic searches. The results are also tailored to kindergarten. By the way, using Alabama Virtual Library is free! I'm definitely going to use this for my first grader at home! That would be super amazing! I'm sure that would help her in many ways!

We All Become Learners by John Hadley Strange
      This is another conversation with the same people as my previous link. The start of this video by saying that in the experience of using technology in the classroom leads to everyone learning and everyone teaching. This includes teachers and students, and I'm pretty sure that we could add in parents. They start to talk about different apps that are free for their students. They talk about Padlet, and this is actually something that we've personally used in our EDM310 class. I personally find it very useful and interesting. I bet even my high school students would enjoy using this! Then Michele Bennett was taught how to do something on it by a student. She also mentions that it is important to just teach the mechanics of different programs so that the students can delve into it and learn the rest of it. The main take away from this video is the title of it. "We all become learners."

Thanks for reading my blog,
Jennifer L. Cole

Project 13, Group 6: Project Based Learning Plan

Exploring the Civil War

      The first thing my group did was decide which subject we were going to make a lesson plan for. Since we're all planning on teaching different subjects in high school, we had to pick between them. Our options were Math, Health, PE, and History. We decided on History because we thought it would be the most fun! Of course, then we had to decide which event in history we were going use for the lesson plan. We chose the Civil War.
      After we had decided the event in history, we needed to make sure we were doing everything we needed to do in order to make sure we were utilizing every aspect of Project-Based Learning. We started throwing ideas around, learning what we needed to develop, and figuring out how to incorporate more uses of technology. Our group did a pretty awesome job at making sure we covered everything on the PBL Essential Elements Checklist.
      After we figured out how everything we had planned fit into the checklist, we started making our Project Overview, Rubric, and Calendar. Overall, I believe our group did an amazing job! The Project Overview has almost all of the details for our project lesson plan. The little details that it is missing is in the rubric and calendar. The rubric is nicely detailed and well thought out, and the calendar will help the students stay on track.
      There are a couple things about the lesson plan that I am super excited about! As far as the media project goes, we wanted to make sure that they could have fun with it! They can choose to do a reenactment, music video, movie, poem, or pretty much anything else they could think of. Another part I think they'd be interested in is the fact that they get to TEACH the class what they learned. I think this could be developed a little farther than what we did in the lesson plan. Maybe they could develop a short questionnaire for each student to fill out while they're going through their presentation.
      Now it's time for a few side notes! First, the picture was found by Sammi, and the group decided it would be a great picture to start the discussion with our students. We found it fitting to share it all with you! Second, I tried to find a game to assign groups for the project, but I couldn't really find anything that I thought high school students would enjoy. I plan on finding a few before I begin teaching because I think a fun game is a nice icebreaker for group projects! Last, this was super fun, and I can't wait until I can use Project-Based Learning with my students!

Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you enjoyed it!
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #7, Part B: Two Movies as a Teacher

Mrs. Cole's Math Class: Intro for Parents



Mrs. Cole's Math Class: Intro for Students

Thank you for checking out my intro movies as a teacher!
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 6: What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

Project Based Learning Part 1 and Part 2

      The first thing that Anthony Capps said really hit me. "My ideas about project based learning are consistently evolving." That is an extremely loaded comment, and this is the way it should be. The world and the needs of children are always changing, so the methods in which we teach them need to change as well. Then he went on to talk about how most teachers look at projects as ways to make sure that the kids understand what they were teaching them instead of actually using the projects as a method to teach them. He also talked about how he had to tweak projects to make the students learn what the state requires them to learn by doing those projects. Then he went into a few examples of how he has used project based learning. Everything that was talked about was extremely interesting! Hearing him talk about all of the things he has done with his students has made me super excited about project based learning!
      About one third of the way into the second part, Dr. Strange asked Anthony how his 3rd graders' works compares to EDM310 students' works. He basically said that the works are the same, but that's comparing 9 year-old children with adults. The main point they wanted to make with these two parts is that it is important that the project based learning is used as a method to teach not to evaluate if they have learned. This will take a lot of time to prepare, and the results are amazing! Kids love it! Parents love it. The kids are actually learning because they are engaged.

iCurio

      In this video, Dr. Strange is asking Anthony Capps about iCurio. The main cool use for iCurio search engine is the fact that it is filtered content for the children. I think that this is a great tool! It also allows teachers and students to store content that they find useful. They can organize and sort different information. iCurio is easy for children to use. It has a great tool for history as well. There is also a feature for children with different types of disabilities. Overall, this search engine sounds amazing! I just wish that I could use it as an effective tool for high school math students.

Discovery Ed

      Discovery Ed is basically a tool that can be used to find images and videos to couple with different material. This helps keep the students involved. The students can also enrich their learning experience by finding different videos on more specific topics. Dr. Strange has said before that there is no way any teacher will know every single little detail about everything they teach. This tool allows students to delve into their projects much more than basic classroom materials would have been able to provide. I think that it is absolutely amazing! This literally gives the students the power to learn as much as they want to learn about what topic they are really interested in!

The Anthony-Strange Tips for Teachers

      This video was Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps having a conversation about different things that would be important for a future educator to consider before they take their first step into their classroom. The first thing is to want to continue learning yourself. The second thing is that it is hard, but you can make it fun. Spend your free time learning your teaching style. A teacher's work is never done, but it is extremely rewarding. The third thing is to be flexible and creative. Be ready to adjust what you were planning in case something comes up. Also, if something turns out differently than you imagined, adapt to that and figure out how it got there. The fourth thing is to reflect on how a particular project turned out. Did the students like it? Was it effective? You need to be willing to critique your lesson plans and get feedback from students and parents. If you find out that you need to change your strategies, change them. Do not be afraid to increase the quality of your lessons! At the end of the video, Dr. Strange added a few things or separated them, but I do believe I covered most of them! I definitely learned a lot from this. The more of these videos I watch, the more excited I get about teaching!

Use Tech Don't Teach It

      All of your students will have experience with technology. It doesn't matter if they're at a low income school or a high income school. Our society is surrounded by technology. Anthony mentioned that you shouldn't teach technology, you should use it. The students enjoy being able to create things on iMovie and other tools. Let your students get excited about what their doing by using technology. They get to share their work! How exciting is that! We have seen how excited children get when we simply reply on their blogs. This can definitely encourage them. There is also a lot of layers of the work that allows the students to learn a lot about the programs. If you want your students to learn how to do something, do it yourself! This can help them learn how to ask valuable questions, and of course it can help you in answering it most of the time. It also helps them problem-solving skills.

Additional Thoughts About Lessons

      Your lesson plan has four layers. The first layer is what you plan on doing for the entire year. Make sure you are covering all of the content that is required. The second layer is the unit. Are the units organized in an effective, meaningful way? Does it makes sense, and is it connected in a certain way? The third layer is what you are planning for that week. You need to make sure you organize your week in a way that allows you to get everything done. The fourth layer is what you plan to do on a daily basis. This plan has all of the details of your day. How do you get their attention? What do you use to keep them engaged that day? Use something at the end to see what they learned that day. Each of these four layers are equally important. I actually believe that this video is the most helpful one for me. Since I'm teaching math, I won't be able to utilize technology as in depth as other subjects will be able to. I always knew that I would have to plan my lessons somewhat like this, but I like the way it was explained. I will definitely be using this strategy when making my lesson plan!

I would like to take a moment to thank Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps for so much valuable information for all of us future educators. I would also like to thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my blog post! I hope you enjoyed it!

Jennifer L. Cole

Project #8: Book Trailer

This Way, Ruby! by Jonathan Emmett

I hope you enjoyed this book trailer as much as I enjoyed making it!
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #6: C4K Summary for September

September 14, 2014: Rocky from Pt England School

      Rocky is a 12 year old that likes to play rugby league and read. I took a look at his previous posts and he seems to be very energetic, passionate, and honest. I commented on his "Managing Self" post.
      Rocky was posting about an assignment they had been given to make a short movie. He felt like his group did a good job on the video, but they had an issue with the camera lagging. After that he rated himself on 2 out of 3 on managing himself due to the fact that he would still mess around at times.
      When I responded to his post, I told him that I think it's amazing that he made a movie with his group. I let him know that you can't control everything, and that it's important how you react to the problem. Then I told him that I think its great to strive to work harder and asked him what he was planning on doing to get himself to a 3 out of 3.

September 16, 2014: Mikayla from Ms. Horst's 5-1 Class

      Mikayla likes to swim. Red and green are her favorite colors. She likes to eat pizza and Kraft dinners. When I was reading all of her previous posts, I realized that she is a sweet girl. She likes when people are nice to her. I THINK that Mikayla is in the fifth grade. I commented on her "What Is My Smart" post.
      Mikayla was posting about how she believes she is body smart and people smart. She said that she is active, and she is confident when she's running. She feels like she can do anything. She likes having friends that she can talk to as well.
      When I responded to her post, I told her that I really liked her blog. I also told her that being active is super fun and good for her. The last thing I told her was that having friends she can talk to is great, and they can help her with many things.

September 22, 2014: Michael from Mr. Salsich's 5th Grade Class

      Michael is in the fifth grade. He is very ambitious, and he seems like a good kid! I commented on his "Welcome To My 2nd Blog" post.
      Michael was posting just some general information about himself. His parents are in the military, and he has been to many places because of that. He has a younger brother. He wants to be an engineer, and he likes to build robots and Lego buildings.
      When I responeded to his post, I told him that my husband is in the military, but we haven't moved as much as he has. I asked him if he liked playing together like my girls do. Then I told him that it's awesome that he wants to be an engineer. At the end, I told him that my daughters like to play with Lego sets too!

I really enjoyed this experience! I had so much fun reading these children's blogs. I hope you enjoyed my post!
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #3: Presentations

Thanks for checking out my presentations!
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 5, Part A: PLNs, What Are They?

According to Welcome to My PLE by Mr. H's Seventh Grade Student and Wendy Drexler

      The student refers to her PLN as her "Personal Learning Environment." First, she learned how to search for information and how to bring it to her PLN. Now that she has her PLN set up, she uses it to learn! The student visits her class site and chooses her own topics to learn about. She likes to use a note taking program that allows her to take snapshots of certain websites and saves the source of it so she can go back to it later. The student likes being able to choose how and when she learns. She thinks that having more freedom prompts her to learn more. To sum this up, this student uses her PLN to store sites that she is researching.

According to PLN - Michael Fawcett (@TeacherNZ) Offers His Insights posted by John Hadley Strange

      Michael Fawcett has a pretty cool PLN story. Before he started his PLN, all he had were teachers at his school. However, he was the only one that was using technology with his students, so there wasn't much growth available there for him. Then he went to a conference where he met many teachers that were doing the same types of things with their students. After the conference, Michael Fawcett continued on Twitter and continued to add people. From those people, he found new sites, web tools, blogs to read and comment on, and ideas for teaching and learning. All of the people in his network were very supportive, and he gives them all credit for helping him and his students. Michael Fawcett has also used Twitter to attend conferences around the world. He could even take part in the discussions. To sum this up, this teacher uses his PLN to give and receive new teaching ideas.

According to Personal Learning Networks Are Virtual Lockers for Schoolkids by Vicki Davis

      Vicki Davis states that a PLN "changes based on the student's current course work." Her students search the internet for tons of information as soon as they are assigned a new topic. All of that information goes on a PLN that is strictly for that topic. Her students have also learned how to set up RSS feeds so that they automatically get new information on their topic. I think that that is awesome! I'm looking forward to learning how to do that! Vicki Davis states that one of her students says that it helps her organize. That is the major thing that I keep seeing throughout my research for this blog post.

      I believe that having a PLN is essential. It is amazing how many doors you can open for yourself and others! I have never had one, and I ended up using some of my research time creating my own PLN!

Thanks so much for reading my blog post,
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #7, Part A: My Sentence Videos

My Sentence is...



My Passion is...

Thanks for watching my sentence videos!
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #15: Search Engines

1. White Pages

      This search engine is "the largest and most trusted source for people, businesses and phone numbers." It is used to identify unknown calls, verify real identities, and control your info. I have personally used this site to see who my missed calls are from. Sometimes they don't leave a message, which is annoying because I don't know who they are or what they wanted. However, I just started searching on here. Most of the time they are from CVS Pharmacy or American Red Cross.

2. Amazon

      This search engine is used for shopping! Most of us college students can say this site is good for finding inexpensive text books. There are different types of memberships you can get too! I personally have prime and most of my time spent on here is reading reviews on my husband's books. Although, I do enjoy looking at other things on here too!

3. Ebay

      This search engine is used for shopping as well. You can even bid on some things. However, I personally find it less appealing than Amazon. That probably has to do with the fact that almost nothing on this site interests me. Or maybe it is because it just looks unprofessional. Oh well, you get the idea!

4. Priceline

      This search engine is used to book hotels, flights, rental cars, and more! I personally have not used this site, but it looks a lot like Southwest Airlines. So, considering I am use to the format of the site, I find it appealing. The reason I haven't used this site before is because I haven't needed to. When I visit family, I just stay at my mom's house. If I'm going to the beach, I stay at my in-laws'condo. However, if I were in need of something like that, I would use this site!

5. Kayak

      This search engine offers the same service as Priceline. You can "[c]ompare hundreds of travel sites at once." I personally do not like the way this site is set up. It is fairly easy to navigate, but I still don't like the way it looks. Of course, there could be a lot of people that prefer this format! That is why I decided to share it with you!

6. Wikipedia

      This search engine can be used to find practically everything. You can look up definitions, history facts, landmarks, geographical information, and so much more. Of course, anyone can change the information, so you can't use this as your only source or as a source at all for some classes.

7. YouTube

      This search engine is used to look up videos. Whether the video is educational or for entertainment is completely up to the user. Since anyone can upload a video, there is a variety of different types of videos. Music videos, advertisements, cats, lectures, and practically anything else you could possibly think of.

8. WolframAlpha

      This is a search engine that can help you with your math. This site is truly amazing! You will see multiple different ways you could write the answer as well as the step-by-step process to solving it! That is absolutely awesome! I would recommend this site to anyone who is having issues in math. Of course, you could always get me to tutor you! I am a Mathematics major after all!

Thanks for reading my blog and taking this journey of searching search engines with me,
Jennifer L. Cole

Project #4: C4T #1

Math in the Middle by Christy

C4T#1, Comment 1: Keeping It All Together

      On this post, Christy was talking about all of the different tools she has tried out to help her keep all of her online information organized. She has tried Diigo, TweetDeck, Feedly, and Flipboard. As Christy was going over her journey with them, she explained the pros and cons of each one as it relates to her personal needs.
      In my comment on this post, I introduced myself as a Secondary Education/Mathematics college student in a course that requires me to have a blog as well as read other blogs. After I introduced myself, I thanked her for providing so many new online tools for me to try out. I also told her that I think it is amazing that she has tried so many sites to organize her information.

C4T#1, Comment 2: Listen and Learn @MTBoS

      On this post, Christy was talking about online conferences with Global Math. She couldn't make a lot of the sessions, but she was thrilled when she found out that they were recorded and put online. She watched "Review Activities That Don't Suck." Then she went on to explain that she was planning on using them for her next review day, but she ended up using one of them the next day! The principal even stopped by and saw how engaged the children were in the activity.
      In my comment, I thanked her for the conference link. I also informed her that I watched the video and liked many of the ideas on it. I said, "I think that some of them could even be used in a high school setting. However, it might need some modifications!" Then I told her that I think it's awesome that she got to use one of the methods the next day and that her students enjoyed it.

Thank you for spending the time to read my blog,
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 4: Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

According to Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom by Maryellen Weimer, PhD

      It is extremely important for a teacher to spend time preparing questions. The author said, "...I never prepared questions. I just asked whatever came to me at the moment. Not surprisingly, I asked a mixed bag of questions—some stimulating and provocative; some mundane and not especially clear." After the author had been motivated by an article to start preparing questions, the author stated, "... it made a world of difference." I completely agree! I believe a teacher should have prepared questions. When a teacher doesn't fully prepare his or her questions, the questions can seem to have no true meaning. They don't lead to any particular point, and sometimes time will be wasted by rewording the question a couple times. Not to mention, random questions will make students feel like they are just being tossed about the brain of their teacher.

According to Asking Questions to Improve Learning by The Teaching Center

      This source was extremely informative! In this source, you find out that it is not only important to ask the right questions, but it is important to prepare for questions you think your students will ask and respond effectively. I am going to talk about the all of subtopics in this source. However, I will not be covering all of the information from each section, and there is a lot of interesting information here! Check it out if you want to know more!

Asking Questions: Basic Rules

   - Avoid asking questions that suggest the answer. Would you answer a question that was already answered?
   - "Yes-or-No" questions need to be followed with an question that builds off of the student's answer. It is very important to try to get the students to delve deeper into their thought process.
   - Don't ask one question that has many layers. Instead, ask a series of questions that delve into the layers. This can generate a lot more information than just asking one big question.
   - Only ask one question at a time. If you ask 2-3 questions at once, how will the students know which one you want them to answer. Not to mention, their brains will be trying to focus on too many things at once. We all know that multitasking is not effective.

Responding Effectively

   - Give the students' time to think about the question. Students need to be able to process the question and figure out what the answer is.
   - Don't interrupt. Not only is it rude, but it can break the student's train of thought and stop them from delving deeper.
   - Always show interest in what the students are saying, even if they are wrong. Most answers are somewhat related, so try to get them on the right track by positively reinforcing them and directing them.
   - Respond in a way that keeps the students' thinking. Urge them to keep thinking deeper.

Asking Questions: Why Open-Ended?

   - To elaborate on vague answers or comments
   - To show something from a different perspective
   - To provide reasons for conclusions
   - To start class discussion
   - To link information together

Bloom's Taxonomy: Level of Questions Complexity with Definitions

   - Knowledge: Memorization
   - Comprehension: Interpretation
   - Application: Problem Solving
   - Analysis: Determining Motives
   - Synthesis: Combining Ideas
   - Evaluation: Judgment

According to The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom by Ben Johnson

      I think that this source approaches the topic from a unique perspective. A lot of teachers ask questions to make sure that the students understand what the teacher is saying, but does the teacher think about what this is actually doing for the students? After all, teaching is all about the students. It is important to ask questions with substance to determine their understanding. The questions that simply check understanding have many flaws. Here are a few:
   - The students know what the teacher wants to hear.
   - Some students will not want to speak up and feel like they are the ones holding back the rest of the class.
   - A student may think they understand, but they really don't.

Thanks for reading my blog,
Jennifer L. Cole

Blog Post 3: How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

Peer Editing by nrpatric and Tutorial Peer Editing by Adriana Zardini

      These two sources provide almost identical information. The main difference is how the information is given; the first one is a simple video and the second is a PowerPoint. First, they give the definition of peer editing. This is where you help a classmate improve and revise his or her work. Then the sources make sure that you know one very important rule: stay positive. I've always considered this common knowledge, but I can see how some students would need to be reminded of this courtesy.
      Then the two sources went over the three steps to peer review. The first step of peer review is to compliment their work. If you tell your fellow student what they did well on first, it is not only polite but it will help the other student become comfortable with you critiquing his or her writing. The second step is to make specific suggestions. Here is a list provided by both sources of different suggestions you can make:
           1. Word Choice - Boring or Interesting?
           2. Details - Are there enough details?
           3. Organization - Does it flow well?
           4. Sentences - Is it too choppy? Are there
              TOO many long sentences?
           5. Topic - Is it on topic throughout the work?
The third step is to make corrections. Here is a list (also provided by both sources) of different corrections you can make:
           1. Spelling Mistakes
           2. Grammar Mistakes
           3. Missing or Incorrect Punctuation
           4. Incomplete or Run-on Sentences

Writing Peer Review (Peer Critique) TOP 10 Mistakes by Tim Bedley

      This video is quite amusing. The children demonstrate similar topics from the previous two sources but from a different angle, and they shed some light on a couple new areas that I would like to touch on. I think that it is great that this video not only talks about what the student reviewing needs to be aware of, but it also shows the mistakes that the author of the work can make during the peer review process. I would like to mention that three of the "Top 10 Mistakes" are irrelevant. Being too loud and being social with surrounding groups are not problems due to the fact that we are doing our reviews as comments on blog posts. Being too picky is not relevant because it was about human errors due to it being written not typed. So, there are seven relevant mistakes that I will be touching on.
      First, there are four mistakes that the reviewer needs to avoid. Here they are:
           1. Being General
           2. Going Too Fast
           3. Being Pushy
           4. Being Mean
If you are too general or fast, you are not helping your peer. You are most likely just going to make him or her feel helpless or overwhelmed. If you are being pushy or mean, all you're doing is making your classmate not listen to you or hurt his or her feelings. How does that help your peer?
      Second, there are two mistakes that the author needs to avoid. Here they are:
           1. Not Caring
           2. Being Defensive
Please acknowledge what your peer is helping, and take the advice they give you into consideration. Also, your peer is not out to get you. They are trying to help you, so try not to be too defensive.
      The last mistake can be made either by the reviewer or the author. Neither one of the participants in this process need to be off topic. Don't post random things in the blog posts or the comments. Now that we all know the expectations, let's do our best to make the peer review process what it was meant to be!

Thanks for reading,
Jennifer L. Cole