My Sentence, My Passion

MY SENTENCE IS: ANYTHING WORTH HAVING IS WORTH WORKING FOR.
MY SENTENCE : can be viewed from this link.

MY PASSION IS WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE.
MY PASSION: Can be viewed from this link.

Blog Post 5: How Can iCurio and Discovery Ed be used Effectively In Your Classroom?

Blog Post Four: Why Podcasts? How do we do a Podcast?

Blog Post Four: Why Podcast? How Do We Do a Podcast?

By: Douglas R. Jarvis Jr.

    We live in an age of technology today. Children of the 21st century, are exposed to information continuously through television, internet, and social media resources. Thus, the method of learning that it most familiar to them is computer based projects. Podcasts have become very popular since the advent of the ipod. Podcasts are radio quality recordings that can be heard through the internet at anytime by anyone with a computer and internet. There is also another form of podcast known as vodcast ; which is a podcast that includes video. In “The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom” by Joe Dale, I learned that podcasts can be very valuable for the student of the age of technology. This resource allows students to view lectures as a source of review and study as well as allowing students out with illness to keep up with the class while recovering. Another way in which podcasts can be beneficial in the classroom is by allowing students to use their creativity and technological knowledge to create their own podcast. Many examples of student podcast can be viewed at Langwitches.org . In my viewing of the Flat Stanley podcast and podcasting with 1st Grade, I was able to see excitement on the faces of the 8-9 year olds and amazed by the creativity and skill these young people brought to their projects. It was obvious to me that the children were engrossed in the project and because of that they were very open to learning. After seeing this type of education method, I am a believer in the merits of using podcast as a source of  educational enrichment.

    So how do you create a podcast? You need a few simple files and equipment such as: Microphone, Audio editing software, a website or hosting service that you can upload to and access to a RSS feed. I watch a video on youtube by tinkernut called “How to Create a Podcast” that i found to be very informative. I learned of several websites that provide free hosting such as Podango.com, Wordpress.com, Easypodcast.com, and Podcast.com. Audio editing software such as Garageband on Mac or Audacity ( downloaded for free),can be used in order to remove background noise and to normalize the audio so that there are no spikes in the podcast sound. You will also need to download a MP3 encoder so that you can save your podcast in MP3 format. Once you have all the tools, you can use any of the aforementioned websites to format and edit your podcast. Finally you will want to enter it into a search engine so that it can be found and viewed by people on the internet.

    

Blog Post 3 " Peer Editing"

Blog Post 3 Peer Editing

    After watching the videos, “What is Peer Editing” , “Peer Edit With Perfection” , and “Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes” , I learned several techniques to help my fellow classmates in a productive and positive manner. Each peer review should be broken down into three primary categories:

 A. Compliments- always start your review by complementing the things that the student did well. This allows the student to be put at ease and to realize you are not simply trying to dissect their work. Rather, you desire to help them grow as a writer and student.

 B. Suggestions- Offer advice on the word choice, details, organization, and sentence structure of the student you are evaluating.

 C. Corrections- Point out spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and capitalization errors the student made so that their paper reads properly and is as professional as possible.

    By helping the student in this way, you help them to learn to improve as writer. I believe that as a future educator, this is also an excellent way to provide feedback to my students in order to help them improve while encouraging them by complementing their successes. I am a big believer in feeding the emotional piggybank of a person. In order to make a withdrawal ( negative feedback), you must have made enough deposits ( positive feedback) to ensure that you are not overdrawn. By doing this, a student’s confidence is built up and I believe that will lead to more class participation because the fear of embarrassment is diminished through the encouragement that we give as teachers

                             

Blog Assignment 2 Dancealot and Collaboration Post

            Mr. Dancealot, A Video Review By Douglas Jarvis, Kristie Bell, and Kenyetta Barren 

     In the Professor Dancealot video we see the problem with not engaging our students. He simply spends the entire semester reading power points word for word to his class. Obviously, this is  boring and considering his class is a dance class, allowing the students to actually perform the dance and then correct them as they are trying would be a much better method of teaching. The final exam in his class was a videoed activity test in which his students were expected to perform the numerous dances he lectured about during the semester. Of course, having never been allowed to practice these moves, the students were very unsure and did not perform well.
     We can learn that it is ridiculous to teach by reading to people from this video. Children can read the text without us. What we need to do is expand on the written word with activities that excite our students about the subject matter and allow them to apply the knowledge they obtained through their reading. What is the purpose of a degree if all we are going to do is read to our kids. As educators we are being taught useful techniques to create the total learning experience for our children and we must also continue to find new ways to present material to ensure we are giving the best for our students.
video can be seen at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8aeDUC9XQ-Professor Dancealot-You Tube

What Does it Mean to Teach in the 21st Century?

( Video presentation prepared by Kevin Roberts and converted to format by Dr. John Strange) Post by Douglas R. Jarvis Jr.

    What does it mean to teach in the 21st century? Everyday, technology makes leaps that allow us to access information easily and quickly from smaller and smaller devices. As an educator, we need to learn to incorporate these devices to teach a group of students that are becoming more and more technologically advanced. The internet allows us to get answers instantly on any subject matter imaginable. It is our job to ensure that we guide our students to understand that while tools such as the internet , facebook, twitter,and skype can be great sources of information, not all information is reliable and factual. We want to help students to understand what a good source is and how to ask the right questions to evaluate information they look up in an age of instant gratification. We need to encourage our students to question things and to analyze information that they come across. One way to do this is to teach them to always use multiple sources; to compare and contrast different perspectives and then use what they learn to form their own opinions that they can support with facts.

    There is certainly a risk of piracy  and plagiarism because of the temptation to use work done by others easily obtained from numerous sites. We have to do our work in both educating them in the dangers and the immorality of this act, as well as following up their work by checking sources they cite to ensure that their work is truly their own. As we move forward in this world of technology, we must continue to educate ourselves and engage our children in the format they are most comfortable with. We have to challenge them to push the boundaries of learning and to make full use of the age of information. As an educator in America today, I want our children to be the stars of tomorrow. I hope all of us realize that we are behind the powers of the world in education today ( especially math and science) and we must all help to prepare our students to the best of our abilities, so that they can be relevant and competitive in the world market. We must be different as educators, we owe it to our country to never be complacent. We must always remember that our children are our future. As educators, we have the sacred duty to mold them so that a bright future is given to them and the great nation we all call home.  

Video can be found at:www.edm310/teaching21stcenturymed.m4v     

In video "The Networked Student," it effectively presents the importance in having a strong network as your support. The video was an actual project that was presented by Mrs. Drexler’s students. Most of the time, as students, we do not realize that a strong network can greatly benefit us and also help us long term with our future careers. I have heard so many students say after they graduate,” well maybe I could have gotten that job if only I had the right  connections. This is where this video comes into play and it also points out the significance of why an educator is still needed even if we are well networked.

First, let me just start by saying that we live in a modern world where technology is advancing and we should certainly learn how to get the most use out of these devices. This is where a teacher is needed because he or she is the educator on this knowledge. The educator teaches the students how to use this knowledge in their everyday educational learning and, if done properly, the student should find their studies to be easier with these new skills. The educator can show a student many different skills such as how to formally act when using the internet. Just for example, Dr. Strange let us know in advance that our work would be seen all around the world and that we should show professionalism in every single assignment. So in this case, the educator could show his or her students how to be professional in their blog posts or if they interact with other educators.

A great motto that we were told in this class was "Always ask, never tell," and what that indicates is that we cannot possibly know everything and it is always better to ask than to just be unsure. This the purpose of educators, they love to answer our curious questions and help us get on the right track. This is why teachers tell us all the time to have a network and stay involved. This video repeats this information for a very particular reason and really gets across that students should explore in their educational learning on their own as well. Podcasts and rss feeds are both great examples of ways to enhance your learning. Instead of listening to that song on your ipod, why not download an educational podcast that is affiliated with your major. This broadens your learning and you can then take the knowledge you obtained and pass it on to others.

Mainly, networking is this continuous process of education and how we can always learn something new. Educators are always networking themselves so they can serve as connectors to their students providing them with accurate knowledge. My reaction to this video was a positive one and it honestly made me think on what all I can possibly do to be a more networked involved student. Here is the link to the video so you can refer to it as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA.

Kynyetta’s Reactions to “Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts”

In Vicki Davis,”Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts” she uses all sources of electronic devices to teach the students such as computers, cell phones, videos, podcast, and blog sites. She feels that students need more than just pens, pencil, and paper to learn. She wants students to think on their own. The students learn from different students around the world through a website called Digi Teen. This is a way for students to blog and share ideas with each other. She allows the students to teach each other as groups. I think that idea is great because it prepare the students for the world today. I agree and disagree with this movie. I agree with the idea that the students can learn from the blogs, other students, and the internet. We all need to know what other different resources are out there. Some students learn better using the latest technology. I disagree because we don't want the students to just rely on the internet to understand the concept. Whatever happened to reading books to get information? What would you do if there was a blackout? Where will the backup come from without electricity? Generators simply do not last forever. I think we still need to re-educate our students to all sorts of way to learn without the use of some of the technology. This is where pencils, pens, and papers comes into play. If it was me, I couldn't just rely on the technology that is used today.Here is the video links to Vicki Davis, “Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jT78kBx6mFw