Douglas Jarvis's EDM 310 Blog: October 2013

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Blog Post 10

Blog Post 10: Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

What can we learn from Randy Pausch’s last lecture?

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon College. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the liver in 2007. Instead of feeling sorry for himself and giving up, he decided to use the time he had left to inspire people. His lecture became known as the “Last Lecture” and has served to help people see that every moment in this life is a gift. His inspirational message created a legacy that allowed him to continue to be a teacher even in death. As an educator, he believed strongly in PBL and actually helped to create a master’s program called ETC specializing in electronic technology. He inspired his students by giving them a hands on program that included no true curriculum but rather, a group of collaborative projects they worked on as a team to learn the competencies of the program. His students were able to learn from some of the most famous special effect developers in the world such as Lucas Arts: Industrial Lights and Magic and the Disney Imagineers. These opportunities provided his students with learning that no book could ever hope to encompass. His program became so well thought of that global companies actually wrote letters saying they would hire his students. His program’s success has inspired universities in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and China to adapt this learning technique. In effect, his teaching method has become a model for the world. In my opinion, the legacy and lesson his life teaches is that if you truly believe in what you are doing; you can change the world. Inspiration never dies; your teaching method can be used to inspire your students and with each generation, more lives are changed. As future educators, our mission should always be to create a new generation of innovative learners that are committed to leaving their mark on the world. Being a teacher is a great responsibility but the reward for a dedicated teacher is to know that you have truly made a difference in peoples lives. That is a blessing that no amount of money can equal.

Lesson Plan 2: The Heart

Project Summary:

In this lesson, I will ask my 10th Grade Anatomy and Physiology class to create a detailed drawing of the heart. They will do this project at home to prepare them for the heart exam. Students will be given one week to complete this drawing. They must label all structures that page 215 in the text details and provide a summary sheet explaining the function of each structure. The students will begin this project on monday and work throughout the week in order to gain vital knowledge of the structures and function of the heart. Each student will present their drawing to the class on friday. As a class, voting will then take place to select the best three projects. The winner’s will have their work posted in the hallway class bulletin board for the entire school to enjoy. My hope is that students will gain a great deal of knowledge from this project and be able to have fun creating their drawings. In this way, a subject matter that is tedious to learn can become an enjoyable experience and enable my students to retain the information.

*	Project_Overview_v2013 (1).doc 84K View Download

*	Rubric 2.xlsx 10K View Open as a Google spreadsheet Download

*	Project_Calendar.doc 46K View Download

C4K For October

C4K Assignments for the Month of October

C4K 6 10-20-13 Review of Blog Post: Forest Eco:Systems in Alberta

This blog was written by Nyamal and concerned ecology. He wrote about consumers, producers, and decomposers. He clearly defined all of these roles and explained how they are vital parts of an ecosystem. While there were two grammatical errors, his blog was well thought out and organized.

C4K 7 10-27-13 Review of Blog Post:My Hero

This blog was written by Amily a blogger from MrSo’s Grade twos. She was asked to write about her hero and chose her mother. It was a very sweet blog. For a second grade student, it was well written with only a couple of grammatical errors.

C4K 8- 11-3-13 -A review of Hossen’s Blog: “House of Hades Book Cover Picture”

Hossen is a blogger from Ms. Horst’s Grade 7 LA Classes. He drew a magnificent drawing and shared it with us. Please click the link above to enjoy it.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

C4T #3

C4T 3 "One Principal's Musings"

Capturing Struggling Readers By: Julie Vincentsen

October 20, 2013- In this blog, a principal ( Julie Vincentsen) discusses the use of audio books as a way for children struggling to keep pace in reading skills to enjoy the same books as their peers. I believe that this could be a learning tool if the child reads along with the audio. In this way, they can hear and see the words. I would worry that it could become a crutch as well.

Tis the Season of Report Cards:Praising Efforts and Setting Goals

By Julie Vincentsen

October 27, 2013-This blog centered around the concept that children fear report cards because they do not want to let their parents down. Grounding a child or taking things away from them because they are struggling may not be the best motivator. Celebrating their achievements and later having a discussion on ways that your child and you can help improve on areas that he struggles in is more effective. In this way, the child doesn’t learn to fear report card day. Fear is not a good motivator; encouragement and support are much better tools for a parent.

Blog Post 9 " What We Can Learn From Other Teachers"

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?
Authors: Douglas Jarvis, Kristie Bell, and Kynyetta Barren

In the video Back To The Future, Mr. Brian Crosby tells us about how he gets his class of multicultural and at risk students to learn how to use project based learning. He starts off by telling us about his class and how most of his students do not know what city they live in. Crosby uses technology to gain the interest of his class. The students use laptops to connect to different students around the world. Mr. Crosby collaborated with a local university to create a balloon that would carry a camera and microphone into the different layers of the atmosphere. By doing this, students were able to see first hand the journey that the balloon made. The students were able to create the payload of the balloon and take a hands on approach to this project creating a highly motivating learning environment. They were each asked to write a story about the balloons journey from the perspective of the balloon. These stories were then posted to a class blog along with photos and videos to be shared with the world in a project called “High Hopes”. The students made stratocards with the high hopes that they had for their lives and this also allowed students around the world to post theirs as well. This project also tied into the science atmosphere with cultural and language learning. In this way, children around the world were able to share ideas and information which makes the world a smaller, more neighborly place. What we can learn from this is that teaching is not about giving students busy work and hoping that they will grasp the concepts from that work. Learning is more effective when the students are captivated by the material. We think that teaching is about making the students learn for themselves and from their peers around them. We also believe that by doing projects this allow students to be interactive with each other. By motivating students with exciting projects they will actively absorb information and retain it for life. Mr. Crosby also showed us the value of public sharing when he was able to use technology to allow a young girl with cancer to be part of his class and participate with her peers instead of being homeschooled. That is a beautiful gift and he should be applauded for not allowing that girl to be isolated.

Paul Anderson’s Blended Learning Cycle In this video, Mr. Anderson talks about his combination of blended learning and the learning cycle. Blended learning is a combination of online, mobile, and classroom learning. The Learning Cycle contains five key components: Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand,and Evaluate. He uses this system of learning to create his own unique learning style he names QIVERS`.Q: Question-Mr Anderson begins each unit with a driving question about a subject matter the students are unfamiliar with. I: Investigate- he asks the students to hypothesize what they believe the answer to that question is. V: Video- he gives the students video links with instructions and information so that they can explore the subject matter independently. E: Elaboration- he then explains the subject matter and provides his class with more detailed information. R: Review- in this stage, he reviews with the students one on one to ensure the student understands the information. S: Summary quiz- he gives a quiz to evaluate the students knowledge. What we can learn from Mr. Anderson is a successful way to teach our students. His method allows students to be engrossed in the learning process. He allows them to question freely and learn why they are wrong or right. In this way, he is teaching science and how to be an independent learner at the same time.

Mark Church’s Making Thinking Visible video, he discusses how his students make their thinking visible. He explains an assignment where he records his student’s learning and follows their thought process. He has them create a headline summarizing the introduction to his unit in one sentence. He then teaches the unit and has them do this again so they can see how far their understanding has come. Through projects like this, we can learn how to get in touch with our students thoughts and how to document those thoughts. With this information we can begin to have a better understanding of how our students evaluate information. This allows us to be better teachers by allowing us to adjust our way of thinking to be more compatible with our students. By making thinking visible, we can give our students the ability to see their understanding grow. We can challenge them to be creative and learn to work with their peers. This method of education is positive because of the direct feedback the student gets when they see their mind has changed with the additional lessons. This encourages and produces a much more motivated learner.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

C4T October (3+4) Tom Schimmer

C4T October

9-29-13 “Points Over Practice”

Tom Schimmer is an independent education author. He is recognized as an expert in the field of learning assessment. He has served as an educator in the roles of teacher and administrator. In his blog titled “ Points Over Practice”, he examines the importance of balancing homework loads and how to grade it. He discusses the value of points and the practice aspects of homework. Homework is really meant to help a student grasp a concept. If we do not grade the work will they do it? That is the concept he discusses in his blog. I found this blog to be very well written and I enjoyed it.

10-13-13 “3 Steps to Aligning Your School Wide Discipline Practices”

In this blog, Tom Schimmer talks about the three ways to create a good learning environment and to help produce better discipline within students. First, he says we need to ensure students understand what is expected from them. We can’t hold them accountable for something they do not understand. Show them what proper behaviour is so they can see what you expect in your classroom. Secondly, he says the school needs to establish a set routine for how teachers handle discipline issues. We should create a model that is age appropriate and that is based in the social norms or our location. There needs to be set standards to handle each level and type of misbehaviour. By doing this, teachers know exactly what to do in any situation and students know the consequences of breaking the code of discipline. He also says while these set standards are important, as educators we need to also respect the individuality of our students. Consider who they are and what social or medical issues they may have . Find ways to help them conform to make them feel at ease. We do not want our students to fear us rather we seek to have them respect us and understand that we truly want to help them succeed in life and to help them grow as individuals. Visit Tom Schimmer

C4T September

September C4T
C4T Assignment 1:
Michael Gorman is a graduate of Western Michigan, Indiana, and John Hopkins University. His awards include: Teacher of the (Year Southwest Allen County), Microsoft Office 365 Global Education Hero, and he was a finalist for Indiana state teacher of the year. He oversees one to one laptop programs and digital professional development for Southwest Allen County School System, partners with ITSE for various educational, governmental, and business organizations. Mr. Gorman’s blog is 21st Century Educational Technology and Learning. His current blog is a seven step guide to website evaluation for students. I pick up at step 6 which discusses the importance the information that you may choose to include in a web page. Firstly, it is vital to to validate your facts from at least two quality sources to ensure the validity of your information. secondly, Gorman asks us to ensure that our grammar and punctuation is correct. Lastly, read what you write, ensure that the information flows in a fluid manner and it clear and precise in relation to the topic you are writing about.
C4T Assignment 2:
In this weeks reading, Mr Gorman’s blog series discusses links. I learned about incoming, outgoing, and broken links. First the incoming links, these are links that take the reader to a particular page to reinforce data and supply direct evidence to the validity of the opinion stated by the author. What are outgoing links then? These links are to pages the author would like us to visit in order to read and research the subject in more depth. These links are vital to good researchers and provide the reader with numerous sources to learn from. Broken links are those links that no longer work. They may take you to the wrong place or do nothing at all. Its important to constantly test your links is web based learning to ensure each student gets the complete educational library that you choose to provide to them.

C4K Summary for September

C4K assignments:September 1. 9-22-13 Alexis- “talking With Mr.Chair” Alexis wrote a dialogue between Mr. Chair ( a math teacher) and his students. She had a good idea for conveying her story about the children’s lack of desire to learn division. I left a comment encouraging her to be mindful of where she placed quotation marks and to be sure she understands the meaning of the words she uses.

Podcast on Digital Natives by Pensky

PBL Lesson Plan One

Project Based Learning

Authors: Kynyetta Barren, Kristie Bell, Douglas Jarvis

This lesson plan addresses a presentation on the History of the United States and is intended for students in the twelfth grade. A period of two weeks is needed for preparation. Our students will be divided into six groups with four in each. Students will have the option to choose which century or historic event they would like as long as it evolved the United States in some way. The students must use the search engine iCurio for their research. They can present their project by a powerpoint, poster, youtube, re-enactment, or any other tool we have listed in the instructions. Finally, students will be required to present their group presentation to the class.

Project Overview

Project Calendar

Project Rubric

Blog Post 8 : Tools for Tomorrow's Classoom

Blog Post 8: Tools for Tomorrow’s Classroom

EcoMuve

Summary by Douglas R. Jarvis Jr.

EcoMuve is an exciting new way to teach biology lessons. Centered on teaching ecosystems to the middle school age science student, this product allows students to be consumed by the science of ecosystems. EcoMuve was developed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It is a two week learning module that uses a 3-D virtual world to allow students to explore every aspect of a pond or forest ecosystem.They can see changes that take place over time to understand the impact of pollution or population change of endemic species. This product is an amazing way to prepare your students to go into the field and truly understand the world around them. See more here.

Ecosystem Concepts	Causality Concepts	EcoMUVE Design
Conservation of matter Decomposition	Non-obvious Causes Cyclic causality	Submarine tool Atom tracker
Inquiry and measurement	Inquiry over time Balance and Flux	Water measurement tools Calendar tool Data table and graphs
Ecosystem boundaries, watershed	Effects over distance Distributed causality	Spatial layout of virtual world – pond, housing development, golf course
Photosynthesis and respiration	Effects over distance Non-obvious causes Cyclic causality	Water measurement tools Atom tracker

Chart courtesy of http://ecomuve.gse.harvard.edu/

21st Century Learning and Communication Tools

Author: Kynyetta Barren

I want to teach Pre-Algebra, Algebra, or Algebra II to middle or high school students. To help with my teaching, I would like to use a software called <a href=”http://www.fluiditysoftware.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=7”>FluidMath</a>. FluidMath is a software used on Tablet PC or Interactive Whiteboards. I can use this software to assist in creating instructional learning experiences. For my students, It will help them explore and understand the concepts in mathematics. It animates, graphs, creates, and solves math problems. FluidMath graphs equations and animates them by allowing teachers or students to change pieces of the equation to show how each section of the equation can be affected by the graph appearance. I can use the animation to show the shape changes on a graph. It will be easier for me instead of having to draw a new graph to show the differences in how they look. FluidMath can be used on different platforms such as:

Smart Board

PC with a keyboard

Promethean Board

Hitachi Starboard

Mimio

Polyvision

I choose FluidMath because most students learn better with technology and hands-on experiences. It will be a great source for clarifying abstract concepts in math. I want my students to feel comfortable in what they are learning and I think using this software will help tremendously. I will be using this software and other tools that I discover throughout my journey as an educator. I have provided a video below as an example of how FluidMath works.

iCivics

By: Kristie Bell

The tool that I chose to tell my readers about is called <a href="http://www.icivics.org/About">iCivics</a>. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor actually founded iCivics in 2009 out of concern that students were not getting the information and tools they need for civic participation, and that civics teachers need better materials and support. This project has truly grown and now has volunteer teams in every state. Anyone can have access to <a href="http://www.icivics.org/">iCivics</a> and all of their resources are free.

Identifying iCivics and the Benefits

iCivics is a web-based education project designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in our democracy. iCivics has a variety of lesson plans designed to fit your classroom. The lesson plans are also relevant to the student so they can captivate their interest. The best part about the lesson plans is that all iCivics games, lesson plans, and web quests have been linked to standards from all 50 states. This means you can easily find out if the lesson plan fits in with your state's curriculum standards. All you have to do is search iCivics content by using the <a href="http://www.icivics.org/teachers">“Curriculum Finder”</a> function. iCivics also has educational <a href="http://www.icivics.org/games">games</a> that offer printable instructions or an in-game tutorial if you are a first time user whose experiencing difficulty. Students gain achievements, compete on leader boards, and earn points that they can use to vote on different “Impact Projects.” Students can make a real-world difference because the Impact Project that earns the most collective points will receive a $1,000 donation from iCivics each quarter. If you ever have an idea for a new game iCivics actually has an <a href="http://www.icivics.org/contact">online form</a> that you can submit and it is possible you could be chosen to have your game created.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Podcast Progress Report

Coming soon to a blog near you, The Sisley Group Podcast! Stay tuned for a podcast in the form of a news report concerning the book Teaching digital natives. Our group will be answering questions posed by Dr. John Strange in the form of an evening news broadcast. We hope it will be informative and exciting for our viewers.

Blog Post Seven

Authors: Kristie Bell, Kynyetta Barren, and Doug Jarvis

PBL Part One:

In the interview with Dr. Strange and guest Anthony Capps, they discuss project based learning. Anthony shares his experience about doing PBL with his third grade class. He states that the goal of PBL is for them to own their own learning. The goal of a good project is to have an authentic audience so they are motivated to do good work. Another quality is that the project must peak the student interests and be relevant to their lives so they get that real world experience. The project must also revolve around the common core standards and actually teach them content that the state requires them to know.

What we can learn from this conversation is that it is important to keep our students motivated and interested in their work. We have to think outside the box and be creative with PBL. As an educator, we also need to understand that PBL is not about what the students achieve, but what they are learning. PBL is about reaching out to the students and allowing them to enjoy learning. This type of learning is meant to make an impact on their future and teach them how to achieve goals in the workplace instead of being forgotten information once the class has ended.

PBL Part Two:

In PBL not everything is going to go as we plan. Sometimes we have to improvise changes to the project and in some cases the outcome could turn out to be even better than expected. For example, <a href=

“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTCjeN6Hzvs”>Anthony Capps</a> had his students write a narrative script as if they were a kid in Afghanistan. This project turned out to be one of his favorite projects because the children delivered so much variety. The outcome was phenomenal because these students really explored their options and did research. Some of his students went as far as focusing on the food they eat and how they have to grow the crops. The only issue in the classroom was that one of the students was not allowed to participate in this project because his father had served in Afghanistan, and did not feel comfortable with his son learning about this particular subject. Mr. Capps resolved this right away by letting him do an alternate science project and it turned out great.

What we can learn from this conversation is that PBL is a lot of hard work, but it certainly pays off in the end. There are many hours of extra work that goes into this type of teaching method, but seeing your student’s high scores is the best reward an educator can receive. There will also be times when we have to accommodate students with alternate options like Mr. Capps had to do but, that is how PBL was intended to be used. Just imagine how many students lives we could change if they truly enjoyed what they were learning. PBL really should be implemented into every grade level and we could change the way of thinking one step at a time.

iCurio

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFPjVtUJ9Vki">Icurio</a> is a directory and search engine that is curated by other educators in order to provide access to only safe websites for students to do research for their educational purposes. It also is an easy way to store and organize virtual files. iCurio is a personalized way of learning that accommodates each student’s individual needs. Students also have access to the content and tools they need to take charge of their own independent learning.

Discovery Ed

Anthony Capps states that <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUadLUEHY4I&feature=c4-overview&list=UUBhoQHFgz0SbhN48mBipPlQ”>Discovery Ed</a> is a great visual aid resource because students can use videos to enrich their research experience. Students are be able to use visual aids to gain knowledge about their learning content. Discovery Ed brings experts into the classroom via video and allows students to obtain credible information for PBL.

Additional Thoughts About Lessons

By: Kristie Bell

<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB3uKpOKQwA”>Anthony Capps</a> states that a lesson is four layers thick and we need to make sure we are very precise about this. The first layer should be about how the lesson fits in a year time frame and making sure you are covering all of the standards that are required by the state. The next focus is the unit size plan and making sure that the lesson is scaled properly. The third is called the week plan and you need to have goals to make sure you are getting everything done in that time period. You also have the daily lesson plan that focuses on how you deliver information to the students and it is very important. The daily plan focuses on making sure you have an attention hook for your student and keeping them engaged while you are delivering the content. Then you must have something afterwards to actually measure what they have learned in that day so you know where to pick up the next day. These are the four components to make one successful lesson plan.

Don’t Teach Tech Use It

By: Kynyetta Barren

In Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps’ video, <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Xqqmq_hEPms”> Don’t Teach Tech Use It</a>, Anthony talks about technology in his classroom. An important way to incorporate technology into the classroom is to use different tools. He stated to start with doing small reflection on iMovie one week and then have them create a movie the next week. By using technology such as iMovie, it gives the students the opportunity to learn how to create and share their projects with different students around the world. As students begin using technology, they become excited about the lessons being presented to them. Students learn more from being involved in using technology. Don’t expect greatness because we are all still learning new technology. Use It, Don’t Teach Tech!

What can be learned from the video “ The Anthony Strange List of Tips for Teachers Part-1”

By: Douglas R Jarvis Jr.

In this video, Anthony Capps and Dr. John Strange engage in a conversation regarding insights and tips that can be beneficial to a young educator. First on their list was the idea that to be a solid teacher you must be a lifelong learner yourself. This is definitely true. New information is always being learned. What we may have thought to be the best way to do something today simply may not be true for tomorrow. Theories are proven wrong and new techniques replace old and ineffective ones. In order for us to be the best at what we do, we must be willing to learn and change with the times. Secondly, they discussed the fact that teaching can be hard so why not find a way to make it fun. This is a wonderful idea. Many times we become bogged down and begin to dread tasks because we lose the joy in it. So to avoid that feeling becoming part of our mindset as educators; we need to find new and exciting ways to present the material so that we are as excited to deliver it as our students are to learn it from us. Next, the importance of flexibility was discussed. We never know what unexpected challenges await us in life. Adapting to change and learning to be innovative and creative with your lesson plans can allow us to overcome life’s little curve balls and keep our classrooms on track. The fourth principle that was discussed is the importance of engaging our students. No one wants to do the same thing everyday. To really excite our students we need to find content and lesson plans that allow them to be creative in a way that allows them to demonstrate their understanding of the material we are presenting to them. Make it something that is a learning experience and also something they can be proud that they created. when students are given opportunities to show off their work, there is a sense of pride that drives them to put a little more into the project. Lastly, reflection was discussed. Listen to your students, take into consideration their opinions on the lessons you design. Learn from what they like and what they do not. By understanding what they believe works best for them, we can create more effective lessons that will be relevant and exciting for our students. Being willing to self critique and listen to ideas that students have is a great way to improve as teachers.

Douglas Jarvis's EDM 310 Blog