Blog post 16

My teaching will be technology driven. I still plan on allow my student to use tools such as computers, smartphones, and iPod’s to help them learn. I want my first grade students to be independent learners. I plan to incorporate the use of technology in my future classroom by adding tool such as Google hangout, icurio and discovery ed. I believe that these sites can help me incorporate useful technology into my classroom. I also believe that the students will enjoy using these tools in class.

I believe that add programs such as icrurio and discovery ed will help my student enhance their learning. My students will be able to go online and view video and pictures to help them understand the concept that I am trying to get across. Both of these sites are safe and easy to access.

I also plan on using Skype in my future classroom to gain insight from other educators and important people the students could learn about. One example of a special person might be an author of a particular book we read in class that the students liked. I believe that the students could learn from the experience itself rather than just simply reading about it in a textbook. Hands-on learning can be fun and help get students involved in the process.

My classroom will be fun and exciting. Students will actual want to come to school to learn. I will encourage independent learning so students can discover and research issues that affect them. Instead of spending the whole day lecturing my students I plan on allow to research and obtain their own knowledge. I believe that If students learn things on their own that the knowledge will stick will them a lot longer than someone lecturing to them.

I do not really think that I would change anything that I said in blog post 1. I would add to blog post 1 so that my students could have a variety of tool to use. The more tools that I allow my students to use the better it will be for them. The students may actual find a tool that they like and continue using it outside of class.


PART B

Blog Post 15

Icurio
Dr. Strange's YouTube Video with Anthony talked about iCurio and the benefits it has for students. Icurio is an online tool that allows students to safely search filtered material online. A few of the benefits of Icurio is that students can access the site by themselves, it can be used as a search engine, it allows students to store content that they find valuable, and it helps students stay organized. Students are able to create folders and sort information that they can access later. Icurio offers a great directory tool for history topics. The program can be used for any grade level. The texts, pictures and videos found on this site can be used by students for projects. Another great feature that Icurio offers is read aloud text,which can be very helpful to students with disabilities. Anthony has taught me a lot about Icurio that I did not know. For instance, I learned that Icurio has a program that reads text for the disabled. He also made me aware that students can save information that they find into folders and access it at a later time.

Discovery Ed
Discovery Ed offers texted visual articles to students. The visual articles can help activate background knowledge in students. The visual images from the video can help support the text that students read. Another good feature that Discovery Ed offers is that it can bring other experts into the classroom. Students get the chance to hear information from sources other than their teacher. A good point that this video made was that students remember more when they can see information. I agree with this statement because I am a visual learner. Things seem to make more sense to me when I get to see them. I learned that experts can be brought into the classroom through videos. Teachers no long have to waste time looking for guest speakers.

Use Tech Don’t Teach it
Conversation with Anthony Capps
Anthony tells us that technology is everywhere. All teachers should teach technology when they are designing projects and lessons for their classroom. He also believes that teachers should allow students to use tools such as I movies, Discovery Ed videos, and other useful tools. It is also important to choose one technology at a time. Students have a chance to master it before moving on to the next tool. The benefits that technology offers to students is that they get to express themselves and it is mostly free and mess free. There is no clean up after using it like with markers and it teach them lifelong skills.
The point of this video is to use technology to help get students excited about learning and allow them to share it. Teachers should allow room for mistakes and give students reflection time. They should never teach technology, just introduce it smartly, and should not expect perfection. They should also try using the tools first before their students use it so that they can try to relate to some of the problems that they may face. I plan to introduce technology to my students as often as possible. I plan on staying current with technology so that I can share it with my students.

Blog post 14

A assignment that I think Dr. Strange should have created

I think that a good assignment could have been for us to find a blog or web paper of a teacher that teaches the grade level that we hope to teach. Follow that teach to find out some interesting facts about the grade level that we hope to teach.
I plan on becoming a first grade teacher. I found a good blog called “The first grade parade”. The blog is maintained by a first grade teacher named Cara Carroll. The blog contains a lot of useful information that I can use once I become a teacher. The blog has links to freebies, pintable’s and lesson plan templates. Mrs. Cara also gives a lot of great ideals on topics that First grade teacher have to teach. For example she gives fun and creative ideas on how to celebrate the 100th day of school. She also shares ideals of how to teach certain topics such as alliteration, Cinco de Mayo and earth day. She shares fun activity for many different topics. Once I become a new teacher I would visit this blog often to get ideas for activity for my classroom. I want to keep my students engaged in fun activity so that they can enjoy class.

Final PLN

PLN
Edm 310 has taught me how to successfully uses many different resources. I have enjoyed using Google hangout the most. My PLN is growing more and more everyday thanks to twitter. I follow many different educator on Twitter to see what they are tweeting. Since my last PLN post, I have added a few more tiles. I have added Mr. Will Richardson from comments for teachers, abc news and Teaching Tolerance. The Teaching Tolerance site has great information regarding lesson plans and activities for teachers.
I think that my PLN will continue to grow after I leave edm310. Every time that I add a new tile my PLN grows and become more useful. Each person or site can bring something different to my PLN. I believe to become a successful teacher I will have to expand my circle and add new tools and people, by doing this I can stay current with changes in education and pick up new ideas for my classroom.

SMART BOARD PART B

Blog post 13

"To This Day" for the bullied and beautiful
What can we learn form Ted Talk?
“ 'To this day for' for the bullied and beautiful" is a powerful speech followed by an amazing poem. Shane Koyezah reflects back on his childhood. Throughout his childhood, people tried to crush his dreams and make him feel like he was a nobody. People would ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and when he would reply that he wanted to be a writer, they would tell him it was a bad idea. Many people would tell him to just accept the identity that other people had already given him. They told him that he could not be a writer but he overlooked them and went on to live his dreams. This video shows that he is an amazing spoken word artist. His life was a classic case of bullying. Many children today are facing some of the same problems that he went though as a child. I believe that all children should view this video to see that dreams can come true. No matter what people tell them, they can overcome bullying by always believing in themselves. I learned that people should always believe in themselves because dreams can become true. I also learned that children should always believe that others are wrong and not to accept the faith that others give them. People can be cruel at times and crush others dreams if they allow them to. People who dream should always follow their dreams because they never know where those dreams can take them. The most important thing that I learned is to not allow others to control my destiny because only I can control that.

project 15

LESSON PLAN
Grade Level: 2nd
Name: Locating Different Shapes in Our School
Duration: 4 days
Mon- Introduce the project with the driving question. Driving Question: How many shapes can you identify? Spent one hour explaining how to operate digital cameras and how to uploading photos to a computer. Also explain how to create a Google slideshow with pictures.

Tues- Show a YouTube video of different shapes and name of shapes to the students. Allow students to break off into groups and collect pictures of different shapes that they find around the classroom and school. Students should spend no more than 30 minutes collecting pictures of shapes.
Wed- Allow students to upload the pictures to the class computers. Give each group one hour to create a Google slideshow of the images that they collected. Students must also label each picture.

Thur- Allow each group to share the images they found with the class.


Objectives:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

TC2(K-2) Use digital tools to access and retrieve information.
TC2(K-2) Use digital environments to exchange ideas with individuals or groups.
MA2010(K) Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to. [K-G1]

Students will work in groups to publish a Google slideshow with images they collect around the school. Each image must be labeled.
Procedures:
After teaching the math portion of the class, I will introduce the math project.
Today I will introduce an upcoming math project called Locating Different Shapes in Our School. The project will take four days.
1.) Prepare students for the assignment by showing them a YouTube video of different shapes and names. Teach them how to operate and upload images with a digital camera. Teach them how to create a Google slideshow.
2.) Divide the class into 4 groups. Allow students to capture pictures of different shapes around the school.
3. Allow students to upload the pictures to the class computer.

4.) Let students create a Google slideshow and present it to the class.

Materials:
computer and digital camera.

Blog post 12

How to Escape Education’s Death Valley

Sir Ken Robinson delivers a very powerful speech on YouTube called How to Escape Education’s Death Valley. The video focuses on what the United States' educational system is doing wrong and informs us of ways that it can be fixed. To start, Mr. Robinson believes that education is going in the wrong direction. The No Child Left Behind Act is actually leave millions of children behind. Children are dropping out of school because they are disengaged when it comes to learning. Most teachers are focusing on teaching standards and giving tests than actually teaching students so that they can learn. Mr. Robinson believes that the role of the teacher is to facilitate learning and not focus so much on testing. Teachers should be focusing on awakening students' creativity instead of a culture of standardized tests. He does a great job comparing Finland’s educational system to the United States'. Finland’s educational system is different from our system because they do not focus on standardized tests. Instead they focus on teaching and students' learning. They engage students and invest in professional development. They also give the schools control of education, not the government. Mr. Robinson makes a good point about alternative schools in America. He speaks about how alternative schools are personalized, linked to the community, and the teachers have a strong support system. He believes that we should make all schools like this. The last thing he speaks about is a place called Death Valley where nothing would grow, until one year it rained and flowers began to grow there. He believes that if we change the way education is being taught, then students can grow. Mr. Robinson taught me that students can and will learn if given the chance. We should focus more on teaching the students than teaching material for a test. Students want to be engaged and it is our job as educators to engage them. Our government has a lot of control over our schools. I wonder if the government will ever give complete control back over to the schools?

project 14 lesson plan

Link to Rubric
Link to project overview
LESSON PLAN
Name: The Horizons of Soil in My Backyard Project
Duration: One week
Mon- Introduce the project with the driving question. Driving Question is: what do you know about the different types of soils. Allow students to visit the soil game site for 30 minutes. http://www.soils4kids.org/games.

Tues- Allow students to visit the soil game site for 30 minutes. http://www.soils4kids.org/games.

Wed- Allow students to visit the soil game site for 30 minutes. http://www.soils4kids.org/games.

Thur- conducts the project outside of classroom.
Fri- Allow students to blog as a group about what they have found and learned on the class blog. Let each group share their findings with the class during a class discussion.
Subject: Science

Objectives:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
SS(2) Exploring Our Nation and World: People and Places 6. Identify human-made and natural resources in the world.
MA2010(K) 15. Directly compare two objects, with a measurable attribute in common, to see which object has "more of" or "less of" the attribute, and describe the difference. [K-MD2]
MA2010(1) 15. Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object. [1-MD1]
MA2010(1) 16. Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. [1-MD2]
MA2010(2) 14. Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes. [2-MD1]
MA2010(2) 15. Measure the length of an object twice, using length units of different lengths for the two measurements; describe how the two measurements relate to the size of the unit chosen. [2-MD2]
MA2010(2) 16. Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters. [2-MD3]
MA2010(2) 17. Measure to determine how much longer one object is than another, expressing the length difference in terms of a standard length unit. [2-MD4]



Students will work in groups to publish a blog post about the different types of soil that they find and what they learned about the types of soils. Students will work in diverse cooperative learning groups to complete tasks. Students in each group will take turns digging, measuring, collecting or observing.
Procedures:
After teaching the science portion of the class, I will introduce the science project.
Today I will introduce an upcoming science project called The Horizons of Soil in My Backyard. The project will be due a week from today.
1.)Prepare students for the assignment by sharing a link to http://www.soils4kids.org/games.
This site allows students to play games to learn about the different types of soil. Allow students to visit this site for 30 minutes a day for the next two days.
2.)Divide the class into 4 groups and go to the designated place outside where the ground is soft. (Look for a good area the day before where the children will be able to dig.) All of the class needs to be working in this area.
3.)Each group will use an auger and a meter stick to measure every time they dig from the hole. I will make the initial dig to be sure the ground is soft enough. Each auger full of dirt is placed on the tarp to show the layers. As the students dig deeper into the hole, it becomes obvious that the soil begins to change into different types.

4.)Point out the different types of soil as they change while you are digging. Use the meter stick to measure as they dig deeper and compare this to the soil collected on the tarp. Both the hole and the soil on the tarp should be about the same length.

5.)When each group member has taken turns digging in their area and placing the soil on the tarps, collect a sample of each type and place the samples in the clear tennis ball containers to observe the different horizons and types of soil. These will be taken into the classroom to observe later. Make sure you refill the holes when you are finished.

6.) Return to the classroom with soil samples; let the students see the different horizons of soil in the clear canisters. Have students blog with their group about the types of soil that they found and what they have learned. Upload a picture with labels for the different horizons of soil.

Materials:
Augers, meter sticks, clear tennis ball cans or any long, clear receptacle to hold soil, tarp or plastic on which to place soil as it is dug up, wet wipes for cleanup, and a computer.
Students will use the classroom computers to work in pairs to blog about what they have learned and found.
Source for this lesson plan was found on ALEX.

project 13

Link to project handout and rubric
Link to project overview
lesson plan

Name:Weather and you

Duration: One week

Subject: Science

Objective:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.6 Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 3 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

students will work together using Google doc to create a Google presentation about the different types of weather and how they affect them.

Procedures:

Introduce the Science project

Today I will introduce an upcoming science project called the weather and you. The project will be due a week from today.

I will pass out a handout and rubric explaining the project and my expectations for the project. Read the handout word for word. Ask students if they have any questions and try to address each question.


Material: hand out and rubric

C4T 3

20% Precent Time

The twenty percent tie concept was formed in 2006. when Google started allowing their technical solutions engineers to spend one day of the week working on projects outside of their job descriptions. Many engineers used the time to develop new products and tools. Mrs.Thumann believes that all teachers should adopt the concept of allowing their students to use Google 20 percent time in their classroom. She believes that teachers should set project objectives for the 20 percent time frame. This ensures that the students are using their time constructively.

I think that the 20 percent concept is a great idea. Allowing students to use 20 percent of their time on google gives them a chance to effectively learn how to use a computer. Students will also get a chance to discover new sites. By discovering new sites, they have the chance to expand their education. I believe that the computer skills they will be learning can help them later in the job market.

Untapped apps on Google Drive
Mrs. Lisa Thumann posted "Untapped Apps on Google Drive" to her Thumann resource blog. The blog post list several good apps that can be used on Google Drive. The apps can be easily installed and accessed through Google Drive. A few of the apps are pixler Editor, HelloFax, GeoGebra, TwistedWave and Right Signature.
Pixler Editor is an online image editor. This app does not required registration and can be easily accessed from Google Drive.
HelloFax makes it easy to sign documents and send faxes online. This app saves paper because you won’t need to print, sign and scan documents to send them.
GeoGebra is an math app that help with geometry, algebra, graphing, and calculus.
TwistedWave allows you to edit audio files in your Google Drive.
Right Signature allows you to send contracts, forms, proposals, applications for signature online.
I am thankful to learn about these apps. I plan to use Pixler Editor and GeoGebra in the future. Pixler can be helpful for my EDM310 class. After reading this blog post, I tried out Pixler Editor. It seems like a helpful app. I’m not sure how to fully use it but I plan to play with it until I learn how to use it.

Blog post 11

FIRST GRADERS IN MS. CASSIDY'S CLASS

I really enjoyed watching Ms. Cassidy's students talk about what they have learned in her classroom. Ms. Cassidy taught her first graders how to use the internet and blog. The first graders in her class have shown me how helpful blogging can be to teachers and students. The class blog allowed the students to gain confidence in their writing. One of the students in the video said that his writing gets better and better every time that he writes on the blog. Another great benefit that I leaned about the students' blogging is that their parents and family can see the blog. Parents are able to view their students’ progress in the class by logging on to the blog and viewing their child’s work. Blogging also allows students to connect with other people around the world. These people can leave comments on the students' blog to help them improve their writing.
Ms. Cassidy’s approach to technology is outstanding. She taught her first grade students about wikis, internet safety, how to use a blog, and Skype. She also taught her students how to find out about things that they did not know about by using wikis. The students in her class used wikis to collaborate with other people online. The students in her class created a wiki about traditions and got responses from other people to answer their questions. Ms. Cassidy is not afraid to allow her students to use the internet because she taught them internet rules and guideline that they must follow. She tries to stay current with technology so her students will not get left behind. The video has taught me a lot of good techniques that I can use in my future classroom. One technique that stood out the most to me was teaching digital etiquette. I think that all teachers should teach their students how to comment on others' blogs and what are appropriate and inappropriate things to write online. She teaches her students ways to keep themselves safe online and websites that are appropriate for them to visit. I believe that if I do not teach my students digital etiquette then it could lead to them saying inappropriate things to others and visiting unapproved sites. I would address these issues by talking to the students and letting them know what is appropriate to say online and what are appropriate sites that they are allowed to visit. If the students continued to visit those sites; I would maybe ban them from the computer for a while or send a letter to their parents. One of the benefits of teaching good digital etiquettes is that no student would get their feelings hurt because a classmate left a mean comment on their page.
Skype interview
Ms. Cassidy gives useful information to students in her Skype interview. She believes that there are a lot of great tools online and teachers would be handicapping their students if they did not use them. She believes that teachers need to use some form of technology in their classrooms to help students keep up with the changes of the world. Ms. Cassidy also tells us that all technology is not for everyone and that we should find a form of technology that interests us. Sites that interest us can help put us in contact with others that share the same interests as us. Connecting with other can help us create our own personal learning network.

Blog post 10

Blog Post # 10

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture
Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon. Mr. Pausch is famous for the last speech he gave before he lost his long-time battle with pancreatic cancer. . In his video, Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, he discusses many of his techniques of teaching. One goal he used was achieving your childhood dreams. He addresses childhood dreams and tells ways that people can achieve them. He tells us how he once achieved his own childhood dreams and how he would like to help others achieve their dreams. In his speech he tells of the importance of having fun, doing the unthinkable, helping others, and overcoming obstacles that people face.
Dr. Pausch used an example of a brick walls in his speech. He believes that brick wall are put into place in life for a reason. One of the main reason they are put into place is to show us how much we want something and to let us know that nothing we want in life is easy. We have to work hard to get the things that we want.
Other methods that Dr.Pausch used in his classroom were the use of technology and team work. He wanted students to teach and learn from themselves. His students were assigned projects with their group, and they completed them and presented them, then moved on to the next assignment together.
This video has taught me to try to help my students overcome the obstacle that they may be facing. The video also taught me to always follow my dreams and encourage my students to follow theirs as well. i also learned that when students come together for a task, they can complete it using teamwork. Teamwork encourages students to work together and learn from each other. Dr. Pausch's video taught me a lot about learning. He taught me that you're never too old to learn and follow your dreams. I was also taught that learning is not always easy, but I will have to work hard for the things that I really want.

project 12 SMART-BOARD PART A

podcast project 9

blog post 9

project 10 green screen

Blog post 8

I believe that there is a lot that can be learned about teaching and learning on Mr. Paul Andersen’s blog. Mr. Andersen has created a blog that he has added hundreds of science videos to. Most of the videos have been translated into other languages. His blog has taught me that teaching is not just for the classroom. Teaching can be expanded to others outside of the classroom. Mr. Andersen teaches in a high school and online using YouTube. His videos help students all over the world understand biology. Anyone that has a desire to learn can learn outside of the classroom using resources such as Twitter and YouTube. I watched a few of the videos from his blog and learned that science can be fun if the teacher makes it fun. In fact, any subject can be fun if the teacher strives to make it fun for his or her students.
THE BLENDED LEARNING CYCLE
Mr. Andersen proves the statement to be true “Teachers never stop learning.” Teachers can learn and gain inspiration from others if they allow themselves to keep learning. Mr. Andersen collects many great teaching ideas from other teachers' videos and from trips that he has taken over the summer. His video about the blended learning cycle has taught me some good ways to get students involved in the classroom. This video has taught me to never stop learning from others. He tells us that a teacher must combine online, mobile, and classroom learning. The teacher then introduces the learning cycle, which consists of engaging, exploring, explaining, expanding, and evaluating a subject. When teaching his students, he starts with a good question. He then allows his students to Investigate and inquire about the question. He allows his students to view videos, followed by a period of elaboration. Once elaboration is complete, he requires a review. He sits down with each student and throughly questions them; he makes sure that they understand the lesson before allowing them to move on. After all of this is complete, the students are given a summary quiz.

C4T 2

http://willrichardson.com/

Education as a Public Good

Mr. Richardson believes that all Americans need to raise their productivity through better education in order to get good future jobs. Productivity should be raised for early childhood on up to high school level students. In order to raise productivity, the public must change how they finance public education. Mr. Richardson thinks that it is crazy that public schools are still funded by local property taxes.The reason he thinks that this is a bad idea is because some cities have more expensive property than others and bring in more tax dollars.He does not think that this is fair to poor school districts.

I agree with him. The state should come up with a better way to fund schools. Maybe they should collect all of the tax money and divide it up among all of the public schools.If they did this then each public school would have the same amount of funds and students could get the education they need to obtain higher paying jobs.

Higher Ed is the Province of the High Achieving and the Wealthy

This blog post raises very important issues with the college systems in America. According to the post, most universities are set up to only accept the wealthy or high achieving students. Although the G.I. Bill and Great Society were originally set up to help middle class students get into good schools, they are doing little to help get these students into good universities. Most state schools are low on funds and private schools are too expensive for the middle class to afford, this situation makes it harder for middle class students to get into good schools.
Although it is wrong to have universities set up this way, it is common in most states. The simple fact of the matter is money talk. This practice is unfair to young deserving students. Students growing up in richer families have better grades and higher standardized test scores than middle and lower class people. I think that standardized tests should be done away with to give all students a fair chance at a higher education.

BLOG POST 7

kabrina
Voice Recognition Software
What is Assistive Technology? Assistive technology is any device that helps disabled children or adults learn. These devices enhance learning, remove barriers, and give hope to disabled students. Without these devices, students would have a harder time participating in class. Voice recognition software is a great assistive tool that helps disabled students keep up in the classroom. Voice recognition software turns spoken words into typed words on the computer screen. This device can be very beneficial to students with visual and mobility impairments. Voice recognition software helps empower students and gives them a sense of independence by allowing them to write their own papers without the assistance of others. This tool can also be beneficial to teachers by giving them written evidence of the students’ progress. Since this tool allows the students to write their own papers, teachers have more time to focus on other important educational areas. I think that this is a great tool that can also be used outside of school in other areas such as work, communicating with others, and creative purposes.
Teaching Math to The Blind

The video Teaching Math to The Blind is very interesting. Before watching this video, I never thought about how blind people did math. If I had to take a guess at it, I would have said that they used Braille. According to the video, I would have been partly wrong because braille is not 2 dimensional and it would be hard to write math problems with it. The professor on this video explains a more helpful way of working out math problems. He suggests that student use little cubes with invisible numbers and braille. The cubes can be placed on a grid and conformed into 2 dimensional numbers on the computer screen. The student can hear the number and place it on the grid to create or solve a problem

PAULA

Assistive Technologies


After watching Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children, there are a lot of assistive technologies that I did not even know about. I actually have not heard of any of them. I did not know that we had this type of technology for these children. Then I watched The Mountbatten video presented by The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine, FL. That was when I was introduced to the Mountbatten for the first time.







The Mountbatten


The Mountbatten is the perfect tool for blind students. It is a brailler manufactured in Australia by Quantum Technology. It can type braille as well as send to and receive information from a computer. Along with being able to do all of that, the Mountbatten says the letter out loud while the student enters it. It allows the students to be able to tell if they made a mistake or not. The first time that I saw this, I was amazed. I did not even know a machine that is capable of this existed. It literally blew my mind.







I think this is great for children who are blind. I think it helps them connect to the rest of the class and the rest of the world. It allows them to not feel left out just because they have a disability. The Mountbatten should be given to all blind students to use. According to the mountbattenbrailler.com, the Mountbatten is also helpful for children learning braille. It reinforces the recognition of braille characters. Children are able to type, hear, and read the letter that they are typing. It shows students how to use files and edit documents. I think that it is an amazing product. It gives blind students an opportunity to be a part of the world they live in.




KAITLYNs...

iPad usuage for the Blind





The "iPad usuage for the blind" video was very eye opening. I did not know that the iPad had options for the blind or visually impaired. An iPad has "voice over". Voice over can be used when a person drags their fingers over the iPad screen. As the person does this, a voice tells them what they are dragging their fingers on. If it is a blank page it just makes bumping sounds. The voice also tells them to double tap to open an application when it is needed. Voice over can also be used to read books to the blind in the iBooks application. Nook and Kindle do not have this option. This is where the iPad really stands out from others. It is able to be used by anyone. It does not matter if you're deaf, blind, five years old or fifty years old. The iPad is easy and effective to use. I really enjoyed this video because it taught me things about my iPad that I did not know it could do. This is good to know because I may have a hearing impaired child in my future classroom one day and he or she may need assistance by using a iPad and voice over. Voice over may be just the thing he or she needs to help him or her learn and excel. He or She could listen to books or do things online with the assistance of voice over. I think voice over is a very powerful tool. If needed, I would use voice over in my classroom to assist a child in their learning.

Having a great time teaching a mom what her deaf/blind child is learning on a iPad







This video was also educational. In the video, a mom was taught how to use voice over on an iPad. This was to show her what her child was learning on an iPad using voice over. It was shown in this video that when typing, no letters will be inserted until the user double taps them. When the letters are touched only once, they are read aloud. There are two modes of typing; standard and touch typing. She really enjoyed learning how to operate the iPad so she can better assist her child. The iPad is a great way to assist blind children in their learning. If I have a student who is visually impaired, I would use the iPad to assist them in their learning and education in my classroom. I would also like the student's parents to know how to use the iPad and the voice over option so that they can help their child also at home and to know what their child is doing and learning in school. I think if the teachers and parents know how to operate the iPad with voice over it could be a very helpful tool to help a visually impaired student learn and also feel more independent.

HALEY’s

50 Must-See Blogs For Special Education Teachers

50 Must-See Blogs For Special Education Teachers  allows special education teachers and other teachers access to 50 different viewpoints on special education. The site, edudemic.com, where this information is posted is a great tool for teachers. Edudemic has information for not only teachers, but for students also.

Special Education Strategies And More...

When I first accessed this blog, I was impressed. Special Education Strategies And More... is a blog for teachers or parents of a child with special needs. Different strategies for education that have worked for other people are given in this blog. These strategies explain how to apply them, shows how these strategies worked for someone else and even points out what could go wrong with these different strategies.

Assistive Technology

The Assistive Technology blog is a great resource on different technologies available to be used with children with special needs. The most recent post is iPad Workshop: Using the iPad for Students with Learning & Organization Disabilities. There was a link to where a teacher or parent can sign-up for this workshop right in the post. I did not know there were multiple types of apps on the iPad for children with special needs. This is only the beginning of this blog, there are more technologies and tools that will help anyone with a special needs child.

The Shut-Down Learner

Children with special needs often find school a threatening place. The Shut-Down Learner  has different techniques on how to make school less threatening for children with special needs. There is also a post on how parents can make after school activities more helpful for these children. This blog was created by a child psychologist, making it a good resource for teachers and parents.

I only discussed a few blogs from  50 Must-See Blogs For Special Education Teachers . I encourage all teachers to visit this blog to expand your knowledge.

students to use.

1st progress report on PLN

I use Symbaloo to help me manage my PLN. I love this site because it is so organized, and I have everything I need on one screen. I have added about 14 tiles to my Symbaloo since I began using the site a few weeks ago. These tiles include Google +, Wiki, common core standards, Facebook and Twitter. This site is great because I can store all of the cool site that I come across and access them through Symballo. All of the site help keep me connected to important information that I can later use in the education field.

Blog Post 6

what do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

Asking questions can help involve all the students in the classroom. Question can also show how much students are learning and comprehending in class. Questions also give shy students a chance to talk in front of peers and adults.
Asking Questions to Improve Learning helped me get a better understand of "What questions do we ask? All yes or no responses should be followed up with a “WHY” question. How do we ask? We make sure our questions are clear and specific so no one will get confused. I learned about three types of questions: open questions, closed questions, and managerial questions. Open questions are questions that are good for discussion and active learning because they bring about multiple answers. Closed questions are good at testing comprehension and showing if a student has retained the information well because they have only a limited amount of correct answers. Managerial questions are used to make sure the students have the needed materials and are understanding.


The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom blog by Ben Johnson’s contains a lot of useful information. Ben tells us how to use a simple effective approach to asking questions by Mary Budd Rowe. The approach is to ask a specific question. After asking a specific question pause three seconds for a response then call on someone. Pick different students to answer the questions each time. Pausing allows students the chance to come up with an answer. All students will be forced to come up with an answer because they won’t know who you will call on next.

Effective teachers should never ask if everyone understands. Asking the class if everyone understands is a bad idea. Asking this question makes students think that it’s their last chance to respond before you move on. Some Students will not understand and will not respond out of fear of holding up the rest of the class from moving on. An effective teacher should never allow the students to answer with a simple yes or no. Teachers should always make students tell why the answer is yes or no so that they can check for understanding. Teachers should also try to have the question that they want to ask prepared before they come to class. Being prepared allows teachers to know what kind of answers they are looking for and they want confuse your class. As a future teacher I plan to have the question that I want to ask prepared before I come to class.

After viewing all of the links to the assigned videos, I have learned what I need to know about asking questions to become an effective teacher. I have learned that as a future educator I must know what I am teaching and what I expect my students to learn from my teaching. I have learned that I must also come to class fully prepared. I need to know what types of questions that I am going to be asking and how I am going to ask the questions. . It is also important to ask one question at a time so students aren't confused about which question they are supposed to be answering.

PROJECT 8 BOOK TRAILER

Blog post 5

1st graders create their own read along

Students are pulled out of their first grade class during reading to record their own podcast. The podcast was based on a book from the Magic Tree House series, called Vacation Under the Volcano. The podcast is an audio recording of students reading a book chapter by chapter. Each chapter has a special sound to indicate that it is a new chapter. Once students are done recording they have the chance to hear the podcast and follow along with it while reading a script. Once the podcast is complete it is added to the class blog. There are several things that can be learned from this experiment. One of the most interesting things that I have learned from reading this blog is I can use special sounds to indicate that a new chapter or subject is about to begin. Creating a podcast seem like it can be a lot of fun. I would like to see an interview of the students expressing their feeling about doing the podcast. I would like to know if the students actually uploaded the podcast to their class blog or if the teacher did it. Times sure have changed. When I was in 1st grade I don’t recall knowing anything about a computer or how to use it.

Langwitches Listing- Comprehension- Podcasting

Langwitch believes that students cannot master a word of a language until they hear it at least 70+ times. She also states that students must hear and understand the words that lead up to it and the words that follow it. By hearing those words the student can make meaning of the sentence. In order to master new words students must have an opportunity to practice using the word. Practice allows the student to become comfortable with pronouncing the word. Langwitch also believes that recording a podcast and editing it can help students learn new language sounds. Pod-casting allows the students to see their voices and manipulate the sequence of sentences. I can relate to langwitches’s techique of repeating words to master them. In order to become better at anything you have to practice the skill. A few years ago I wanted to learn how to fish. The first few times that I went I didn’t catch anything. I kept going and tried new things until I was able to catch a fish. It took time and repetition for me to master that skill. I have never tried to learn a new language using podcast. One day I would love to give it a try. I believe that if second graders can master pod-casting, then I don’t see any reason why I can’t learn it. I am setting a personal goal for myself to learn how to effectively use podcast this semester. I don’t know much about it, but I look forward to working with the podcast project that I have coming up in EDM310.

Langwithches- Flat Stanley Podcast

A class of first graders created their own Flat Stanley podcast. Instead of mailing Flat Stanley around to different countries and relatives these students created their own Flat Stanley adventures. The students had to come up with a location for flat Stanley, a way for him to get there, an activity for him to do and a way for him to get back home. All of the students and their parents had to come up with their own adventures for the podcast. Students were allowed to research the location of their choice for Flat Stanley to visit. After completing their assignment the student pieced their stories together using the podcast. I was very interested in some of the location that the students chose for Flat Stanley to visit. The locations ranged from Alabama to the North Pole. I would love to know why the students picked their location. Did they pick the location because they had family and friends there?
Was it because they always wanted to visit or because they have been there before?

project 7

This is my sentence

This is my passion

C4T1

LANGWITCHES BLOG

Get Over It!

The blog was written by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano. Langwitch's blog can be very useful to teachers who are afraid of technology. She has spent many years trying to convince teachers that technology will help their students learn more than they will ever be able to teach them. She believes that technology is always changing and teachers need to keep up to become effective in the 21st century. She also stated that good teachers would still be able to teach their students up to a certain degree. After that degree is reached, the students will be stuck at that level unless the teacher involves some type of technology to move forward. Langwitch explains to teachers that it’s OK to make mistakes because they are learners just like the students. The only mistake that could be costly to teachers is not using technology in their classrooms.

MY RESPONSE

I am taking an education media class this summer, and my teacher is teaching our class how to bring technology into our classrooms. I agree with you. Technology is changing so much, and we as teachers need to keep up. Teachers could keep up with technology b constantly searching the web for new educational tools and sites.

Thoughts on fluency and workflow

Langwitche believes that iPod workflow and fluency is directly connected to each other. This is done when the iPod unconsciously helps people decide what app to use in order to accomplish a given task. He also compares workflow to grammar rules. Just like grammar iPod workflow must put things in proper order before communicating what it is told to do. I am not sure exactly how an iPod work because I don’t own one. I agree that iPod should follow proper orders for things to work smoothly. Order in which things are done can greatly affect the outcome if not done correctly.

project 3 presentation

BLOG POST 4

WIKIS

Wikispace is a great collaborative site that can be used by students and teachers. Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using any web browser. The site allows people to view others work and edit it. This tool reminds me a lot of Google drive. Teachers can give assignments to students and allow them to work on it as a group outside of the classroom. I would use wiki in my class for the purpose of group research projects. I would expect my students to do their own research and share it with their group through wikis. If a group member sees a mistake in someone’s work they could edit it. The benefits I would expect from using wikis are my students will learn to effectively collaborate with each other and edit others work. I chose wikis because its a great collaborate tool that could be used by anyone at anytime. Wiki also promotes group work.

21st Century Learning and Communication Tools by kaitlyn parker

When I begin teaching elementary education with my second grade students I want to utilize technology to keep them interested and engaged, as to maximize their learning. I found two learning tools I would love to use in my classroom to occupy my SMART board. The first tool is the SMART table collaborative learning center. This interactive table lets students work in groups and use visuals, auditory, and physical elements to learn. The table is multi-touch and multi-user which means that more than one student can use it at the same time. Students can use this to help each other learn material and also learn good teamwork skills.



The second tool I found that would be useful in my 21st century classroom is a SMART response interactive response system . This is a wireless handheld device or clicker that students can each have at their desks. It has large, easy to understand buttons for the young minds I will be teaching and is great for all reading levels. Teachers can ask a question on their SMART board and have students choose an answer on their clickers and teachers will receive instant feedback. This allows them to see if all students are engaged in the lesson and to also see where the class is having trouble understanding material. This is also a much more quick and efficient way of evaluating students than giving problems via paper and pencil and then the teacher having to grade the problems and tally up the results that the SMART response interactive response system can give in seconds. I hope to be able to utilize one or both of these learning tools in my classroom in the future so my students can learn and be more engaged in the lessons. I think this is a fun and exciting way to get students interested in the lessons and interacting in the classroom.

21st Century Learning and Communication Tools by Haley Torries

While there are numerous 21st century Learning and communicating tools, I decided to focus on WebMD and Blackboard.

WebMD

WebMD is one of the more popular websites in the medical industry due to the ease of finding the resources located there. All the information on this site can be reached in these categories; A-Z, Drugs and Treatments, Women, Men, Children's Health, News & Blogs and Message Boards. The information found on this site is well-research and comprehensive. Anyone is able to search for what causes certain symptoms or how to treat any disease a person might have. The Message Board allows visitors to discuss remedies and information they have learned from doctors all over the world. I will be able to use this in my classroom to help students learn about different types of diseases. I believe it is important for students to understand that there are many different diseases in the world. They also need to understand that some illnesses can be prevented by good health care; such as lung and heart diseases. Some illnesses people are born with. WebMD can give students an awareness of the daily lives people with these diseases live with. Children with a better understanding of these diseases are less likely to bully. This will help the students lead healthier lifestyles.

Blackboard

Clients from all around the world are using Blackboard to reach students in personalized new ways. Blackboard keeps the educator's educated and involved with different techniques on how to keep students interested. This is a great resource for teachers to use whenever they want to consult the whole class about an update on course materials.

21st Century Learning and Communication Tools By paula lu

As a future elementary teacher, the tool I would use in the classroom is YouTube EDU. YouTube EDU is a similar site to YouTube, but it is for learners and educators. As YouTube EDU calls it, it is a “global video classroom.” It gives students the chance to find short lessons on material they might have missed or do not understand well. It also gives educators the ability to teach without having to be physically there. This also is related to flipping the classroom. (add link) I do not like the idea of flipping the classroom because I believe that kids will not learn that way due to the fact that I believe kids will not take the time out of their day to do the work. In a way it is pretty similar to having homework, which no kid is happy with. But, I like the idea of teaching without having to be physically there. Imagine a child who is hospitalized for whatever reason and cannot attend school. Videos of the lesson will allow the student to be able to learn and keep up with school work at home. One way I would incorporate YouTube EDU into the classroom is by creating videos. I think that a good project would be to have the students group up to learn a specific topic and help them create a video to post on YouTube. I believe that this is a fun way to teach the students and help them learn the material. It teaches students how to work in a group and how to work with others. I chose YouTube EDU because I believe this is a good way to help keep students interested. I think that most elementary students are very visual learners and this would help them in the process. You might ask, “What if the students do not want to watch the video?” I would say, If I were to show a video in class, I would make sure that it is fun, entertaining, and interesting. I know that sometimes educational videos can be extremely boring, so it is my duty to pick the ones I know they will watch.

BLOG POST 3

How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

I would provide positive feedback to my peers by pointing out all of the good things that I see in their work before attacking the mistakes. I believe that my peers would be less offended if I say something good about their work. I hate for someone to leave all negative feedback on my blog. When I find a mistake I plan to address the problem with a solution. I think telling a person how to fix an error is more effective than just telling them it’s wrong. People need to know how to fix the problem to become better writers.

WHAT IS PEER EDITING?
Peer editing occurs when you make changes or suggestions to another person's writing. The goal is to help the other person improve their writing skills. There are three steps you must keep in mind when you are editing someone's work.
1. Compliment the person's writing before you tell them what needs to be fixed. Let the person know what you liked about their writing. I believe people will be more willing to except your opinion if you do it in a nice way.
2. Suggestions should be given to the writer about ways to improve their writing. Don’t just tell the person that something is wrong with their writing. Offer the person suggestions on ways to fix the error. For instance you could suggest replacing words or sentence.
3. Corrections are the last step to peer editing. When correcting someone’s work make sure that you check for spelling, punctuation and grammar.

PEER EDITING WITH PERFECTION TUTORIAL
The tutorial is a Power Point about peer editing. The Power Point lists the same three steps to peer editing as above (compliments, suggestions and corrections). I agree with the slideshow, Peer editing is a great way to get to know your classmates as well as sharpening your editing and comprehension skills. These skills can be used to better edit your own writing in the future. It also helps us learn how to properly use constructive criticism. Tearing someone down is not going to help the person's writing. I believe positive reinforcement and praise when deserved is ALWAYS going to be the most effective way to peer edit.

Writing Peer Review (Peer Critique) TOP 10 Mistakes
I thought Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes was an educational and funny video. I know whenever I did peer editing throughout the elementary and middle school years, I definitely ran into people like the ones in the video! The Picky Patty, Mean Margaret, and Jean the Generalizer characters stood out to me the most. I often became angry with their approaches. Nobody likes to hear that things are wrong with work they think is perfect, so you should never be mean or overly picky about the comments you make! The number one rule of peer editing is stay positive! Before you edit someone's work, as put yourself if their shoes.
















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BLOG POST 2

1 Mr. Dancealot part 1 kabrina


Mr. Dancealot reminds me of most of my past teachers. Most of them put notes on the board and told me to do the assignment at home. I believe that people have to practice and make mistakes in order to learn how to dance. I think that Mr. Dancealot should have allowed the students the chance to dance in class to make sure that they understood how to do it. I don’t know any dance classes that do not let their students practice what they have learned before the test. The class should have been up repeating each step after him. I also agree with the boy from the video when he said that he could learn the dance on his own. If the students were allowed to actually dance in the class or teach themselves, they would have been able to do better on the test.

2. Teaching in the 21st Century by Kaitlyn Parker


Roberts believes teaching in the 21st century is about engagement instead of entertainment. Teachers are no longer the only source of information for students, but teachers are the filter for the information. Students now have access to iPad's, computers, and smartphones where they can access Google, You-tube, or Facebook wherever and whenever they want or need. Technology gives them access to anything they need. Students can easily "Google" any question they have and within seconds get millions of responses. I feel that teachers are still needed in the classroom but they can utilize technology to excel their teaching and engagement with the students. Technology is growing and improving each and every day. As an educator technology will be used in my classroom to help me engage with my students. This will help teach them concepts I may not have been able to teach them using just a textbook and chalkboard.

Haley’s #3

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

The networked student video allows students to discover more of (what) technology has to offer. I enjoyed watching this video. I believe students become more engaged with this type of learning. They also connect with other people and their ideas.

Why does the networked student even need a teacher? The student needs a teacher as a coach whenever they feel like their research has hit a brick wall, to help them organize what they discover and keep them in the right direction. The teacher makes sure the student understands how to communicate properly with people all over the world by being kind and eager to learn. The teacher is also needed to make sure they are searching on sites that use correct information to back up their opinions.

I definitely believe a networked student needs a teacher. I think a better name for the teacher would be mentor. Mentors are there to answer any questions the student has

while helping them become more independent in the field they are studying. I look forward to mentoring children and watching their imaginations grow.

#4 paula lu

In the video “Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts,” by Vicki Davis, Davis shows us how technology can be good for students. If you give them something they do not know how to use, then they will figure it out. She allows the students to teach each other and work together. Students can get bored of listening to a teacher lecture. Therefore, Davis lets her students demonstrate what they have learned. She gets them involved with technology. Technology is expanding and will eventually start invading the classroom, why not put it to good use?

I like the way that she teaches her students. She is teaching them without having to actually teach. They are learning to teach themselves and also teaching her along the way. If they have questions or do not know something, she is there to help and they have the tools to look it up.

The Edutopia website has many tips and ways to make teaching and learning fun for the students. Showing them ways that can keep them interested and wanting to learn.



5 Flipping the Classroom - 4th Grade STEM part 5 kabrina

Flipping the classroom is a great concept that allows all students to learn at their own pace. I really believe that this way of learning could be helpful to all children and should be used in all schools. The best part of this program is that children get a chance to review the material before coming to class. Skipping the lecture allows students more time to ask questions to clear up problems that they may be having. Children can benefit from this program by being able to see the material more than once. I believe that the more time that they get to spend on a subject the better they will become at it. This method gives students the opportunity to ask questions in class. Students can pause, rewind, and watch the video as many times as needed to effectively understand the information. This method seems to be very effective and I may even flip my classroom in the future!

BLOG POST 1

Who is Krissy Venosdale?

Krissy Venosdale is a gifted and talented educator that allows her students to have fun while learning in her classroom. Mrs. Venosdale tries to make lasting impressions on her students by giving them the freedom to be creative and make mistakes. Another way that she tries to make good impressions on her students is by making the classroom fun and colorful. Her methods of teaching have inspired me to go above and beyond standard classroom decorations. When I become a teacher I want my classroom to resemble hers. I want fun and funky color everywhere, but also I want every inch of my room to be educational. I believe that children will have more fun and be willing to come learn in a colorful classroom.

Who is Sugata Mitra?

Sugata Mitra is a Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, England. Many people know him for his “HOLE IN THE WALL” experiment. Mr. Mitra placed a computer in a wall that allowed poor children to explore the internet. The experiment allowed children to learn how to use a computer without anyone telling them how it works. In his YouTube video " Sugata Mitra TED 2013 Talk" he tells us that schools are outdated. He believe that children can teach themselves if given the chance. He also believes that with broadband, collaboration, and encouragement children can learn anything.

MY DREAM SCHOOL

My dream school would be a lot like Mrs. Venosdale. The walls would be painted bright pretty colors and the floors would have tiles with pictures and motivational saying all over them. All of the classrooms would have group tables and arts and craft supplies on each table. As the children learned something new I would allow them to express what they have learned with a craft project. On pretty days teachers would be allowed to have class outside for a change in scenery. All tests would be done away with. I believe that children learn better when they don’t have to memorize facts to pass a test. Instead of tests, I would allow students to tell the class what they have learned from the lesson. Sharing ideas with others will help children learn more. My school would be for first and second graders. At these grade levels children are just beginning to understand concepts. It’s a wonderful feeling to be around a child when they first understand something, its feels as if a light has been turned on.

What do I want my students to learn and what tools will they use?

I would like for my students to be able to teach themselves new things and ask effective questions when they don’t understand something. I would allow the students to use tools such as computers, smartphones, iPod’s and use collaboration with others to learn.

What do I want my kids to be able to do?

I want my students to be able to learn new concepts on their own, and share with the class what they have learned. I also want my students to be able to cooperate with each other in groups. Group work will teach them how to effectively get along with others and share new ideas.

What will be my primary way of teaching my students what I want them to know and to do?

I will model examples of different ways to learn. I will also use different learning devices in my classroom such as computers, ipads, tablets, and etc.

What role will my students play in the classroom?

My students will be teachers and learners. After the students learn something new they will have the opportunity to share their findings with the class. Sharing what they have learned with others will give other kids new ways of viewing the same question.

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FINAL REPORT ON PLN

My PLN (Personal Learning Network) has really helped me stay organized. Everything is in one place. Before we began this class this semester, I didn't know anything about PLNs. Now, I use this particular networking system for assistance frequently. My PLN helps me find pertinent information that will guide me through out my teaching career.
It is quite impossible to finish adding vital resources.

BLOG POST 15 FINAL REFLECTION

LAST C4T 4

web address

This blog post talks about a language competition. Students from all over the world compete in the competition. The students try to solve problems for points. Language perfect is an online program that test reading, writing and listing skills. Many students play the program for fun. The blog post informs everyone how to sign up for the competition. Student will be competing with other schools, countries and against each other. Over a 120,000 students from over 20 countries will take part in the competition. More than 50,000 vocabulary questions are expected to be answered. Students are giving a question if they get it correct they receive a point. If they answer incorrectly then they are given the correct answer.

My response
I think that the Language Perfect World Championships is a great way for students to learn new and exciting words. I can't believe that I have never heard of this competition. I seems like it could be a lot of fun and I would love to try to compete if it one day. Maybe one year I will be able to enter the championship.

Graham Davies R.I.P

This blog post was posted for people to show their respect for Graham Davies. He died from a very rare form of cancer known as Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP. Graham was an ICT guru and omnipresent voice in the global languages community. Graham was well know for lecturing and run ICT training courses for language teachers in 22 different countries and for sitting on numerous national and international advisory boards.

November comment for kids

The Benzing Girls Shows

Amber talks about both sides of her family. On her mother side there is a larger amount of people. When her mother side of the family has gatherings the children put on a show for everyone to see. The girls practice a lot for dance routines that they perform. The girls would perform their shows at relative’s houses. Although, they mostly did dance routines sometimes they would try different shows. Once they put on a play. They acted out a play about trolls that one of the cousins wrote. They were asked to make up a dance routines for one of their aunts wedding. The girls were excited because that was their first time dancing in front of other people besides family.

MY RESPONSE
I also have a really big family. Whenever my family had gathering all of the kids would play volleyball and the whole family would watch. I think that you have a close family and it seems like you had a fun childhood. I believe that all families should have a close bond like your family. Recording your dance routines has given you memories that can be view forever.

C4K # 9

Outstanding October!


Outstanding October is a class blog post written by a boy named Patrick T. Patrick attends the school of rock. The blog post tells people about the fun things that his class did in the month of October.
The class first big writing assignment was to write a terrifying story. Patrick story was about a little boy and his sister waking up in a mansion with an murderer lurking inside it! Not all of the stories were scary, a few stories we funny and twisted. His class also had the opportunity to communicate with a professional veterinarian through face-time. The program kind of reminds me of Skype because both programs allow you to talk and see other people from different locations. Patrick class celebrated Halloween by having a science festival called the Monster Bash. Students were allowed to invite their parents to come watch them play around with science experiments.
On Halloween his school had a big party and a parade. All of the students got to march around the school in their Halloween costumes. Patrick added a link to a video that he creates to highlight the month of October.

MY RESPONSE
Time really does fly by when you are having that much fun in school. I would have loved to attend a school that celebrated Halloween with parades and parties. I think that it is awesome that your school allows you to wear your Halloween costume to school. When I was in grade school I didn’t get to have as much fun as your class, I was lucky if I got a party. Face-time is new to me but, it reminds me of a program named Skype. Both of the programs allow you to communicate with other in different locations.


c4k 10

Alienation

This blog post was written by a 10 grade student named Adrianna. The post is about Adrianna's friend who is very depressed. Her friend text her and tell her that she is thinking about killing herself because a boy will not take to her. Adrianna ends up talking her friend out of killing herself. This is a sad situation which happens to often with young girls around the world. I glad that Adrianna was able to talk her friend out of killing herself.

MY RESPONSE


You should feel proud of yourself for helping save your friend life. Most people that think about killing themselves usual reach out to others for help before they actually do it. You are a really good friend to her.