Professional Reflection

If I/we had the opportunity to present this lesson again to a similar audience, would I/we do anything differently? What would I/we do? Why would I/we do it?

I enjoyed creating and presenting our lesson. I would not change anything technology wise, but next time when presenting I will make sure I talk to the entire room and not just Dr. Lomax. I felt at times that I was looking and speaking directly toward him than my classmates. That would be the only thing I would do differently.

Final Reflection Video

EDM 310 Final Reflection

Final Project 16 Lesson

LESSON PLAN






LESSON PLAN USING SMARTBOARD




FINAL PRESENTATION SLIDESHOW

Project 16 Team Bobcat Post

Technology and Teaching: My Philosophy

Before taking EDM 310, I thought, really what is the point of this class? I know about technology and the different types of technologies that can be used within the classroom. I was somewhat on the line when it came to technology in the classroom. I was for it, but to a minimum. I was that person who didn't want too much technology in the classroom because I felt it could be a distraction as well as take away simple skills such as writing. I also didn't like how textbooks were being taken out of schools. I kept thinking this class will not change my view on technology and teaching. While I still would like to keep technology to a minimum in my classroom and use it when necessary, I must say I learned more about how technology and teaching are intertwined. Of course, I knew the basic technologies used within classroom such as computers and laptops, but there are so many more things I didn't know about. I found a new form of technology that I know for sure I will use in my classroom. Blogs! Who would've thought that I would become a big blog fan? I think a classroom blog will be great! Blogs aren't just about writing stuff down just because you are assigned to do that. No, blogs can be fun! There are so many activities and projects you can build using blogs. Blogs can help with reading and writing skills as well as socialization skills because you build relationships through blogging.

Also, when it comes to using other technologies, I want to learn just as students learn. Some people say that teachers shouldn't be required to know how to use the technology that their students use, but I disagree. Yes, I want my students to be independent and learn how to use the tools given, but I also want to be able to help students if they get in a bind. Just because I'm a teacher doesn't mean I can't learn new things. Isn't that what we are teaching our students? We must remember that we are all teachers and learners. 

Blog Post #5 Part 2

Personal Learning Network: PLN


Before I came into EDM 310, I honestly had no idea what PLNs were. Then, as I researched and read different things for this class, I saw that in a way I did have a personal learning network. I had a PLN through the app, twitter, but I wasn't as involved and engaged with different tools and people that were available to me. I went from following one of my favorite teachers just because to following many more teachers and my peers that are associated with my major. I enjoy going on twitter and seeing different quotes or websites that have interesting things pertaining to education and teaching. I get so many ideas just from twitter alone. Another tool that has helped build my PLN are the C4T and C4K assignments. I really enjoyed reading articles and blog posts from different people from all areas of the world. I even got a few replies from comments I posted on their blogs. Recently, I was assigned a C4K blog that was from a student in New Zealand, and I saw that the student and I had quite a few things in common. So when I commented on her post, I didn't expect for her teacher to reply back to me thanking me for the kind and motivating words I left on his student's post. He even visited to my blog to the leave comment and checked it out. That right there showed me just how powerful and important PLNs can be. There are many things that I will take from having taken EDM 310, but one of the most important things will be the different people I got to communicate with. I now know that I have so many tools to help me as I continue on this path to become a teacher.

Blog Post #14

For this post, I read Joel Klein's Teaching Our Children Can Be A Profession. In this article, Joel talks about the problems associated with teaching and solutions to those problems. He would like teaching to be professionalized like other professions such as law and medicine.

• The first problem: Most teachers get hired just by having a degree
• The solution to this problem: To do what other successful countries are doing and recruit from top third of graduates

I agree with this solution to recruit from the top third of graduates. Recruit those who really want to teach, and have shown through evaluations that they deserve to be teachers. Reward those who took getting their degree seriously, and actually wanting to teach. Sometimes you have people who just pick teaching because they feel like its an easy profession to make an income. Let's get rid of those people and make teacher a tough profession to get into. That way those who really are passionate about teaching will take full advantage of the opportunity.

• The next problem: Seniority (teachers with more years of experience will be chosen over first year or teachers with less experience at all times)
• The solution to this problem; Professionalize teaching and treat all teachers no matter the tenure as equals

I agree and disagree with this solution. I agree that all teachers should be treated equally no matter what. This will drive and motivate teachers to go beyond their limits to achieve success. Teachers shouldn't be judged by how much time they have or haven't been teaching, but I do think for certain situations seniority can be used.

• The last problem: Some teachers do not treat their job as a profession
• The solution to this problem: Teachers creating their own board to police the profession, creating their own standards, creating their own mandate for inept teachers, as well as promotions based on specialty exams

I agree with this statement. I think teachers creating their own board to police the profession is a good  idea because teachers know what they want and expect from this profession. I think this is part of what is wrong with teaching now. So many people outside of teaching are telling teachers what they should be doing when they have no clue. A board where past and future who have been through the trenches and understand the profession can create standards and guidelines. Just like law and medicine professions have oaths, I think there should be one as well for the official entry into the teaching professionalism. 

In conclusion, I am all for Joel Klein's idea of professionalizing education. This NEEDS to be done. Teachers should have standards and duties in the sames way that lawyers have model rules of professional conduct. Teaching must become a profession that will be known for qualifications and hard work and not just based on someone having a degree. We must pick the best qualified people to teach the future generations. Reading this article made me realize just how much teaching is unappreciated in a way. It also made me realize just hard I shall continue to work to earn my degree. 

C4K Summary for April

C4K #8
Blaine F's Blog

Santana Mullins (University of South Alabama EDM 310)
Hi Blaine F! Good post! I have never heard of this book, My Side of the Mountain. It sounds very interesting, and a book I know will keep me engaged. I really enjoy reading and adventurous books are always great. Thanks for giving me a new book to check out. Do you have any other book suggestions?

C4K #9

Abby's Lounge

Hi my name is Santana Mullins. I'm in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I was assigned your blog. I will start off by saying congratulations Abby on your award! You must be really good at basketball. I LOVE basketball! It is by far my favorite sport! Speaking of, I know of an NBA player from New Zealand who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Does Steven Adams sound familiar? I'm not sure what part of New Zealand he is from, but he is a good player. Do you watch the NBA or have a favorite player/team? I read some of your older posts and Auroa looks amazing. I loved the picture of the mountain in the background. I also saw a post that said your birthday is April 18th, well I want to wish you a happy early birthday. Continue the great work on your blog! 

Reply from my C4K 9's (Abby) teacher, Mr. Webb:

C4K #10

Amy's Lounge

Santana Mullins (University of South Alabama EDM 310)

Hi Amy! Funny post! At first glance, I was like hmm, what is this all about? Then, I thought back to my Art class I took last semester, and remembered we did something kind of like this with Bruce Lansky's poem, If Pigs Could Fly. So this post has to be about his poem, What I'd Cook For My Teacher. I must say everything sounds good minus the soup and main course ha ha. Bruce Lansky has so many funny poems for children, and they are great for fun activities such as your blog post. If you have time, check out Lansky's poem, How To Torture Your Teacher if you haven't. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it ha ha. Good job and have fun blogging!

Project #4 C4T #4

Hello Mr. Hahnstadt! My name is Santana Mullins, and I'm a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be summarizing my visit to your blog with a post to  my blog on Thursday, April 23, 2015. My blog URL is http://www.mullinssantanaedm310.blogspot.com, and our class blog is http://www.edm310.blogspot.com. Good, informative post! I never thought about using the flipped classroom approach in physical education and coaching. For some reason, I tend to get stuck on the word "physical" and think no way technology can be used within that certain field. Well, I see now how it can be used successfully. And now that I really think about it, and see how it is used, it makes sense. The SAMR Model thoroughly expresses how you use technology on everyday basis. Thanks for the enlightening post.

The teacher's blog I read and commented on was Jason Hahnstadt's The SAMR Model - Transforming Physical Education and Coaching. Mr. Hahnstadt uses the flipped classroom approach to physical education and athletics. In this particular post, he talks about how he uses technology as a coach, He introduces the SAMR Model which is a model of how he integrates technology within his physical education and coach field. The SAMR Model stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. This system helps him know just how much of an impact the technology is doing for his students. It also helps him to understand if what he is teaching enhances or transforms his directions.

Blog #13

What did I leave out?

Technology vs Textbooks 

The assignment addresses the ongoing debate about tablets vs textbooks. Technology is quickly taking over classrooms. Are you for or against this trend? Below is an article about the pro and cons of technology in the classroom over textbooks. Read the article. Summarize it and explain if you are pro technology or pro textbooks in the classroom and why. If you are in between, explain why. Do we need textbooks? How much should we use technology in the classroom? Etc. Explain how you would intertwine technology and textbooks in your classroom?

Tablets vs Textbooks: PROS and CONS

Answer the question in a post that adheres to the standards found in the ACCRS and in Writing A Quality Blog Post.

Blog Post #12

Project #4 C4T #3

Hello Mr. Vilson! My name is Santana Mullins, and I'm a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be summarizing my visits to your blog with a post to my blog on April 9, 2015. My blog URL is http://www.mullinssantanaedm310.blogspot.com and our class blog is http://www.edm310.blogspot.com if you would like to check them out. I want to start off by saying compelling post. I loved when you said "we shouldn't be preparing to teach content or the students we imagine might be there, but rather the students in front of us". That's good! I know that will definitely stick with me as a future educator. I concur that building a relationship with students, as a teacher, is key. We can be friendly with students, but building a relationship that is caring and has patience and understanding is much more important. We have to create an environment where there is balance and boundaries to the teacher/student relationship.

The teacher's blog post I read and commented on was Jose Vilson. In his blog post Empowering Educator Through Cultural Competence. He talks about how we all come from different backgrounds, and how we need to be more open to learning about different students and their backgrounds. In order to be able to understand different aspects of different cultures, we must build a relationship with students. Jose then begins to talk about the teacher/student relationship and how it can be testy. Testy as far as trying to determine how to be "friendly" to students, but not necessarily their friends. Teachers need to build relationships with students as their TEACHER first. Teachers need to have an environment that is fair, so students can see they are all equal. Because they see enough of inequality outside of the classroom. In order to have this type of environment, teachers must build great relationship with their students both individually and collectively.

This a very well written post. In a way, I am kind of torn. I know cheating is wrong, and I do not condone it at all, but on the other hand I understand why some teachers, like these teachers in Atlanta, would think they had to cheat. I agree policy makers have set somewhat impossible goals when it comes to these standardized tests. And when some teachers know there is no way their students can reach those goals and the consequences of not reaching those goals, things like this scandal happen. Yes, teachers have accountability when it comes to their students and making sure they learn the state's common cores, but let's not raise goals so high that we set them up to fail or in this case cheat. I read a quote in the New York Times from one of the indicted teachers that said "I truly believed that I was helping these children stay in school just one more year." While I do not know this specific teacher's heart, I can understand why she would feel this way.

I once again commented on a post form Jose Vilson. The post is entitled Recruiting Educators Color in the Time of Race to the Top. It is a very well written article that will have you really think about where education is and where it's heading. It talks about the 11 educators from Atlanta who were found guilty of cheating by changing their student's test scores. Their reasoning for this is because they were instructed by the principal and because they wanted to keep their school afloat. I don't condone cheating and neither does Jose, but he writes things within the article that makes you look at both sides. I personally do not look at it as a race thing because things like this happen everywhere, but I understand why Jose wrote it. I agree with him that teachers do have some accountability for students and their results, but lets not make goals so unattainable that we set them both to fail.

Project #14 - Project Based Learning Plan #2

Calendar



Lesson Plan



Rubric

Blog Post #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

In the video, Back To The Future, Brian Crosby talks about active learning and the use of technology. Mr. Crosby keeps his students engaged by creating fun, little projects for them to learn more about the lesson he is teaching. His assignments are geared, so that each student can succeed in learning throughout the project. Mr. Crosby's students use many different apps and sites each day to create these projects and communicate with others. Some of the apps and sites include Wiki, Flickr and Skype. The students also blog. Mr. Crosby has his students to set goals for themselves in their blogs. Goals such as what they hope for themselves, their community and the world. Through these many projects and activities, Mr. Crosby's students were steadily creating a learning network. He said he students loved the shine they got. They loved to see the views and the comments they got from many, different people around the world. I really liked the balloon idea Mr. Crosby had the children do as well as how they included a sick, little girl into their classroom since she could not attend school. I learned from Mr. Crosby that active learning empowers students to become learners. It also helps the become aware of and use the many 21st century tools they have available to them. Not only are they to collaborate, but they are also learning how to connect to the world.

In the video, Blended Learning Cycle, Paul Anderson talks about blended learning cycles. He believes in the power of the question and the power of the learning in the classroom. So what is blended learning? Blended learning is when you take components of the classroom, mobile, and online learning and combine them together. Mr. Anderson says there are 5 E's for learning. They are Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand and finally Evaluate. He says this is a great way to present material. Mr. Anderson has his own blended learning cycle, and he came up with the acronym QUIVERS to remember it.
1. QUestion
2. Investigation/Inquiry
3. Video
4. Elaboration
5. Review
6. Summary quiz
I learned something new from Mr. Anderson as far as the blended learning cycle because I wasn't familiar with this.

In the video, Making Thinking Visible, Mark Church divides his classroom into small groups. Then, he gives them a topic and tells them to discuss it among each other. The students start discussing the given topic, and they seem very much engaged and work well collaboratively. While his students are finishing up the activity, Mr. Church talks about why he does this. His goal is to take what the students create, put them up on the bulletin board, and then weeks later he sees where the student stands on the same topic. He wants to see how has the story changed and how their thinking has changed? I learned from Mr. Church that motivating students and pushing them pass what they think they can do is good. In the activity he gave them, he wanted them to get their minds working and to get them to learn more about the topic.

In the video, Building Comics, Same Pane talks about how to become a super digital citizen. Being a digital citizen is all about safety and responsibility. He has a discussion with his class about safety and responsibilty, and why they need to be safe, responsible and respectful online. The students talk about things such as no hacking, no gossiping, no giving personal information and many more things. Then Mr. Pane tells them about the project they are going to do. He wants them to build a comic showing digital safety. He wants the narrative to be a superhero stepping in to save the day online. He explains the directions to them, and then gives them complete control to build their characters and plot. He gives them the ownership so that it is about them. The activity is much more meaningful to them. By doing this activity, students are able to analyze the situation and the tech structures of a comic book and really build a complete narrative. The students were really engaged in this activity, and they enjoyed reading their classmate's comic books. I learned about the importance of safety and responsibility online not only for students but for everyone.

In Dean Shareski's video, Project Based Learning, three different classes are combined into one class. The teachers say this gives students more time to learn. It restructures the teacher's day and gives them more time to blend ideas and more time to provide quality feedback to students. The teachers say this way of PBL makes the students more engaged learners and they have a deeper understanding of the curriculum. The students love doing the projects and they even love editing their projects. This encourages them to make things better, and students become motivated to make it better. They take more ownership of their projects, like it more and appreciate it more. You can tell the teachers and students really enjoy the class. I learned that there are many different ways to present project based learning. Combining three different subjects is definitely a challenge, but it can also work.

In the video, Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program, we learn about project based learning. What is project based learning? Project based learning is in depth learning of a specific topic. It is integrated instruction and based on real world problems and is research based. Project based learning teaches students problem solving skills and how to think for themselves. It teaches them to come together to collaborate on projects. Project based learning is student choice. Students get to make decisions on their own, and this gives them a sense of power. PBL also gives students many choices because they have different ways of learning. One of the more important things, is the PBL teaches students to work independently and collaborate in groups. They learn to communicate with others and build social skills. I learned that PBL can help build student's self esteem because they learn how to speak and communicate well with others and to present their projects.