Blog Post 16

Reflection Video
What would be the method of teaching that you will emphasize?
For starters, it will not be the burp back method. The idea of my classroom will be based off of collaborative learning and research.
What tools will you use and what tools will your student use?
 One of the tools would be Google search engine.  I will set a scavenger hunt for them to find the answers via internet. Another tool that will be handy in the classroom is the iPad. A lot of student activities can be handle through the iPad.

  The grade I wan to teach is 5th grade. I picture myself being an energetic teacher. I want my students to consider my class as  the friend zone; everyone will be friends. My main goal is to be a positive and productive in my students' lives. My teaching style will be collaborative learning because we all will learn from one another.
  Students all learn differently. Therefore, I can't expect them to learn on the same paste; however, I do expect them to put their best foot forward. I will be a teacher that gives students respect and expect it in return.
   Some of the tools I would use in my classroom would be the Smartboard and Blogging. The smartboard allows interaction in the classroom. With blogging, I want my students to be aware of the social world and it can be used for learning. Blogging will also allow others to see their work and their progression.
My expectations of my students will be high. Kids are capable of anything that  we, educators and parents, push them to do. In addition, learning is meant be fun. The only way learning can be fun is by making it fun.
   From my experience in EDM 310, there's always room to improve and that's the attitude I am taking into the classroom with me. I am not expecting to be 100 percent, however, I am willing to learn as I continue my educational journey inside and outside the classroom.

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Blog Post 15

Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Students

Summarized By: Ke’Nesha Brown

Assistive technology is “an umbrella term used for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices” (Wikipedia). It promotes independence by giving people the opportunity to perform tasks they were once unable to perform (Wikipedia). Assistive technologies give disabled children a chance to feel normal and interact with others in the classroom. It enhances their learning, remove all learning barriers, and pushes students to go beyond their boundaries. Assistive Technologies give each disabled child a sense of hope. In addition, it changes the way people think around them.

According to the video, one in 2500 Australian children have vision impairment (ATVHIC). Every day in Australia, one child is diagnosed with hearing impairment. With the statistic given, the curious questions for educators are “Are we doing enough to support impaired children” and “Are we prepared” (ATVHIC).

Teachers should be the main line of defense for all children when it comes to quality education. They should be willing to knock down old walls and building new ones. With assistive technologies, impaired kids have the ability to engage, investigate, and explore. Most importantly, it gives the students the ability to interact with their environment.

There are many devices that can be helpful to sensory disabled children. Some of the devices are:

•  Text to speech devices
• Text phones
•  Talking Calculators
• Note takers
•  Sensory aids
• Speech to text devices
•  FM radio’s
•  iPhone, iPods, iPads
•  Screen magnifiers
•  Flip cameras

The Mountbatten

In The Mountbatten video, they explains how vital immediate feedback is to struggling learners. The Mountbatten Braille Writer allows students to receive audio and tactile feedback. It produces braille while announcing what letters are being produced. In addition, the device is an advance tool. It has the ability to save files; transfer files to, and receive files from a computer.

For teachers and students who don’t know braille, the Mountbatten Brailler is a great tool for mainstream classrooms. The braille text converts into print and is display upon a screen. This tool allows blind children to be included in curriculum. It also allows them to receive feedback from teachers and participate in peer group projects.

Assistive Technology for Children with Autism

(written by Susan Strokes under a contract with CESA and funded by a discretionary grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction)

The assistive technology tool I found useful for the classroom was provided by Autism Consultant,Susan
Stroke. She explains how technology have improve the quality of life for people who suffer with different disabilities. However, despite the fact that technology attracts the children who has autism. Stroke explains how technology can be helpful for children who has autism. Stroke explains how technology can be helpful for children with autism. It can help them understand their environment. It also help them with communication skills, social interaction skills, and motivation skills.

Stokes explains how the Visual Representation Systems are helpful for autistic children. Objects, pictures drawing, line drawing, and written words can be used with various modes of technology, as long as the child understands. One software program Stokes mentioned is Boardmaker. Boardmaker is a software from the Mayer-Johnson software program. It is a program for children, as well as adults, that provides 3,000 picture communications in black and white or color. PCS present a clear representation of objects or words. However, autistic kids may dislike color; therefore, teachers should take caution on what color they may use.

Another tool that provides a more concrete images without risking ambiguity because of background clutter is Picture This (20). It has over 2,700 pictures from a lot of different categories like, creating schedules, sequence activities for following instructions, etc. Strokes tells us that some children who suffer Autism have difficulty understanding two dimensional visual representation system. These students may require an actual object, or True Object Based Icon. TOBI can be any line drawn picture that has been cut out in a shape or outline of what it is suppose to represent. The child has the opportunity to see and feel the symbols and shapes.

Having assistive technologies in the classroom helps teachers and disable children communicate with one another. Every child’s learning ability is different; however, every child has the ability to learn. By providing the tool sensory aid children need, teachers are providing their students with a fair chance in receiving the same quality education as others. It also teaches the other students how to interact and accept people who are different from them. I personally think this assistive technologies is a tool that all teachers should have.

Teaching Mom What her Deaf/Blind Child is Learning on the iPad

Summarized by: Keri Brown

This video shows a mother using an iPad to learn what her deaf/blind child is learning. This video showed me that just because a student is blind or deaf they are still fully capable of using technology. The deaf students can see all of the icons that are on the iPad and work the same way a hearing student does. For blind students, this showed the mother learning how to swipe with four fingers to change pages and when she scrolled her fingers over the apps and icons they say out loud what exactly they were helping the blind student hear what they are using or what they are looking for.

Apple has a special link on their website for special education students. They say "We believe that technology can provide great learning tools for all learning abilities. Every Mac and iOS device comes standard with innovative accessibility features." The iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch come with assistive features that have changed the learning landscape for students with special needs. These features help with learning and literacy, vision, hearing, and physical and motor skills. "Guided Access helps students with autism or other attention and sensory challenges stay on task." This allows the teacher to limit a device to stay on one app by disabling the Home button, and even restrict touch input on certain areas of the screen. "VoiceOver is a gesture-based screen reader that lets students know what’s happening on their Multi-Touch screen — and helps them navigate it — even if they can’t see it." This is great for blind students to still be able to work the technology and navigate through the assignments. "Closed captions offer all kinds of visual learners the ability to see captions in video to help with comprehension." This application is very useful for deaf students.

Teaching Math to the Blind,iPad Usage For the Blind

Summarized by: Chelsea Calvert

Both of these videos gave instructions and reasoning for using the two different resources. The first video discussed how it is almost impossible to learn or teach math through braille. The University of San Francisco invented a board or a work space for the student to lay tiles that had the letters printed on them and written in braille. The board also would connect to a computer and the computer would say the numbers as they were placed on the board.

The second video shows how the iPad has the over voice feature. With having this feature one could set the iPad to say out-loud what functions were being used. The video shows how to navigate an iPad with having the iPad read whichever icon you ran your finger over. It will also read books once they are selected. For the blind this is the only tool that you can turn on and have this feature in effect.According to the 2007 National Deaf-Blind Child Count, over 10,000 are children under the age of 21.(National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness. (2008, September)) This tool gives these students the ability to have a book at the tip of their fingers that can be read to them.

Both of these videos were informative on different subjects. I never thought about how difficult it would be to teach a blind person math until now. I think that the board would be a great asset to the classroom with a blind person. I think that this board would be helpful in learning the basics of math. I think both tools would be beneficial in the classroom. Using the iPad to read and for other things is a great tool. The students could read whenever they had free time and it would be an easy transition. I think the iPad could be used for every subject in some way.

PLN Final Post

 My Personal Learning Network is still evolving. It has been a really helpful tool with school this semester. I am able to save different sites and have easier access to them when I need them. I'm really glad that I've actually got into using PLNs. This is a must use tool for students. It teaches them organization skills. It also teaches them how to store and find sites that they need. The Persnal Learning Network is a tool that I will most definitely use with my students.

November Post of C4K

Faaoane

Te Reo Maori (My Own Mihi Mihi)
Tolofa translates in English the following words:
"Greeting to you all
Who have gathered
Here to this school
To greet
The love
Great is Happiness
For your strength
Assembling to learn the subject
Concerning this school of learning."

In my comment:
Hi,
My name is KeNesha Brown. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. First. off, I would like to say your blog post is beautiful. I admire the way yo translate your language into English. Keep up the great work and good luck this school year.

Mrs. Yollis Class ( Compound Sentences)
In the blog post, she discuss how to write a compound sentence. She explains that compound sentence combines two short sentences. The two sentences are joined together by conjunctions ( and, but, or, so). Mrs. Yollis explains that a comma comes before the conjunction. Mrs Yollis challenge everyone to write a comment using two compound sentence in the post. The comment should include plans for the Thanksgiving holdiay.
In my Comment:

My name is KeNesha Brown. I am in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. For Thanksgiving, I plan to enjoy my birthday and my family. I’m looking forward to a harvest feast, but I can’t abandon my studies; therefore, studying will be a part of my Thanksgiving plan as well.

I really enjoyed the blog post, and the creative activity you’ve came up with for compound sentences. The way your students are interacting with you and their classmates is outstanding. I love it!

C4T November

The Ever-Evolving Teacher's
Marzano Teach Led Factors

The Ever Evolving teacher posted a blog relating to a chapter in Marzano's book. They explained how the book gave three factors that influence students achievement. The three factors are instructional strategies, classroom management, and curriculum design. The Ever Evolving teacher explained that students' achievement was based off the teacher's ability to create an environment based on respect for one another and a teacher-student bond. They agreed with Marzano's ideas for student achievement and followed with a fourth by Creemer (1994), student grouping to the mix.

In my comment:
Hello,
My name is KeNesha Brown. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I would like to say that I enjoyed reading your blog post. I agree with Marzano's three factors for students' achievement. The more I get into my educational studies, I am learning more and more about teaching strategies and ways to approach kids learning. Even though kids learn differently, teachers much approach them with the same material but on different levels. That's why it is important to have instruction strategies, classroom management, and curriculum design. Thanks for sharing an awesome post.

Ever-Evolving Teacher
Presence ( Lasallian Concept)
The Ever Evolving teacher explains that to them, presence means being continually, and willingly able to change and grow for the better professionally. It is a person that is empathetic and accepting to others first. When a person have presence they are willing to take risks and are spiritually healthy with themselves.

In my comment:
Hello,
My name is KeNesha Brown. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. You have gave me a new insight on presence. After reading your blog post, presence is something that teachers should exemplify to their students inside and outside the classroom.  They must be able to change and grow for the better as you mentioned. If teachers don't teach the student s these type of character building skills, they won't know. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post. Also, I would like to thank you for sharing such a great perspective.

Blog Post 14

PNL through Pinterest

Former lab assistant Bailey and I brainstorm together on what I could possible do for Blog Post 14. As I searched the web trying to find the perfect tool that could be useful for EDM, Bailey mentioned a great tool called Pinterest.

  Pinterest is a pin board style, photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage ideas and information that's based on the theme they have chosen. It is a great tool for collaboration with students and teachers. In addition, Pinterest is a great way to find creative classroom ideas and the latest news. You can find out about tools and technology that can benefit you classroom. Also, Pinterest has this great tool called Map It. It allows to find images and other brilliant ideas from around the world. 

I am grateful that Bailey shared a pretty awesome website. Now, I want to share it with my fellow EDM 310ers. Here are the instructions:

For this assignment, each of you will be creating a Pinterest account. Each of you will find images and videos related to the following subjects:

~Technology

~ Innovation

~ Education

~ Creativity

~ Or any subject area related to education and how you can influence others learning.

You will then create a board. You will need to pin items that relates to education in some form.

Once you have finish creating your account, go  follow and invite teachers, fellow classmates, and of course the EDM 310 account.

Write a brief summary on what you have discovered on Pinterest. Post it to your Blog along with a link to your pin board you have created.

I highly recommend that you make Pinterest apart of your PNL. 

Project 12 B

Here is a link to the Google Site for our lesson plan.

Blog Post 13

Mae Jemison: Teaching Arts and Sciences Together
Summarized by: Kenesha Brown

Mae Jemison is an American physician and NASA astronaut. She was the first African American woman to travel into space. Jemison had a successful career at NASA; however, she resigned in 1993 to form her own research company (wiki). Jemison participated in the Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) Conference.  TED is a global set of conferences owned by a private non-profit organization.

In the video, Mae Jemison explained how arts and sciences should be revitalized. Lewis Carrol quoted “If you don’t much care where you want to get to, then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.” However, Jemison explained that it does matter which direction to take. What we do now is critically important to our future. The world is built off of abstract ideas that people think of today.  Knowledgeable ideas came to play as early as the 50’s. The subjects that are now invented, internet, high definition, etc., was thought of and mentioned during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

Jemison explained that during the 60’s people believed in hope for the future. They thought that everyone could participate in giving creative ideas. The tools people think is “hot or cool” now are based off the ideas from the 60’s.

On her trip to space, Jemison took three items with her. She took an Alvin Allen poster of a dancer performing a dance piece called Cry, a Badu statue that was given to her by a women’s society, and a certificate from the Chicago Public School students to work and improve science and math. People found it strange that Jemison took the items she chose. However, she felt as if each of the three things she took with her represented human creativity. Human creativity is what allowed them to conceive, create and launch the rocket into space.

Albert Einstein stated that “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true arts and sciences.”  The differences of arts and sciences are deconstructive. People look at science as deconstructive because often times it is something that has to be pulled apart to understand. However, Jemison explained that science provides an understanding of universal experiences; whereas, art provides a universal understanding.  People must realize that understanding, resources, and will are the cause of the outcome. Ideas and innovation should be driven from a person’s intellect.

Jemison stated that ideas should be thought of as potential energy. Nothing will happen until someone takes a risk. I believe that the arts and sciences play an important role in critical thinking for students. As teachers, we should to continue to stay ahead on a technological standpoint. However, we must remind our students that inventions come from people who are not afraid of sharing their ideas and failing. Students need to learn the importance of embracing culture. They need to understand that there are many ways of viewing situations. Therefore, as educators, we need to teach our students how to accept abstract ideas.  

Shkla Bose: Teaching One Child At A Time
Summarized by: Chelsea Calvert

Shukla Bose is a woman who went to the Indian slums to start making a difference in the education system they have. She has never been educated how to teach but she has been in the corporate word for twenty six years. In 2003, she started the Parikrma Humanity Foundation out of her own house. They started by walking through the slums and visiting the children and the parents. They realized that most of the children did not go to school. They tried convincing the parents to send their children to school. Once they got back to Shukla Bose's house to begin a plan they were overwhelmed with the numbers of children that should be going to school but do not. The number of students that attend school but cannot read or even do basic math. It was then they realized they are focusing on one child at a time. They started a school in a slum of 70,000 people living below the poverty line. The school was on the rooftop of two story building that was only partially covered. The school started with one hundred sixty five students. Now, after six years they have built four schools and a junior college with one thousand one hundred students that are attending. Their goal is to prepare these students to be educated and be able to function in this chaotic world. They teach every student how to speak English within about three and half months. They also chose one the most difficult curriculums and their students excel in it. The students are also excelling in sports.

The schools not only address the student’s education but also the parents. The parent attendance to school meetings is over eighty percent. At first the parents would sign in by using their thumb print but their children taught them how to sign their names. Some of the fathers had begun to attend the school. They had some mothers approach them about wanting to learn how to read and write. They school formed an after school program for these mothers to attend to educate themselves. She says that 98% of the fathers are alcoholics who they send some of them to a facility to get sober. Once the father has gotten sober, they help him get a job so that he does not relapse.  The school as also taught some fathers about hygiene and how to prepare meals. Some of them work at the school and cook for the students. This type of job gives the father a sense of importance. The school also has programs for the older children in the families so that they will attend and the younger ones will have a way to school. Bose addresses a few myths in her discussion. One of them is that the children from the slums cannot integrate with mainstream. She shows a video of a student who was selected by Duke University to participate in a program and was sent to a place that had many different cultures. In the video, the girl discusses how much she loved socializing with people of a different race or class then she was. She said normally she would have never approached people that were not in her social class or of her race. Once she had spoken to many different people she realized they are all the same they were all very friendly and could interact with her. Shukla Bose shared a great testimony that anyone who has the will to make a change can. Within six short years she has help build four schools and a junior college that in itself is amazing. She not only educates the students but also the parents. I think it was a great of them to start an after school program for the mothers to become a part of the learning process. Helping the parents and getting them involved with education will benefit the students. The parents are more likely to make sure their children go to school and get an education if they are excited about it too. This program is also changing the whole demeanor of households by helping the fathers get sober and finding new jobs. They are also teaching the fathers how to cook and how to set up their kitchens. This not only gives the father a new skill but also gives them the knowledge to share to their spouse. They also provide programs for the older students to ensure they will come to school along with their younger siblings. This is something I would have never thought about doing because normally the action of the older siblings does not affect the actions of the younger children. It was a great idea for them to impalement a program to keep the older students engaged in school.

Summarized by: Keri Brown
Shane Koyczan is an amazing man who told his story through poetry. Koyczan began by talking about how as a child we are told to "stand up for yourself," but that is a hard thing to do when you don't even know who you are. He says that we are expected to define ourselves at such a young age and if we didn't others did it for us by calling us names like geek, fatty, slut, or fag. "What do you want to be when you grow up" is not a fair question because it doesn't allow kids to be what they already are, kids.

Mr. Koyczan talks about his childhood by saying:
At age 8, he wanted to be a marine biologist.
At age 9, he saw JAWS and said no thank you.
At age 10, he was told his parents left because they didn't want him.
At age 11, he wanted to be left alone.
At age 12, he wanted to die.
At age 13, he wanted to kill a kid.
At age 14, he was asked to seriously consider a career path.
When he told them he wanted to be a writer, they told him to come up with something realistic. They told him to come up with something and then told him what he couldn't be. He was basically told to accept the identity that others would give him. His dreams got called names too, silly, foolish, impossible, but yet he kept dreaming.

During the ages 15-18, he hated himself for becoming the thing he loathed…a bully. At age 19 he wrote, "I will love myself despite the ease with which I learn toward the opposite." He said that "standing up for yourself does not have to mean embracing violence."

Mr. Koyczan talked about one specific time when certain people always wanted his answers for the homework and he wanted friends so he would always give them the answers. One boy would always call him "Yogi Bear" and laugh at his belly. After a while, Shane got fed up with this and when the boy asked for his answers to his homework, he gave him all of the wrong answers. When the boy got his homework back, he looked at Shane mad and puzzled that he had received a zero on this homework assignment. This was just enough satisfaction for Shane.

Shane closes by saying "if you can't see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror, look closer, or stare a little longer." There is something inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quit. He says that you have to believe that those people were wrong. Shane said, "yes, those things did hurt him, but life is a balancing act that has less to do with pain, and more to do with beauty.

Project 15

Project 15

For Project 15, I decided to do it individually. For the project, I decided to do a video, along with a webpage which provides all the Project Forms and a view of the Smartboard activity in the video.

Blog Post 12

Changing Education Paradigms
Summarized By: Kenesha Brown

In Sir Ken Robinson’s video, Changing Education Paradigm, he explains how every country is reforming public schools. The main reason why public education is reforming is because of economics and culture. With economics, people are trying to figure out a way to educate children in the 21st century, given that people cannot anticipate what the economy will look like at the end of the week (Robinson). With culture, on the other hand, people are trying to figure out a way to educate children so that they will have some type of cultural identity. However, where the problem lies with education is educators are trying to meet the future by doing what they have done in the past.

A lot of kids are being alienated because they don’t know the purpose of their education. Robinson explains how when he was younger he was taught to go to school, work hard and in the long run, hard work pays off; however, kids these days don’t believe in that. As educators, we have to raise standards, but the current system is designed and conceived for a different era. The educational system is conceived in the intellectual culture of enlightenment. Robinson tells us that before the 18th century there was no form of public education. Mostly wealthy families could afford schooling. Public education gives compulsory to everyone. It is funded by taxation and free at the point of delivery. On the contrary, a lot of people objected to public education. They felt as if it was impossible for poor and work class families’ children to benefit from getting an education. People believe that these children were incapable of learning how to read and write.

Robinson explains how public education base kids’ academic ability off of deducting reasoning and knowledge of the classic. Children who are smart are considered academic; children who are not smart are considered non-academic. However, non-academic children don’t know how brilliant they really are. Robinson views the model of education as trouble. He explains that the modern epidemic of education is ADHD; however, this is not an epidemic. “Children are being medicated routinely” (Robinson).In today’s society, kids are living in the most stimulating time in the history on the earth. They have a more advance perspective of how technology works. Instead, they are being force with information. Their attention is being pulled away from every technological platform. Lecturing is becoming boring. Children are getting through education by being anaesthetized. Instead of shutting students’ senses off and deadening them to what’s happening teachers should be waking them up.

In addition, Robinson tells us that education is modeled on the interest of industrialization. Schools are being organized as if they are factory lines. Children are being educated in batches, age groups, instead of ability. Robinson explains that the model of education don’t start from the line of mentality; it is about standardization and changing directions.

“Divergent Thinking is not the same as creativity” (Robinson). Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value; whereas, divergent thinking is an essential capacity of creativity. There are a lot of possible ways to find answers. Teacher should encourage students to find creative ways to interpret a question. Questions can have multiple answers, however, kids are taught there is only one answer and it’s in the back of the book. They are often told not to look or copy because it is cheating, but outside of schools’ walls, it’s collaborating. This is because of the gene pool of education.

Sir Ken Robinson made valuable points on how our educational system works. Teachers don’t realize that they are failing our students by not taking advantage of the technological opportunities that is being presented. Great learning happens in groups. Allowing students to collaborate is the stuff to growth in the classroom. As educators we need to embrace our stimulating society and apply real world application to our classrooms. Kids have more advanced opportunities that they need to be exposed too. The educational system from the 18th century has no use for this 21st century generation.

How to Escape Education's Death Valley

Summarized by: Keri Brown
Sir Ken Robinson begins by giving us a statistic that states "in some parts of the country 60% of kids drop out of high school, in the Native American community it is 80% of kids." This is a very sad fact to think about in our educational systems. One estimate about this is that if we half that number, that would create a net gain to the US economy over ten years of nearly a trillion dollars. Mr. Robinson explains that American spends enough money on education, America has small class sizes for the most part, and we have hundreds of initiatives to improve education. All of these impacts on education are good, but they are all going in the wrong way.

In this video, Sir Ken Robinson outlines three principles that are crucial for the human mind to flourish and how current education culture works against them. The first principle he discussed was that human beings are naturally different and diverse. The education under the No Child Left Behind Act is based on conformity not diversity. Schools need to start focusing on the arts, humanities, and physical education more rather than just the core subjects. One estimate says that nearly ten percent of kids are being diagnosed ADD and ADHD. Mr. Robinson says that "children are not suffering from psychological condition, but yet childhood itself. Kids prosper best with a broad curriculum which includes all of their interests." The second principle Robinson discussed is curiosity. He says that we are all natural learners, we just need something to spark learning. Teaching is a creative profession, and in this profession we need to mentor, stimulate, provoke, and engage our students. Education is all about learning, and as teachers we have to facilitate learning. Robinson says that standardized test should not be the dominant part of education. They are good, but they are not everything. Standardized tests should support learning, not obstruct it. Instead of curiosity we have a culture of compliance and teachers are encouraged to follow "routine algorithms" rather than to excite that power of imagination and curiosity. The third principle Robinson addressed was that "human life is inherently creative, it's why we all have different resumes." He talked about how we create our lives and we can re-create them. Robinson compared Finland to a state in America by saying that when he was at a conference and someone asked their educational leaders about their dropout rate, they looked funny and stated they do not have a dropout rate because when kids have trouble they get help and they have a very broad curriculum. In the United States of America we need to begin by individualizing education and learning. The responsibility of this should be on the school level to "get the job done." Education is not an industrial process based on mechanics, it is a human system. Sir Ken Robinson ends his discussion by saying that "the culture of the school is essential. The "Death Valley isn't dead, it's dormant. Right beneath the surface are these seeds of possibility waiting for the right conditions to come about."

I loved watching this discussion. I feel like we have lost sight of the creativity that is necessary in education. Mr. Robinson had so many wonderful and true points. I completely agree that standardized tests are good to have, but they should not be everything. I feel that students learn better when they are interested and actively engaged in what they are learning. I hope to be a creative mentor to my future students.

The Importance of Creativity 
Summarized by: Chelsea Calvert

Sir Ken Robinson believes that as an educator we have to prepare our students for what the world will be like in just a few years even though we ourselves have no idea. He believes that creativity is just as important as literacy. In every school system the arts at the bottom of importance. Mathematics and English are the two most important things in the education system. Art and music are taught but not on a day to day basis like he believes they should be. He refers to the woman that was a choreographer for the production "Cats." He tells us how even she was a child her teacher thought she had a learning disability because she could not sit still and was a distraction to the class. Her mother took her to the doctor to learn that her daughter did not have a disability she only was able to learn when she was active.

I think that Robinson has made a great point in this video. I had never thought about much the arts get overlooked. Every student learns in different ways and as an educator it is important to meet the students’ needs whatever they may be. Teachers should incorporate the arts into their classroom. Incorporating the arts in lessons would not be difficult to do.

After watching this video, I think the schools are more focused on trying to catch up with today's technology. It seems as if the schools are putting so much money into technology and having less teachers. The school systems have always been low on funding when it comes to teachers so they will get rid of the art teachers first but to be sure that every student has a personal computer to take home.

I think it is important for students to be technology literate but I think that it is equally important for them to be able to express themselves and be creative. The education system needs to find a way for the students to do both. If the school cannot afford to have a teacher for the arts then the classroom teacher needs to be sure to incorporate it into their lessons.

C4T Post 3

Forget Following your Heart-Follow Your HeartBreak

Angela Maiers' explains in her blog post that is best to follow your heartbreak to find what you really are passionate about. She tells us that passion really matters. It shows you what or who your really care about. It allows you to focus on what interest you the most. In Maiers' blog post, she gave a couple of questions and steps to follow in order to find that particular thing that breaks your heart.
Student Innovators Take Center Stage
In my comment, I thanked Angela Maiers for sharing her idea on how to find passion. I explained to her that I never thought about using negative problems to find a positive solution. This is an activity that can be done with the class as an icebreaker to see their ideas and opinions on what really matters to students.

Angela Maiers' explains how she goes about different schools and reminds kids that they are really geniuses. She explains how a group of kids was proved with the opportunity to present their work to 400 innovators. For a kid, this means a lot when they know that their work matters to someone else. In my comment, I thanked Angela Maier's for sharing the blog post. I also told her how I find the Choose2Matter program a great opportunity for kids.

Project 12A

C4K Post 3 October

Gardening!

Andrea, a student in Mrs. Hartooni's class, explained how excited she was about gardening with her class as a project. She explained that they will be growing fruits, veggies, and other types of plants. Andrea explained that she has some experience with gardening because she has helped her grandmother in her garden.
In my comment, I told her how I really enjoyed reading her blog post. I explained my observation on how excited she as about gardening. I pointed out that we had something in common; both of our grandparents own a garden. At the end of my comment, I wished her luck and told her to have fun gardening.

Heros

In Jen's blog post she wrote about how her mother was her hero. She explained how she loves how her mother takes care of her and always proved for her. In my comment, I told her how I really enjoyed reading her blog post. I explained to her how my mother is my hero too. I told her the reason why my mother is my hero because she's a great listener. At the end of my comment, I wished her the best of luck.

Soybeans

In Jacob's blog he explained how soybeans is one of the natural resources in Nebraska. He explained how it can be used in many different ways such as making candy or even milk. In my comment, I gave him credit on how informative his blog was on soybeans. The information that he gave about soybeans I didn't even know. Overall I wished him the best of luck this semester.

I'm so excited for the G.R.A.P.

In Andrew's blog, he explained how excited he was for the G.R.A.P. He explained how if he were Melody he would really be stressed. He taught a valuable life lesson on being thankful for what you have. In my comment, I applaud Andrew's blog post because he retaught a lesson I needed to learn. I told him that he taught me a lesson and I encourage him to keep up the great work.

Project 10

Blog Post 11

Little Kids… Big Potential
Kathy Cassidy is a teacher i first grade in Moose Jaws, Canada. In her video, “Little Kids… Big Potential”, Cassidy allows her students to demonstrate their technological skills. The group of first graders invites the world into their classroom. In the video, the students explain how they enhance their skills, create projects, and collaborate with others by using technology. Each student has their own blog. “The kids love blogging” (Cassidy). Blogging serves a great purpose for students. It allows them to sharpen their writing skills, collaborate with others, and stay connected outside the classroom. The tools that Cassidy uses with her students are:
~Blogging
~Wiki
~Skype
~Video/Audio
~Nintendo DS
With blogging, the students get an opportunity to have an audience other than their teacher. They can share their work from class with others. Cassidy explains how she tries to set up each blog post as portfolios. In addition, blogging gives students the opportunity to receive feedback on their work from others. A lot of parents like blogging because they are able to see their child’s progression and leave comments on their work. Cassidy also has a class webpage that is available for students. It serves as a hub for them. The class webpage has links and other educational material that students use for learning. In addition, students can have access to the classroom from home. Moreover, they have access to any tools that will help them learn.
Another useful tool for educational purposes the students mentioned is wiki. Wiki allows students to get information that is shared by others. In the video, the students explain how they post questions on traditions and rituals. They received information from different people about their family traditions and rituals. Wiki is a great tool because it promotes collaborative learning. Moreover, the Nintendo DS has its benefits in the classroom as well. The DS challenges students to think critically. It helps them with decision making and sharing. Even though it is just a game to some, the Nintendo DS is an interesting tool for learning.

Cassidy’s Interview Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Dr. Strange and a group of students conducted an interview with Kathy Cassidy. In the interview, she explains how technology is important for the new learning era. Cassidy got involved with technology ten years prior to when the video was recorded. Each class was given five sets of computers. The computers had all their available parts and internet access; but they didn’t allow uploads and downloads. Cassidy explains how her technological journey began with her interest in webpages. She mentions that teachers’ technological journeys should be sparked from their interests. They should use some form of technology that they are interested in and network to find other educators that share the same interest. Teachers must understand that “Technology is not going away, it is here to stay” (Cassidy). Cassidy explains that the tools from twenty years ago can no longer be taught to students today. Even the tools from five years ago are now becoming irrelevant. “We have to change because the world has changed” (Cassidy). There are many opportunities available online for teachers to collaborate and learn from other educators. Teachers must realize if they don’t take advantage of technology as a tool in the classroom they are only handicapping themselves and their students. Furthermore, teachers should be technologically literate. They need to know how to use technology to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and communicate (montgomeryschoolsmd.org). Processor and Spreadsheet is no longer considered technology. They must keep up with what’s happening in our evolving world.
Kathy Cassidy gave some helpful tips and great advice on technology in the classroom. From her video with her students, it shows that students are not too young for anything. As teachers, we need to stop underestimating our students’ abilities. We must expect the unexpected. Some of the tools and projects they were doing I didn’t do until I got to college. Therefore, using blogging, wiki, etc. will prepare them in college readiness. In addition, Cassidy's explanations from the video gave me a different insight on why technology is essential. Reading and worksheets don’t work with today’s generation of students. They have a more advanced perspective on how things work. For example, if you put a cell phone or an iPad in front of a two year old, they can more likely navigate and find things better than you. Therefore, teachers need to get out of the “my class my rules” phase and open up new possibilities for their classroom. All in all, Mrs. Cassidy’s first grade class made me realize that technology is a must-use tool for teaching such an energetic group of students.

Blog Post 10

The Last Lecture
Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science and human computer-interactions and designs at Carneige Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In September of 2006, Pausch was diagnosed with pancreas cancer. Almost a year later, he received news that his cancer has become terminal. Pausch decided that he want to be an inspiration to others. He gave a lecture that was so inspiration; it captivated the hearts of many and became an internet sensation on YouTube. The title of Pausch’s lecture is called “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Childhood Dreams" (wiki)

In his last lecture, Pausch explained how people could achieve their dreams and enables the dreams of others. He explained as a child he had a big imagination. Some of his experiences taught him something important about life. One of Pausch’s dreams was to become a NFL football player. When he was a child, he went out for the football team. He had a coach that never got off his case about the mistakes he had made. One of the coaches pulled Pausch’s aside and explained to him that “When you screw up and no one say anything anymore, that means they stop caring” (Pausch). That was something that Pausch made a part of him.

Pausch mentioned that situations occur to try to stop people from achieving their dreams. He referred to those situations as “brick walls”. Brick walls have two purposes: (1) To keep people who really don’t want it out and (2) so that people can prove how badly they want it. Some brick walls are even made of flesh. However, that shouldn’t stop anyone from working hard for what they want to accomplish.

Pausch also explained how he enables the dreams of others. Before stepping down from his position at Carneige Mellon University, he began a course that allowed students from different departments experience the virtual world. Pausch assigned projects, which lasted for two weeks. He randomly put students in a group of four and allowed them to explore and be creative. Teachers and students from all over campus came to see the students finishing products. All of Pausch’s students got to see the excitement from other teachers and students around the university.

Randy Pausch was very inspirational. Sometimes, you have to continue to dream the wildest dreams in order for them to come true. In addition, the video made me think about the things I have accomplished and want to accomplish. It made me think about if I had only a little time here what I would do to make a difference in someone’s life. Pausch has proved that it doesn’t matter about the situation; it’s about what you accomplished and what you can do for others.

Project 14

Kenesha Brown's Project 14

This is my individual lesson plan. I decided to do the Google site because of the prior experience with doing the site with the Dulchamp group. The site includes the BIE formatted lesson plan and calendar. It also has a rubric,which provides guidelines on what to expect from presentation (group assignment) and essay (individual assignments).

Blog Post 9

Back To the Future – Brian Crosby

Brian Crosby has a 4th grade class that will be enrolled in his class for the next three years (grades 4, 5, 6). Over 90 percent of his students are second language learners. At the beginning of the school year, Crosby took a survey of his students’ knowledge in his class. Most of the students weren’t able to give basic demographic information.
There is a disconnection between students and learning because of a narrow curriculum. However, students only know a narrow curriculum. They have only been taught in a lecture style. Students don’t have any experience or input to build schema for the world. It is hard for them to imagine if they don’t know how to do this. As teachers, if we don’t have imagination or creativity then where would the students passion stem from?
Crosby took a narrow curriculum and enhanced it to 21st century learning. A hands on activity that he and his students did with the hot air balloon covered standards that the students needed to know and gave them experience on how air pressure and other things work. After the activity was done, the students embedded videos and summaries about the activity and why the reaction was the way it was on their blog.
Crosby explains that active learning empowers students to learn own their own. It allows them to connect with others, collaborate with classmates, and include thoughts and ideas during activities. Brian Crosby changed his 4th grade class by doing things that attract their attention. His class went from not knowing their basic demographic information to illustrating science projects to other students in a different country. Crosby’s class is the perfect example of innovative learning.

Paul Andersen: Blended Learning Cycle

In this video, Paul Andersen who is a high school AP biology teacher, is explaining a system he uses within his class. Mr. Andersen uses a strategy known as the blended learning cycle. The strategy is combining mobile, online, and classroom learning. There are six parts to this learning cycle. The first one is a question. This is also known as the hook to get them interested in the topic. The next step is investigation/inquiry. Then they have a video of instruction. This frees up some of Mr. Andersen's time and the students are able to review the videos when they do not understand. The next step is elaboration which goes into the explanation of the answer to the question originally asked. Then he reviews with the students. He meets with the students individually or in small groups to ask them questions to check their understanding. This also gives the students the opportunity to ask him questions if they are having trouble understanding. The last step is a summary quiz which is about what they had just covered. He will not give them the quiz if he can tell that they do not have a good understanding of the subject. If they do not do well on the quiz then he makes them start the process over.
We think that this strategy is a great idea. We think the first step is extremely important because it gets the students interested in the topic. The investigation step is important because the students need to find the answer out for themselves. They are more likely to remember the information more if they find it out on their own. The video gives the students more insight about the topic at hand. The review stage is especially important because it gives the teacher the opportunity to evaluate if the students are ready to take the summary quiz. We think that it is good that he gives the students the chance to go back and learn the information again if they did not get it the first time.

Making Thinking Visible

In this video, Mark Church, co-author of the book Making Thinking Visible, describes a little bit about a lesson he does in his 6th grade classroom with this students. This lesson is the “headlines routine.” The students are going to work in groups to do a project on a video they had watched the day before in class on early human beginnings and the origins of society. He will have the students talk about the puzzles and video their groups and come up with a short headline to tell what it is really all about. He gave each group a long thick sheet of paper to write their headline on after their discussion. After every group had completed their headline they shared them in front of the class. The students needed to have just a little bit to back up why they chose this as their headline. After doing the same unit for two more weeks, Mr. Church will ask the students what is the headline now since they have learned a lot more and things have changed since the beginning to when they are doing their final projects.
We think this would be a great idea to use in the classroom. This would work especially well for long projects like the one in the video. This engages the students in thinking about what they already know, or what they think they know in the beginning. This also allows the students to stay interested in the assignment and continue to learn and change the headline as time goes on and they learn more about the specific unit.

Blog Post 8

21st Century Learning is Here!
Summarized by: KeNesha Brown

Mark Stevens explains how the technology people use in their daily life influences how students learn. Students and teachers have changed, and learning has changed, as well. However, the former setting of a school remains the same over the last 100 years. Stevens states, "We live with the reality that the same structure of brick, mortar, and steel will continue to greet us each morning" (Stevens). The great thing about 21st century learning is it can take place anywhere. Stevens explains that learning environment is not about the cool gismos and gadgets that are being used but the teacher applies today's technologies to make materials for students more engaging. "In other words, encourage the students to create, communicate, and collaborate in many ways" (Stevens).

"Learning in the 21st century takes new thinking" stated by NEA Executive Director John I. Wilson. 21st century skills are required in order for teachers to prepare their students for the globalized workforce. The teachers should find ways to incorporate technology while fulfilling the requirements for the curriculum. There are many useful tools that are available for teachers.

The question that Stevens mentions is "what does this 21st classroom look like?" He explains that interactive demonstration allows students to work through materials together. In addition, having access to the internet allows students to engage and transform content from around the world through tests and reliable learning portals. Students should have pens that records audio and data, because it helps students learn organization skills and allow teachers to share notes easily. Also, Stevens states that mobile devices allow students to learn on the go. Moreover, web-based applications allow teachers, students, and parents to stay connected outside the classroom.

The question is where do we start from here? Stevens explains that all teachers must think through the entire learning experience that they are creating for their students. Stevens provides NEA's and SETDA's key questions to inspire teachers thinking on how they can incorporate technology this school year:

-What tools and technologies will help the students create, collaborate, and communicate better?
-How can teachers let students learn with technology they already have?
-What is the appropriate role of the web, social media, mobile technologies, interactive white-board, etc., in today's classrooms?

Mark Stevens made some great points on 21st century learning. Teachers should consider ways to incorporate technology in their classrooms. These generations of students that educators are up against are more advance. Every moment of their lives is evolved around some form of technology. Educators must enhance their lesson plan to keep the attention of their students and cover all of the state standards. The main focus of the teachers' lesson should be allowing students' interest be the guidance to their learning process.

From reading Mark Stevens article, I did a search on tools to use to incorporate technology in students learning process. The website I can across is called BrainPop. BrainPop is a great tool to use as an inside or outside source in the classroom. It provides students with videos and games on any subject and topic. BrainPop is a tool that I would use to make sure my students are using technology as a tool of learning.

Summary By: Chelsea Calvert

This is an app that covers number and operation standards. Since iPads are becoming more common in the classroom this is a tool that could easy be accessed. This app helps the students understand how numbers are represented and the number system. The students must understand and know how to represent fractions on a number line. This game is more geared toward grades third through eighth. I chose this tool because it is something that will keep the students engaged. The students can also move into harder levels as they learn more so they are not confined to the same problems. If the teacher was to cover fractions and their place on the number line, they could let the students play this app to practice and check their understanding.

Summarized by: Keri Brown

Spelling City is a website and also has an app for iPads other devices. This app has a feature to search the language arts standards correlation list for standards by region and grade. This app provides correlations to U.S. Standards by State, Common Core Standards for each State's Implementation, Australian Standards by State, Canadian Standards by Province, and English National Curriculum Standards. This is a great tool for teachers to work with students in the classrooms as well as at home on their own time for homework or extra help. There are many games provided on this site for parts of speech, nouns, synonyms, contractions, phonics, Dolch-sight words, as well as vocabulary activities. There are also premium membership opportunities depending on how many students you have. There are many benefits with the premium membership such as, student activities being tracked, student test results and activities are automatically recorded, and you can create customized lists and lessons to meet each student's individual needs. This makes it great for ESE, ESL/ELL, and RTI.

Project 9

Project 2

For my Personal Learning Network, I chose to use Symbaloo. In my PLN , I included website, such as iCurio and Discovery Education, that will help me with my educational journey. I also included social websites, EDM 310 class blog, and the University of South Alabama website. Throughout my journey, I will continue to add websites that will help me enhance my knowledge and my learning community. PLN is a helpful tool to use in the classroom. It provides easy assess to website and other material a person may need.

Project 13

Lesson Plan 1

This lesson plan unit last for two weeks. It is created for fifth grade students. The Driving Question for this lesson is what is colonization and describe the early colonization to North America. We will begin the lesson with a trivia game found on iCurio to see what the student already have knowledge of. We will then assigned student one of the thirteen colonies, allow them to do research, and write an research paper on what they have discovered. After the research paper have been written, the students will then be paired up with the person that has the same colony they have and do a Google presentation on that particular colony. This lesson will cover Common Core Standards for English Language Art Write (2,6, and 7). This lesson also covers the Alabama Course of Study standard 5.

C4K Post 1

Aiden wrote summary on Aladdin. He explained how Aladdin received a lamp that had a magic genie inside. His mother rubbed the lamp and the genie came out. I acknowledge Aiden's effort for explaining the story of Aladdin and encourage him to keep up the good work.

Savannah, a student in Mr. Rhodus' 6th grade class, wrote about the sky having a weight. She explains that the sky weights 5 million billion tons and it is evenly distributed around us. I applaud Savannah's observation and encouraged her to continue to do great in school.

Blog Post 7

Project-Based Learning Part 1

Summarized By: Kenesha Brown

Anthony Capps is a former student in EDM 310 and a former lab professional at the University of South Alabama. He now teaches third grade at Baldwin County Elementary School in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Capps is a person who truly practice Project-Based Learning with his students.

During Dr. Strange's interview with Capps, he asked questions pertaining to Project-Based Learning. One of the questions that Dr. Strange asked was "how do you approach being a Project-Based Learning teacher?" Capps responded that "Project-Based Learning is constantly evolving." He explained that often time Project-Based Learning is confused with projects that are done after a lesson rather than a method that can encourage students to learn. Capps gave a couple of goals teachers should encounter when they are planning projects for their class. One of the most important thoughts Capps mentioned was when teachers are planning projects for Project-Based Learning, they must take a different approach on the aspect of what they want their students to know. Teachers need to create good projects that will have an authentic audiences. Kids like receiving rewards for what they have done well on. It motivates their work ethics. In addition, teachers should always think of the interest of the students. Kids love collaborating with their classmates on fun projects. Another things Capps mentioned was getting the community involved somehow. Getting the community involved shows students how a subject is related to the real world. Finally, teachers need to understand that their lesson should be driven by the state content. Because the standards are given by the state, they should be the main focus on what that grade level should learn. Therefore, teachers must think about what type of project to create that give the students the opportunity to know the content they need them to know. That is why teachers should explain the state standards to their students. The example Capps gave was when his students sent letters to Congressman Jo Bonner about their opinions on letting women serve in combat. The topic he and and his students were discussing in class was Equity and Culture. They all gave their thoughts and opinion on why they think women should or shouldn't serve in combat. Then, they were assigned to use iCurio to find women who did something in history. They also asked their family members and close friends, who served in the military, questions on their thoughts of women in combat. With all the information each student collected, they used it to support their opinion in their letters. After the drafts were done, Capps allowed his students to peer review and choose eight of the best letters to represent the class. "The democracy, grading process, and reflection is key to Project-Based Learning. However, the most important companions to Project-Based Learning are revising and reflecting.

Project-Based Learning Part 2

Capps explained another project done by his students on culture. The project was one of Capps' favorite projects he love doing with his students. As a class they started out exploring Haiti. They practice researching and using other tools that would be helpful with their projects. The following week the class began researching Afhganistan. The goal of the project was to write a narrative as if they were a child in that particular country. They were going to record their narrative on iMovie on their iPads and use iCurio or Discovery Education for pictures for their movies. Capps as well as his students, loved the outcome of their projects. Some of the students covered the topics on food, fashion, and warfare. Others covered all of the topics on Afganistan. However, one of the students' parents were uncomfortable with their child being exposed to Afghanistan's culture due to serving in Afghanistan. Capps respected the parent's wish and assigned his child another project. Capps stated that "with Project-Based Learning you never know what you are going to get so don't limit your students." In addition, students' choice plays a big part in Project-Based Learning. From the kids aspect, they love knowing what they are talking about, why they are doing it, and proud of what they are doing. Capps explained that when strangers enter their room they are happy to share what project they are working on. Dr. Strange made the statement that we are learners and we should engage in learning.

iCurio

In this video, Capps explains what is iCurio. iCurio is a website used by Baldwin County Schools. It serves for many purposes. iCurio is an online tool that allows students to safely search websites and pull web media for educational purposes. iCurio has a tool for storage. This is an advantage to the students because if they have any distractions were they can't finish their search, they can store it in a file on iCurio. This means that each student needs their own iCurio account. Capps explains that iCurio can be useful for all grade levels. iCurio is a safe learning environment for students. The material that students have access to is the material that the teacher provides. iCurio is a great tool to experiment and try out with students.

Discovery Education

Capps made the statement that "a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million." He explains that Discovery Education provides students with a lot of visual aids. "Whatever text article you can give a child if you can couple it with a visual they retain a lot more. Discovery Education also provides background knowledge, ways to extend conversation, and general knowledge on a lot of topics. "Everything for science and social studies is available." It teaches kids to research and enrich what they have already learned.

AdditionalThoughts About the Lesson

Anthony Capps explains that “a lesson is four layers thick.” When teachers are preparing their lessons, there are four things to think about. The first layer is think about the lesson in terms of the year. Teachers should think about how are they going to cover the content standards and have the curriculum they prepared covers all of the standards. The next layers is unit. There are layers within unit that create the rest of the four layers to an effective lesson. Teacher should consider unfolding a unit in a way “that is meaningful and that is connected in some type of way.” The unit should be a stairwell of goals that teachers want their students to meet. “Stretch out a unit by saying we going to start the unit off with this and by the end of the unit the student should be able to do this.” The unit then moves down to the week. Teachers should think about their goal on a week scale. They will need to try to figure out how everything is going to get done. Most importantly, the final layer is the daily lesson. The daily lesson is the way teachers get students’ attention. It is the hook to what they can expect to do. It is also the way teachers can evaluate students learning.

The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1

Summarized by: Chelsea Calvert

In this video Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps are creating a list of things that consists of things that as teachers we should do. They make a list of four things that teachers should do. Teachers need to be lifelong learners. To prepare ourselves to get into the teaching field we need to be extremely interested in learning. We need to be constantly learning and modeling how to learn. Teaching is hard work and even after you leave your classroom you should still be seeking to learn new information. Learning how to teach should be a teacher’s hobby and part of their everyday lives. It can be very rewarding once you have learned something new that you can incorporate within your classroom. Teacher need to be flexible and creative. As teachers, we need to be prepared for surprises that might arise in the classroom. We need to be prepared to go outside the normal routine if something were to come up. Teachers should also reflect on their work. We need to be able to critic ourselves to master teaching. These four things are all important tasks that teachers need to focus on.

Anthony Capps gave some great pointer on how to have an effective Project-Based Learning experience. I think that all the tools Capps mentioned helps makes an effective lesson. It is so much the state standards requires teachers to cover; therefore, teacher should come up with creative ways to get students engaged in their learning. Project-Based Learning is a method I will use in my future classroom. It allows students to enrich their learning.

Don’t Teach Tech - Use It

Summarized by: Keri Brown

Anthony starts off by explaining that whether we like it or not we use technology every day. He states “we’re immersed in it whether you want to be or not, you can’t buy groceries without it.” Anthony says that technology is natural for kids whether they are in low-income areas or high-income areas, technology is a part of their lives. When creating your lessons, you should scaffold technology into those plans. Anthony says that you should focus on one technology at a time and make sure your students have different opportunities to review and continue practicing and using each technology. Once students have practice with a technology tool you can then add on and incorporate the use of other technology. Anthony uses iMovie with his third graders and he says that by allowing them to use iMovie they can be creative, express themselves, it is free, it is clean, and the students love it. You should use technology in your classroom to allow your students to get excited about what they are doing, use it to let them share what they are doing, and scaffold it to let them use one tool at a time then progressively add in more tools. Do not expect perfection from your students, because it is not going to happen. Students will make mistakes, but as a teacher you should allow time to reflect on those mistakes so they can better themselves the next time they use this technology. Dr. Strange states “you don’t have to worry about spending a great deal of time or energy teaching your kids how to use technology, just give them the opportunity, and don’t expect perfect.” As the teacher, you should “do it first.” Use the technology and do the projects to better understand why students are asking questions and how you can help them.