blog post 10

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

I think we can learn from Sir Ken Robinson two primary issues with our education system and a fundamentally innovative way to combat those issues. He discusses a new climate crisis-misuse of human resources/talents. He states that there are two types of people in this world: those that endure instead of enjoy and those who love what they do and identify themselves by their profession. Education should foster that love for what they do, but often times it doesn't. We have to go looking for human resources like natural resources. To do this, we don't need to reform a broken system, we need to revolutionize a transformed system. The first challenge is linearity. We need to challenge what is obvious and what we take for granted. He read a quote from Abraham Lincoln stating we must, "...rise with the occassion...and disenthrall from linearity." We set our children up for following a straight line to "get to college". Life is organic, according to Sir Ken Robinson, and we need to use our talents in circumstances to function. He gave an anecdote of a boy who wanted to be a firefighter. He had a teacher tell him he was wasting his life with that career choice. The student later saved the teacher and the teacher's wife's life. He made the statement, "Human communities depend on a diversity of talents." We place this sense of urgency to get to college, but it isn't urgent. He also commented on the need to reconstitute ability--college does not start in kindergarten, kindergarten starts in kindergarten. Conformity is the next pressing issue. He states that we have built the education system like a fast food chain. It is standardized and depleting the students' spirit and innovation. We need to foster passion, what excites us, and what feeds our spirit. Sir Ken Robinson made the analgoy of needing to move our education system from an industrialized/manufactured model based on conformity and linearity to an agricultural based model where like a farmer, we need to create conditions for human flourishing. We need to customize and personalize our system/teachings to the people we are actually teaching. He ended the talk with a poem encouraging us to tread softly on children's dreams.

Project 15

Exploring the Periodic Table

By completing this project, the students will identify the symbol, atomic weight, atomic number, and name of the elements in the periodic table. They will also find a picture of the element's use to place on their element card so as to apply science to everyday life. The students will then present on the information researched and share with the class. They will then collaboratively create a life-size periodic table on a wall in the classroom for reference for the remainder of the year.

Smart Board Project 12

Blog Post 9

Ms. Cassidy's Class

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class (4:56) Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1 (14:37) Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2 (4:55) Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3 (12:46)

Ms. Cassidy's teaching mentality is some what of what I hope mine will be one day. Technology is continually growing and getting better in most cases. This use of blogging will make it much easier not only on the teacher but also for the parents. This makes keeping up with their students process virtually at their fingertips with online grade books and also calenders. Although I will probably not get to use this first hand with children with special needs, I really do like that she also wants to teach the students to use the internet in a safe way. She is very precautious as to what her students search for and look up. I foresee equipping children with special with a skill set to accurately judge truthful and untruthful information/websites appropriately. This will also help them filter information and form their own opinions instead of using someone else's.

When I first started this class I looked at implementing technology as a real challenge in my particular field of study. However, Ms. Cassidy has inspired me view utilizing technology as a growth opportunity for my future students and classroom.

project 9

Project 14

Students as a group will present a persuasive argument for which of the 4 MAIN (militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism) causes was primarily responsible for leading to World War I. World War I makes a major change in the progression of history into the modern world. Understanding the causes of this war and how it changed history is necessary for students to understand how history is linked and how current issues are linked to this pivotal point in history.

Blog Post 8

Teachers Network

How you would use it? Teachers Network could be used for many different reasons. The most popular reasons teachers turn to this website is for projects and lesson plans. Teachers Network is also linked to Project Based Learning. Google is the search engine used for this popular website. There is also a way for educators around the world to intact and share information all around the world to other teachers. I hope to use this website frequently in my future an elementary school teacher. There are many different advantages to using this website. There are options for different grade levels and subjects for ideas for projects and also many lesson plans. This website gives tips for new teachers and also advanced educators. I chose this particular tool and use of technology because it is very self explanatory and user friendly. Using this website will make creating a project, looking up information and making lesson plans much easier and not so time consuming. I hope to use techersnetwork.org a lot in my future as an educator.

project 13

Egg Drop Project #13

By: Anna Meitzler, Evan Grace and MacKenzie Yancy

First the students must work through a bridge building module to understand structures. This module is what we like to call the learning phase. It teaches them about how different shapes and angles are stronger than others. Once they have an understanding of what they are working with then we move on to the next step, the Egg catcher project, where they will apply what they have learned.
My 10th grade Physics class was given a 100 dollar budget and a weeks time to make the best egg catcher model. The class of 20 was broken into 4 groups of 5 students. The models will be tested by dropping the egg 8 feet and using the best model to catch the egg without it breaking. Each group was given the option to buy many different materials including tape, cardboard, tissue paper, foam and regular paper. The students were also instructed to take notes and record results in a journal. These results will be presented in the class presentation of the finished product.
This project will help students in the future by having them work in a group. working in a group can be very trying at times. The egg drop project can also help with the students communication. In order for this project to be successful each group must have a clear understanding of each other and their intentions. Critical thinking and creativity are also very critical in this. At the end of the week each group is instructed to present their project to the rest of the class and prove why their egg drop model is the best. All of these skills will be required in their future.

Blog Post 7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.

In this lecture with Mr. Pausch we learn a lot of different things. The main point being, to never give up. He repeats this many times in his lecture in many different ways. In his life he has had many reasons to give up. In all of these trials he never thought about it and never is going to, as he currently fighting a life ending form of cancer.

When Mr. Pausch was younger he wanted to be national football league player. Because of some unfortunate circumstances he was unable to make this dream come true. In this specific instance of not succeeding, Mr. Pausch learned from the experience of trying to make it happen. Another helpful hint he mentions is to start out by making a goal and even if that goal is not achieved learn something from the experience.

summary of c4k's for February

In EDM310 for the kids post I was assigned Cally in Mrs. Reuter's class. The title of Cally's most recent blog post was titled "Comic Website Review." This blog post started out with much controversy on which website to use to make comic strips. The feud was between Toondoo Make Believe Comics There are many advantages to using both of these websites, but they also have their own disadvantages. When weighing the pros and cons for both Cally thinks that Toondoo is the better choice in making her comic strips.

I was assigned Mrs Little's third grade student from Hong Kong International School. My c4k student's blog name is cutie carly. In her latest blog post she shows where she got a henna tattoo as a Christmas present. It is a sunshine painted on the palm of her hand.

Kylie B., a 7th grader Bode Middle School in St. Joseph, MO, was my next assigned C4K blog. Her teacher is Tia Frahm. In Kylie's latest blog post was titled "Color Poem." In the assignment her class was assigned to pick a color and write a poem about it. They were also required to find a visual to go along with the color and poem. Her picked color was blue. In her picture, she has two different pictures to go with her poem. One was of a bird in the sky and the other was of the ocean water. Kylie really seemed to enjoy this blog post assignment. It was a very interesting read and nicely written post with all of the given directions met.