When I Become A Teacher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RVLV6jr20E

WebQuest Link!

https://sites.google.com/site/rockformationswebquest/

Elementary WebQuest Evaluations

1.  Which example WebQuests listed are the best ones and why?
        ---One of the best is "Unraveling the Underground Railroad" because it has a lot of information presented, and it has a lot of visual aids.
        ---The other best one is "Grow School Greens" because it has a great use of moving images, and it provides a lot of useful information.

2.  Which two are the worst and why?
        ---One of the worst ones is the "Ancient Egypt" WebQuest because it is very plain, and all information is listed on one page.
        ---The other worst one is "Where is My Hero" because it doesn't show many ways for groups to be involved, nor does it give specific directions for group members.

3.  What do best and worst mean to you?
        ---Best and worst to me are determined by how eye-catching and attention-grabbing the WebQuest is.  Good requires the WebQuest to be able to grab and keep a student's attention. For a WebQuest to be one of the worst, it doesn't give clear direction or clear expectations.

WebQuest Analysis

THE ATTITUDINIST

Your Impressions

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Saving the Gorillas	This covers good specific details for the scientific processes of collecting the information.  There are also a lot  of resources listed to give direction in finding the important information.	There are a  lot of opinion statements within the first few pages of the site.
Shakespeare	There are a lot of useful resource links on each page, directing the student to use information well.	There is really only one area that allows students to show themselves through their assignment.
Earthquake	This WebQuest allows the student to do a hands-on activity; and it also allows for multiple angles on a certain topic to be viewed.	The WebQuest shows the standards that are presented in the lesson, but isn't very clear in showing which links on the left side are actually a part of the assignment.
Foreign Country	There are several links to other pages that can provide more information on this project, and more insight.  It allows for new information to be found, not just information recall to occur.	This isn't very visually appealing to the student.
Sound	This WebQuest gives very explicit direction, and very good resource links.  This also allows for feedback that goes to the author.	Introduces a new topic only by stating "***New Topic***"--instead of bold wording to easily differentiate between topics.

Activity Evaulation 11/9/11

• Does this activity differ from much of the activities you engaged during your K-12 education? How? or How not? Give examples.

                    A lot of the activities I completed throughout my education were basic, run-of-the-mill, boring worksheets and essays.  There was one activity we did in eighth grade that was similar--we had to video conference with an earthquake/volcano tracking lab on an island in the Caribbean, and we had to create a disaster relief and evacuation plan for the island.

• Is your learning style addressed in this activity? How? Give me an example.

                 Yes, I am a very hands on, creative, and visual learner--this activity would allow me to cut out pictures and research things that I am interested in.

• This project was implemented without the use of textbooks. Are you surprised? Are you interested in teaching in a similar way when you become a teacher?

                  No, I am not surprised at all. I really hope that I can do a lot of my instruction with limited use of textbooks--I feel like students connect to the material more if it is tangible, rather than written to them from a "I'm better than you" kind of attitude textbooks tend to have.

•  What are your concerns and what do you anticipate as being barriers?

                     A lot of times, with learning a language, there are certain graphs and charts that need to be seen up close by the students in order for them to see the information accurately.  I feel like avoiding those charts in a text book would make instruction more challenging for the teacher, but would also connect the students to the information more readily.

Blogging Questions

1. What do you like or dislike about keeping a blog for this course?

                I think it is very convenient for us to be able to turn things in; as well as being able to have help, advice, and comments from classmates is very helpful.

2. How can keeping a blog make you a more effective teacher?

                Blogs help with easily spreading information to different types of learners—visual, audio, and even hands-on learners, by sharing interactive activities with students.

3. Will you consider continuing to post to your blog after this course is over? Why?

                I would like to think that I would continue using my blog, and using blogs in general for instruction.  I feel like it can be a very useful resource to share information with students and the whole world.

I feel like networking is probably one of the biggest benefits of blogging. It makes information much easier to share, and access.  It allows students and instructors the ability to view, share, and find new information more easily.

Wikipedia Questions??

(Not sure why it wouldn't let me copy this right from my Word document, so I took a snip of it.)

TodaysMeet Comments

These are some of my comments/responses from our chat on Monday. :)

My Comment---

Website Evaluation

Magazine Cover! :)

Media Literacy (VISUAL LENS)

"Visual literacy is a learned “reading” of

images. Semiotics is the study of how the

reading of signs and symbols together

communicate complicated ideas in the

form of codes (Lester, 2000). Just as basic

textual literacy uses vocabulary, metaphors, 

and genres, visual literacy employs

 colors, icons, and various media

to communicate ideas and feelings to

readers. Grounded in the senses and

surrounded by a context, both basic and

visual literacy rely on active construction

of meaning through a process of interpreting 

codes and signs."

Reference:  Abilock, D. (Photographer). (2003). Power lens. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6DFAmexYq7vMTFmZjZhNWItZWY5Ni00NzdhLWIxYzItMmE4NmI0MGI5NzJl&hl=en

I chose this section of the text because I feel like images are a HUGE part of our world, and this generation. Children, adolescents, and younger adults today tend to be able to receive information in more of a visual manner, rather than textual or even digital. Before a law was passed against it, advertising companies, like Coca-Cola, would flash images on the screen of a movie for about 0.25 seconds. This quick view of an image could start a thirst for that product--images control us! Stop signs, billboards, trees beside the road, McDonald's signs, brand names--all of these give direct messages to our brains, allowing us to be either informed, persuaded, or dissuaded from anything.

Images tend to spark situations or thoughts in our minds, which lead to certain emotions or actions. The following video shows images that are entertaining, and surely spark emotions :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n66t4aZA8to

People	Objects	Activities
President of the US	Books	Thoughtful look
	White and Grey Shirt	Leaned toward audience--listening
	Greenery	Lips pressed together--stressed
		Wrinkled forehead--deep in thought and stressed out

Three things:  Obama had just received disturbing news; he is thinking diligently; and he's in a semi-relaxed room, not a typical office.

Questions: What is he considering?

This second picture gives me more confidence in the president's leadership abilities--he seems like he truly cares about the situation in this picture.

Media Literacy :)

People	Objects	Activities
Mayor of Dauphin Island, AL	Boardwalk	Walking back from water
Mayor of Gulf Shores, AL	Ship	Looking through binoculars
President of US.	Flag	P of US smiling
Governor of Alabama	Coast Guard Officials	Coast Guard Officer looking toward P of US.

Three things observed:  Obama's sleeves rolled up; Coast Guard Officer looking for answers from P of US; resemblance of walking in slow motion and on a mission.

The caption raises the question--who are we trusting with taking care of business?

How Can I Use a Digital Story???

A digital story is a really great way to incorporate audio and visual learning styles into one activity. Teachers can use digital stories to present new information in an eye-catching manner. This tool brings images, words, and sounds into a "movie-like" production to present thoughts, information, and emotion to the viewer.  To tie this activity to the ISTE-NETS standards, I chose the "Digital-Age Learning" Standard:

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. 

This shows that teachers can follow this standard, and bring new information in a contemporary fashion that will capture the attention of the student.

In my future classroom, this activity could be a good tool to present information regarding either "The Life Cycle of a Cell," or maybe even "French Civilization and Culture" (depending on which of my classes I would choose to use this tool in!).


Click here to view an idea for a classroom use of a digital story. (The video at the center of the page under "The Student Response.")

Copyright & Free Use

Can students upload their multimedia projects to Youtube?--Yes, but they must realize that they lose the rights to it when it is accessible to others on the Internet.

    Fair use ends when the multimedia creator loses control of his product's use, such as when it is accessed by others over the Internet.

Are there limitations to the amount of pictures or length of music or video that can be used in a multimedia project?--Yes, only certain amounts of copyrighted material may be used.

     Up to 10% of a copyrighted musical composition, but no more than 30 seconds

    A photograph or illustration may be used in its entirety

    Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 3 minutes, whichever is less

Do you need to request permission from the original creator in order to use copyrighted material in a multimedia project for a school-related assignment?--Not necessarily.

     Students may use portions of lawfully acquired copyrighted works in their academic multimedia projects, with proper credit and citations.

Quotes in italics are from: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/copyright1.html

Comic From Last Week! :(

Digital Story--again!

 Hey everyone! Here is my digital story again!
Enjoy!

Spelling Issues?

"...the notion that a word should always be spelled the same way is a much more recent invention than the language itself."

This statement jumped out at me mainly because it is a foreign concept to me.  I remember reading split page books in high school--one page with Old English, the other in Contemporary English. I would find while reading that some words were spelled two or three different ways on the same page, but they meant the exact same thing. 

Today, this would be an editor's nightnmare, and very very quickly corrected. We seem to have found ourselves trying to become more unified in our spelling for a greater literate community to understand--in doing so, however, we have yet to realize that we confuse some people to no end with the way certain words are spelled (Example from the article above: through, tough, dough, etc.)

The link below gives a funny insight on some of the confusing words that the English language uses, and its rules, or lack thereof. Enjoy!
DUMB English!


References: 

Shea, Ammon. "The Keypad Solution." The New York Times. N.p., 22 Jan. 2010. Web. 8 Sept. 2011. <www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html>.

Survey Results! :)

Hey everyone! Here are the results to my VARK survey :)

The VARK Questionnaire Results

Your scores were: Visual: 9 Aural: 8 Read/Write: 3 Kinesthetic: 7 From this survey, I learned that I am a very multimodal learner--I have three areas where I am closely related in my learning styles. I am one who learns from Visual, Aural, and Kinesthetic methods. Since I am so closely related in each learning style area, I feel that I should focus on each type of learning methods. In some of my classes, I need to be able to touch and feel what is going on in order for me to understand. In other classes, I need to make graphic organizers for myself and the information to allow myself to visually accept all of the information. In others even, I need to look up videos on Youtube that have explanations that I can listen to which help me learn the information. As I was taking this test, I thought, " This test could never tell me the way I think/learn because my learning spectrum is so varied." My thoughts changed, however, when I saw the results. I do think this is an accurate test because it shows the variety in my learning styles. In this picture, I made my eyes and ears very large to show that I am an auditory and visual learner. I also included the shapes outside the face to show my kinesthetic needs. :)

Digital Story...

Hey everyone! I was trying to be a good student on Sunday afternoon. While looking over the Syllabus page, I came across this assignment that had yet to be updated...It said to choose a teacher quote, and to create a video behind it supporting the idea of the quote. Well, the syllabus has since been changed, but I thought I should post the link to my video anyway since I put effort into it. :) Enjoy!
EDUC 2201 Digital Story #1

What's a Wordle? and Poll-who?

Wordle and Poll Everywhere can be really useful tools in a classroom. These tools are ways of collecting information as well as displaying it in a way that is visually pleasing. Poll Everywhere is a web-based tool that allows real-time responses from participants, through either texts or web pages designated to a certain person's poll.  Wordle is an online resource that allows text to be entered, and an image is created with the words--displaying the words by the number of times repeated in the text: greatest number of repetitions creating the larger words in the image.
One way Wordle can be used in a classroom is to enter a famous speech, such as "The Gettysburg Address" or Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and the words that are repeated over and over in the speech will be represented as the focal points of a Wordle image.


One of the standards of the ISTE, is: "Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments."  These web tools apply directly to this standard in that they allow both teachers and students to express their creativity and subject knowledge using technology.

A way that these tools could be used in my future classroom is by entering vocabulary words (ex. Parts of a Cell) into the Wordle text box, and creating a visually stimulating route for students to recognize information for later recollection.
Example:

References:
Jen, Wagner. "Wordle Ideas."Upload & Share PowerPoint presentations and documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Sept. 2011. <http://www.slideshare.net/JenniferW/wordle-ideas>.


ISTE. " ISTE | NETS for Teachers 2008 ." ISTE | Membership, NETS Standards, Books, Journals and Professional Development for Teachers . N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Sept. 2011. <http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx>.

Laziness or Lack of Care?

"By 1750, Lord Chesterfield famously warned his son that "orthography … is so absolutely necessary for a man of letters, or a gentleman, that one false spelling may fix a ridicule upon him for the rest of his life." Today, it is difficult to imagine anyone taking Chesterfield's admonition seriously. If spell-check doesn't catch the problem, whatever! Does spelling really matter, anyway?" (Baron, 2009).

These few sentences hold a really powerful message that encapsulates the entire evolution of the English language, and how the care that people have for using proper English has nearly faded into the background in some cases--but the word "most" has no place in that statement. Although the last statement--"Does spelling really matter, anyway?"--applies to some people, there are many more people who do not believe this is true. Writers and speakers of English are often ridiculed if using improper grammar, so they are more likely to try to use the most proper grammar they can.

This video is from my childhood--one of many used as a tool to teach basic lessons in a catchy way, allowing for easier memory of the subjects being presented. Enjoy & remember your childhood if you're as old as me! ...if not, mock me for my age. :)

References:

Baron, Naomi. " Educational Leadership:Literacy 2.0:Are Digital Media Changing Language? ." Membership, policy, and professional development for educators – ASCD . N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language%C2%A2.aspx>.

Video from youtube.com address:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Eam2rL5S-4

Results of the Poll!

What's a good teacher look like?

My Poll!

Click this link to go to my poll!

What is your preferred ice cream flavor?

"Education Needs a Digital Age Upgrade"?

“What if bad writing is a product of the form of writing required in school — the term paper — and not necessarily intrinsic to a student’s natural writing style or thought process?” She adds: “What if ‘research paper’ is a category that invites, even requires, linguistic and syntactic gobbledygook?"

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/education-needs-a-digital-age-upgrade/?hp

This quote affects in me in a very personal way--throughout my time as a student, about 4/5 of my life, I have always run into the problem of educators having an unreachable level of expectation for any "papers" to be turned in. What most of those people never really considered is that the students they may have labeled as the "unteachable," or the "failures" were, more often than not, the true geniuses of the classrooms, but they were never given the opportunity, or the right outlet for their specific talents.  If the educators had provided more ways than a "term" or "research" paper to share knowledge, these students could more easily reach their truest potential.  

Writing "papers" can be a daunting task--and for this reason, I feel that the picture below fits this topic perfectly.

Image copied from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzq86sCkzOylSAEfqPQSqg7QI0YfOij4ha-nJ_GtuYqshkojmdKjg1iROXz1maKcTMhOGvP2CvFkQBLT5Fr-t7JkfhqSN_6THtGeysHRh44LGwj6ysQB1yT6X_Qe4_dBIafEJNX9ixxA/s320/CSG_Writing-the-Revision-Process-grey-722640.jpg

My First "Hello!"--ou, mon premier "Bonjour!"

Hello everyone!

Just a quick introduction--my name is Scott Barner, and I am currently a Senior at Fairmont State University. I am working toward two degrees--one in French, and one in Education with specializations in French and General Science.  With these degrees, I hope that I am able to bring the joy of learning these subjects to anyone in the age range of 10 years old and above--they are my primary focus.

I believe students need to be thoroughly invloved in learning throughout the classroom. Some activities that would encourage this include, but are not limited to:  full classroom games, rotational question participation, voluntary reading aloud, and many others. When a student is involved in a classroom, the student is more likely to be excited about a certain subject.

Hopefully throughout the time of this course, and this blog, I will be able to learn more about how to integrate technology in my future classroom!

à toute à l'heure! (See ya later!)
Scott