I can honestly say I NEVER would have even attempted getting a twitter account if it was not for this class. At the very beginning I did not understand twitter or it's uses. I did not really go to too many outside sources I just really spent a lot of time exploring Twitter on my own. I found other people to be "followers" of, even ones that had to do with education. The difference between Twitter and say facebook or myspace is that twitter is much simpler. It is easier for adults to get involved and be able to keep in touch and discuss things over the internet. I followed as manyt people as I could find. I messaged a few on my own and regularly followed other people's tweets.
The only way I can truly see twitter as beeing beneficial to the classroom is the fact that teachers could keep in contact with parents in a very quick and easy manner. They could get updates from their teachers through Twitter so that if a child does not remember to tell their parents something, they can just look it up on twitter. Otherwise I really find it too easy to find people and it does not seem like the safest place for children to be. Yes the parents can control and watch what their children are doing, but I just find it too easy for others to find them so quickly. I'm not sure if I will keep using Twitter mainly because I have so many other things that I'm doing and I really do not feel like it has caught on with the people I spend most of my time with.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Podcasts
I listened to my podcast and three other podcasts. It was interesting to see how they all differ from each other and how different the organization was for each podcast. For ours, what I mainly have to say is that unfortunately we were not as prepared as possible because of some issues I had with traveling back from Arizona. Meghan and I had a hard time getting together to work on it and you could tell in the podcast. I loved Dr. Feldman, the teacher that we interviewed. He had a lot of insight as far as how much technology has advanced in the past twenty years and I know people will enjoy listening to that.
The first podcast I listened to besides Meghan's and mine was "Burp Back Education" by Lauren Roberts and Kimberly White. They had a lot of good conversation going on which helped to keep me interested. I like the questions that they asked Dr. Strange and how they described burp back education and gave ways to correct it. The only thing I would have to say about it was that it was just a little too long. I did lose interest after awhile because it went on for a longer time.
The next podcast I listened to was the discussion of Randy Pausch's Last Lecturei discussed by Sean Caballos, Chip Curtis and Heather Averette. The first thing I did happen to notice was the fact that there was a lot of background noise that had nothing to do with their discussion. Aside from that, I really enjoyed how they explained the lecture. They kept up a good conversation and you could tell that it was very well organized. They also did a very good job at using parts of his lecture and applying it to their lives to help people understand what he was talkin about in his lecture.
The last podcast I listened to was 3 Good Websites for Teaching Materials by Heather Klein, Kathleen Scrivner and Dominique Benward. Right at the beginning I thought that the nickname "DHK Today" that they came up with their podcast very creative and cute. They did a good job at finding websites that would be effective and not cost any money. The way they talked to each other kept you interested and they asked each other good questions so that listeners were sure to understand everything they were talking about.
The first podcast I listened to besides Meghan's and mine was "Burp Back Education" by Lauren Roberts and Kimberly White. They had a lot of good conversation going on which helped to keep me interested. I like the questions that they asked Dr. Strange and how they described burp back education and gave ways to correct it. The only thing I would have to say about it was that it was just a little too long. I did lose interest after awhile because it went on for a longer time.
The next podcast I listened to was the discussion of Randy Pausch's Last Lecturei discussed by Sean Caballos, Chip Curtis and Heather Averette. The first thing I did happen to notice was the fact that there was a lot of background noise that had nothing to do with their discussion. Aside from that, I really enjoyed how they explained the lecture. They kept up a good conversation and you could tell that it was very well organized. They also did a very good job at using parts of his lecture and applying it to their lives to help people understand what he was talkin about in his lecture.
The last podcast I listened to was 3 Good Websites for Teaching Materials by Heather Klein, Kathleen Scrivner and Dominique Benward. Right at the beginning I thought that the nickname "DHK Today" that they came up with their podcast very creative and cute. They did a good job at finding websites that would be effective and not cost any money. The way they talked to each other kept you interested and they asked each other good questions so that listeners were sure to understand everything they were talking about.
Blogs in the Classroom
I had heard of blogging many times before through commercials and conversations that other people have had. I can honestly say though that making any attempt to blog or get into the blogging world never crossed my mind until this class. I always thought that it was weird and it did not make any sense to me.
Since i have been in Dr.Strange's class, I have come to learn so much about the blogging world. It is such an easy way for people to be able to communicate online and express their opinions on different topics. you can collaborate with anyone you want and find people all over the world who share the same or opposing ideas as you.
As far as using it in a classroom I think it can be a good idea. You can get your students involved with technology seeing as it is becoming so much more prominant in our world today. You can also use it to discuss topics with other students and teachers everywhere so you can see how others are learning too. You can also possibly pick up different learning techniques from other people.
The only thing that I would have to say makes me wary is the fact that anyone can access the blogs. Parents would have to make sure that they know what their students are getting into. I would also recommend a little monitoring just to confirm that there are no creepy people trying to talk to their kids. Otherwise I think this is a very effective tool to use in the classroom!
Since i have been in Dr.Strange's class, I have come to learn so much about the blogging world. It is such an easy way for people to be able to communicate online and express their opinions on different topics. you can collaborate with anyone you want and find people all over the world who share the same or opposing ideas as you.
As far as using it in a classroom I think it can be a good idea. You can get your students involved with technology seeing as it is becoming so much more prominant in our world today. You can also use it to discuss topics with other students and teachers everywhere so you can see how others are learning too. You can also possibly pick up different learning techniques from other people.
The only thing that I would have to say makes me wary is the fact that anyone can access the blogs. Parents would have to make sure that they know what their students are getting into. I would also recommend a little monitoring just to confirm that there are no creepy people trying to talk to their kids. Otherwise I think this is a very effective tool to use in the classroom!
Monday, April 20, 2009
"Growth" vs "Fixed" Minds
In "Growth" vs "Fixed" minds by Stanford, two different groups of students go to two different seminars. One that just teaches straight study skills in college. The other went to a session that not only taught study skills, but also had a seminar in teaching about the growth of the mind. "Your brain is like a muscle", it needs to be exercised properly to get stronger.
At the end of the semester, the students who had "growth" seminar showed a significant increase in their grades. Even their teachers, who didn't know which students took these classes could figure out who did. A famous racecar driver even contacted the author of the book about this to see if it would help his performance in race.
As a teacher, I find this to be a very important technique for the classroom. Being a special education major i realize that this is a key factor in a child's progression. I think that special education students need to especially make sure they do not take too much of a break from their studying practices. Otherwise, like a regular muscle, the brain will slowly lose the strength it has gained and you will have to start over from scratch. I really liked this video and it really helped me to understand some ideas that I need to get started on as I become a teacher.
At the end of the semester, the students who had "growth" seminar showed a significant increase in their grades. Even their teachers, who didn't know which students took these classes could figure out who did. A famous racecar driver even contacted the author of the book about this to see if it would help his performance in race.
As a teacher, I find this to be a very important technique for the classroom. Being a special education major i realize that this is a key factor in a child's progression. I think that special education students need to especially make sure they do not take too much of a break from their studying practices. Otherwise, like a regular muscle, the brain will slowly lose the strength it has gained and you will have to start over from scratch. I really liked this video and it really helped me to understand some ideas that I need to get started on as I become a teacher.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)