Project # 13 Project Based Learning Plan

My group, Boston, has decided to write a lesson plan for our 4th grade class. Our class watched a documentary on different cultures around the world. After watching the movie, students will describe how their family culture is different from the countries watched on the documentary. Next, students will research on a selected country and present the country to the class by using a trifold board. Listed below is the lesson plan and calendar.

Project Overview

Project Calender

Rubric

Blog Post #7

This week, I enjoyed watching Mr. Randy Pausch's last lecture, Achieving your Childhood Dream Mr. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In his lecture, Mr. Pausch presented a lot of great teaching techniques that I could use in my future class. I can tell by just observing him for about five minutes that he is a great professor because he kept his students' engaged in his humorous personality and stories. Although his childhood dreams were quite funny, I like how each dream had a lesson or purpose. For instance, Mr. Pausch had dreamed of playing in the NFL as a child. Although he was not as good, his coach, Coach Graham, was constantly pushing him to play better by telling him " do it again, harder". As a child, you would think that the only reason why your coach would push you so hard is to just be mean to you, but that is not the case. When someone is pushing you to do better at something that you are not good at, he or she really cares about you and wants to see you succeed. Mr. Pausch related this concept to teaching our students. When are students are constantly making mistakes, we, as teachers, have to push our students to do better in order for them to be successful. I totally agree with Mr. Pausch because for some of out students we, teachers, are the only supporters/motivators they have. I plan to continue this concept throughout my teaching career.

C4K Summary for February

Every week in my EDM 310 class, we are assigned a student to read and comment on his or her blog. My students ranged from 4th grade to 10th grade. I have really enjoyed reading these blogs and can not wait to read some more throughout the school year.

C4K#1: Dane is in Ms Toals' class from Fhursa Dublin, Ireland . His post was about getting to know him. He is the only child and has a King Charles ( a dog). My Comment: Hello Dane. My favorite pet is a dog as well. I have a blue pitbull name Skylar. I have never heard of a King Charles. I will definitely have to look that up.

C4K#2: Joseph is a 5th grader in Mrs. Caddy's class from Virginia, Minnesota . His post was called " All About You Survey". He asked questions such as, " Do I like animals?, What is my favorite color?, What is my favorite animal?, and What is my favorite super power that I might want?" My Comment: I like animals, especially dogs. My favorite color is red. My favorite super power I might want is invisibility because I would want to scare my big brother while he is asleep. I am very curious to know, what superpower would you want and why?

C4K#3: Festina is in Mrs. Ruiz's class from Austin, TX. Her post is about her having a close relationship with her family. She is especially close with her sister because she really trusts her sister. She also explains how if you have someone always pushing you to achieve a goal, then that person must really want to see you succeed in life My Comment: I am very close with my family as well. Like your sister, my mother is someone that I can always talk to about anything, and she totally understands me completely. I must say, you are a great writer. Keep up the good work.

C4K#4: Tristian is a 10th grader from Mrs. Long's class. His post is about the legalization of marijuana. He believes that it should be legalized because it is very beneficial to health and could save the government a lot of money. My Comment: This is a very controversial subject that has been going on for years. I totally agree that marijuana is beneficial when it comes to certain medical issues, but like you said, it does have a negative affect to some people, such as death or chronic issues. I believe that it should not be legalized because since it is considered a " drug", in years to come, society might think that other "drugs", such as crack, should become legalized as well, which I know researchers that believe that it should be legalized will try to find positive aspects of the drugs.

Project #9 Video Book Commentary

Project #8- Book Trailer

Blog Post # 6

Questions: What are personal learning Networks? How can they help you as a teacher? How are they formed? How can you create your own PLN? Who will be the first additions to your PLN? A PLN can either stand for personal learning networks or professional learning networks. According to Steven Anderson's video, Building Your PLN - A Primer for Anyone,a PLN is a way for professors/teachers to networks with each other about different educational strategies that can benefit his or her students' learning. However, personal learning networks are tools that can be used to benefit yourself on a personal level, such as organizing your computer to where it can accommodate your school and professional work. A PLN can be formed by interviewing people whom you see that could possibly be a part of your circle ,or you can observe people's behavior within their social medias. I believe a PLN could be very beneficial to my future career( becoming a teacher) because this gives me the opportunity to communicate with well experienced teachers that could possible give me great advice on how I can be successful with my profession. I plan on creating my own PLN by networking with mentor teachers that I have met with over the years and hopes of expanding my circle with teachers that I have met during this course of EDM310. My first addition to my PLN will be a teacher mentor, Mrs. Moss, who I have known for years. She is one of the reasons why I have decided to become a teacher and has been a big supporter of my life.

My Sentence

My Passion

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post # 4

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher? This question can be answered in all types of ways. As a college student now, I believe an effective teacher should asks questions that will accommodate each students' learning styles. Half of the class may learn better from a visual approach while the other half may learn from an auditory approach. Personally, I prefer teachers to ask questions from a visual standpoint because sometimes I may not hear every little detail of the teacher's question.

According to Dr. Harvey Silver's video,Questioning Styles and Strategies , he emphasizes that teachers must ask questions in different styles and strategies in order to get students' involvement in the classroom. In the video, he demonstrates the styles of questions, such as surveying and student calling, in Ms Hannah Coblin's 5th grade class. I love how Dr. Silver gives students the questions prior to asking the students the questions, which I believe this gives students the opportunity to write down his or her thoughts instead of being expected to answer a question on the spot.

However, if a teacher decides to ask a question verbally, he or she must be aware that it is best to ask an open-ended question. According to Ms Joanne Chelsey's video, Better Questions in the Class, an open- ended questions allows students to elaborate in depth asked questions, which this method allows teachers to get feedback back on students' understanding. As a student, I know if a teacher asks an closed- ended question ( yes or no answer) instead, that we ( the class) are going to say yes regardless because we are either ready for the class to be over with or just ready for the teacher to move on to the next subject.

Most importantly, it is our job as teachers to make sure that each student is able to answer the questions. I know we, as teachers, this could be a challenge for us dealing with students who will never answer a question of ours out loud due to low self esteem or nervousness, but with practice, preparation, and understanding of our students from different levels, it can be done.