Blog 6

Asking Questions: What questions do we Ask? How do We Ask? As a teacher, it is important to ask questions that pertain to project based techniques. Why should teachers ask questions you ask? Asking questions provides teachers with feedback. The teacher may ask a question to see if the student has understood the concept that he or she taught in a previous or current lecture or to see who is actually paying attention. Asking questions does not always provide useful feedback because some students are afraid to answer questions in class. Some students may not ask questions because they are scared of the idea of getting the answer wrong and being ridiculed. When asking questions it is important to ask the students if they understand and ask do they need some clarification because many of the questions we ask may not always make sense. As future educators we must also understand every student is different and not all of the students will want to participate in class discussions nor will they want to answer questions. However, as a teacher we do play an important role in helping students gain the courage to answer questions and get involved in the classroom. We should ask questions that will fit the level that students know how to communicate on. According to Ben Johnson, by the time students enter the fourth grade they know how they are perceived and play their roles accordingly. Why is this significant? It all goes back to asking questions and forming a question that the grade level you are teaching will be able to respond to. Find out how to ask appropriate questions at Better Questions Deeper Learning

Two of three Ways to Ask Better Questions In the blog three ways to ask better questions Maryellen Weimer,a teaching professional gave ways to ask better questions in the classroom.

Prepare Questions: Maryellen Weimer said that she never prepared questions to ask her students while in the classroom. Maryellen said she would just ask them. Maryellen would ask questions that students could not understand and when she found blank stares on their face she would reword her questions. It’s obvious that Maryellen did not think about her questions before she posed them or else students would have given her some type of response. What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher? Thoughtful questions require students to think about what is being asked. It challenges them to think outside of the box and come up with a response that may be different from their classmate. When preparing questions it is important to pose questions that relate to the lecture or the assignment. If a question is posed and it does not relate to the lecture students will take advantage and get off topic and who knows how long that will go on. I found the article by Bill Welty interesting because it gives the teacher the opportunity to be creative with questions and examine when, where, and how to ask the question

Preserve Good Questions: Maryellen Weimer says that it is okay to save good questions. Sometimes students offer ideas or questions that the teacher may not have thought of asking. If a student asked me a good question I would write down that question and ponder on it. I would probably do research on it as well. As a future educator, I believe that there is nothing wrong with research even if we have knowledge of that subject. The world is constantly growing and things are constantly changing, which leads to why teachers should preserve questions. Maryellen said that eventually students may start asking better questions themselves, including the ones we can’t answer. What significance does this have? Hopefully students will go research the questions that we cannot answer. Allowing students the opportunity to research what we can't answer will have them eager to learn more and wanting to ask more questions.

Project #8

Blog Post #5

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence is



My Passion is

Project #3 Presentation

Blog Post 4

The Video in The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom talks about students who have never experienced life outside of electronic devices. Many of the students spent their time watching TV, playing video games, and sending instant messages. Some students even spent most of their time watching podcast. Podcast can be found on MP3 players and Ipods. Joe Dale, the author of The Benefits of Podcasting in the classroom gave valuable reasons why students should use podcasting in his video. He learned that students actually enjoy podcasting because it allows them to interact with peers and the teacher in a different way. Students have access to information they need to know at any time and they don’t have to rely on classmates to give them information they missed in class. Using podcast gives students the opportunity to listen to lectures, record themselves, and make audio recordings via podcast. Joe also talked about how podcasting gives students a variety of ways to learn whether it’s inside the classroom or traveling on a family trip. A student in the video said that she listens to her podcast while traveling. Who would have thought podcasting would be this exciting for students?Thanks to podcast students no longer have to get behind when they miss class because the teacher can upload a lecture being taught in podcast. This allows teachers to connect with students even if they do not attend class.

In Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting the children enjoyed listening to their voices on the podcast. Many would listen to themselves over and over again. It is obvious that podcasting brings excitement to the classroom. In the blog Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting Langwitches talked about the type of feedback podcasting can give students who have recorded a audio podcast. Students are able to listen to the way they put sentences together and get comfortable with the words they pronounce. I believe that using podcast would be very helpful in reading and English classes. Students could record themselves reading their essay and use the podcast as feedback to hear and understand mistakes being made in their sentence structure. It also allows them to listen, think about, and comprehend what they said. Another interesting part about podcasting is you are able to listen to them via smart board,which almost every classroom has. The SmartBored gives you to the opportunity to stop, edit and putting their audio clips together.

Judy Scharf is the author of PodcastCollection. In "What is a Podcast," the author explained that a podcast may include music. Judy Scharf says that a podcast is a radio-style talk show. If you are unsure of how a podcast works I recommend reading this post. It includes links to help succeed in the classroom, how to make a time schedule for podcasting, and suggested projects to use if you are thinking about using a podcast. "What is a Podcast" has been very helpful with understanding podcast. I will use this page as a reference when we do our first podcast in EDM 310. She also includes videos to help with the process of creating a podcast. Check out How to create a podcast for more help.

C4T #1

For my C4T I read and commented on Diane Dahl’s blog. Diane is a teacher, who received her bachelor’s degree from WGU. She also received a master’s degree in Brain Based Teaching at Nova Southeastern University. She now resides in Texas.

Post #1

In Using Data to Drive Meaningful, Targeted, Brain-Based Math Instruction the teacher used data to help with future assignments and homework for the students. In order to assess the needs of students, she met with the students who excelled along with those who were not doing well in her class. Students met with their teacher at what is called the teacher’s table. I found the teacher’s table to be interesting so I commented on the Diane Dahl’s blog asking if there is a specific time that she set aside to meet with students at the teacher’s table. Diane included her students when it came to decision making in the classroom by assessing their interest and needs. She incorporated music, sports, names of friends, names of teachers, and games based on the interest of her students to help with lessons. In the blog Using Data to Drive Meaningful, Targeted, Brain-Based Math Instruction Diane demonstrated the type of assignments she gave her students in which she used personal interest to help create them as well. Diane’s blog is very helpful. when trying to find a new way of teaching in the classroom. Find Diane’s blog by clicking the link

In my comment I stated that I am a EDM 310 student and I left a link to my blog. In my comment I wrote: I enjoyed reading about your multifaceted approach. Knowing what students are interested in and how well they perform in certain subjects can definitely help with improving classroom instructions. The multifaceted approach allowed me to be open-minded when thinking of possible ways to teach my class. I would have never thought of finding out what each student is interested in and using that information to help guide my teaching because I thought classrooms are based strictly off lesson plans written by higher authority. Are there specific times when each child gets to meet at the teachers table like at the beginning or end of class? Also, I agree with the idea of keeping track of things students missed on test to help assess how well they retained information. Many teachers continue to move on because they have so much information they want their students to learn before moving on to the next grade, but I’m glad that there are still teachers out there willing to assess and reteach. The homework and morning math stood out to me the most because each assignment included shapes, which allows those who are visual learners to have a better understanding of what they should be looking for and how to get to the correct answer. Overall, I enjoyed reading your blog.

Post #2

Diane Dahl gave out useful information to help with practical and strategies to use in the classroom in Metacognitive Thinking Skills for Life and learning part one: Optimism. She gave an example of how students react when they are optimistic and when they are pessimistic from a study that she found from Seligman. The experiment proved that those who are optimistic will accomplish a challenge without hesitation better than those who are pessimistic. The experiments lead Diane to her different teaching strategies, which are Deal with it, The Next Time, and Delete. Deal with it means taking care of the problem right away, The next time says that even though things don’t work out the first time an optimistic person will find a way to get better and the last strategy is delete the negative thoughts. Diane closed by saying “your optimistic attitude will make your class a better place..” I found her closing statements to be interesting because students are expected to follow the teacher and teachers are expected to lead by example.

My comment for Diane:

Diane, I thought it was appropriate to give a definition of optimistic and pessimistic in your blog so that your readers could understand the possible behavior students may show. After giving a definition of optimistic and pessimistic you talked about two experiments you found of children who were optimistic and children who were pessimistic while working on a task. Thanks to your definition, I could picture the pessimistic children being frustrated with their assignment and why. You gave detailed actions of how the children responded to their challenge. “Clearly, the students were under the misconception that intelligence is fixed.” What does that statement mean? I agree teachers are good resources for helping students understand that their brains are changeable. Also, I can relate to the statement “students sometimes put off assignments because they are afraid of failure and then by the time they start working it is too late to do a good job which then results in a poor grade.” There have been times where I put off an assignment for more than three days because it was challenging and I did not want to give up some of my time to take an attempt at it. Your blog not only helped me as a future educator, but it helped me as a college student. I will keep in mind the outcome of being optimistic and the statement our brains are changeable. Follow me on twitter @educating_1

Blog Post 3

What is Peer Editing?

The video and the slideshow on peer editing talked about the three rules of peer editing, which are compliments, suggestions, and corrections. Giving compliments is one of the rules I never considered when peer editing. I have learned that it is important to give the writer credit for what he or she has done correctly. Why should you give compliments when peer editing? Before watching the video I thought peer editing was done to catch grammar mistakes, incorrect spelling, and ensure that the writing flows smoothly. After watching the video, I have added compliments to my list of things to think about when peer editing. Many of the students in EDM 310 are going to school to be elementary teachers and most of their students will be required to know how to write a complete sentence. Well when critiquing the student’s sentence the teacher should keep in the mind the three rules of peer editing. If someone misspells a word or puts a comma in the wrong place I would say something encouraging to keep the writer from being discouraged but at the same time point out the mistakes the student made so that he or she will learn from them and hopefully become a better writer. Critiquing is just as important as encouraging the student when peer editing. Think back to when you were learning how to drive. Someone took you out on the road and commented on the things you did wrong so that you would do them correctly when you went to take the test for your driver’s license. The slide show gives good examples what type of comments to leave when peer editing. To find out more about peer editing watch What is Peer Editing and check out the slideshow Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial

Top Ten Peer Editing Mistakes

The two students who were peer editors at the beginning of the video pointed out all of the mistakes that their partners made, but they did not include any good advice or compliments to give their partners. If I had someone peer editing my paper and they pointed out all of my mistakes I would be discouraged and assume that my paper as a whole was not very good, which in most cases is not true. Also, I would recommend using colored pens to mark mistakes in a paper when peer editing and underlining what needs to be fixed. The reason for using colored pens is to help the writer see what needs to be fixed. It is hard trying to remember everything your peer editor partner said was wrong. Watch Top Ten Peer Editing Mistakes


Will you offer suggestions publicly blog or privately e-mail?
The question was asked would you email your peer review or post it publicly? I would post my peer editing publicly because everyone is allowed to see it. There may be someone out there looking for ways to improve their post or trying to figure out how to get it started and by having comments under the written work they have an example plus feedback to look at.

Blog Post 2

Professor Dancealot

Professor Dancealot did not do a good job of keeping his students interested in the class. Instead of using a powerpoint to show the correct hand and foot positions to the dance professor Dancealot could have showed a step by step video of the dance. While giving instructions on how the students should dance professor Dancealot should have assigned each student a dance partner and have them practice the dance moves. While showing how each student how to do the dance Professor stood behind the counter where no one could see exactly what he was doing. One of his students stood up to see how the dance went, but professor Dancealot made him sit down. Professor Dancealot expected the students to learn by observing what he did instead of him observing and critiquing the moves that the students were demonstrating. I don’t understand how he expected the students to learn how to do the dance for the test without practicing it. How does this video relate to what goes on in schools know? The video reminded me of how most students will sit in a classroom for an hour or more without retaining anything the teacher has said or done and when it is time to take a test everyone has an excuse for why they cannot pass the test. Even though Professor Dancealot did not do a good job with teaching the students the dance they needed to know. There were plenty of resources that the students could have turned to for help such as google or youtube. Watch Professor Dancealot

The Networked Student by Shakeya Andrews

Watch The Networked Student I was amazed at all the resources that the networked student used without having a textbook. In most college classes students rely on their textbook to help them with their school work, but I learned that there are more resources out there other than the traditional textbook. While watching the video I asked the question “If the teacher almost never lectures how does the student know what he should be learning?” As I continued to watch I found out that the teacher allows her students the opportunity to find ways to enhance what they need to know. The student used google scholar, which I have never heard before and he was also able to use Skype. He also uses blogs to help gather information and give his opinion of different topics. Why does the networked student need a teacher? Every student needs someone to guide them to their resource. If I did not sign up to take EDM 310 I would not have thought about making a blog or all of the opportunities having a blog can offer. Having a teacher while being a networked student can be beneficial because students are able to go to the teacher for questions about unfamiliar networks and problems that may occur. The student also used his MP3 player as a tool to gather information. He used Podcast and Itunes to access other college professors and their view on different topics. Not only do the student use the internet as a source for researching things, but he also shares his knowledge through videos.

By Tracy Armstrong

Teaching in the 21st Century according to Kevin Roberts means to put down the chalk and do away with the chalkboard and learn more innovating ways to teach your students. The question was posed on were teachers obsolete. I believe that Roberts was saying that if the teachers don't become educated about the various uses of technology that they will become obsolete. Teachers must be ever learning in order to be effective in their field. Roberts's video, covered a lot of valid and vital information. It gave examples of the different tools that are available such as youtube, blogs, and google just to name a few. The video also introduced a lot of the lingo associated with this 21st century technology such as subscribing, editing, uploading, searching, posting, linking and locating. I must admit that all of this information is overwhelming. However, I do agree that we need some conflict in order to change. If Roberts is correct about this 21st century teaching then that means that I have to become educated with the latest technology so that I won't become obsolete as an educator. I need to be able to give my students guidance and teach them how to differentiate between the various tools. The students need someone who can help them organize the information into ways that will help them in problem solving. I must engage the students so they may have long term, meaningful results. It would be my responsibility as an educator to teach the students how to communicate properly by being responsible and reliable. The Networked Student by: Shakeya Andrews Watch Networked Student by Wendy Drexler I was amazed at all the resources that the networked student used without having a textbook. In most college classes students rely on their textbook to help gain insight of what they need to know about their class, but I learned that there are more resources out there other than the traditional textbook. While watching the video, I asked the question “If the teacher almost never lectures how does the student know what he should be learning?” As I continued to watch I found out that the teacher give the students the opportunity to find ways to enhance what they need to know such as blog sites and google. The student in the Networked Student used google scholar, which I have never heard before and he was also able to use Skype. The networked student also used blogs to help gather information and give his opinion of different topics. Why does the networked student need a teacher? Every student needs someone to guide them to their resource. If I did not sign up to take EDM 310, I would not have thought about making a blog or all of the opportunities having a blog can offer. Having a teacher while being a networked student can be beneficial because students are able to go to the teacher for questions about unfamiliar networks and problems that may occur. The student also used his MP3 player as a tool to gather information. He used Podcast and Itunes to access other college professors and their view on different topics. Not only do the student use the internet as a source for researching things, but he also shares his knowledge through videos. StudentsHarness your students digital smarts by Emma Boren This video was very eye opening, as was the whole website www.edutopia.org. The video “Harness your students digital smarts” was based in a high school setting. These students had a class a lot like EDM310. It was internet based learning. The teacher in this classroom taught these students everything they needed to learn and more. She also gave the children an opportunity to teach the other students and her things they may not already know. While looking through the website, I also came across a video based in an elementary classroom in South Carolina. I was interested to see it because I am an elementary education major. These students had learning stations and each one was different, however they were all very technologically based. The students were assessed at the beginning of the year on the computer. The students had access to computers, and project supplies to produce all these cool projects. They were taught to teach themselves. They worked together in collaborative groups for learning and for projects. This way the teacher was more available to walk around and help the students who needed help. Through this website, I also learned the importance of having an effective classroom. It is very necessary to have valid space so the students are not crammed and so the teacher can move around. The effect that technology and teacher interaction has on the interest of students became very clear. Technology is becoming more and more important in today’s world, and it is important for students to know how to work with this kind of equipment. The students in these videos were so excited to learn and work together to figure out the things they did not know.

Harness your students digital smarts by Emma Boren

This video was very eye opening, as was the whole website www.edutopia.org. The video “Harness your students digital smarts” was based in a high school setting. These students had a class a lot like EDM310. It was internet based learning. The teacher in this classroom taught these students everything they needed to learn and more. She also gave the children an opportunity to teach the other students and her things they may not already know. While looking through the website, I also came across a video based in an elementary classroom in South Carolina. I was interested to see it because I am an elementary education major. These students had learning stations and each one was different, however they were all very technologically based. The students were assessed at the beginning of the year on the computer. The students had access to computers, and project supplies to produce all these cool projects. They were taught to teach themselves. They worked together in collaborative groups for learning and for projects. This way the teacher was more available to walk around and help the students who needed help. Through this website, I also learned the importance of having an effective classroom. It is very necessary to have valid space so the students are not crammed and so the teacher can move around. The effect that technology and teacher interaction has on the interest of students became very clear. Technology is becoming more and more important in today’s world, and it is important for students to know how to work with this kind of equipment. The students in these videos were so excited to learn and work together to figure out the things they did not know.