Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Peer Editing

Peer editing or peer review is something that we have all taken part in throughout our years in school. Most of the peer reviews that I have taken part in have involved some one I knew and my self. Editing a paper from someone that I know makes it much easier for me to point out the discrepancies in the paper with out fear of backlash from the author of the paper. Peer editing can be intimidating especially if the peer that you are editing takes your corrections personally. Peer editing is also a group effort. Both parties, the editor and author, have to be willing to participate and eager to take constructive criticism. The editor must follow the three steps in editing and the author must listen and not take any criticism personally.

The Videos What is Peer Editing, Writing Peer Reviews Top 10 Mistakes, and the slide show Peer Editing With Perfection Tutorial are very useful for learning how to peer edit effectively. These videos taught me the three important steps to peer editing. These steps are Compliments, Suggestions, and Corrections. The first step, Compliments, is the most important. You never want to start a review with a bad tone. That could cause the author to completely ignore all of your suggestions and any other corrections you make. Another tool for editing that I learned from these videos and slideshow is that you always want to be positive when making suggestions or corrections. This will allow the author to take your corrections or suggestions openly. When editing you always want to word your suggestions in a light positive manner such as; I really liked how you worded that sentence but i think this may be better. While i am peer editing i will remember the three key components of peer editing, Compliments, Suggestions, and Corrections. Always lift some one up before you have to bring them back down.
Uncle sam pointer his finger at you

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Taking the Teach out of Teacher?

The central message of the video Mr. Dancealot was that students cannot learn the material with out applying it themselves. When students are simply lectured on the material and not able to practice they will not retain anything that was lectured on. It would be like sitting in math class listening to the teacher explain how to do a problem but not being able to practice on your own. It would be nearly impossible to retain the information that the math teacher was giving you. The author in the film makes his case by portraying the students as bored and falling asleep because of lack of hands on learning. At the end of the film the students are asked to demonstrate the dances that they have been
taught
during that semester. It was clear that none of the students quite knew what to do because of the lack of hands on learning. I agree with the conclusion of this video. A hands on learning environment would help students better understand material and retain information.

In Teaching in The 21st Century by Kevin Roberts, Roberts lays out what he believes teaching in this day and age will be like. Roberts key point in his message is that teaching should now incorporate technology in all aspects in order to keep the students engaged in the class room. Roberts states that teaching with technology will help students develop key skills that will enable them to effectively use technology for things other than entertainment. Roberts sees teachers in the future acting more as enablers than teachers. I feel that Roberts is correct about teaching incorporating more technology to keep the kids engaged, but i do not think students can have that technology in their hands without it offering more of a distraction than an engagement tool. The students in today classroom rely easily on social media, which is easily accessible through the technology that the schools want the students to use. In a perfect world yes this would work great to help students learn to use technology to help them learn but right now all students want to do is use technology to help the gossip. If Roberts is correct and teaching will put more technology in the hands of students than teachers will be more like IT personnel rather than Scholars. If Roberts in correct than me, as an educator, has to learn how to effectively maneuver technology to make the classroom fun and engaging.

In the short Film "The Networked Student" by Wendy Dexler they show you how technology and the web will enable students to find an endless amount of information and resources and use it effectively. Dexler shows that every device the students have can help them further their education outside of the classroom. Dexler also demonstrates how through an mp3 player students can gain access to the best professors in the world. towards the end of the video Dexler poses the question, why do we need teachers in this day and age? Dexler states that we need teachers to help teach the students learn how to gather credible information and organize it, how to reach out to others for help on the web, and how to share what they have learned with others around globe. what Dexler explains in the video would work great if this was a perfect world where every student had the amazing drive to learn new things instead of watch pointless videos on you tube. All of these ideas about incorporating tech into classrooms are great ideas but would be extremely hard to control. how do you control the web and the technology that access it? you can't. I feel that Dexler wants more enablers than teachers. using the web for research and for projects is great but i do not think it will be beneficial to use the technology everyday. It will only add more distraction to an already chaotic environment. My views of how technology could or could not help in the classroom are heavily influenced by what I saw while I was in school. every school is different so it would be hard to say that this would never work, but i do believe it will be a long hard road.

In the video "Harness your Students Digital Smarts" by Vickie Davis, she explains how She has used technology to help her students learn new things on their own and connect with people from all over the world. Her main argument is that when students have only paper and pencil than other certain types of students can learn in that situation, but with what she is doing in her classroom will allow every student the opportunity to learn and grow. I think what Davis is doing in her classroom is great and is inspiring to those who want to connect their students to others to enhance their learning experience. I do not agree with Davis When she states that she doesn't have to define everything and she shouldn't. No you do not have to define everything but it is apart of a teachers duty to teach his or her students new terms or concepts that is why they are called teachers because the teach. If they want to teach the students how to learn on their own Then why have teachers passed the 9th grade? Like I said before, incorporating technology and empowering students is great but it is not a one size fits all solution for preparing students better for life after high school. Here is the link to the video. http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis-video

Flipping the classroom is a new term for me. I have done similar things in classes I have taken at South but none before that. Having the students watch the lectures, take notes, and prepare discussion questions for class all at home so that they can come to class better prepared to discuss and learn in the classroom. I believe this technique is a great way to use computers and technology in the classroom. It empowers students with technology without taking the teacher out of the picture. It also has a back up plan for those who do not have computers at home. Flipping the classroom will also help students slowly build up the skills needed to be self reliant. Flipping the classroom can also provide a richer experience in the classroom instead. instead of lecturing all day in class the teacher can have discussions and debates about material that they watched the night before. Unlike other technology movements in schools Flipping the classroom does not take the Teach out of the Teacher. Here is the link to the video Flipping the classroom if you want to learn more.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

What About EDM310?

I have heard many horror stories about EDM310. Many of the students and even my adviser have spoken about how time consuming the work can be. Although many spoke about the amount of time and effort you must put into this course they also told me that as long as you do put in the time and effort there is a lot you can learn from EDM310 that can help you in the future. The main fear that I have of this course is falling behind and not being able to catch up. Unlike most of the other courses I have taken at the University EDM310 is mostly online based and requires more on your own learning. Also EDM310 requires a lot of projects that are online and involve blogging which I have never done until now. The most difficult thing in EDM310 for me will be the self learning and staying on track. I will admit that I do procrastinate and that is a habit that i will have to break now. It has always been easier to have some one just lecture the material to me but I class I will have to learn most of it on my own. Learning own my own will not be easy but it will allow me to retain the material long after EDM310. to help my self succeed in this course I will begin a new daily routine so that I can devote more attention to the projects and blogs that I will be participating in. One question that I have about EDM310 is what will the projects be on? will we be critiquing, researching, or both in these projects? I am sure if i read further into the spreadsheet in my Docs i would find my answers, and i will be doing that as soon as i post this blog. These are all the things i have heard, the fears i have, and the solutions that i plan on implementing in EDM310.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Practice Post

I was born and raised in Mobile Alabama. I grew up with two older sisters and one little brother. I joined the Army Reserves right out of high school to get a change in scenery. shortly after finishing my training i deployed to Iraq in 2011-2012 for one year. while spending two years bouncing from state to state with the army i found a passion for traveling, although i enjoy traveling outside the military to safer and more fun places i have seen a lot and am glad i joined. it gave me tools so that i could further my education and do the things i love to do. i recently married my girlfriend of five years who is from Croatia and also shares my passion for traveling and seeing other different places. Together we have been to Mexico, Jamaica, Croatia, Germany, Bosnia, and Serbia.

i want to enter the field of education because i love history and the story of how we became who we are and how the events from the past correlate with current events. being an educated i can share my love for history and help others pursue their goals and dreams as well. Also having the best part of hunting season off and most of the summer off is a definite plus. although the money will not be amazing i will love what i do and not be stuck in a miserable work routine 365 days a year.

here are a few pictures of my passions and hobbies. Sail boat in JamaicaMe and my wife in JamaicaME standing Guard on Patrol in IraqMe and freinds infront of temple in IraqMe and my wife in GermanyMe and wife swimming in CroatiaMe holding a sea urchin in MexicoMe in Mexico at Myan RuinsMe holding The Buck i shot
New Post to test settings. 01-16-13

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

My Test Post Title

This is my first post. i clicked the HTML button which i should always do in EDM 310. i am now a BLogger.