What Can We Learn From Sir Ken Robinson

In this video Sir Ken Robinson gives a speech about our current education system and how it can be improved to better our children and allow them to grow and prosper in a digital age. In his speech he makes the comparison of our current "Fast food" model to an "agricultural" model that he believes would work best. He sates that our current model is made for mass production and effentiancy much like fast food. He states that education should be more of an "agricultural" model. What he means by "agricultural" is a model that provides an environment where students can grow and flourish and the teacher can feed this flourishing much like a farmer growing crops. Sir Ken Robinson also talks about how there is too much enfaces on going to college. He states that not all students need to college right away or at all. In his speech he tells us a story about a man who as a child wanted to be a fireman. When he was in school his teacher told him in front of the class that if thats all he wanted to be than he was throwing his life away and that he should go to college and become a professional person. Sir Ken Robinson later explains that the man who was now a fireman had recently saved the life of the teacher and his wife. The point of this story is that as teachers we should allow our students dreams to flourish and never suppress them.

There is a lot we can learn from what Sir Ken Robinson states in his speech. I think that the most powerful message in his speech is that we as teachers and parents should try to move towards a more individual form of education. We should create an "agricultural" model of education. an environment where students and children can have their own dreams but allow teachers to plant seeds of knowledge that can help them grow and learn new ideas that can shape their dreams but not suppress them. I like the quote that Sir Ken Robinson uses in his speech. "A 3 year old is not half of a 6 year old". We shouldn't force children to become what we see as the right thing to be. We should allow them to be themselves and to be educated individuals that can pursue their own dreams. If you would like to see Sir Ken Robinson's speech you can go to Sir Ken Robinson on Youtube.

PBL Learning Plan #3

Create your Own Schlieffen Plan In this project students will learn how the Schlieffen plan failed and how it affected the outcome of the war. To do this students will create their own alternative Schlieffen plan and give supporting details to show how it would work. Students will also have to analyze how it would affect the war if the plan succeeded.

Project Based Learning Plan

Smart Board part A instruction

What Can We Learn From Kathy Cassidy?

Kathy Cassidy is a first grade teacher that Dr. Strange and other students had the oppertunity to interview over Skype. In this three part interview Mrs. Cassidy explained how she began using technology in her first grade class room. Mrs. Cassidy has her first graders post blogs to their class blog once sometimes twice a week. Some times these blogs are videos that the students make about what they are learning in class. Mrs. Cassidy is very open to using different types of technology in her class room. She began using technology when her class was assigned three computers to use in the classroom. At one point in the interview Dr. Strange talked about some of his students views on technology in the classroom and learning how to use technology in the classroom. Some of Dr. Strange's students where asking why they had to learn how to use technology when the schools in this area where not implementing it into the curriculum. Mrs. Cassidy responded to that by expressing her views about technology in the classroom. She stated that in her classroom the kids are learning better with technology and that education was going to have to change. Mrs. Cassidy states that as teachers we cannot continue to teach the same way teachers have taught for the last twenty, ten, or five years. I agree that education needs to adapt to an ever changing world around it and embrace technology as a tool for the future and not a distraction.

One of the ways Mrs. Cassidy uses technology in her classroom is through blogging. She has her students post blogs to their class blog and read other blogs from other students across the nation. This is something that i would like to implement in my classroom. I also like how she gives the parents the ability to log on to the class blog and see the work that their children are doing. This can help not only keep the students engaged but also keep the parents involved in their child's education which i believe is a very important tool in educated children.

Although technology is a great tool to use in the classroom there many doubts and worries that people have about allowing students full access to these tools. Some might be afraid that their child's safety might be in jeopardy or that they might come across something on the web that is not suitable for their age. Like Mrs. Cassidy states you have to teach your students to be good online citizens. This means be respectful when you are viewing or commenting on some one else blog or video. Also as teachers we must teach our students what is acceptable learning material and what is not. A good tool to use to filter out un wanted material is I Curio . This will allow your students to search the web for information that is relavent to their age and the material they are looking for.
br /> Their are many benefits for the students in using technology in the classroom. One major benefit for using tools such as Bloger is that they can collaborate with other students in the classroom and with classrooms around the globe. Another great benefit is that you can get the parents involved by allowing them to comment on the blog of their child. This allows the parents to play essential roles in the education of their children and monitor how their child is doing compared to the rest of the class. The interviews with Mrs. Cassidy and Dr. Strange where very insightful and can teach us a lot about how technology can benefit not only us as teachers but our students as well. You can find these interviews at Kathy Cassidy Interview on You Tube. There are three parts so be sure to check out all three.

21st Century Learning and Communicating Tools

Teaching in the 21st century requires many tools. Throughout this semester we have learned about many different tools for communicating with other teachers for ideas, and tools to enhance learning in the classroom. One of the ways we communicate as teachers is through our PLN or Personal Learning Network. There are several tools that you can use in your Personal Learning Network to communicate. A few of these are Twitter, Facebook, and ED Utopia.

One of my favorite tools to use for communicating with other teachers for ideas is Facebook. In todays age there are very people who do not have a Facebook Which makes it easy to connect with a variety of educators. Facebook also strecthes across continents. This can allow you to connect with people on different sides of the globe. Facebook makes it easy to connect with others no matter where you are. For example while you are on a break you can use your phone or tablet to discover new people and pages that offer advise or ideas.

There are also several tools we can use to help our students learn with technology in the classroom. Learning in the classroom begins with a lesson plan. Planning a project based lesson plan takes a lot of creativity. Sometimes it is hard to come up with new ideas for lessons. I have found BIE very helpful for coming up with project based ideas.Through this website you can find different lesson plans and callanders to help you as a teacher in the classroom. After you have planned a lesson there are several tools you can use to help your students complete their projects. One of the most useful is I Curio. With I Curio you can make sure that your students are only seeing age related and course related material. I curio can be very useful for any research project that you are having your students complete.

These are only a few tools that you can use to communicate and help your students learn with. There are endless tools online that will help you as a teacher in the 21st century.

Book Review "Teaching Digital Natives" by Mark Prensky

What Can We Learn From Randy Pausch?

In Randy Pausch Last Lecture at Carnegie-Mellon University was very enlightening to listen to. We can learn a lot about teaching and life from his last lecture. In the beginning of his lecture he talks about his childhood dreams of being a Disney Imaginer, experiencing zero Gravity, and being able to play in the NFL.He was able to achieve two of these dreams throughout his life. Unfortunately he was not able to become an NFL player. Throughout his lecture he talks about teaching and learning. A few good points that he brought up can be used in all aspects of education. One of the best points he made was something he referred to as "head-fake" education. He uses the example of sending your child to play football. when you send your child to play football the main goal is not that they learn football but that they learn how to work as a team and build confidence in themselves. This is a "head-fake", it is teaching the students something with out them realizing that they are learning. Pausch described a graduate course that a colleague and him self started at Carnegie-Mellon University. This program was a Project Based Learning curriculum where the students would have a series of projects working in groups to develop virtual worlds. Having the students make virtual worlds in groups allowed them to learn different types of code and how to create different worlds with the students thinking that all they were learning was how to create virtual vide games or movies. As educators there is nothing greater than seeing your students fully engaged and having fun while learning. "Head-fake" learning is a great way to do this.

Another great thing we can learn as educators from Randy Pausch Last Lecture is that when you can never under estimate your students. Pausch talks about the first Project Based assignment he gave his students. When his students show him their results he is stunned he has to call on his mentor for advice. He ask his mentor what he should say to them ad his mentor tells him to tell his students that they did great but he thinks they can do better. This teaches us that setting a bar for students to reach can hold some students back. If you don't set a bar for your students to reach they will surprise you at how how far they can go.

Throughout his lecture he talked about how many times he would hit brick walls while trying to reach his dreams. What he says about brick walls and their purpose could not be more true. Pausch states "Brick walls are not there to stop us. They are there so that we can show how badly we want something". This quote resinates with me. It tells us that as teachers we will meet brick walls while trying to educate our students. We should not give up when we hit these walls. we should try harder to help our students and guide them so that they can get the most out of their education. After listening to this lecture I have new views on life and how to reach my goals and dreams. I am very glad i was introduced to this lecture.

Group Lesson Plan The Water Cycle

Ferris Wheel of Water – Lesson Plan

“The Ferris Wheel of Water” is a week and a half long project based lesson plan that will teach 5th grade students about the water cycle while providing them with hands on learning objectives. After a brief introduction to the material, students will be placed in groups of 4-5 (depending on class size) where they will be introduced to iCurio, Google Docs and Discovery Ed as research and presentation tools. The objectives of this lesson include collaborative research, completing an assessment rubric, and effectively using Google Docs and the SMART board to present the information they’ve learned. Dubai group’s driving question is: What are the components of the water cycle?