Wow, this man has some great thoughts on education. While I was exploring his blog, I found many articles I liked. Two in particular stood out to me: Running Scared and Forget about your Children. The Running Scared article was about how policy makers are narrowing our curriculum and how we are to scared to speak out against it. Maybe we should because if we don’t than it is only going to get worse and then where will we be. I agree with Mr. Richardson that it needs to be addressed. Our students need to learn numerous things that they are not letting us get to because it is not in their narrow curriculum. We need to fight back and present our case so that the children get the education they need for the future. For if they keep narrowing the curriculum we are going to hurt our chances in the future, because the children are our future. The Forget about your Children article is about online education. I liked Mr. Richardson’s question “What happens to that sense of community that currently comes with a local education?” That is the part of school that teaches the students what we can’t in the classroom. We can’t teach them how to play well with others or work together to come up with a solution; we can point them in the right direction, but they need to learn it in a real context. How do they do that if they don’t get personal interaction with other people of different ages? Everyone needs hands on experience so that they know what to do in the future in those circumstances.
The next best thing to be wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are. CS Lewis
This blog was chalk full of information on the classroom and how to teach different things. She had many articles on the K-12 Conference, but there was one that I like the most.
I really liked the article on reframing. It is saying that teachers should look at things in new ways and help the students to also. We should think out of the box when writing our lessons so that we can interest our students. Then, we will be able to teach them more effectively because they will want to learn. I will always be reframing in my classroom because I was one of those students who needed the out of the box lessons or I didn’t learn a thing. She also put a video over reframing on her site that was made for the conference by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay .
On the K12 online conference there were multiple videos to watch. This is the video I found most educational. I think that using Virtual Field Trips would be a fantastic way to teach the students new things without all the hassle of a real field trip. All the money, time, and preparation that goes into field trips could be mostly eliminated if we just us virtual ones. However, I am not saying get rid of them all together because some are better taken to the real thing. But these would make it more accessible to all teachers and we could take the students to places that we could never get to on a real field trip. Such as the globe theater for my drama students or gas chambers for the English class reading “The boy in the striped pajamas”. All students could learn more seeing and experiancing things through virtual tours.
I had multiple wow moments but the major one was when we learned how to use YouTube.
I have always wondered how people put their videos online, but I had never learned. I was amazed at how easy it actually was to do. If I would have known it was that easy I would have done it awhile ago. Being able to share ideas and videos with people is so cool and I will definitely use YouTube in my classroom. Since students want the technology in their learning, I will give it to them.
My 2 favorite technology tools that we used this semester are Animoto and Glogster. I am a visual learner, so these are what I would want to see in my classroom.
This tool was my absolute favorite. I use this for everything now. I can make videos for lessons, assignments, and even just to promote the students. I could use this tool inside and outside the classroom. Students could use this tool to make their assignments more fun and creative. They could make a summary of a book or character.
This tool is so creative and helpful. I could use this to give students information they need for the lesson in a way that isn’t so boring. Instead of lecturing they could get on the glogster and go explore the information themselves. I could put tons of sites and information on one glog instead of trying to fit it into a one period class day. They could learn on their own or with a group which is better for them in the long run. In addition, they could make their own for an assignment.
This site will serve me well in all of my classrooms; whether I am a English, Drama or Speech teacher. I will be able to use this site to make assignments for lessons. My students could even use it themselves for their papers, scenes or speeches. This site has multiple uses that could be implemented in any of my classrooms.
This site would be the highlight to my classroom to many of my students. Besides how cool it looks on the surface, it can be used to make lessons and assignments more fun than some parents might think they should be. Students could put together animations describing a book or scene. They could also use an animation in a speech they are giving. The options are limitless as to how the students could use this site.
I went and explored iTunes U. There were so many videos and sound bites to choose from. I went to the Fine Arts section of the store and found multiple items that I could use in my classroom for lessons. I was really fond of the ones from the National Theatre.
I watched the videos from the Costumes one. They were very detailed and informational. I liked how they made them short, sweet and to the point. So, if I used them in my classroom as a guide for my students they wouldn’t get bored or side tracked. Also, they are laid out in a way that is easy for me and the students to follow. I really like the visual aspect because it makes it easier to picture certain aspects of costuming.
Another National Theatre collection I liked was the one over stage lighting. It gives great details of how to use different lights needed for theatre. It is simple enough for students, but has fantastic information to help them learn more about stage lighting. It provides videos for every part of stage lighting from the equipment to the designing aspects of it.
When I dug a little deeper into the Fine Arts section I found the National Theatre on Puppets too. They explain the different types of puppets there are along with how to use them. In addition, they tell some history to puppets which is great for teaching. These videos could be used in lessons for a puppet unit to give them a visual reference to go off of.
Ipads are definitely the way of the future. After viewing many different sites, I have to say that I am really looking forward to learning how to use one. There are so many applications that can make learning enormously fun. I think that having these used in the classroom would have enormous effect on learning. Students these days are great with technology and need to be entertained. This is the perfect addition to make lessons interesting and fun for the students. In addition, I think that it will make us more earth friendly not using so much paper in the classroom. Not to mention how much easier tests and grading will be online. I think that the schools who don’t already have some form of Ipads should consider getting on the bandwagon. On another note, I really liked the applications for Blooms taxonomy.
It is very inventive and has great information. There are multiple applications that would help in any lesson. I think that the Ipad will be the one to have in classrooms, because it is the most advanced and has the most applications. The others aren’t far behind but the Ipad has more going for it.
There are so many sites in this slide share. They are all very helpful to a teacher. I really liked the art and story websites. I will definitely be using those in my classroom. They were extremely creative and fun to explore. I like that they will help me entice my students to listen and enjoy the lesson.
The comicmaster website will really get my male students involved in the classroom. Also, in my theatre classes I can use those multimedia websites: Edudemic, Popplet, Capzles to put together tons of lessons and activities.
As an English teacher the Shmoop site and the plagiarism checker will come in quite handy for my lessons. These will make grading essays and producing homework that much easier for me.
This project was very interesting. I liked learning how to use Imovie. It is a great tool to use in a classroom. It could be used by both the teachers and the students. On the subject of the flipped classroom, I think that there are pros and cons. It would be more fun and interesting for the students, but who’s to say that they would watch the videos. So, I think it is up to the teacher’s judgement and probably the class dynamics.
Wow, this man has some great thoughts on education. While I was exploring his blog, I found many articles I liked. Two in particular stood out to me: Running Scared and Forget about your Children. The Running Scared article was about how policy makers are narrowing our curriculum and how we are to scared to speak out against it. Maybe we should because if we don’t than it is only going to get worse and then where will we be. I agree with Mr. Richardson that it needs to be addressed. Our students need to learn numerous things that they are not letting us get to because it is not in their narrow curriculum. We need to fight back and present our case so that the children get the education they need for the future. For if they keep narrowing the curriculum we are going to hurt our chances in the future, because the children are our future. The Forget about your Children article is about online education. I liked Mr. Richardson’s question “What happens to that sense of community that currently comes with a local education?” That is the part of school that teaches the students what we can’t in the classroom. We can’t teach them how to play well with others or work together to come up with a solution; we can point them in the right direction, but they need to learn it in a real context. How do they do that if they don’t get personal interaction with other people of different ages? Everyone needs hands on experience so that they know what to do in the future in those circumstances.
I really liked the article on reframing. It is saying that teachers should look at things in new ways and help the students to also. We should think out of the box when writing our lessons so that we can interest our students. Then, we will be able to teach them more effectively because they will want to learn. I will always be reframing in my classroom because I was one of those students who needed the out of the box lessons or I didn’t learn a thing. She also put a video over reframing on her site that was made for the conference by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay .
