Final Reflection

C4T #4

The Physical Education Teacher

By: Dylan Blain

Sportplan Trial 

Sportplan is a site that allows teachers and coaches to create drill sketches from a variety of sports. It offers animation drills that you can add to your clipboard so you can use it later while teaching. 

My Comment:

Hi!
My name is Raven Williams and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am a future PE teacher/coach and I really enjoyed this post. I think that this would be very helpful when I begin coaching one day. I really like that you can use it on the go. I hope it becomes an app as well!

iPad Workflow’s in PE – Edmodo & Google Drive

Dylan Blain post is about how he uses Google Drive and Edmodo. Edmodo is a tool that allows students, parents, and other teachers to see work after a lesson is presented. He also uses Google Drive as a storage method to stay organized. 

My Comment:

Hi!
My name is Raven Williams and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I think Google drive is a great tool! It’s very easy to use and can be used for many different purposes. I’m not familiar with Edmodo, but it sounds like a great tool as well!

Personal Learning Network(PLN) Summary

When I first created my PLN, it was mostly personal things that I added to it. I created tiles for places that I shop, apps that I use, social media, and websites that I use a lot. My goal with my PLN was to add more tiles that would benefit me as a teacher. I've added a few resources that I've learned about in EDM310 like ALEX, Discovery ED, and the Alabama Virtual Library. I'm glad that I chose to use Symbaloo because it was very easy to learn how to use it. i even set my PLN as my home page because it offers easier access to the resources I may need.

C4K for November

Sean M's Blog

Sean's blog post was the first chapter to a story that he was writing for class. He titled the story "Dead Yet Alive".

My Comment:
Hey Sean! 
My name is Raven Williams and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I thought your story was very interesting and it had a lot of emotion. I hope you keep adding to it!

Peyton's Blog

Peyton V posted about how the dress code at school does not allow students to express themselves and be unique. Peyton created a petition and encouraged other students to sign it on the blog post.

My Comment:
Hi Peyton! 
My name is Raven and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post! I can see that this is something you feel strongly about and I think that it’s great that you have a place where you can express that.

Teaching Can Be a Profession by Joel Klein

Joel Klein is an American lawyer and school superintendent. He also served more than 1 million students as the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. He also wrote a book called Lessons of Hope: How to Fix Our Schools. It's about the eight years he spent trying to improve the education system. On Nov. 17th, USA Today published an article about how teaching should become more of a profession. It talks about a few of the problems that schools are facing with teachers and solutions to how they can be fixed.




Problems Identified by Joel Klein

• Not everyone should become a teacher
• Seniority Distraction

Pick From the Best
The first  solution is to choose teachers by recruiting from the top third of graduates. I agree with this because I think that it is important that students receive the best education that they possibly can. Someone that has worked hard to make good grades should always be hired before someone that barely made it to graduation. I think that it would also motivate a lot of college students to work harder in school. It would also weed out a lot of people who aren't really dedicated or passionate about teaching.

Seniority distraction
I've never really agreed with teachers staying hired because of their seniority. We had a problem with this at my high school during my senior and junior year. All of the teachers that were the most effective in teaching were laid off because they were newer than the teachers that only relied on textbooks and handouts. I think teachers should be employed based only on their performance in the classroom.
I'm not really sure how I feel about teachers being paid the same. I think that more effective teachers should be paid more but I don't think there is a fair way to judge who is more effective. Every teacher has different goals and strategies that they use in their classrooms. Teachers are also constantly changing their teaching methods.

Project #12 Part B

Using Technology in Physical Education

Blog Post #13 Using Technology in Physical Education

• Visit The PE geek and choose a blog post or podcast that includes the use of technology in the classroom.  (thepegeek.com) 
• Watch the video iPads In Physical Education  (1:00) and Digital Scavenger Hunts in PE (2:15) by Kevin Morrow 

Video and PE Ecourse

The video Ecourse is an app that was  designed for teachers to able to learn new skills at their own pace. Teachers that are not able to attend the workshops can download the app from their iphone or ipad. The app contains 15 training videos that would be useful for using technology in the classroom. 

Videos

1. An Introduction to Coach’s Eye
2. Recording & Importing Video in Coach’s Eye
3. Conducting a Dual Video Side-by-Side Analysis
4. Recording & Sharing your Analysis, Narration & Telestration
5. Organizing your Coach’s Eye Library
6. Transfering Photos & Videos between devices
7. Downloading Videos to your iPad
8. Getting Started with SloPro, Playback at 500fps & Editing
9. Creating Instant replays with BaM Video Delay
10. Creating 4 Concurrent Instant Replays with BaM Video Delay
11. Conducting a Single Video Analysis with Ubersense
12. Side by Side Analysis & Overlays with Ubersense
13. Recording & Sharing Reviews
14. Tagging Points of Interest During Live action
15. Tagging Points of Interest with pre-recorded footage
16. iPads, Video & Physical Education Closing Keynote

Ipads in PE

There are many app that will be helpful in a PE classroom. There are apps for different skills and skill levels. There are also apps for coaches that will help develop athletic skills for players such as iSwing, Basketball Coach, and Coach's Eye. Some of the apps can be used with a camera to analyze the performance of students and athletes. I love the idea of using these apps in my classroom. Most students have a smartphone, iPad, or tablet so it would be easy and fun to use. I think that it would be easy for students to keep up with because it's on their phones instead of on a handout or book. My favorite apps are the ones that focus on nutrition and health. 

Digital Scavenger Hunts in PE

This video is about how Kevin Morrow creates digital scavenger hunts for his students. He uses iPad and two different methods to make them. The first method uses voice recordings. He records the clues and puts them into a playlist on iTunes where students can listen on their devices. The second method uses pictures as clues to where the items are hidden. The items are packages that include letters for students to decode. The word is always something related to health or PE .Digital scavenger hunts promote fitness, collaboration, and problem-solving. I think that digital scavenger hunts are a fun and creative way to get students involved in physical fitness. 

Project #10

C4T #3

i-PhysEd.com

By: Nathan Horne

#100ActiveDays

#100ActiveDays is a social media challenge. The idea is to do something active everyday for 100 days and share it. It can be any type of movement activity from running, walking, kayaking, hiking to marathon running. The point is to try new things and stay active.

My Comment:

Hi!
My name is Raven Williams and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I really love the idea of the #100ActiveDays. I am currently doing the 100 happy days right now, but I plan to start this one as soon as it's over!

#PhysEdCookbook

The #PhysEdCook book post is about an idea for creating a healthy cookbook. The idea came from a tweet after someone mistakenly bought the wrong ingredient for their meal. The idea for the cookbook is for it to be a resource for the PhysEd community to share with their families and students. The hopes for the book is to help prevent obesity.

My Comment: 
Hi!
My name is Raven Williams and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I think that the #PhysEd cookbook is a great idea! I think it will help a lot of people and I think it's great that you invited everyone to help be a part of it. I think it would be a great resource when I begin teaching PE.

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher?

Teaching Math to the blind

Teaching math to the blind is very difficult. Braille is the language that a blind person uses to read or write. The problem with braille is that it is very linear. Blind students are not able to how even the most simple math problems are two dimensional. When given an addition problem, a hearing student would normally line up the numbers to solve the problem. A student that is blind would see the problem on the same line.

                                                         Deaf Student            Hearing Student

1234+4567      VS.           123

                                     +4567

Art Karshmer is a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Management and Chairman of the Department of Technology. He developed  a system that translates the 2-dimensional concepts of mathematical problems into a single dimensionality of braille to allow a blind student to understand those concepts into their visual cortex through touch and electronic feedback. He believes that students that are blind are barred from the study of all of the core or "stem " sciences that rely on math as their root language. His system uses small blacks with braille numbers that can be placed on a grid and can be read to the student. The block itself can also be scanned and read aloud by a computer. With this system, a braille student is able to lay out a math problem that same way a sighted student would see it on paper. Using this device with blind students can help build a foundation that will help them in their future studies.

                          

The Mountbatten

The Mountbatten, is an amazing tool that is used to type braille. This tool provides feedback to the individual as they are typing. It says each letter out loud as each button is pushed. This makes it very easy for someone who is blind to avoid making mistakes while typing. The Mountbatten is a handy tool that allows files to be sent and received from a computer. It can also save files for next time when a student needs a break and wants to return to their work later. It is great for someone who is just starting to learn braille. By using this tool, students who are blind will not feel as left out during group projects in class. The next video, Russel Hinderman using the Mountbatten, is a video I found on my own. In this video Russel is shown learning how to use the Mountbatten. He seems very eager to use the tool. This video shows that the Mountbatten can indeed be used by young students. I think this tool could be handy for anyone! The Mountbatten allows teachers to guide their students in the right direction as the tool does the talking. I think this brailler is something that is very easy to use, and can be very helpful even if students don't have a teacher sitting next to them as they type. Blind children could also use the Mountbatten for independent learning exercises.

Ipad usage for the Blind
In the article How The Blind Use A IPad it explains how a blind person uses the iPad. Apple has many programs an apps for the blind. Apple has a built in screen reader and this helps the blind because a screen reader reads the screen for you. For example: when you click over an app, the screen reader will read the app to you. Apple also has a Braille Display. According to this article, "a refreshable Braille display is an electronic device that displays visual information (text) as Braille (text) on a Braille display." For a blind person the Braille display can help them type and use keys. The iPad and other apple products are great tools for not only the blind but for anyone. This video iPad usage for the blind shows a blind man explaining how he uses the iPad. This video is amazing to me because not only did I just explain that a blind person can use the iPad but the video actually shows a blind person using the iPad. He seems to not have any trouble with it. I believe apple products are great for everyone. They make them easy to use for anyone.

Using Assistive Technology in the Classrom

In the video Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children , we learn facts about children in Australia who have hearing and vision impairment. This video shows many images of children using different forms of assistive technology in the classroom. From this video we learn that on average, one Australian child is identified with impaired hearing every day! One in every 2500 children have vision impairment. We see these students participating in class and activities just as everyone without disabilities would do. This is a very inspirational video that proves to us that all children can interact with one another in and out of the classroom. The video chose was Assistive Technology Rocks My Classroom! This video is about a girl named Elina, who has a physical disability called athetoid cerebral palsy. This disability makes it hard for Elina to use her muscles for everyday activities such as: eating, walking and even talking. She started using assistive technology when she was just nine years old. Using assistive tech Elina is able to do things like: draw, paint, write in cursive and speak! She has accomplished so many things by using this technology. Elina and her classmates even taught others how to use this technology at an international conference! Elina is a perfect example of how assistive technology can help students with disabilities accomplish long term goals and overcome so many obstacles.

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

Back to the Future

Brian Crosby is a fourth to sixth grade teacher at Agnes Risley Elementary School. On the second day of school he gave his students a survey to find out where they stood in his class. Out of 24 students, only 3 knew what country they live in. Only 9 knew what city they lived in and only 7 knew their home address. He asks why there is such a disconnect for these students. He says that these students have had a narrowed curriculum since they were born and that they don't have the experiences to help build the schema for the world. He continues to talk about a project he did with a group of his sixth graders. It was about hot air balloons and how they worked. They completed activities and wrote stories as if they were the balloon. After they were done they continued the project by writing high hopes. They wrote high hopes for themselves, their community, and the world. They posted them to their blogs and also created stratocards which would go to the stratosphere. After the students started receiving comments about their high hopes, they decided they wanted to extend the project to others. They received high hopes from all across the world. They combined everyone's high hopes and sent them up on a balloon with a camera attached. The students were able to what happened to balloon after the air pressure decreases. They were also able to track the balloon on their computers in the classroom. After watching this video, I think that it is important that students learn outside of their narrowed curriculum.  

The Blended Learning Cycle

Paul Anderson teaches his class with a method called the blended learning cycle. Blended learning is the combination of online, mobile, and classroom learning. The learning cycle consists of five parts also known as the five E's. They include an engaging question, exploring, explaining, expanding, and evaluating.  Paul Anderson combines these two methods in his classroom. There are six parts to the steps he uses to teach. They are:

1. Question
2. Investigation/ Inquiry
3. Video
4. Elaboration
5. Review
6. Summary quiz

I think that Paul Anderson has developed a very creative way to teach his students. It's a great way for students to be able to learn independently and still need the assistance from their teacher. I would really consider using this in my classroom if I wasn't a PE teacher.

Building Comics

Sam Payne is a fifth grade teacher at Wilson Focus School in Omaha, Nebraska. In this video, he is teaching his students how to use the internet safely. He calls it being a good digital citizen. A good digital citizen is someone who chooses to act safely, respectably, ans responsibly while using the internet. The driving question he gives his students is what kind of power can the internet give us? He gives his students time discuss their opinions about what makes a good digital citizen. Some of the examples of bad digital citizens were hacking and giving personal information. His students continued to create their own super digital citizen. After they create their super hero, they create a story for their hero to be a part of. They used their stories to create a comic about unsafe situations on the internet. 

I think that this is an important lesson for anyone who will use technology in their classroom. It's very important that students know how to use the internet safely and responsibly. There are many safe and unsafe opportunities on the internet. We have to teach our students how to be able to know the difference.

Project Based Learning

Project based learning increases student engagement and provides more opportunity for deeper understanding. In this video, a class of students are experiencing an example of project based learning. Their teachers combined 3 areas of study instead of using segmented classes. If you were to ask them which class they were taking they may not know how to respond. They class consists of History, English, and Information Processing. I think that this is a really good example of project based learning. I think that it's really cool that their school allowed them to combine three different classes into one. These students are learning more than just the curriculum and their teachers are very proud of that. 

PBL

The teachers at Roosevelt Elementary School actively use project based learning with their students. 

Their definition of PBL is:

• In depth learning
• Integrated Thematic Instruction
• Based on a "real-world problem"
• Research Based
• Project and Presentation

Parents like that they use project based learning because it gives them a chance to develop strong speaking skills. I'm in college and I struggle with my speaking skills so I think it's a really good idea to start teaching these skills to younger students. The teachers also like that their students have more choices with PBL. Students get to make decisions like adults do everyday. They say that it important that students have choices because they have different ways of learning. It also gives the student more ownership of their work. Students also learn 21st century skills in PBL. They learn about public speaking, being a good audience, how to work independently, how to work in groups, and problem-solving skills. I really like the concept of PBL. I can definitely see the difference it makes in the ways that students learn. They learn a lot of skills that aren't really emphasized when you just lecture and give busy work. 

Project #12 Part A

C4K for October

Adriana's Blog
Adriana is a 6th grade students in Ms. Rivera's class. She wrote a post on a book she was reading called Insurgent. She gave her opinion of the book so far and came up with some theories of what she believes will happen.
My Comment:
Hey Adriana! 
I really enjoyed reading your post! I actually watched the first movie and I really liked it. I do agree that Tris risks her life a lot for no reason. I haven’t read any of the books yet, but I’m exited to start them soon! 
-Raven Williams

Karson's Blog

Karson K. from Mrs. Ripp's class blogs about a book he is reading also. He is reading a book called The 14th Goldfish. He talks about what he has read so far and what he feels will happen in the future.
My Comment:
Hey Carson! 
My name is Raven Williams and I attend the University of South Alabama. 
It sounds like you are reading a very interesting book. I’ve never read it but a grandpa turning into a teenager sounds really cool. I’m really glad you are enjoying the book!

Sophie's Blog

Sophie is a student in Ms. Essenburg's class. She wrote a post that summarized her life. She wrote about her family, her dog, her favorite food. She also wrote about Walt Disney World because it is her favorite place.

My Comment: 

Hi Sophie! My name is Raven Williams and I attend the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your post! What kind of dog do you have? I have a chow puppy and I absolutely love him! 

By the way: Pizza is my favorite food too!

Trinity's Blog

Trinity is a sixth year student at Pt England School in Auckland, NZ. She wrote a post about how she protects herself from the sun with a hat while she outside.

My Comment:

Hi Trinity!
My name is Raven and I am a student from the University of South Alabama. I'm glad to see that you know how important it is to protect yourself from the sun. Sunburn really isn't any fun!

What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

Interviews with Kathy Cassidy

Kathy Cassidy is a first grade teacher that uses technology in her classroom. She started to get involved in technology ten years ago when she was given 5 computers for her classroom. The computers allowed internet access, but weren't able to download any programs. Ms. Cassidy searched online and found some educational tools that her students could use. I like that she talks about how she teaches her students to protect their identities on the internet. She teaches them not to use their last names and not to match their pictures with their names. Depending on her classroom size, her students blog once or twice a week. They also use Skype to video chat with other students or sometimes even experts. Ms. Cassidy posted on her class blog this past week about a Skype session between her students and a group of seventh grade students. They talked about moon rocks and how they were formed. They even got to see some examples of moon rocks. Ms. Cassidy says that she has a lot of support in the way she teaches, especially from parents. The parents of her students like that they can see an online portfolio of their child's work anytime.

Ms. Cassidy also talks about the tools we should use our classrooms. She says that we should start with technology that we would be interested in. She also talks a lot about twitter and the impact it has made in her teaching. She has made a lot of connections such as our EDM310 class. I've been actively using twitter for two years, but I am just now beginning to make connections in the education field. I've learned a lot over the past few weeks with my EDM310 twitter. 

I think Ms. Cassidy makes a lot of great points in her interviews. She comments on how she believes teachers should change their way of thinking about technology. She says that we would be handicapping our students if we do not teach them skills in technolgy. I agree because I think technology is a major part our lives today. We use it everyday in our personal lives and companies even use it for business purposes. It's important for students to learn these skills as early as they can because they're going to need it one day in the future. I like that she talks about using technology in physical education. I've thought about how I could use a blog for my students, but I wasn't really sure if it would be beneficial to them. I think that there are a lot of ways that I could use one now. 

Interview with Kathy Cassidy -Part 1

                                               Part 2

                                               Part 3

What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning?

Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning

• Need To Know. A need to know is basically being able to engage your students. When you assign a project, you want it to be something that is going to grab their attention and encourage them to want to learn more about the subject.
• A Driving Question. The driving question is important because it gives a project a sense of purpose. A project without a driving question could cause a lot of confusion and result in missing the main purpose of the project. A driving question should be complex, open-ended, and be related to the subject of the project.
• Student Voice/Choice. It's always a good idea to allow students to have choices in some of the elements of a project. It could be the way they choose to present a project or the tools they use to develop it. Giving students choices makes the projects more meaningful because they feel more ownership towards the project.
• 21st Century Skills. 21st Century Skills are skills like collaborating, critical thinking, and using technology. Creating podcast, working in teams, and encouraging problem-solving are good examples of these skills. It's important that students learn these skills because they could need them in their future workplace and also in life.
• Inquiry and Innovation. Inquiry is students finding answers to the question they created from the original driving question. Students could easily form questions from the answers of a previous question. Students follow a trail of information and draw their own conclusions.
• Feedback and Revision. Feedback and revision is important because it is very rare that the first draft of a project is perfect. Peer editing is a good ways for students to revise their work. Rubric are also very helpful.
• Publicly Presented Product. The result of a product can be presented to an audience of peers, parents, or even the community. If it is published on the web then the entire world could be your audience. Students also usually work a lot harder when they know that an audience will be seeing their work. 

Project Based Learning in PE

I really enjoy posts and articles about PBL in PE because I plan on being a PE teacher. I really like the idea of creating a fitness plan as a project.  I have a personal fitness plan for myself right now and I haven't even thought about how I could use it with my students. I think if I were to do this project I would expand it a little. I would ask that the student would also create a fitness plan for someone else or that they had someone else test their fitness plan and compare their results. Another PBL I've thought of was to create exercise videos.

What Motivates Students?

I think that it is very important to know how what motivates students. Students that are interested and video, some students were motivated by rewards and some were motivated by positive feedback. One boy said he was motivated because pleasing his parents meant that he wouldn't be grounded.
motivated are going to be more engaged and enthusiastic about their work. It's important to know that different things motivate different students. After watching the

Example of PBL

Two students from North Liberty High School were asked to create something that was relevant to them. Tyler Richards and Jonathan Thompson chose ketchup caps. They both enjoyed ketchup, but not the water that comes out while squirting it. They did a lot of research and found that this was a problem for a lot of people. They created a cap that they call the "mushroom" or "the shroom". It is shaped like an upside down mushroom and traps water son only ketchup will come out. 

Project #14

USA State Facts: Lesson Plan

C4T #2

Inter.Connect.Ed

By: Ben Jones

Weathering the Storm of Education

Summary

Ben writes about how it is important to be surrounded by prfessionals. THe says "The real educational leadership challenge is how do we support our teams and colleagues through these moments to improve outcomes for all students and build their capacity as educational professionals?"

My Comment

My name is Raven Williams and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I think it is very important that we surround ourselves with professionals. I want to be around people that will help me grow as a teacher.

Bring Your Own Ideas...

Ben writes about BYOD. BYOD means bring your own technology. It is where students bring their own devices to class that they will use to learn. He includes an article that encourage BYOD and and article that talks about the negatives. He also talks about how he uses BYOD.

My Comment

My name is Raven Williams and I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I am very new to BYOD. I don’t really like the idea of it. I think that it is important that all students have the equal opportunity to learn by having the same materials in the classroom. I think having computers in class is great, but devices like cell phones should be left at home.

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From Randy Pausch?

Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science, human- computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2006, and learned in was terminal in August 2007. He gave his final lecture two months later. It was recorded and has been seen on YouTube more than 16 million times. He also wrote a book with the same theme that became a New York Times best-seller. 

Randy Pausch started his lecture by talking about his childhood dreams. His dreams were to be in zero gravity, Play in the NFL, write an article in the World Book Encyclopedia, be Captain Kirk, win stuffed animals, and become a Disney Imagineer. In some way, he accomplished all of these dreams. He accomplished being in zero gravity when he led a team of students to win a contest with NASA. He never played in the NFL, but he did become a coach. He said he was always more comfortable on a football field than anywhere else. He wrote an article for the World Book Encyclopedia about virtual reality. He never became Captain Kirk, but he was able to meet him. He won may over sized stuffed animals at amusement parks. He brought a few of them on stage to prove they were real. He became a Disney Imagineer and helped create the Aladdin project. He also talks a lot about the brick walls that he  encountered while he was trying to achieve his dreams. He says that the brick walls prove how badly we want things. 

Randy Pausch was also involved in a lot of new developments regarding virtual technology. He helped develop a program called Alice that allowed students create virtual worlds and learn programming skills. Alice is being used at many schools and 10% of colleges. He also created a class called Building Virtual Worlds. Students were put into groups and completed the project of building a virtual world. They had 2 weeks to complete the projects. Randy was really impressed with his student's work and said that he would have given them A's if it was a semester project. He also partnered with Don Marinelli to create the Entertainment Technology Center. It partnered computer science and drama students into groups so they could create together. The CTU offered a 2 year Masters degree in Entertainment Technology. 

Project #9

Project #13 - PBL Learning Plan

The Biography Project: Lesson Plan

Video to Students and Parents

Video to Students

Video to Parents

How do we all become learners?

Part of preparing myself to be a teacher is accepting that I will not know everything when I begin teaching. I will be constantly learning from new technology, my peers, and even my students. I think that Michele Bennet had a great example when she learned how to use a new tool from one of her students. When she didn't know how to add an image to padlet, a student volunteered to teach her how. She and the student were both proud of this accomplishment. I think one of my strengths is that I can learn how to  use new tools pretty quickly. It doesn't usually take me too long to figure something out. One of my weaknesses is procrastinating. I always wait until the last minute to try and do everything. During the time I have left in college I plan to find ways to incorporate project based learning in my classroom. There aren't that many PBL examples for PE classes but I'm determined to find and create some that I can use with my students. 

Using QR Codes

QR code to My Blog

I've seen QR codes almost everywhere. You can see them on all kinds of products in grocery stores, restaurants, and other places. I never knew what they for or how to use them. I definitely didn't know that I could create my own QR codes. Michele Bennett's tutorial on how to create a QR code was very simple and easy to do. She uses Record MP3 to create an audio URL. After she copies the URL, she creates a QR code using QR Code Monkey. I think this is very useful for students. They can create QR codes that will take them directly to their work. I think using QR codes would also be beneficial for teachers. Instead of having to type out long websites, teachers could just give students QR codes to scan. They could also be sent home so parents could see what their child is doing in class.

Popplet

Popplet is an app that students can use to capture and organize their ideas. It helps students learn and think visually. Students can capture thoughts, images, images. They can also use Popplet to create relationships between them. Ginger Tuck uses popplet with her students to create a web for a book about careers. They chose to create a web on veterinarians. They included pictures and pages from the book to create their web.

Alabama Virtual Library and Using IMovie 

AVL is the Alabama Virtual Library. It is a website where students can log in and find resources form many different sources. Ginger Tuck used AVL for an assignment with her class. Her students were given a list of transportation methods that would find information on using AVL. Information on AVL can sometimes include videos or audio recordings. Her students had to write a sentence for each different method transportation. You can gain access to the Alabama Virtual Library by visiting any public library.

Elizabeth Davis and Michele Bennett talk about the technology they are using in kindergarten classes. I was really surprised to hear how efficient they were with IMovie. They were spending hours creating and editing their book trailers. It took me hours just to figure out how to use IMovie. I think it's really important to never underestimate what you think your students can do.

Discovery Education Board Builder

The board builder is on the tools that Discovery Education offers. Tammy Shirley used this tool with her students for an assignment about the moon. Her students:

• Watched a video about the moon on Discovery Education
• Wrote facts about the moon
• Worked together building a board on Discovery Education

I really liked that one of the students was involved in the video. She explained how she used Discovery Education and built her board. I think it was a great way to show how much of independent learners her students are becoming.

Book Trailer

What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

Conversations with Anthony Capps - Part 1 and Part 2
Anthony Capps is a third grade teacher at Gulf Shores Elementary School. He uses Project based learning a lot in his classroom. In the video he gave a few examples of projects that he has used with his students. My favorite project was the one when they were learning about different cultures. The students were told to write about what their life would be like if they were a child in Afghanistan. They wrote about things like the food they would eat or the clothes they would wear. The students created narrative scripts that they recorded on IMovie. They also added pictures from ICurio and Discovery Ed.
Anthony also talks about how Project Based Learning is changing. It isn't just projects that students do at the end of a lesson to show what they have learned. Now, projects are used as a method of teaching. He also says that we should never limit students by giving them exactly what we want them to do. He gave a few examples of how his students exceeded his expectations with their projects. Even the students family members were surprised with what they created.

Goals for a good project

• Authentic Audience
• Student Interest
• Involves Community
• Driven by Content
• Student Choices

ICurio

ICurio is a student-safe search engine. It includes content from every K-12 curriculum subject. It is also aligned with the Common Core State Standards. . Anthony Capps likes to use ICurio as a way to teach his students virtual organization. Students and teachers are able to create folders and store resources and information that may be useful later. SAS® Curriculum Pathways an Brain Pop are also available through ICurio.

Discovery Education
Discovery Education is a another tool that Anthony Capps' students use. It allows students to search for digital resources. It includes interactive games, videos, contests, and virtual labs. All of its content is aligned to state standards and custom curriculum.  It also offers homework help and free lesson plans.

Discover Education Offers:

• Interactive digital textbooks
• Engaging standards-aligned content
• Comprehensive professional development
• Assessment Services
• Virtual Experiences
• Learning Communities

Tips for Teachers

Anthony Capps and Dr.Strange had a conversation where they discussed their top 5 tips that they would give to teachers. The first tip was to always be a learner. I agree with this tip because everything in education is constantly changing. As teachers, we will constantly be learning about new teaching methods, new content for classrooms, and even new tools that we can use. I think that teachers that go out of their way to continue learning are going to have a lot more success in their classrooms. The second tip is to let your work become a fun experience. Work is always going to be fun if you are doing something that you love and are passionate about. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I started out in elementary education and I absolutely hated it. I love kids but I wasn't passionate about what I was going to be teaching. Switching to Physical Education was the best decision I've made during college. The third tip is to always be flexible. It's important to know that things can always go wrong or not the way you expect them to. Being able to adjust to these changes is a great characteristic to have as a teacher. The fourth tip is to have your students engaged in what they are learning. Students are going to learn and retain more information if they are leaning about something that they care about. Anthony Capps said his goal for student engagement was 100%. I think that this a possible goal with the right materials and subjects. The final tip is being able to reflect. It's important that teachers are constantly finding ways to be better. Looking back at past work and projects is a great way to do that. We can see the areas that may need to be fixed or improved. Reflection can also be used by students on their own work. 

Don't teach tech - Use it

This conversation between Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange is about using technology instead of teaching it. Anthony says that technology isn't something that should be taught during class. Instead of teaching his students about technology, he includes what they should be learning with other assignments and projects so they can learn how to use it on their own. His third grade students can use IMovie efficiently without  it ever being taught to them. I think that the students retain a lot more information when they are learning independently. I think it also motivates them to use this way of learning in other subjects as well.