Blog Post #11

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

Back to the Future- Brian Crosby
Mr. Crosby suggests that his students have had a narrow curriculum when arriving to his class. Blogs and computer access are what he uses to help students think out of the box. His students, as well as many others we have seen thus far, have blogs. His students embed videos in their blog about things they do in class such as projects and activities. Students also put together their own Wiki pages. By doing these things, students can access the Internet to include many things in their project while they are learning. His students had to write from a balloons perspective in one of their blog posts. He explained that as the kids did this, they thought about things from a different point of view, which made them think outside of the box. As teachers before, he said that the kids love seeing people comment on their posts. This motivates the students to do their best work on their posts. One of the main things we can learn from Mr. Crosby is that projects help the kids learn more. Active learning lessons and practices, teach children how to learn. Kids learn to collaborate and yearn for learning more through technology. One of the other things that we can learn from Mr. Crosby is that technology is a life-changing tool to some students. Celeste is a little girl in his class that has leukemia. Celeste wasn’t able to come to class everyday because of her illness. The kids can include Celeste in class everyday by Skyping her on the computer. This way Celeste can communicate and learn just as the other children. Technology isn’t only changing the learning process, but it is also changing the children’s lives one by one.

Blended Learning-Paul Anderson
The picture Mr. Anderson opens with is a very interesting one. It shows what people predict classrooms will look like in the future. He explains the basics of blended learning. He says that basically, you take the major concepts of online, mobile, and classroom learning and merge them together with technology. He also explains the learning cycle. The student should first evaluate a question then engage, explore, explain, and expand for the answer and after the answer. With these two things you have blended learning. Mr. Anderson says that everything starts with a good question to trigger the child’s mind. Next you want to students to investigate the question and topic. The students need to experiment and have inquiry on the question. The teacher could then show a video. This frees the teacher up for questioning and gives the students time to watch the video independently when they get to it. The next step is elaboration. This is when the lesson gets into diagrams. The last step is the review portion. This is when the teacher should ask questions to assure the students understand the concept fully. The last thing the teacher does is give a summary quiz. This quiz determines if the children need to go back and review more. The unit ends with a paper pencil test. We can learn some basic steps from Mr. Anderson. These steps can help any teacher put together a blended learning lesson.

Building Comics- Sam Payne
Sam Payne is a fifth grade teacher. He teaches his students the importance of using the Internet safely. He introduces the students to the lesson by giving them a quote from Spiderman. This engages the students and grabs their attention. He teaches the students how to be a digital citizen. He asks the students what kind of power the Internet gives children. Acting respectful, safe, and responsible on the Internet is being a digital citizen. In class he gets the children to create their own digital superhero. This meets the standards he needs for this lesson, which is a concern. The students then put their superhero into a real life situation. The students do this by building comic books on their laptops. This helps with teaching dialogue. They can analyze tech structure in doing this as well. The students then peer review their classmate’s comics. While watching this source, I have learned that you can tie in many different lessons into one technical project. By having the kids peer review, they learn more than just what the teacher has said, they learn many ideas from each other. Great lesson!

Project Based Learning- Dean Shareski
Two teachers in Canada incorporated two subjects into one lesson plan. They used technology as a way to express the feedback of things they have learned from the English and History lesson. The teachers said the students learn more when incorporating more subjects into one with more time and technological use. They learn more than what is just in the lesson plan by expanding their thinking. This was a great source but it regurgitated all of the information that we learned in the previous videos.

Roosevelt's Elementary PBL Program
The video starts off with a definition of Project Based Learning. The main thing being said about project based learning is that children work in collaborative groups to solve real world problems using the state standards. Student’s work on these projects from beginning to end and students are encouraged to speak publically at an early age. This is a great tool for kids to learn at an early age so when they become a college or high school student they aren’t afraid to speak in front of people. PBL is also a self-motivation way for children to learn. The students strive to do their best. PBL uses 21st century skills such as presenting and public speaking. This makes the students proud to show what they have learned and put together. Students learn to solve problems, communicate, and work together as well as independently through PBL. PBL encourages community interaction. PBL incorporates different learning styles such as reading, writing, researching, math, and presenting. I have learned form this video that when a school and a community is on board anything is possible. PBL incorporates children gaining background knowledge to use later in life. PBL ignites the love to learn from students. Interactive projects are fun for students because they aren’t sitting in a chair all day listening to a teacher. Student reflection is a part of the PBL. Every child has a spark of curiosity to learn about the world around them and PBL strikes that spark.