Blog Post #10

What can we learn from Ms. Cassidy? 

Ms. Cassidy is an elementary school teacher from Canada. Students in her classroom use many different types of technology, such as blogs, wikis, Skype, and Nintendo DS. This is shown in Little Kids.. Big Potential.

Ms. Cassidy started using technology in her classroom a little over ten years ago. She discusses technology and its role in her teaching strategies in these videos: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Her students are required to write blog posts about once a week. They follow many of the same blog rules I follow in EDM 310, from writing quality posts to making positive comments on other students' blogs. They use wikis to learn about different subjects they are not familiar with. They use Skype to talk to professionals when they are not able to come speak to the students in person. They have Nintendo DS's which they are required to share with other students. Using these teaches them how to solve problems.

I think that I would enjoy using all of these in my classroom. They all seem like great tools that allow students to really expand their knowledge on subjects that may not be easily found in a textbook. Our world is so dependent on technology now that it would really benefit students to begin working on becoming technologically literate at a young age.

Technology also has some problems, and I am sure that I would encounter some in my classroom. It is easy to get off topic when you have the Internet available, as there is so much to do on it. Students must be instructed to stay on topic and focus on the task they have to do. There is also the fear of plagiarism, which is common when using the Internet. But according to Ms. Cassidy, when instructors make the work challenging enough to require students to generate their own, creative response, plagiarism and copying is nearly impossible.

Ms. Cassidy seems like an awesome teacher! I didn't realize that students as young as hers could be so advanced in technology, but she has taught them well.

March C4K

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In Advice for Future High School Students by Ulises, he gives five points of advice for future high school students. These are to join sports or clubs, stay on top of homework, take notes, don't hang out around the wrong crowd, and to stay on top of your grades!

I told him that I was a college student at South Alabama, and that this was awesome advice. I also told him to make sure he takes the ACT, because that is where a lot of scholarship money comes from!


In Tom's post, he wrote about Samuel Jackson. He wrote about his acting history and all of the awards Samuel Jackson has won in the past. He wrote about him in honor of black history month.

I told him that I was a college student at South Alabama, and that he wrote a great post! Samuel Jackson was an awesome actor, and he definitely deserves the recognition that he was given in the post.


In Macie M's blog post on Book Project, she wrote about a book she had read titled Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson. The book was about two girls who were good friends; one was outgoing and one was shy. The outgoing friend disappeared and left the shy friend a list of things to do to help her grow as a person and face her biggest fears. In the end, the shy friend learned to really be herself.

In my comment, I introduced myself and told her she had written a great post. I told her the book sounded very good and it was something that I would be interested in reading.

Blog Post 9

Project Based Learning

Project based learning is an awesome tool to use in the classroom! This can be done in groups or individually. Students are required to create to learn, instead of just take a test on information they have been taught. Essentials of Project Based Learning says there are seven essentials needed for this to be successful. These are a need to know, driving question, student voice and choice, 21st century skills, inquiry and innovation, feedback and revision, and a public presentation.

Project Based Learning for Teachers says that project based learning fosters inquisitiveness. It requires the student to work for a long period of time answering a deep question that calls for a creative, unique product. These questions are not just yes or no questions. Project based learning calls for meeting standards of common core while learning unique communication skills, collaboration skills, and more!

What Motivates Students? interviews different students with things that motivate them, rewards they like, and helpful activities in the classroom. If the student doesn't make good grades, they can't play baseball games, cannot go swim, or will be grounded. If they have good behavior or grades, they will get surprise rewards or classroom money. For helpful activities, they will participate in different things throughout the week, such as Music Monday, where students dance around the classroom and tell facts they have learned.

Project Based Learning and Physical Education is a post about how a PE teacher used project based learning in his classroom. He divided students into groups and asked them to create a successful exercise program for middle school students. They had open conversations with their group, and had to communicate and collaborate. They had to test drive other projects of other groups, which engaged them in physical activity. They shared data and rhetoric while presenting their own project. The teacher said he felt this was a successful project and students understood PE standards even better after it was over.

10 Sites Supporting PBL is a great resource. It has ten different websites that can be used when working with project based learning in the classroom.


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Project #9

Video Book Conversation

Blog Post 8

What can we learn from Randy Pausch? 

Randy Pausch is quite the inspirational educator. In Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood DreamHe had cancer at one point, but he was able to beat it, and I know it is because of his positive attitude and motivation to live a happy life. He has so much advice for future teachers and how to handle children, and it is all unique and good! He encourages educators to let children act out all their events and have an audience to act in front of. It is fun for children to act out and pretend to be someone else. He also talks about setting the bar high for your students and pushing them to achieve big goals. It is important to work to accomplish the goals that you set out for. Sometimes, there will be brick walls but you have to do your best to overcome them and conquer them. When people get frustrated with you learning, it is only because they really care about you! When people stop complaining about things that you are doing, they no longer care. 

All in all, the most important thing I took away from this was to always keep working towards my goals, and push my future students to work hard to accomplish what they want to accomplish too. Anything can be done with motivation and hard work! 

C4T#2

Educator Jeff Delp has an awesome blog, and I have definitely enjoyed keeping up with it! He has a strong passion for education and government policy on it. He is very "real-world oriented" and has strong opinions that he is not afraid to express.

In Jeff Delp's Realities of Being a Public Educator, he talks about how necessary it is to have funding for programs that benefit children outside of education. He is an advocate for counseling services, testing services, and extra curricular programs. He recognizes that the poverty rate has risen quickly, and that children in poor areas need special services.

I agree with him. It is proven that kids in poverty benefit from extra programs. Funding should be kept to help these children exceed in and out of the classroom.

In 10 Tweets to Send to Your Elected Officials, Jeff Delp says he is frustrated with the current assault on public education. He lists 10 tweets that he recommends people should send to their elected officials in their state. They range from all kids deserving the best opportunities for quality education, to schools addressing all the needs of a child, knowing the challenges of high poverty schools before making solutions, and demonstrating respect for all of those around you!

In my comment, I agreed with him and his points! So many times people will try to fix things, yet they don't know why they are broken. Kids are the main reason we have schools, and it is so important to keep them first. I told him this was a great post, and I enjoyed reading it.

Project 7 Part B

To the parents...

To the students...