Blog Post #3

Peer editing is where you help out fellow classmates (whom are normally around the same age as you), to improve their writing. In the video, What is Peer Editing?, it gives you the basics of peer editing for everyday life. First, you need to give compliments to your peer, and tell them something that they did well or that you liked. This also means you need to stay positive and be kind when you give suggestions on what they should do differently. You also need to be specific when giving suggestions. Next, you would need to give corrections on spelling, grammar, punctuation, and etc.

In the slideshow, Peer Edit With Perfection Tutorial, it also tells you the basic steps of peer editing. Just as the first video, it tells you to first give compliments, next you give suggestions, and last you give corrections. This slideshow is my favorite resource that we looked at for this post. I liked this the most because it gives you the same information, but I can flip through the slideshow at my own pace.

In the video, Writing Peer Reviews Top 10 Mistakes, 4th and 5th graders act out 10 things you should not do when giving peer reviews. You should not be a "Picky Patty", and pick out every little thing wrong that you see in your peers' paper. Next is "Whatever William", and he does not care about what he did wrong in his paper. "Social Sammy" socializes with all of the other group partners and does not get any work done! "Jean the Generalizer" does not give specific corrections for her peers. "Mean Margaret" is just as she sounds, she is not kind when giving her reviews. "Loud Larry" is way too loud and disruptive when giving his reviews. "Pushy Paula" insists that you take her advice, even if it is not right. "Off-Task Oliver" is always getting off the topic of the review. "Speedy Sandy" thinks it is a race to the finish to get the review done. Last but not least, "Defensive Dave" takes his feedback from his peer way too personally. I really enjoyed this video because I believe it would be a great video to show to my future students about peer editing. This video is great for students since it relates to them and is done by students.

Blog Post #2

In the video, Mr. Dancealot, the central message of this video is that hands on and visual learning is needed in the classroom. The author proved his theory by showing that none of the students learned the dances for their final due to the lack of visuals. The students only got notes from the power points and lectures, and did not get to physically participate in any of the dances they were "learning". How can you learn a dance from reading a book and notes? It is not impossible, but not very easy at all. I agree with his conclusion because I too believe that hands on learning is the best and easiest way to learn. If you can see, and actually do what you are learning, then knowledge will be faster and easier to retain.

In the video, Teaching in the 21st Century, Kevin Roberts is trying to get the point across that teaching is not the same as it used to be. We have so much technology now and new things come out every year. He asks in the beginning if this technology will make teachers obsolete. Most people think that this is true. Teachers are now becoming "filters". Students can now get so much information from the internet, but who will filter this and separate right from wrong? Teachers. He also believes that instead of "entertaining" students, we need to engage them, which leads to more learning and less hassle. I agree with Roberts to a certain extent. It is true that teachers will become and are becoming filters. But I believe teachers are certainly needed for more than just that. Teachers teach life lessons and make learning a lot more simple. We do, although, need to engage more with students, and technology does help with that aspect of learning. If Roberts' theory is true, schools could just revert to just online teaching. I do not agree that that would be the best case scenario, but it is possible. Students still need the visual aspect of learning and we cannot do everything online like some people think.

In the video, Networked Student, it basically shows how a student networks with other students and finds resources using technology for their classwork. It also shows that most students now rely mainly on themselves and technology to get their work done. It then asks why we need the teacher if we can find/do everything online and through networking. My reaction is that, sadly, not everyone has access to this technology. A lot of students do not have the money for these new technologies, and even school systems do not have the money for it. I somewhat resent the idea that technology has taken away from a lot of things in life. For example, we eventually may not have books or newspapers. As stated above, some people think it may even replace teachers. Students do not need to solely rely on technology and it should not be the focus of all attention. We need to learn other, more important things in life, rather than how to hear lectures from other college professors, when we pay our own professor to do this task. Students will always need teachers and not just for filtering what students find on the internet. The same goes for technology though, we will always need to advance and learn about the new technology. Although, in my opinion, we should not put as much emphasis on technology as we do today.

In the video, Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, the teacher is showing how effective technology is in the classroom. I agree that technology can be affective and normally is, but we do not need everything to revolve around it. Technology can make learning fun and interesting just as the teacher stated. As I said before though, not everyone has access to these forms of learning and it may not be the best option for all students. Technology in the classroom would be a lot more simple if we had no poverty in the world.

In the video, Flipping the Classroom, it explains what this method is. Flipping a classroom requires the students to watch a video of their teacher at home and learn about their lessons before they come to school. They believe this will give them time to learn the material and figure out questions that need to be asked. This method is completely new to me. I have never heard of this before. I think this could become an effective approach to teaching. Normally I would say what I have said before, that not every student has access to a computer. As soon as I had that thought, the teacher explained that if a student does not have a computer, that they can watch the video once they get to school and have time to think about everything. I think it is a great way to speed up the learning process and help students retain more knowledge!

Blog Post #1

I have actually heard many things about EDM 310. Mainly that the course load is large. A lot of assignments and projects. All of my friends that have taken it and told me about their experiences, said that they made an A though. Basically, they explained to me that they thought it was a lot of work, but it took time to get used to and they learned a lot from this class in the end.

My only real fear is that I might forget an assignment or do an assignment wrong. Although, I normally have these fears in any class I take. EDM 310 is beginning to remind me of a computer class I had to take my senior year of high school. It wasn't necessarily hard, but it was a lot of meticulous work. The same goes for a computer class I took at Faulkner, a lot of meticulous steps and work.

In EDM 310, I believe the most difficult thing for me will be keeping up with the assignments. This normally goes for any student though. Like most people, I go to college and have 15 hours. I also have a job after school, plus plenty of other outside activities that I participate in. I think the best way for me to address this worry, is to keep a list. I need to make a list of all of the assignments myself, that will help me go step by step and get everything done on time. For some odd reason, whenever teachers give me class assignment schedules I can never understand it as well as I could my own writing. Is that normal?

My question now is, how could I use this in an elementary school environment? I am positive I will learn this throughout the semester, but my guess is that I could use blogs for language arts purposes. This can be used for kids to write their thoughts and dreams. Even better, a method to remind them that they CAN achieve their dreams. Either way, I am positive that I will learn all that I need to know in EDM 310.

Practice Post

My name is Kristina Demetropolis. I an 20 years old and lived in Tillman's Corner, in Mobile, AL, until I was 12 years old. After that, I moved to Satsuma, AL and have lived there ever since. When I moved to Satsuma, I moved in with my grandmother and have lived with her ever since then too. She raised me through some of the roughest years of my life and I am forever thankful for what she has done for me.

I graduated from Satsuma High School in 2012 with a 4.0 GPA and was ranked 14 in my class. Before I even graduated, I started going to school at Faulkner State Community College where I also maintained a 4.0 GPA. I haven't had a break from school since the summer before my senior year of high school. I just transferred to USA this semester and I am very excited to finally be here. I am extremely proud to be a first generation college student!

I have always had a love for children. I did not have a lovely childhood myself, and I have always wanted to be able to help children that have similar situations to what mine was. It took me a while to decided what I actually wanted to do though. First I considered social work, then counseling... Then I finally decided on Elementary Education. My best friend's mom, aunt, and grandmother are all elementary teachers. They all told me their stories, benefits, and facts about education. They ultimately had the final say in my choice and that sealed the deal. I always looked up to my teachers as a child, and I hope my students will be able to look up to me in the same way.

I guess you could say my passion is being involved. I am a Crewmate for the USS Alabama. Every year the battleship picks 6 girls to receive a scholarship and be ambassadors to Mobile and Baldwin County. One of the other Crewmates is also in this class, Jessica Garris. I love being a Crewmate because we learn a lot about the history of Mobile and get to attend a lot of different events throughout the year. I love talking to people and it is a great way to do just that! As I said, I feel like I am great at talking to people, giving speeches, doing interviews, etc. But I would love to get better at singing, which I also have a passion for. I sing in the praise team and choir at my church. It is an amazing way to get messages across congregations and help them learn even more about Christ.

Test Post #2

Testing!

My First Blog Post

This is my first blog post. I clicked the HTML button like we should always do in EDM310. I am now a blogger!