ED554 FINAL PODCAST2

How important is it to use visuals in the classroom?

I think it is incredibly important to incorporate visuals in the classroom.  Some students are visual learners while others are not and I think there needs to be a balance between the two.  Because there is more and more technology in the classroom now, having visual aids is not hard to do.  Educators are using visuals in many forms including, podcasts, videos, docu-cameras, pictures, etc.  One teacher, Dan Meyer, talked about the importance of using visuals and in what ways to use visuals in his blog (http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1526) Suzie Boss wrote an article about Dan Meyer and how he uses visuals in his classroom (http://www.edutopia.org/visuals-math-curriculum).  Meyer talks about how he is constantly looking for new visuals to bring into the classroom to enrich students learning further.  He talks about how teachers have a lot of creativity that they need to express and can do so by using visuals and other innovative teaching techniques/aids in the classroom.  He decided to try something on his blog where he posted 2 pictures of a costa rica license plate and a California license plate.  He asked teachers to comment on them by asking "What can you do with this?"  He knew teachers would come up with creative ways to use the pictures in the class.  He got lessons ranging from permutations to air quality to social justice, all based on two license plates.  I thought it was really interesting how he was able to get so much feedback that could be used.  He explained that teachers pushed beyond most obvious suggestions to come up with an original idea.  He also went on to say how blogs are a great place to get ideas for incorporating visuals into your lesson and  how to do so.  I think it is so important to use visuals as often as possible because it reinforces information/content.  I can relate to students who enjoy visuals because I myself am a visual learner.  There is something about actually seeing an object, picture, video, or whatever to further understand information.  The value of visuals and multiple resources or avenues for information is extreme.

Podcast Reflection: Is In-Person Better?

EduNationCast #28: Is In-Person Better?
http://edreach.us/2012/04/29/edunationcast-28-is-in-person-better/

This podcast was not what I expected at first, and to be honest I thought I did something wrong when I clicked on it.  When the podcast started it seemed like a cheaply made, boring conversation that I was eavesdropping on.  Once I realized this was indeed the podcast I intended to listen to I kept listening.  Each person in the podcast shared different videos, websites, links, etc. I thought this was kind of pointless at first but then I started listening and I got really interested in what they were talking about.  Each person contributed something really interesting.  For example someone shared zootool.com and someone else shared nuance.com.  They would talk about each program and why they like it and show actual examples.  It was really interesting and gave me great ideas for my classroom.  The sharing of different websites lasted almost 50 minutes and the round-table discussion was about 20 minutes.  The discussion focused on whether kids are being negatively affected by so much technology.  In other words, is communication etiquette being tarnished because of technology.  It was interesting to listen to because all parties brought up valid points.  I agreed with one of the speakers in that everything needs to be in moderation.  So, if someone is speaking to you then you should make eye-contact and be respectful.  However, if you are on the subway or in the car it is okay to play on your phone, ipad, etc.  There is a time and place to use technology and kids need to be reminded of that.  Another speaker brought up a good point about how communication via technology can be beneficial.  For example, skyping with long distance relatives or friends, or finding people that are interested in the same things you're interested in.  Technology can be a resource or tool, but we cannot forget about the importance of face-to-face communication.

Students Thrive on Cooperation and Problem Solving

The beginning of this article really caught my attention, "learning-- and schooling-- must be totally transformed."  This is a bold statement, yet very true in my opinion.  Education is constantly changing and methods we use to teach students is crucial.  Standing in front of a class for hours on end, lecturing, is ineffective.  Students need to be engaged and learn skills and information that will help them after they graduate from school.  This article does a great job of highlighting an effective teaching method, project based learning.  This method includes learning and thinking skills, information- and communications- technology literacy skills, and life skills.  Obviously teachers still need to teach content and critical information to students, but they way they are doing so can change.  Students can learn how to work together, collaborate, and learn cross-curricular content while applying it to real-life situations.  I love how instructors potentially would start each unit by throwing students into a real world or realistic project that engages interest and generates a list of things they need to know.  When I think about how great incorporating PBL into the classroom would be, I can't help but think about how difficult and time consuming it would be too.  There are so many expectations put on teachers and there never seems like enough time.  In order for PBL to work, the standardized assessments would need to change as well.  If curriculum allowed for PBL, I think it would be extremely beneficial for students.  I really liked how the author talked about assessments and using rubrics in the beginning of the project so students can self-appraise their work in progress and direct their own learning.  The most interesting part of the article was the use of internet.  Projects would be housed online and they would be available from year to year AND can be shared between schools (not to mention a lot less paper!).  The grade books are also online and are live documents so students, parents, and teachers can a have communication line as far as assessments and progress goes.  I think this article really sheds light on PBL and emphasizes its strengths.  The benefits of PBL seem high and effective.

TedxPhilly Video

I really enjoyed this video.  I initially watched it when I was looking at another teachers blog and I was really interested in how she said her students responded to the video.  The video is motivating and really brings to life an interesting point in that we should be letting our students work on/learn things they are interested in and good at.  We should focus on strengthening their strengths and not focus on immediately finding areas they are struggling with and ignoring areas they strive in.  Before watching this video I never really thought about it, but it is true.  We are always trying to find areas students need to improve in and in return let their strengths go unnoticed or get put on the back-burner until they get better at the things they are not good at.  I would be curious to listen to a secondary education's reaction to the film.

Enhance/Support Your Classroom with Podcasts

Podcasts are becoming more and more popular.  Students, no matter what age, enjoy variety in their learning.  Podcasts are a great way to provide that variety while including rich content.  I never really understood the benefit to podcasts until I listened to one.  They are very interesting and easy to listen and follow along.  When I observed a 4th grade social studies class I was amazed at the impact of podcasts in the classroom.  The podcast the students were watching was VA Trekkers (http://www.virginiatrekkers.com/Menu/Podcasts).  The students were so engaged and retained so much of the information.  Students watched different VA trekker podcasts every week and LOVED it.  They knew the theme song and really thought they were being rewarded for getting such a fun experience.  After the podcast the teacher I observed would incorporate table talk and some activity.  I really saw the benefit of using podcasts in the classroom.  I also love the idea of letting students create their own podcast.  It puts such a fun spin on reports they are giving.

The Nuts and Bolts of 21st Teaching Reflection

This blog post was really interesting to read for multiple reasons.  The first being that it elaborated on something teachers experience all the time, which is how to lead a class and give students the information they need without lecturing the entire time.  I really liked how Shelly Wright talked about her experience in a sequential order and included difficulties as well as strengths within the lesson.  I loved how she allowed students to be so independent in the project while also working collaboratively.  The way she incorporated technology into this project seemed really effective.  I love the idea of letting students work together and use things like google docs to build a solid document full of different research.  I had never heard of using delicious to bookmark important sites.  I went through the website and was amazed with how much it had to offer and I immediately thought of how I could use that in my classroom with all different age children.  I like how she was able to teach the difference between primary and secondary resources and then let the students explore the web to really see the difference between the two.  I could relate to Ms. Wright when she talked about figuring out her role when trying to let the students take charge.  It is such a challenge to let students work together to figure out important skills and information, but when they do it can be so successful and meaningful.
What I found equally interesting as the actual blog topic was the amount of responses to her blog.  People left such great feedback and suggestions.  I found it really enjoyable to read through them.  I watched the video someone suggested to share with her class and I found it really interesting.  The video talked about how we should be encourage learning by allowing students to do things they are good as instead of restricting them.  It was a great video that could lead to interesting discussions/debates.