Things I'm Learning Today

I'm actually sitting in class now, and listening to fellow classmates present. I thought it might help me to write down what they are saying in an effort to learn something. So here's what I am learning from my classmates.

So I just learned about this cool web site called Prezi. A teacher, Angelyn, in my class has made her presentation using this software, and it's really cool. Temple, who is sitting next to me, said that there's a version made for educators. I think it's free. I'll have to check it out. Angelyn also mentioned all these cool free Web 2.0 sites for making online portfolios. She mentioned:

Glogster
wkik
wix
prezi
voicethread
wordpress
youth voices

Ashley is sitting on the other side of me. She showed me this cool web site called alien rescue. This is something I want to use for my TAG science class.

And Brett spoke about online note taking. He told us about Diigo.com. Another thing I'll have to look into. I don't think my 5th grade students will use it, but I might find it beneficial for myself.

Stephanie spoke about a program called Gaggle. It's a network which allows the teacher to control what is written and who can correspond with the students. It is not a free program except for the email function which is its primary function. The upgraded version is $5.00 a student. Besides email, the upgraded version has homework drop boxes, blogs, a calendar, SMS texting, message boards, and a social wall. Because it's web-based, it can be accessed at home and in school. The drop box feature of the homework drop boxes reduces paper used by students, papers can't be lost by teachers or students, students can't say, "My printer isn't working, or I didn't have any ink." Teachers can grade from home without taking any papers from home. The blogs are a little plain, but get the job done. I'd like a blog to b customizable because I think it helps the student feel a sense of ownership.

Texas A&M has a great vocabulary program for 5-8 science vocabulary. I need to research this because she didn't tell too much about it.

Blog Post #10

In keeping with the theme of Blog Post #9, I wanted to include a picture of the cabin we toured this summer at the lake. I tried to include this in the previous post, but I got an html error. I don't know enough about html to go in and edit the error, so I thought I would try again.

This cabin sits on 1.5 acres filled with red and white pines, birch trees and rolling terrain. If I win the lottery tomorrow, I'm buying the cabin, no plumbing and all. I have wanted to live on this lake since I was 10 years old. I'm tired of waiting.

Blog Post #9

It was rather coincidental that Yahoo posted this video on their news page yesterday, because I have been mulling over the possibility of downsizing my house to something smaller. You see, when we are in Minnesota, we live in a small, two-bedroom house that has a tiny kitchen, one bath, and one living area which also doubles as the dining room. We love it.

This year, as I was floating on a raft in the middle of the lake, I met a man who had been coming to the same lake as me since 1958. He's the first person I have ever met who had been vacationing at the lake longer than I have. I started in 1970. Turns out this man is the owner of a lovely hand scribed log cabin that's about 180 square feet, and coincidentally, he's looking for someone to buy it. He's getting ready to move to England and will no longer need it. I told him I'd be interested in looking at it, though I am on the five year plan and need to wait until all of my kids are through high school. He quickly informed me that the cabin had no plumbing and was surprised when I said, "Doesn't bother me. There's a lake to bathe in, and I love to camp."

So my husband and two of my three boys toured his little cabin and spent the ensuing evening talking about what we could and couldn't do in a place that small and would it be worth looking into leasing it next summer if it didn't sell.

So that's how the wheel in my head started turning. Then the video on Yahoo, and now I'm ready to go purchase Jay Shafer's book. Lots of people are "going green" these days, and I suppose that's a good reason for wanting to live in a place so small. For me, it's more about shedding the unnecessary material things. I think there's a lot of freedom in that. I'm tired of being bogged down by "things." I think if I lived in a place like the homes Jay Shafer builds, I would have more time to get on with living my life.

I think this guy is on to something and the world needs to pay attention to him.

Blog Post #8

Of all of the things that I have been learning about in class, I think I've enjoyed the digital photography and videos the most. I've used this trip to Minnesota to practice making videos in Movie Maker, and I've taken lots of photos. For my second video, I am creating an educational video about the flora and fauna of the woods of northern Minnesota.

I don't think one can take a bad picture with a setting as beautiful and serene as the one I'm currently in. There are numerous opportunities to photograph plants and animals in their natural settings. And with an amatuer photographer like my husband to help me understand lighting and effects, we've amassed quite a collection of photos.

What I'd really like now is a high quality video camera. My one disappointment is the zoom on the digital video camera I am using. I can't keep objects in focus when I am zooming. My kids tell me that's jut how digital zoom is, but surely, with all of the technological advances being made in the world today, there is an idiot-proof digital video camera that allows the videographer to zoom AND still be in focus, right? I have included some shots we have taken this summer.

Blog Post #7

According to Wikipedia, experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. My son was lucky enough to be a pupil of one of the most masterful teachers I know. My son, Jeffery, spent 4 consecutive summers in Colorado experiencing the classroom of the earth. There was no set curriculum, rather, Jeffery and his two friends decided each year what they wanted to learn.

The first year they learned about shooting rubber duckies. Now how can that be educational? Think about it. The boys spent hours sitting on the front porch of the log cabin, shooting BBs at yellow, rubber duckies of all sizes that had been hung from a crossbar. The boys thought it was all great fun but they were learning at the same time. They learned about gun safety, gun cleaning, resilience (of the duckies to the BBs), physics terms like trajectory, drag, arcing, velocity, acceleration and more.

One year they shot and killed 4 beavers that were damming up a very important water way. The boys learned how to clean, skin, and tan the hides of beavers, they learned the importance of water in the high mountains in Colorado, they learned about water rights and municipalities. They learned how beavers can effect the lives of people and vice versa.

One year all of the boys were turning 15 and dying to get their learners permits to drive. That summer, they all learned how to drive a stick shift. They learned how to ride ATVs, build bridges, mend fences, build campfires, and cook food in the outdoors.

My son's senior year, this teacher took him on the trip of a lifetime. They spent 10 days in Alaska photographing Grizzly bears, fishing for salmon, and learning about glaciers. This man gave my son the precious gift of his time, knowledge and expertise, but most of all, he helped my child understand that our world has so much that it can teach us if we reach out and experience it. The mundane comes alive and truly inspires students to learn.

Blog Post #6

I would like to learn more about virtual field trips. Our school allows us to take only one, or at the most, 2 field trips a year with our 5th graders. It is the administration's opinion that we ask for far too much in the way of school supplies each year and that asking for additional field trip fees is unnecessary. I disagree. I think children benefit from experiencing firsthand the concepts that they are learning about in school. I especially like the idea of getting students out of the classroom and into the rich tapestry of our world and allowing them to experience firsthand what our world has to offer. Children can learn so much from nature.

I teach 5th grade science. We take a field trip to the Trinity River Audubon Wilderness Center. This is a fabulous learning experience that really connects with the learning strands in the 5th grade science curriculum. I feel that students get so much more from their experiences when they are able to connect with science in the real world. I'd like to learn about virtual field trips that would cost nothing, yet allow my students to experience science in a real world setting.

My favorite unit is Earth Science. This also happens to be one of the most difficult units for my students. I'd like to specifically find field trips that would help my students understand the rock cycle, the tectonic plates, and forces of nature. I cannot pack them up and head to Enchanted Rock in Llano for an overnight, but if I could find the next best thing online, I'd like to help my students experience these concepts to further their understanding.

Blog Post #5

Online or distance learning has its advantages as well as its drawbacks. One huge advantage is that it allows the learner to work when it is most convenient for him or her. For example, I would have been unable to complete any hours toward my degree this summer had it not been for the ability to do it online. Even though I am on vacation, I have time to work in the mornings on grad school, without interfering in family time or vacation time. I get to enjoy all the summer fun, while at the same time, I am earning hours toward my masters degree.

One major drawback is sort of the opposite of the advantage. Because I have no set times that I have to meet in a classroom, it's easy to let the work go for another day rather than working on it consistently. I have gone a week now without working on anything, and now find myself in a bit of a bind, wondering how I'm going to get it all completed by the deadline. One thing I know about myself, however, it that I need to be under a little bit of pressure in order to get things done. These next 10 days will be busy, pulling my hair out kind of days, but in the end it will all be worth it since I'll be 6 hours closer to graduation.

Blog Post #4

Monarch butterflies migrate from Mexico all the way to these woods in northern Minnesota and other states in search of milkweed where they lay eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae spend all of their time consuming every part of the milkweed plant until they are ready to become pupae. Once transformed into butterflies, the monarchs start their trips south for the winter.



The milkweed plant is very important to the monarch as it is the one of the only types of plants on which they feed. Sadly, farmers in the northern states have been slowly diminishing their habitat as they continue to eliminate milkweed from their fields.

Blog Post #3

The north woods of Minnesota are home to several types of birds. Bald eagles have made a significant comeback in the past decade and nest high in the pine trees here. Their nests can reach up to 12 feet across and weigh as much as a car. Bald eagles mate for life and once their nest is built, come back to the same nest year after year to raise their offspring.

Juvenile bald eagles do not look like the parent. They are a mottled brown and white and do not have the trademark white plumage in their heads until they are between one and two years of age. In this picture (top right), you can see a pair of juvenile birds that are trying out their wings and practicing the movements of flight. Sometimes when there is more than one bird in the nest, the stronger of the two will push the other one out of the nest at a very young age. This particular nest traditionally has two eaglets, and we have yet to observe one pushing the other out of the nest. This pair of bald eagles have been nesting here for about 4 years.

photos courtesy of Jeff Stager

The Classroom of the Future

In some ways, the classroom of the future can be scary to contemplate. While online learning and distance learning would be beneficial, I worry about the lack of actual human interaction. When I asked my 13 year-old son what he thought the classroom of the future would be like, his response was that students would be taught by robots, or online teachers, in the comfort of their own homes, isolated from one another. I hope this is not the case. Students learn from one another and benefit from working together on problems. My vision of the classroom of the future will still maintain the traditional school building where students congregate to learn each day. Human beings are social animals and living in isolation- even if connected by the Web- would be a detriment. We need to view technology as a tool, not a replacement for people.

I see the future of learning as a daily multimedia event where students come to school to work with one another to discover the world using technology tools. The teacher acts more as a facilitator, presenting real world problems to the kids that the students must solve by working together. Constructivist learning will be more prevalent as students work together to build understanding. With technology shrinking the world, I see more interaction on a world-wide basis which promotes the need for students to understand one another. I see an emphasis on learning about different cultures, races, and religions so that students from different parts of the world can learn to work with one another. Students will be able to "attend" classes in other parts of the world and collaborate with students in other parts of the world. I see technology as a supplement to help students learn through use of hypermedia but not as a replacement for daily human interaction.

Student Learning

Our district collects data in a few different ways. To begin with, in 5th grade stduents take a CoGAT test which basically measures IQ. We use this test as a reference when determining placement for students in special education programs and talented and gifted (TAG) programs. Additionally, all students in the district take the state-mandated TAKS tests in Reading, Math, and Science. Teachers review TAKS scores of stduents from previous years in an effort to anticiapte any learning problems, or any need for tutorials for specific students. Occasionally these may also help make decisions when place students in special ed or TAG classes. A third way our district collects data is through MAP testing, which is a self-regulated test that assesses the current level of student knowledge in math, reading, and science. The program helps teachers to differentiate lessons for students so that all students are learning at the appropriate levels. This program is relatively new, and there is some work to be done to create differentiated lesson plans, but the hope is that our district will be able to show individual students growth in low-performing through high-performing students.

Creating Videos

This was INCREDIBLY frustrating for me. I LOVED making the video. The boys and I had a great time. What I didn't anticipate was the spotty Internet service, and the inability to upload my video to my blog. Now we are in a real city and I am able to upload it.

I've learned a lot from this experience despite my frustration. One thing I've learned is that it takes a lot of time to up load a video. I understand the reason now of the importance of band with and quick up loading and down loading. As I was trying to upload my vidoe, I canceled the up load several times because I thought it wasn't working, when in fact it was just up loading so slowly, I didn't know it.

The second thing I learned is how much FUN it is to make a video. I used Windows Movie Maker and it was very easy to figure out how to put all the components together. I found the program very easy to use. I had used it in the past, but I never added music AND narration to a video. With a few random clicks, I was able to figure out how to lengthen and shorten the clips, mute the narration which eliminated the noise from the camera, and by mistake, I learned how to have both the original sound tack with music in the background. Adding the subtitles was very easy to do also.

The next thing I would like to try is combining both still pictures and video into a movie. I can see several ways to use this in the classroom by either making my own movies, or having the students make movies that illustrate concepts we are learning in class.

I hope you enjoy my video. Click on the link below to see a piece of my summer road trip!

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mgzjmctqk4y