C4T #3

Have You Contemplated Your Philosophy of Reading

I had the opportunity to read Annie Palmer’s blog “Breaking Education Barriers.” In her blog, she has asked three questions that have really made me think as an upcoming educator. One of her questions she has stated is “What is your philosophy of reading?” I would like to think that, as an Elementary Educator; I will develop good readers who are active in making connections, motivated, fluent and become lifelong readers. For Annie Palmer, her answer was “reading is not truly reading until the point that it becomes interactive. This interaction occurs between the reader and the text. At a very basic level, it goes beyond decoding words and reading fluently, two of the surfaces components of reading. We read to comprehend, the deeper component of reading. However, real reading goes beyond that. Real reading occurs when the reading becomes alive, when it becomes like a conversation and interaction between two entities, the person and the message that is being conveyed.” I agree with Annie Palmer when she says that reading should be active.

Her second and third question goes hand and hand. She asked, “Why do we read?” and “Why should it be integral part of everyone’s life?” Her answer: “because it changes lives, and it is where the magic of reading takes place.” Annie Palmer is right. People read to relax, for information, entertainment, and for soul searching. Reading is an essential part of who we are and how we as individuals live our lives.

My reply, I explained that as a student, my philosophy of reading is to develop good readers who are active in making connections, being motivated, fluent readers, and lifelong readers. As a student, my philosophy is changing as I am being introduced to new ideas and techniques. However, after reading her blog, I agree that I too want my students to come alive when they read.

Blog Post #10

What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch?

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams was a great video assignment. Even if this video were not intended for the audience, but for his three young children. As a parent of two children, I admire his positive outlook on life. He was diagnosed with cancer, and was told that he had up to six months to live. I do not know if I could be so positive in his position. Although I can relate to Dr. Pausch, about a year ago, my doctor found two tumors on my thyroid. Since then I have been on medications to stop the growth of my tumors. This video has made me realize that if he could be so positive and happy then so could I.

Dr. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. In his class, he included project based learning. The way he taught his students to learn was by disguising the lesson/skill into something else that was fun. He then went on to say that, “Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly, by watching someone, and working together as a team. I agree with Dr. Pausch’s statement, and I think that it is valuable for students to experience this type of learning in a class. Following the example from Dr. Pausch, by allowing his students to have the creative control in the assignments, they were able to create great pieces of work.

In this video, he explained many great things that I really think are important for me as a student majoring in Education to become an Educator, which I want to remember. One great phrase that Dr. Pausch said was “To teach students how to become self-reflective. If I could enlighten my students with the skills to look at who they are, where they want to go in life, and how to overcome their challenges, or “Brick Walls” that make us prove how badly we want it. It would be a way of encouraging my students to chase their dreams no matter how silly people might think they are if it inspires you, then dream big. Although, I think that his best advice is about critics. He said that “Critics are good, and you need to listen to it; if you are doing something wrong and someone is not correcting you that means they have given up on you.” I think that is very necessary to know, as a teacher; you are your student’s critics. They want to hear how they are doing. Even if it takes some elbow grease and extra time, Dr. Pausch said that “If you wait long enough, people will surprise and impress you.”

P.S. I have decided, I am a Tigger!

Project 14

In this lesson plan for project based learning, our fourth grade students will learn about the Solar System. This lesson plan includes the subjects: science, reading, writing, and art. Our group made this into a two week lesson plan. This project is intended for our students to grasp the concept of our Solar System including asteroids, meteors, and comets. They will create a science/art project to show their understanding of the information after one week of the lesson. On Friday of the first week, they will present their projects in front of the class. During the second week, they will write a descriptive paper titled "My Trip in Outer Space." Then they will peer edit their papers in small groups of four students. After peer editing each others work, each group will choose/vote one paper that they think is the best and should be read to the class. The next day, Thursday, the presenters will read their papers and then when our students are finished reading, everyone will hand in their paper. On Friday of the second week, our students will have a multiple choice/ short answer/ and matching test on the Solar System that is made up of about 10-15 questions. This lesson plan includes resources such as iCurio, YouTube, Smart-boards, and Mac laptops. The driving question for this lesson plan is, "How do we characterize and put into order the planets of our solar system?" This is the link to our site.

Blog Post #9

By: Katlyn Lusker, Tarcela Kohn, Jake Dukes, and Alex Hopson

"Back To the Future" by Brian Crosby

Brian Crosby is a teacher from Agnes Risley Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada. In his video Back To the Future, he explains that 90 percent of his students are second language learners. His students are at risk because they qualify for free lunch, meaning they are students of poverty. On the second day of school, Mr. Crosby gave his twenty-four students a survey to find out where they stood. After gathering the results he found out when they were asked "Which city do you live in?", only nine children gave the correct answer. When they were asked "What state do you live in?", twelve gave the correct answer. When they were asked "What country do you live in?", only three students answered correctly. When they were asked "What is your address?", only seven students were able to answer correctly. Mr. Crosby then poses the question, "Why such a disconnect for these students?"

"We do not want to have a narrow curriculum for these students, but these students have had a narrow curriculum since they were born." Mr. Crosby also said, "They haven't had the experiences and the inputs to build the schema for the world." One of our favorite quotes from this video was when Mr. Crosby said, "It's hard to be able to imagine what could be if you don't know anything about what is. And if it's hard to imagine, where does your creativity spark from? If you don't have a lot of imagination and creativity, where do you build your passion from?" Those few sentences are very powerful. They make you think deeper and you start to ask questions.

In this video, Mr. Crosby's students did a balloon project where they created "high hopes" cards and then they created a place to put all of the cards, their pictures, and cameras for filming the process. Once they created a place for all of these objects they tied it to a balloon. After the balloon went out of site they went back in their room and tracked the balloon. They were able to watch the balloon in real time. The students were also instructed to come in and write about what they saw, what they did, and then they swapped pictures with each other. It didn't even stop when it landed because they were in a learning network. They are tied into other students from across the world, and they started getting messages about how some students wanted their own teachers to do some of the same projects as they had done.

They would Skype different classes and the students from Mr. Crosby's class (that had already articulated these projects in writing) showed the other students exactly how to do them. Mr. Crosby said, "When you're working/ dealing with second language learners, articulating it in speech is a whole different ball game, and by practicing, they are reviewing the material, and most importantly they get to shine. They get to show off what they know."

By doing projects like these, language is at focus. They learn to read and write to learn- content, they use writing to clarify and share, they write to tell a story, they use creativity, they learn to give and receive feedback, they learn to articulate orally, they connect globally, they become aware globally, and they have an authentic audience.

Mr. Crosby says, "This is active learning. This is empowering students to become learners. Now we are empowering kids to learn on their own. To use a lot of these 21st century tools like; connecting, empowering, being active, including, motivating, and collaborating, allows them to do just that." We agree with Mr. Crosby that by using these tools, we are connecting students to the world. He said it best when he said, "We can't just keep racing kids through school, it can't be a race. We have to keep making sure that we are giving them opportunities to build schema for the world."

"Blended Learning Cycle" by Mr. Paul Andersen

The Blended Learning Cycle video was made by Paul Andersen. Mr. Andersen's video was actually a podcast to discuss and inform others about the "Blending Learning Cycle". Mr. Andersen explained that last year he presented at TED Talk on "Classroom Game Design" and how he turned his classroom into a video game. He said last year " was a great year, however, it strayed a little from what he knew about the power of the question in his science class." Mr. Andersen depicted an image that we found humorous. The image below, is from the "Blended Learning Cycle" video. It is from 19th century France, predicting what students will look like in the year 2000. We agree with Mr. Andersen, our classrooms do not look like this, however, our classrooms have changed tremendously.

Mr. Andersen made a great point, he had a great year, but the class strayed. So over his summer, he assessed himself and became more inspired about his classroom. He then explains what he found during his rethinking process. He came up with a way to incorporate "The Blending Learning Cycle" into his Science Class.

Mr. Andersen defined Blended Learning as taking compelling parts of online, mobile, and the classroom, then blend them together using technology in a positive way. The next part of the cycle are the 5e's: Engaging, Explore, Expand, Explain, and Evaluate.

When starting with "Engaging," you as the teacher want to engage the students with an opening question. Mr. Andersen explained it as the "hook." The second "e" is "Explore". After you have given the engaging question/opening question allow for the students to explore/investigate/inquire on their own with books, technology, etc. Next, is to "Expand." Here, Mr. Andersen uses videos or podcast. He says it allows to free up his time to assess his students. Now for the fourth "e," Mr. Andersen said his students "Explain" by elaboration with diagrams, reading, etc. Lastly, "Evaluation" was covered. Here Mr. Andersen assesses his student's understanding of the content. It is here that he will use a video or podcast that students can watch, so he is able to have individual time to ask questions to his students before his students have to take their Summary Quiz at the end of their lessons. Mr. Andersen then finishes his podcast by explaining that when you combine the Blended Learning and the Learning Cycle you get a "Blended Learning Cycle."

"Making Thinking Visible" by Mark Church

In the video Making Thinking Visible by Mark Church, Mr. Church has his students work in small groups to have a discussion about a video they had watched the day before, concerning the topic of early human beginnings and the origins of human society. In order for his students to capture the "heart" of what the unit was all about, he asked his students to talk about the "puzzles" in their small groups and to come up with a headline to capture what the "puzzle and challenge of the search for human origin" was all about.

One of Mr. Church's students asked her group, "How could we sum up everything that we have been talking about in one phrase?" We agree that through communication and collaboration, the thought process among these groups become visible. After discussing each groups headlines, Mr. Church then puts the headlines up on bulletin boards to be displayed. After two weeks more of the same unit and when the kids do a final project, Mr. Church is going to ask them "What's the headline now? How has the story changed? How has your thinking changed?"

This video was a great example of seeing thinking become visible. Communication and collaboration are some of the 21st century tools that we have been studying and to see children work and think together definitely proves that they are important tools needed all throughout life.

"Super Digital Citizen" - Building Comics by Sam Pane

The focus in the video "Super Digital Citizen- Building Comics by Sam Pane was "How to become a super digital citizen." Mr. Pane is a fifth grade teacher at Wilson Focus School in the Omaha Public School District in Nebraska. He teaches all curriculum's which include: reading, math, science, and social studies.

In this video, Mr. Pane asks his students "Who is really in charge of using the internet safely?" The video in this lesson is about how to be a good digital citizen and being able to evaluate when you go to websites, what kind of information they might be after. Mr. Pane brought up a quote from Spider-Man which was, "With great power comes great responsibility." He then asked his class, "What kind of power does the internet give us?" They had a class discussion and then they talked about what it means to be a digital citizen ("someone who chooses to act safely, responsibly, and respectfully, whenever they are online").

The project Mr. Pane gave his students was to build a comic showing safety, responsibility, and respect. They were to design a digital super hero that would step in, in order to save the day. The website that these students used is one that allows people to build their own super digital character. They were allowed to pick from three basic designs and then they were able to modify and customize it as much as they wanted. These students did their projects on Mac laptops.

Mr. Pane said, "Matching up with English, Language standards is a huge deal in this lesson because the students have to create their super digital citizen and then they have to actually take that and put them into a imagination situation." They are creating a narrative between themselves and their super hero. They also use pictures of themselves along with their super hero characters, which creates a sense of ownership for them. Mr. Pane said, "Building comics are a great way to do a visual presentation of learning and of text. We can also use this as a way to teach dialogue (text bubble)." When the students were finished creating their comic, they got up and walked to a different laptop to read someone else's comic. Then they had to determine if the person used examples of safety, respect, and responsibility. Mr. Pane said the bottom line is that "Students are going to be exposed online to all sorts of opportunities, and he wants his students to know that they're choices they will have to make, and that it's going to take a super digital citizen to make these choices."

We really liked this video because building comics is a great idea to use in classrooms. It used many of the 21st century skills including communication, creativity, collaboration, and it was also very engaging. The students looked like they really enjoyed this project and any project that promotes learning but is also fun at the same time, is always a great project.

Blog Post #8

Promethean Planet

I have found a resource that is similar to iCurio. The website I found was Promethean Planet; it is a free interactive community that is created by teacher for teachers. With Promethean Planet, there are many links that teachers can use on a daily basis to assist in the process of making lessons and bringing technology into the classroom. One link that I particularly found useful that iCurio did not have was a Blog and Forum tab at the top of the web page. Here teachers can communicate and open up their networks. If you are the new teacher, like I will be, this is an excellent way to talk to other teachers, and ask questions. The various methods in which you can talk about Products and Curriculum, News and Events, Blogging, Technical Support, and Special Interest Groups.

Evernote by Katlyn Lusker

In the video Dr. Lodge McCammon's Fizz- Flipping the Classroom, Dr. McCammon said, "Too much of the time, Education today looks like students in the classroom and teachers just lecturing to the students, which is inefficient, not engaging, and it is a one shot deal." He continued saying, "Then we send our students out of the classroom to apply their learning individually which is also not engaging." To meet the needs of all students we need to make drastic changes. In the video Why I Flipped My Classroom by Katie Gimbar, she explains the importance and effectiveness of flipping the classrooms. In flipping classrooms, students are able to pre-load content, getting information they will need for class. They are able to pause, rewind, and re-watch videos. They can also post any questions they have, which enables the teacher to plan and prepare answers specifically for the class time. This is a self-paced program so students are able to go back and review former topics or they can even work ahead. Because of this process, the whole classroom has now shifted. The students come to class with the information already and now the teacher is the center of the class. The teacher can now work with the different groups that are moving on their own pace. Ninety percent of the class time is now spent on application of content by flipping the classroom.

So, as more teachers move into blended environments that focus on anywhere/ anytime learning, the need for practical tools increases. But how can we and our students best save, share, and manage content? Evernote can help (About Evernote).

Evernote is available in both free and paid versions and at its most basic level, it is designed to help teachers and their students take notes and access those notes wherever they are and whenever they want. The notes can be simple or they can be complex, from simple text to notes containing images, video, and audio clips. They can be just about anything also including lectures, to-do lists, clips and text from websites, or even essay rough drafts. A great things about Evernote is that it can be installed as software on a desktop, used as a web-based tool accessible through a browser, and as a mobile app.

In my own classroom I would definitely use Evernote. I think this is a great resource for teachers and their students. I really like how students are able to go back and look at information whenever and wherever they would like. One of the reasons why I chose to explain and research Evernote is because it is a great organization tool. I am a very organized person and I am always looking for other great ways to organize as much as possible. I would use this resource as a way to provide my students with all kinds of information. They would be able to prepare for class and they would be able to review for tests. I think Evernote would be a very beneficial tool in classrooms.

Powerschool by Jake Dukes

Powerschool allows teachers to manage attendance, grades and show a class schedule for everyday of each week. It also allows your parents to check your progress in every class. Your parents would be able to access your grades, attendance and be notified if you weren’t showing up for class or you weren’t completing your work on time. Powerschool shows what your child is going to be doing everyday in class and what he/she should have done by a certain date. It also shows an online seating chart of who your child is sitting by and a picture of the student that your child is sitting by. On each assignment they(the student) turns in the parent will be able to see a comment by which the teacher is talking about your child's grade. Which I think will help the parents stay on top of their child's progress in school, which will benefit the student so they won’t get too far behind and your parents will know how you’ve been doing every step of the way in the classroom.

Project # 9 The Podcast

For our podcast we discussed topic #8. We discussed how we should connect technology to the curriculum and how we can teach for the future. We used the book "Teaching Digital Natives" by Marc Prensky and Mrs. Kathleen Morris's blog as sources.

C4T #2

This week I had Eva Buyuksimkesyan for my C4T. In her blog, she explained that she is thrilled to be presenting at the 4th Reform Symposium. The Reform Symposium will be held on October 11-13, 2013, it can be followed on Twitter @RSCON4 or on Pinterest. The Symposium is a free global conference; it will be featuring 100+ presentations, 10+ Keynotes, 4 Panels, Electric Violinist, etc. She said in her presentation she will talk about the “E-Project” that she started in her school. In my reply to Eva Buyuksimkesyan, I explained that I had never experienced a conference before, and I am now following the 4th Reform Symposium on Pinterest. I also wished her good luck on her presentation, and I hope to gain valuable information that I can use when become a teacher.

This is a link to Eva Buyuksimkesyan's abstract of the presentation.

Blog Post 7

Interviews with Anthony Capps summarized by Tarcela Kohn, Katlyn Lusker, Alex Hopson, and Jake Dukes
1) Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher

We have learned a lot by listening to Anthony Capps. In this video, Anthony Capps said “A lot of people when we think about Project Based Learning,; we think projects are what you do at the end of a lesson to show that you learned what you were supposed to learn. But now the goal of PBL and the shift that educators have to take is looking at PBL in a new way. That is, using PBL not only as a means to show that a student has achieved something but using it as a means to also get them to learn something.” We should get them excited about owning their own learning. We also have learned from listening to Anthony Capps in this video that the goal of a good project is “one that has an authentic audience so that the kids are rewarded for the work they do.” Good projects also “need to have student interest, it needs to be relevant to the kids lives.” Another goal of a good project is that it involves the community somehow. It should “show how it really relates to the real world experiences, and most importantly good projects should be driven by content.”

2) Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher
In this video, Anthony Capps said, “Not everything is always going to go well.” During one of his favorite projects in which his class was studying different cultures, one of his student’s fathers did not like the fact they were studying Afghanistan culture. The student’s father had been deployed to Afghanistan, and he didn’t think it was appropriate. Although Mr. Capps did not necessarily agree, it it still important to remember to respect your students parents. Anthony Capps also said “With Project Based Learning, never limit your students by giving them exactly what you want them to do. Create an opportunity for them to go beyond what you want them to do, and they will.” You are going to get more than what you expected.

Anthony Capps said, “My students love projects because they are not trapped in worksheets and whenever he does give them a worksheet, they know it is meaningful, and they know it is to help them gauge where they are.” We learned that student choice is another big aspect of PBL. When you give students the opportunity to chose, then you also give them more ownership and pride and they really understand what they are saying and what they are arguing. “On the kids aspect, they are really proud of what they do and they know what they are doing and why they are doing it, and that is what PBL allows for.


3)iCurio
Out of all of these conversations with Anthony Capps, we think we learned the most about iCurio from him. iCurio is an online tool that allows students to safely search websites that have been pulled, (including websites, images, and videos) and others kinds of online media that have been pulled and filtered for educational use. We had no clue iCurio was filtered for educational use, and that is was designed for students to use safely. Another feature Anthony Capps discusses is that iCurio allows you to store content that students and teachers find valuable. “It also teaches virtual organization.” iCurio is kid friendly, created for student use, and it is safe. Anthony Capps said, “Any teacher that feels comfortable letting their students search the web, we think iCurio is the best way to go.” Students just log on and use it like a search engine. iCurio is also great for accessibility, it has a read along feature so almost anyone can use it.

4) Discovery Education
Before we listened to Anthony Capps explain what Discovery Education was, we were kind of clueless. We learned that Discovery Education takes students way beyond just pictures. It gives students videos from outside of you (the teacher) and it brings experts into the classroom via video. Discovery Education is used for “student searches so they can enrich their research experience and a teacher can also use it to bring different texts to life.”

5) The Anthony- Strange Tips for Teachers Part 1: By Tarcela Kohn

In this video, Dr. Strange and Anthony Capps discussed essential things that any new teacher should think about. Dr. Strange asked Anthony Capps “What are some of the most valuable things that you should prepare yourself to do as a teacher?” Dr. Stange continued by saying, “Teachers have to really be interested in learning themselves.” “If you are not a learner then you will not be a successful educator because what we have to do ourselves is constantly learn and model that behavior.” Anthony Capps agreed and said this also leads to another key thing any new teacher should think about. He continued by saying “Teaching is hard. Let your work become a fun experience for you.” Dr. Strange added “Teaching is a constant process; it never ends, but it can be very rewarding.” More essential things both Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange agreed on that new teachers should think about are: teachers need to be creative, flexible, and we can’t be committed to one particular way of doing something. We have to respond to events that we don’t expect. Also students should be engaged, and they should have a reflection process. Having an audience is perfect for reflection. Dr. Strange said, “Self evaluation is really important in the whole process of learning.” I think they’re a lot of great tips in this video. I’m glad that we were reminded that we cannot be committed to one particular way of doing something. I feel as if sometimes we forget not everything works out as planned, so having a plan B is always a good idea.

6) Don’t Teach Tech- Use It : By Katlyn Lusker
Like Anthony Capps, put it, “We are immersed in technology whether we want to be or not.” Technology is natural for all kids, it is there in their lives. Anthony Capps said “They will really enjoy the opportunity to be able to use technology to prove their learning or to learn.” Anthony Capps said “One of the things about technology is that you should not teach it, you should not have technology as something that is a list of things for you to get done in the day. Use it alongside with your teaching.” He also suggested that you chose one technology at a time to focus on. Most of the technology is free, so they’re many other advantages to using different forms of it. It lets students create, it is clean, it is shareable, and it is real. Anthony Capps said “Use technology to let it get your students excited about what they are doing. Use it to let them share what they are doing. And also do not expect perfection.” “Never teach technology, just introduce it smartly.” Mr. Capps said, “If you are worried about anything, do it yourself first.”

7) Additional Thoughts About Lessons: By Jake Dukes
In this video chat Anthony Capps is explaining the four ways to prepare for a school year. The four ways he would prepare for his class is daily, weekly, yearly and into units. One, is daily which means something that you do everyday in your class with your students, he tells about having a hook which catches your students attention while you're teaching your lecture. Second, is weekly which means to plan out the week of what you're going to be lecturing your students about but if you can’t do it all in a week stretch it out so the students will still be able to understand the lecture, don’t have a set time when things have to be due. Third, is teaching by units. When he says teaching by units he is referring to teach where you can have enough time to teach everything you need to in the time you are with the students. Finally, is year plan, the year plan is what you expect to teach the student throughout the year in your class, and what he or she should learn leaving the class.

Project #2

Personal Learning Network

Are you wondering what a Personal Learning Network is? That is perfectly fine, before this assignment I had never heard of what a Personal Learning Network or PLN was. Although PLN is a group of people that communicate and exchange information with one another, usually online. PLNs include different social networking sites such as: Facebook, Twitter, Wikis, and LinkedIn, just to name a few.

I watched the video PLN by Mr. Michael Fawcett who teaches in New Zealand. Mr. Fawcett gives his insight of PLN and what a positive outcome it has made on his class and himself. In the video he stated that twelve months ago, he did not have a PLN. He finally was introduced to PLN when he went to a teaching conference and a twitter account was set up to voice their comments and concerns. His connections were the few teachers that he had talked to during the conference, but as the weeks went by, he started adding more people that he did not know. These were teachers from all around the world giving tips, tools, websites, and feedbacks for his classroom. His Personal Learning Network has multiplied, and Mr. Fawcett said that because he had started his PLN "it made him grow as a Teacher." The one thing that I have learned from Mr. Fawcett is that you can never have too many connections, and his ending to his video was great!

Since Mr. Fawcett's ending of his video was so compelling I will have a PLN as an educator. I am choosing to use Symbaloo for project #2 as my Personal Learning Network. Symbaloo is a online service that you can organize all of your online life with little tiles, and it allows you to discover anything else. I figure with all of my bookmarks in one location I will be able to manage my contacts with other educators and students. I am still in the process of finding new tiles to fill in my Webmix Home Screen.

C4K

C4K #1 Emy K’s: I Believe No One Should be Bullied

Emy is a fifth grade student. She is a victim of being bullied and in her blog she was speaking out about her incident. She explained that she hated going to school, because of the fear of being bullied. But what I found what was unique about her story was her bullies was her friends. Her friends would call her names and push her around. She finally broke down and told her mother what was going on at school, her mother was unhappy, but took matters into her own hands and went to the principal. The bullying stopped. I explained to Emy that I too was a victim of bullying. However, I was in middle school and I played soccer, and a few girls would bully me. I told her I thought that they were my friends. I told her that I thought it was fascinating to know that even though we live in a big world we can always find someone we can relate to.

C4K #2 Christine: My Scene- Starting Dancing Contest

Christine created a story that took place in three scenes.
Scene 1: The story was of Ran’s Birthday Party, it started as three friends (Christine, Yeon, and Jae) playing a Wii dancing game while Eugene was the judge and in the audience was Perky, Mary, Jakie, Zinnia, and Annie. The members in the audience was cheering and getting a little too loud and the dancers shouted “Bee Quuiieett!” The audience members sat quietly, but were board, but the dancers were having fun.
Scene 2: Minutes later Friends Eugene and Perky said “Guys let’s take turns dancing, and play 15 minutes each.” Ran replied “Sorry this is My House, My Birthday Present, and My Day.” Once the song ended the friends did take turns.
Scene 3: Everyone was able to have a chance on the Wii, ate dinner and feel asleep at Ran’s house.
-My response was after reading her story reminded me of being a kid again and going to sleepovers. Now my daughter is the one experiencing friend’s birthday parties. It was a great story to take me down memory lane.

C4K #3 Demaysun

Demaysun was a first grader. His blog post was a weekly reflection on his learning and behavior to become more successful at school. This week Demaysun has been has been working hard trying to stay on task and next week he want to learn more about reading.
-My comment for Demaysun was, that I believed that if continued to work really hard, he would learn a lot of fun information.

C4K #4 Alli: The Government Shutdown

It looked as if this was a group project containing Alli and Leona. The two of them discussed how the Government shutdown was so important, but not just for parents, but for kids too. They had found an article from Time for Kids that said the last government shutdown was 17 years ago and it lasted for 21 days. Their driving question got me thinking “How come the government can’t compromise and we as 5th graders can?” Alli and Leona think that the government should compromise and everyone should move on and live their lives.
-My response was that I enjoyed their post, and that they did a great job. I also hope that our government can make a compromise.

Project 13

In this lesson plan, for the project based learning, our 5th grade students will become familiar with inventors, from the 15th to the 18th century, their Ethnic or Cultural Heritage and how their inventions are still relevant today. This assignment will require iCurio to look up different inventors and what they invented, make models of their inventions, and create presentations for the class. Our students will have digital tools to establish and categorize the information collected. This lesson will meet the standards in; English Language Arts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Writing: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and, Speaking and Listening: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Our driving question is who were the inventors of the 15th to the 18th century and are those inventions still relevant today? The link to our site.