Final Report on PLN

I have been continuously working on my PLN.  I would put a link to it but, it is unorganized right now. I haven't came up with a system on how I want it organized.   This is because, I am constantly looking at blogs and adding the interesting ones to it.  I am really grateful for being introduced to this tool.  I feel that it will be very beneficial to me once I enter the classroom.   A good learner's PLN is never finished.

C4T #4 Summary Post

I had the pleasure of being assigned to principal Julie A. Vincentsen's blog, One Principal's Musings.  She has posted some great and informational posts.  Here is a summary of a few post in which I commented on...


Capturing Struggling Readers

 Prinicipal Vincentsen was inspired by a student's parent to write
this post.  This parent shared that her son was frustrated because he could not read the same books as his peers.  He felt left out because he couldn’t engage in their conversations about the latest and greatest books they were reading.  She thought about he sister who had the same problems with her sons and called her for some advice for the parent.  Her sister suggested that the parent and his teacher use audio books to help with this problem.  Here are some sources of audio books she suggested:

Audible.com

• It is owned by Amazon and works well with the Kindle. 
• Membership is $15/mo. and includes one download per month. Additional books can be downloaded for a fee ($8-15 ea). Audible often offers membership deals and other specials. 
• Audio books are available for many titles and are read by professional actors.
• Each book can be downloaded onto multiple devises including personal computer, mp3 player or iPods.
• Some schools are obtaining memberships from Audible at discounted prices.

BookShare (www.bookshare.org)

• Bookshare is available only to people with print-based disabilities. 
• It is FREE!
• BookShare is unique because the download includes text and audio. The text is highlighted to assist reading along.
• Textbooks are available, but only if the membership is obtained by the school and the child is on an IEP.

Learning Ally (www.learningally.org) (formerly Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic)

• LearningAlly is available only to people with print-based disabilities. 
• An individual, unlimited, annual membership fee is $99.
• Audio books can be downloaded onto a computer or iPod app.
• LearningAlly is unique because textbooks are available to all members and illustrations and graphs are also read and described. Textbooks are frequently read by experts in the field.
• If a book is not available, it can be requested and will be recorded, often within two weeks.

Hello Principal Vincentsen,

And they say ban technology from classrooms, I think not!!! This is a great way for teachers to incorporate technology in the classroom. Struggling readers can definitely benefit from the use of children’s audio books. They can help students with comprehension, fluency, and overall attitude toward reading. There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book.

Thank you for another great post!
Courtney Muse



Tis the Season of Report Cards: Praising Effort & Setting Goals

In this post, Principal Vincentsen talks about students and their report cards.  She refers to report card days as some of the biggest days in student's lives. This day brings a great deal of anxiety as children are concerned about how parents will react when they open the envelope. She shares with us a letter that a 4th grade teacher sent out to parent.  In this letter, the teacher offers advice to parents in reguards to their child's report card.  In the letter, she encourages parents to, hug, kiss, and tell them that they are proud of them no matter what.  She also suggest parents to praise their child for the good grades and encourage the child to set goals for the poorer grades. 

This teacher has offered some amazing advice to parents. Report card days are some of the most important days in a student's education career. And I'ts all up to the parent’s reaction to these cards that may make or break a student educational success.

Thanks for the ideas and inspirations,
Courtney Muse

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Blogpost #13

For this blogpost, EDM310 students were banned from use of electronic devices for 24 hrs.  We were to report our results after the third attempt or after successfully completing the exercise. Here are my results....

I believe this assignment was emphasize the importance of technology in today's world.  Technology is a very essential element in our day to day lives.   This exercise was very dificult for me for this very reason. I depend soley on my phone and computer for alot of what I do on a daily basis. I am a full-time student and majority of my school work is done through these devices. In my future classroom, I don't want to deprive my students of something that they are so use to.  I do expect myself to find a balance to faciltate learning with the use of technology.

Project #15- Smartboard Instuction Part 2

Special Post #12A.

Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts

Curiosity is a heightened state of interest that results in exploration.  Curiosity is also a critical component of creativity.  Educators face the challenge of fostering curiosity and creativity in today's learners.   Childhood is the most critical time in life because, this is when students are naturally curious and creative. This is a time when they want to know all they can about things that are intriguing to them.   However, School systems plays a major part in destroying the development of curiosity and creativity of students.

I feel that a curriculum can and needs to be developed that increases the curiosity and creativity of students.  School system's curriculum now is so narrowed by mandated standardized tests and scores that it reduces the opportunities for educators to be creative in the classroom. Teachers are under pressure to use the "burp back" method to prepare students for these test instead of preparing them for the 21st century. Subsequently ruining the chances of bringing out students creativity and curiosity. I believe that school's curriculum should have some key components such as: hands-on learning, project based, and multimedia. Hands-on learning is the only way students can directly observe and understand material. 

Educators play the main role in doing in ffostering creativity and curiosity of students.  This is a very important yet, a difficult task.  Here's a few strategies that can be done to achieve this:

Strategy 1:  Curiosity as motivation.  Ask thought-provoking questions during lessons.  Also use surprising statements.

Strategy 2:   Create an atmosphere where students feel comfortable to ask/answer questions without the fear of being right or wrong.

Strategy 3:  Give a certain amount of time to explore a topic.  When time is up, learners still have the urge to continue to explore.

Strategy 4:  Incorporate technology in the classroom.

Strategy 5:  Allow students to choose topics in writing.

Blog Post #12

Contributing to the Future

At the beginning of this semester, Dr. Strange asked several questions. " Should all teachers be technologically literate? What do we mean by technological literacy? Are you technologically literate?   Throughout this semester, we have been assigned a numerous assignments that has supported these questions.  Think about what you have read and watched.   Answer these questions in two or more paragraphs following the requirements in Writing A Quality Blog Post.

Progress Report on Final Project

My group and I have thrown around some ideas for this project but, we don't have anything concrete.  We have been meeting to brainstorm with ideas for project 15 and 16. We also communicate via text and Google chat.  There's alot that can be done with this but, we want to make sure that we do something fun and worth while!    

C4K Summary Post for April

For April's C4K,  EDM310 students served as mentors in the WORLD BLOG CHALLENGE sponsored by Edublogs. We were assigned to a student's blog that we were to comment. This experience was a little upsetting to me because,  I actually looked forward to meeting new students each week.  However, I did enjoy reading my student's,Veronica, posts. She is from El Salvador. 

Post #1

In this post, Veronica shared a little about El Salvador. She gave us the hot spots that should be visited, like San Salvador; And, told us that the native language that is spoken is Spanish.  She also gave us some history on the country's flag.

Hi Veronica,
My name is Courtney Muse and I am a student in EDM310 at The University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.

El Salvador sounds like a nice place. I have yet to visit, but it is a place on my list. From looking at pictures of El Salvador, I can tell it’s a beautiful country. I don’t think I could live there, I will get home sick because it’s so far from my family. You stated that your mother and father lives there, do you also live in El Salvador? Which language do you speak more fluently, English or Spanish?
I am going to be commenting on your blog for the next 3 weeks so hopefully you will have some new posts for me to read! I really enjoyed this one. Keep up the good work. I look forward to hearing back from you.


Post #2

In this post, Veronica talks about the Sanata Parade. This parade is held annually on December 3rd in Chilliwack, Canada.  How she describes it, it's a parade of lights, music and pure family fun. It puts me in the mind of our own Madi Gras parade here in Mobile.

Hi again Veronica!

I enjoyed reading your post. The parade kinda sounds like an event that is held here where I live. It is called Mardi Gras. It is where a parade is held everyday for about two weeks. It consists of marching bands and colorful floats. People throw moon pies, colorful beads, candy, stuffed animals, etc. It’s two weeks filled fun and laughter. People come into town from all over. Here are some pictures for you to look at.

Post #3

In this post, Veronica gave step by step instructions on how to make a paper boat by using only pictures.  Her instructions were very thorough because, I made one using her instructions. 

Hi again Veronica,

Very creative! I loved how you used photos for your instructions. Cool! I remember when I was younger, I used to make things like this from paper. I can make a good paper plane! What else can you make?

Great post,
Courtney Muse

If you are interested in reading more of Veronica's posts, here is the link to her blog.

Blogpost #11

"Pushing the Envelope"

I loved this interview. It's great to hear from a teacher who actually incorporates technology in her classroom.  She gave great was to incorporate it but, there are two that I would definitly use in my classroom. A class blog and blogs for my students.  I want to include these so parents can be informed with whats goin on in their childs class.  I think that having a classblog is more convient for parents. Instead of waiting at the end of the night to read a piece, they can check the blog throught the day on a daily basis.  There are a few reasons why it is importantant to have student blogs. One reason is so that parents can see their child's progress in the classroom.  Also,  instead of students writing with pencil and  paper all the time to turn in to me, they can blog their work for everyone to see.  This will motivate students to do better with their work and engage them in what they know best, technolgy.

Now of course there will be some issues with this. Some households do not have the access to way that they can check the blogs. I came up with a way that might resolve this issue.  At the beginning of the school year, give parents the option on how they would like to recive information about the class.  I can send out paper copies to those who opt out of using the blog or email.

Blog post #10

Teacher vs. Educator

One of my biggest goals is to become a teacher.  I want to experience life through teaching others. Not only do I want to teach, I want to educate. I have a willingness to help student achieve. I have a great dedication to student's excellence. I intend to be an advocate for students. I intend to look at things and explain material in different ways.  I intend to instill great moral and values in students.



 Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home!- Tom Johnson

Immediatley after ready this post, I thought back to Dr. Scott Mcleod's post, Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please! This post talks about not allowing children to bring pencils home because, students who use pencils at home have lower standardized test scores.  There's a fear that when pencils are taken home, they're used for entertainment purposes only.  However, there's a much bigger message. I think it's safe to say that the pencils actually represents technology! No one wants to believe technology will be beneficial to the classroom.  The post shows that whether it shows or not, learning can take place if pencils and technology are used for entertainment.  It is up to us as educators to enhance learning through these such tools in a way that it is engaging for students.   We also should allow students to use technology or pencils in anyway they want to faciliatate in their own learning.

Blog Post #9

New Kid on the Block

Teaching is a complex job with huge responsibilities.  Studies show that nearly fifty percent of all educators quit the profession within their first five years due to the many struggles associated with the classroom. Whether it is struggles with the students, faculty, administration, parents or curriculum.  This is often called burnout.   New teachers begin the school year full of excitement, certain that you they're going to change the world. They have worked hard to earn their teaching credentials and are ready to make a difference. Alot of new teacher are blinded to the fact that alot of lessons will be learned and alot of mistakes will be made.  All teachers have different experiences their first years.   Mr. McClung describes, in these posts, the roller-coaster ride in his first-years teaching.   

Quotes from Mr. McClung....

"NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT."

"COMMUNICATION IS THE BEST MEDICINE."

"AS TEACHERS WE HOLD VERY HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENTS....SOMETIMES THEY LIVE UP TO THOSE EXPECTATIONS, AND SOMETIMES THEY DON'T."

"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR WAY OF THINKING, LEARNING, OR STYLE."

"IN ORDER TO BUILD THE RESPECT THAT WE ALL SEEK IN A STUDENT TEACHER RELATIONSHIP, IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE INTEREST  THEIR THE LIVES OF STUDENTS."

"NEVER GET TOO COMFORTABLE, CHANGE IS GOOD AND ULTIMATELY IT MAKES US BETTER TEACHER."

"CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR."

"OUR DECISION MAKING PROCESS SHOULD ALWAYS BE STUDENT CENTERED AND NOT CENTERED AROUND PLEASING ADULTS."

"DON'T EXPECT OTHERS TO BE AS EXCITED ABOUT CHANGE AS YOU ARE."

"WHILE ROUTINES ARE GOOD IN THE SENSE THEY ALLOW TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE, THEY CAN ALSO BE BAD BECAUSE THEY CAN FOSTER APATHY." 

"DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE AN OUTSIDER."