Felix the Cat- Remix

Eric Whitacre Ted Talk

MUSC5597 Part 1 Final Project

Hope you enjoy this PREZI!!!

MUSC 5597 Part 1 on Prezi

Cool Cat Teacher ROCKS!

Cool Cat Teacher is Vicki Davis. She is amazing! She has incredible ideas and is extremely enthusiastic about teaching and technology. Her blog is a MUST FOLLOW!

Her post, "Focus on your habits to shape your destiny,"

She suggests making 2 lists:

1- What you DO makes YOU!

What do you do every day? What is the end result of a person who does those things?

Ex. Exercise--- Stay healthy; Eat a DQ Blizzard--- Gain weight.

2- What you DON'T do makes you TOO!

What don't you do every day? What is the end result of a person who does those things?

Ex. I don't smoke--- I can be healthy; I don't exercise--- I will shorten my life span.

The habits that we form become who we are. Traits that will help me succeed and others that will ultimately lead us to hurt and destruction to our lives. Her challenge is to take one of the habits on your list and make it your mission for a few weeks. Focusing on one thing at a time can help to improve you life.

Check out her blog. She's got more where that came from!

Why are Students Misbehaving?

I checked out the blog by John T. Spencer that I linked yesterday and found some great posts. This post in particular titled "A Sustainable Start: Rethinking Why Students Misbehave." John T. Spencer starts school brainstorming with his students asking them why kids misbehave in class. This discussion leads to figuring out ways students and teachers can respond to these issues.

"1. Students want to move around: Students can fix this by asking the teacher for a chance to get up and stretch. Teachers can fix this by incorporating more movement into the class.

2. Students are afraid: It might be external- the system, the teacher, bullying from fellow students. Or it might be internal- laziness, fear of failure, restlessness, anxiety. Students can be honest with teacher about fear and teachers can guide them with empathy and compassion. There aren't any formulas for this, either. It takes time to develop the relationship of trust required to handle fear.

3. Students feel powerless: This might be the result of unreasonable teacher expectations or simply a student's lingering insecurities. However, sometimes the strangest behavior occurs when a child feels powerless. I've noticed that students who feel powerless can engage in sabotage, a power struggle, apathy or aggression toward others. The key here is finding a way to challenge students within a framework where they are free to make mistakes.

4. Students want to talk: Students can deal with this by showing self-control duing silent times (silent reading, for example) and remembering the need for silence. Teachers can deal with this by ensuring that students are talking at least half the time.

5. Students feel relationally isolated: This could be peer-based and it could be between the teacher and the student. However, sometimes students get the sense that they are outcasts, that they don't belong and that they are losers. Sadly, I've been the one who has caused this through insensitive words. If a teacher provides a safe place and builds a relationship, eventually this student might feel like he or she has a place.

6. A failure of communication: Sometimes this is a lack of vocabulary or simply a lack of paying attention. Sometimes teachers and students are speaking from a different interpretation of an idea, event or perspective. Either way, failure to communicate can lead to some huge riffs in the relationships. The best idea for both students and teachers is to trust the other person's intentions and to engage in meaningful conversation about the miscommunication. If both sides are humble, true communication will often occur.

7. Students don't feel free: Perhaps the rules are too restrictive. Maybe the lessons don't allow for enough autonomy. Students can respectfully ask for more freedom and teachers can respond with lessons that require more student autonomy.

8. Students are bored: Students sometimes need to ask the teacher why this particular stubject is relevant or advocate for a different learning opportunity. Teachers need to remember to craft lessons that are engaging, interesting and meaningful.

9. Students are confused: Students need to ask specific questions rather than saying, "I'm confused." Teachers need to ensure that the lesson fits the needs of students and that directions have been clear and explicit.

10. Students are human: Sometimes they have rough days. Sometimes they rebel for reasons they can't articulate. We're all broken. We all screw up. Students can be open to teachers ahead of time about what's going on and teachers can keep that in mind as they interact with the class."

The last point really rings a bell with me. This is one thing that I need to be constantly reminded of. Students have rough days just like I have rough days and they can screw up just like I can screw up.

He goes through a list of questions to ask students and yourself before, in the moment, and afterward. These questions spark the brainstorming process of how to come up with these misbehaviors and reasons for misbehaviors. I really enjoyed this post.

Superman Sucks as a Teacher

One blog post that stuck out to me today was called "Why Superman Would Suck as a Teacher" from the Teaching Paperless blog. There are many contributing authors to this blog, but this particular post was written by John T. Spencer. His main points are honest and thought provoking.

"Superman has x-ray vision, but he is unwilling to be even remotely transparent himself. I'm not suggesting that teachers bare all, but a complete lack of vulnerability prevents students from trusting a classroom leader.

Superman is strong, but rarely gentle. The Flaming Lips ask the question, "Is it getting heavy to use a crane to crush a fly?" Perhaps kids need more strong men, but it seems even more powerful when a strong man can gently say, "I care about your pain. I care about your story."

Superman is always composed, always honorable, always doing the right thing. But in the process, he doesn't get a chance to be humble and apologize. Perhaps he's perfect and maybe kids need perfection.

Superman is too nice. My favorite teachers (Jesus, Socrates, my AP Government teacher) often broke social norms and used language that provoked thought rather than maintaining the status quo.

Superman might be great preventing destruction, but he is rarely seen creating anything. Preservation can't be the bottom line.

Superman saves the day, but in the process he doesn't allow the citizens to help. He doesn't come alongside them and say, "let's serve together." There's a touch of imperialism in flying down and fixing a mess without empowering people to get to the root of the issue."

Kids want to learn and think deeply and superman can't do that. We should strive to be the teacher that Superman never was or will be. :)

iPad Applications for Teachers

The EmergingEdTech blog is a great read! It's slogan is "Engaging students and enhancing learning outcomes with Internet & Instructional Technologies." This post stuck out to me and is titled "10 Excellent iPad Applications for Teachers." Although I do not have and iPad of my own OR one in my classroom, this was a really great post with many interesting ideas. Some of them will work on my desktops and laptops that I DO have in the classroom.

1. QuickVoice Recorder: This is the perfect recording tool to record your classes and get feedback on your performance; you can see what you’re doing right and what you’re going about wrong and learn how you can improve your lectures. This apple product is great, but only works on iPhone or iPad. Recording and playbacks are simple and it's FREE!!!

2. Dropbox: If you’ve used Dropbox on your computer, you already know this is a must-have tool on your iPad. If not, it’s a file storage application that allows you to say goodbye to flash drives and portable hard disks for good. Just sign up to store your files online and then access them from any other computer, your iPad or your smartphone. Ideal for files you use at school and at home. Your "stuff" is with you wherever you are. download it here!!

3. Things for iPad: If you’re looking for the perfect task manager to keep track of all your appointments and prepare ahead, then Things it is. Manage your to-do list and sync with the Things desktop app. This one is not free.

4. Discover: There’s no need for encyclopedias today with Wikipedia and other instant sources of information. Discover joins this list as the go-to app for the iPad when you need information on just about anything in the world. This FREE application can be useful if you love the wikipedia!

5. Evernote: There’s no need to carry around a notebook or diary in which to jot down your lesson plans or reminders – just use Evernote to enter your notes in text or voice format. Evernote is FREE and awesome and can be synced with your desktop. It becomes an extension of your brain and helps you remember everything!

6. Pages for iPad: Use this nifty app to type out all your documents and include any kind of formatting you may need. Pages is $9.99 and makes beautifully formatted word documents.

7. Numbers for iPad: For all your spreadsheet needs on your iPad, turn to Numbers. It’s easy to use, easy to access, and easy to import all your information from your Excel worksheets. This app is $10.29 and lets you make spreadsheets. I can't think of any use for it for me personally, but would be great for some.

8. Goodreader for iPad: Use this app to access all your documents, PDF files, video and audio files, spreadsheets and many other kinds of files over a wireless network or via USB cable – it makes it dead easy to retrieve files from other systems. This app is $4.99 and can be very useful. This app handles large PDF and TXT files, manuals, large books, magazines and allow you to mark-up documents with text boxes, sticky notes, etc.

9. Mobile Air Mouse: This is the perfect tool for hosting presentations and conducting lectures using an interactive whiteboard. It turns your iPad into an all-in-one remote control that you can use to manipulate the board without having to resort to using a wireless keyboard and a mouse. This app is stinking cool! How many times could I use this a day? About 1000000000. You can control your computer, media, email, and presentations like a remote. AH-mazing!! And, it's FREE!!

10. WritePad: If you prefer to write rather than type, then this app converts your handwriting on the iPad into readable text – use your finger or a stylus to get your point across. This app is $9.99 and can create text documents with your handwriting. I could use this, but would rather type it.

All of these apps could be extremely useful in my classroom and I will have to check further in to it.