Blog Post 3

Each article or video discussed the correct way to peer review. Peer reviewing is helping someone your age, usually in your class, correct his or her writing. There are a few important steps to follow while peer reviewing. The first step is to give compliments. You always want to be positive while editing someone else's writing. The best way to maintain a positive attitude is to imagine how you would feel with someone editing your paper. The next step is to give helpful suggestions that will improve the substance of the writing. The important part of giving suggestions is to make sure you are being specific. Vague recommendations are not very helpful in any situation. The final step is to make corrections. These corrections can involve grammar, spelling and sentence structure mistakes. By following those three steps, you can be a very effective peer editor.

I think one of the reasons people are bad peer editors is because they are fearful. Correcting someone your own age can be intimidating and I believe that is what hinders us from fully editing someone's work. I know when I peer review, I get nervous that my corrections may be wrong and therefore I am not helping. Another aspect of peer review is the fact that you are critiquing the work of a classmate. Sometimes being criticized by your classmate can be harder to swallow than being criticized by your teacher, and I think that is another reason we hesitate to truly correct our peers. I think if we attack peer reviewing as truly helping our peers instead of criticizing them, then we will become effective peer editors.

Paige Ellis Blog Post

What is Peer Editing

Peer Editing Tutorial

Peer Editing Top 10 Mistakes

Blog Post 2

Mr.Dancealot

During this video, Mr. Dancealot is attempting to teach his students the basic steps of different dances. The goal is that by the end the students are able to perform the dances that were taught in class. Mr. Dancealot, however, does not do a good job of demonstrating what is necessary. Throughout the lectures, Mr. Dancealot spends majority of his time reading directly from his power points. When he is not reading, he is showing the footwork behind a desk so no one is able to see his movements. At the conclusion of the lectures, he requires the students to partner up and perform each dance that was taught. I dislike how Mr. Dancealot handled his class. Because he is teaching dance, each lecture should have included class participation. The students should have attempted the footwork while Mr. Dancealot was demonstrating them. Then at the end, they would have known each dance and performed well on the final.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Roberts believes that teaching in the 21st century will require more than simply explaining what is in the textbooks. He believes educators must step outside their comfort zone in order to fulfill every aspect of the students' needs. Roberts proved this by showing how popular technology is becoming. He explained that teachers are no longer the original source of information; students can now go on the internet and find anything they want. Roberts went on to explain how educators can incorporate the advancement of technology in their lectures and assignments. This way students can become more engaged in their learning. I feel that Roberts' views are correct. Technology is changing every day and with that change is growth. The children today are learning how to work devices at such an early age that I believe incorporating media would help increase both their desire to learn and how much they are learning. If his views are correct, this will affect my teaching slightly. It will force me to become a more well rounded educator, in the terms of pencil and paper versus technology. I also believe it will help provide more hands on activities for my students. I think I can help my students be more individualized with the help of technology. People have more confidence on the internet and I think this will enable my students to reach their highest potential slightly quicker than with pencil and paper.

The Networked Student

This video demonstrated the responsibilities of a student in the 21st century. The video showed that connectivism is the new way to learn. The student in the video was able to truly understand his subject and network with people all over the world. His teacher was no longer used as the primary source of information but as a resource to his education. When I was watching this video I immediately thought about EDM 310. I believe that is the objective of this class. By the end of the semester, we will have learned so much about technology and have introduced ourselves to many new people across the world. This is the beginning of learning in the 21st century.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

This video discusses changing the perspective of learning. It justifies how learning does not have to be the teacher explaining and the student using pencil and paper. It shows that technology can be involved and the students, in fact, can be the ones teaching. I think this mindset is very similar to Roberts' in the sense that technology is the way to engage students rather than entertain them. I somewhat agree with Davis' perspective. Learning no longer has to be black and white, but it is the teachers responsibility to add color to the lesson. I think students will enjoy the more hands on experiences and be grateful for the networks in their future. However, I am still a strong believer in face to face interactions and the students having the ability to ask questions when necessary. I believe if we take the benefits of technology to far, we will in fact hinder our students from learning. I believe technology was meant to be an additive not a replacement.

Flipping the Classroom

The concept of flipping a classroom is somewhat new to me. I have not heard of this type of teaching for students at the younger age levels. I think we have adjusted the idea with some hybrid classes in college. However, I very much dislike and completely disagree with this style of teaching. Who is to say the students will actually watch the videos? Who will help them if they do not understand the concepts? I believe we are beginning to take advantage of technology to the point of trying to cease the need of teachers all together. Teachers are essential to students especially at the elementary level, and I do not think putting a lesson in a video would benefit them in any way. I understand the need to engage the students rather than entertain them but the teachers need to be the ones engaging, not the internet. The internet should only be used as a resource to help the students learn but it should in no way be used as a tool to replace instruction that the teacher can offer.

Blog Post 1

1. When I asked fellow peers about EDM 310, I was actually surprised to hear positive remarks about this class. After the first day I was slightly overwhelmed and very nervous about the course. However, my friends assured me that the class is not as bad as it seems. They all agreed that you have to maintain a schedule and be well organized. They also said the coursework is time consuming but not necessarily difficult if you correctly follow the given instructions. 2. I believe my biggest fear about EDM 310 is not being able to keep up with all the work and when everything is due. I am worried about mixing up group project deadlines with individual project deadlines. 3. Compared to all other classes I have taken, none of them have been solely computer based or independent learning like EDM 310. I believe EDM 310 is constructed very differently than any other class. I think the challenge of this course is geared more towards the difference in its construction. 4. I think the most difficult aspect of EDM 310 will be the independent learning. When I hear independent learning, to me, that automatically proves that there will be information I will not clearly understand. I do very well in my burp back classes so I am nervous with my success in this class. 5. The best way for me to address my difficulties in this class is to simply stay on top of my assignments. I think by being well organized and not trying to do the assignments in a hurry or last minute, I will be able to dedicate the necessary time and attention it takes to understand the material. 6. I have no further questions at this time.

Practice Post

My name is Brionna Brown and I am 19 years old. I have lived in a total of five states. I was born in South Carolina and my family currently lives in Jackson, Mississippi. My family consists of my parents, my brother, my dog and I. We are a very close family and all athletes. One of my major passions is volleyball. It is how I happened to attend this university. I spent my freshmen year playing volleyball for the Jaguars. Now that I am no longer playing, I have been able to dedicate more time to another passion, which is helping younger children. Because I no longer play a sport, I am able to tutor three times a week plus coach Upward. Placing myself in such environments has been such a joy and has helped strengthen my desire to become a teacher.

I have always wanted to enter the field of education. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. My favorite game would be setting my room up as a classroom and using my stuffed animals as students. I would even go as far as giving them assigned seats and making my mom the principle. My mom and my grandmother are both in the education field so I am also following their footsteps. As I got older, I became more serious about my career choice. I engrossed myself in every opportunity to help younger students. I began babysitting at an early age, I tutored every chance I could, and I entered the mentoring program when I was a senior in high school. Now that I am actually in college, it is so surreal that I am one step closer to my dream career.

My Test Post 2

This is my second test post.

My Test Post Title

This is my first post. I clicked the HTML button which I should always do in EDM 310. I am now a Blogger!