Screencast: How to open a new folder on your desktop

IT'S MINE!

In my previous blog, I wrote about Terry Heick's, Three Ideas for 21st Century Global Curriculum http://www.edutopia.org/blog/global-curriculum-terry-heick, and I mentioned another person, Sam Levine and a project he had done. http://www.theindependentproject.org/the-white-paper/.

The question is should ideas be considered property?

 I wrote a paper on Sam Levine's idea awhile back and I could feel myself boiling with anger as I was reading Terry Heick's blog. I felt for Sam Levine, he was just a kid (he's an adult now) but this idea was his property, and I felt territorial for him. In the video Part 4 "Everything is a Remix" http://everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/, it states "ideas are property and we are excessively territorial when that property belongs to us".  It's human nature.

Sam Levine had a great idea, and he made something of it, Terry Heick came along and blogged about something very similar. My first instinct is to e-mail Sam Levine, even though I don't know him to tell him that this Terry person stole his idea, or is trying to "Remix" his idea. My question is why can't I e-mail him and tell him this Terry guy has a very similar idea and perhaps you should collaborate? It's because we can't see past the greed.

It was mentioned in the video, "new ideas, evolve from old ones."

The problem is no one wants to give up that recognition factor. It feels good when you have a great idea, and it's a slap in the face when someone steals it, or even worse when they improve it. That is why they are property and that is why they should be considered property.

Some Ideas for Future Curriculum

I agree with Terry Heick, in his blog Three Ideas for 21st Century Global Curriculum. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/global-curriculum-terry-heick

 He tells us to cater towards our audience. A common term used by most teachers and curriculum builders nowadays. However, his approach is more modern. Use tools that appeal to our students and of course, times have changed and so have those tools. They way we function in social settings has changed, we need to consider this as well.

He wants us to be aware of our classroom setting and to not feel enclosed by it. I agree with this as well, a classroom can be anywhere you learn. Don't be afraid to go and explore, he suggests "to share ideas with other classes".

He finally encourages project based learning, in a way that the students take full responsibility. He encourages with a "gaming" or reward system. Again, something that appeals to the youth.

All in all, his methods seem as if he the teacher would take more of the back seat and let the students control their learning because they are stimulated in how and what they are being taught.

I also think that Sam Levine would agree with him as well, he was a student who felt the exact same way. His teachers were boring, he hated being confined in a classroom, and the curriculum was lacking. So instead of blogging about it, he did something about it. http://www.theindependentproject.org/the-white-paper/

I see all of these things as a positive. We are teaching a completely new generation and with that comes changes. I applaud Terry Heick for blogging, but I will scold him for his lack of research and effort.




 






 

My favorite Lesson in my Bag of Tricks

 

I keep this lesson handy at all times. You can always find one, photocopied and ready to go on a shelf in my office. Yes, warning it is not paperless, but it is fun, interactive and a great way to motivate any class that needs a little jump start or final push.   

Most of you have probably heard of this lesson or something similar to it, you might have a different name for it, and the great thing is I will give you the bare bones and you can adapt it to your liking. I myself adapted it from an ESL textbook I use (American Headway 2  by: John and Liz Soars).  I use it for my university students, but I think it would work great with middle school and up. I would rate it at a beginner to intermediate level, but that can be adjusted. I of course call it what its function is, Exchanging Information.  

It’s very simple; you take a short biography of someone, or a small newspaper article. Go through the article and find all the Wh-questions you can. Remove the answers to the Wh-questions from the article, but include what Wh-question they should use.

This is a partner activity so you should mirror the two articles, each person will have half the information. I like to create it so they are going back and forth.  

Ex: (this is extremely short)

 Laura moved to Korea eight years ago. She teaches at Gyeongin National University of Education. She is 33 years old. She lives in Bupyeong.

Student #1 paper

Laura moved to Korea ___________(when?). She teaches at Gyeongin National University of Education. She is __________(how?) old. She lives in Bupyeong.

Student #2 paper

Laura moved to Korea eight years ago. She teaches at ________________________________(where?). She is 33 years old. She lives in ________________(where?).

The learning objective of this lesson is to allow students to practice their Wh-questions. It’s a great conversation activity and confidence builder. As a teacher it’s your responsibility to monitor your student’s grammar during this activity.

My students love this lesson, and are very active during the process. I usually pull it out when they have they glazed over look in their eyes and we have 20 min left to our 2 hr class, or those 9:00 am classes that need a good wake up activity to get things going.

1st Step to Sculpting an Online Reputation is to have one!

I recently googled myself using my real name, and nothing came up, others who share my name came up, but nothing under my real name in which I would be addressed as professionally. I see it as a positive because I still am still learning how to sculpt the proper online reputation for myself.

All of my life my family and friends have called me by, well, my mother refers to it as a shorter version of my name, others beg to differ.  It is the name I have always used, except on passports and formal documents, so of course when it came to joining social media sites, the only way I would have any hope of other people finding me was to use that name. It has actually worked out quite well in hiding my identity. It’s very similar to what other professionals are doing now to protect themselves, by using their first and middle names on social media sites instead of their first and last.

Therefore to currently evaluate myself, as you can see or perhaps as you won’t see, I don’t really exist online. I am more of a confusing muddled mess of names.

Moving on to a solution, well first, I will want to introduce myself to the world. Start with a strong professional portfolio. I can also join some of the social media sites I am on just under my true name and in a more professional networking manner. That also goes for other networking sites dealing with the professional job marketing industry. 

The one thing I am learning very quickly is that maintenance is key. Once you become a part of any of these networking sites, it is very important to maintain your profile.  Anything you start online, should not be considered like a fine wine.

I understand I can’t build up my online reputation overnight, and I know personally it will take me awhile. I plan on researching media sites I join, and you won’t offend others if you don’t accept their invitations.  Again, as I have mentioned in my previous blogs, I am not computer savvy, I would prefer to build up some confidence navigating online before diving in head first and making a bad first digital impression.  

The Effective Presenter

Becoming a more effective presenter requires maintaining focus on your topic. There have been too many occasions when a presentation begins to run off topic or loses focus. One needs to constantly be asking themselves when designing a presentation "What is the point?" and "How is this relevant to the main focus of the presentation I am giving?" The key is to simplify. I like to use the expression "Quality over Quantity."

Using a multi-media source to facilitate a presentation is a must, however writing a novel on a slide is a must-not! Remember to constantly be focusing on what "your point" is, and deliver that message to your audience. Terms will signify importance, and images can save you time trying to build a description that could potentially fail in translation, or send you off track. Images will also attract your audience, but don't go overboard, it's a presentation not a picture show.

It's always good to keep notes when giving a presentation. If you feel yourself losing focus these notes can supply you with the information to smoothly transition back on topic. More importantly as a presenter, you should not rely on your PowerPoint, Prezi, or Keynote to guide your through your presentation, you should be using it to guide your audience.

Providing handouts is another way to improve your presentation. Yes, they have been viewed as cheat sheets and distractions, but that all falls on the presenter. Remember, the focus to becoming a better presenter is to keep it simple and stay on point. The same goes for your handout. Give your audience the information they need, but keep it simple.

Presentations in general give all of us butterflies in our stomachs, however when that time comes, in order to be the most effective, you must first of all, remember to stay focused on your topic, always revise, and finally most important, simplify.

How I would like this course to help me improve as a teacher.

I am not computer savvy, and I feel that sometimes I am not bringing 100% to the classroom because I just don't have the tools to do so. I can't even make a simple PPT, yes I said it! I have tried, I don't even know how to make it go full screen. If I was able to prepare things like this before I go to my classes, I would be much more confident when teaching classroom activities.

I am hoping this course will give me the basic tools that I so desperately need to implement these things into the classroom, and then take me to the next level.

I believe this course will give me the resources I need to demonstrate to my students that I am current. At this moment I don't feel current. I know there are so many new and innovative teaching tools and resources out there and the depressing thing is I am fortunate enough at my school to have all of these utensils at my fingertips and I let them go to waste.

 I believe this course will help me build at least the platform in order to gain some confidence and not shy away from the world of technology. With confidence one can implement and become more current.