Blog Post #1

Krissy Venosdale's: Venspired

Krissy Venosdale is a teacher who decided to start blogging about her teaching and her ideas. She did this to not only share her ideas but also to gain some by communicating with other educators. Her main goal is for the students to want to be creative and eager to learn. Her students inspire her with a new ideas every day. She designs her classrooms with different themes every year. She makes sure to teach the students teamwork and she makes them display this in her class daily. She believes that she should students "not what to think but how to think." Ms. Vensodale writes a post about the kind of school she would build if she was given the opportunity to build a school. She would make sure the school is up to date on today's technology and it would be used every day. She also would focus the school on creativity and have the school painted with vibrant colors. She also would make the cafeteria where the students would enjoy going to it almost like a lounge. The students would be able to have conversations with people that have professional careers. She is a person that is extremely interested in science so every lab would be equipped with the necessary supplies for the students to do experiments regularly. Grade levels would not be based on age but on their readiness and abilities.

Sugata Mitra TED Talk 2013 

Sugata Mirta is a man who use to teach people how to write processors. Near his work was a low income neighborhood which he wondered how those children where ever going  be people that learned how to write the processors if they are never exposed to a computer. He formed what he is called a "hole in the wall." At his office building he made a whole in the wall and set the computer in it so that the neighborhood children could investigate. He realized that after a while the children had figured out how to use it on their own. He set up computers in different countries with the language set on English and the children still managed to learn not only the language but the information that was on the computer.  Mirta downloaded information about DNA and gave this information to the students thinking it was impossible for them to ever learn. After two months he tested them and they scored a thirty percent. Since he could not send a teacher down to where they were he found someone to just sit behind the students and encourage them. After another two months he went back and retested them and they scored fifty percent. He noticed that the students teach each other how to read the information and how to function the computer. Mirta is trying to build a self oragnized learing environment. He believes that the classrooms should now have broadband plus the ability to collaborate and enouragement. Before he did this experiment with the "hole in the wall" he investigated how schools got started. He found that the government wanted people who could read, wirte neatly, and multiply in their heads.  As people we need to be able to do more than that not to fuction in the world. 

Future Classroom

I hope to teach a third grade class. I chose this age group because they are still intrigued by the little things and are eager to learn about everything. At this age they have not yet really chosen a favorite subject so they want to gain knowledge about them all. My main focus is to have hands on classroom. I think that students learn and will engage more in the class if they are able to participate. I have always been one to have to have things hands on or my mind would wonder as the teacher was lecturing.

I want to strive to make all of my students have a passion for reading. Reading is a part of every subject and is an essential part of learning. I personally have never really enjoyed sitting down and reading a text but I wish I did. I never want my students to dread reading. I will have a word wall that surrounds the top part of my classroom so that every student can see it. This wall would be something that we would add to every week. I think that if the students know the words and are able to see them on a daily basis they will more likely use them in their vocabulary.

I will use a SMART Board to enhance every aspect of my teaching. I am amazed at how much we can do on them. I also love how well they get the students involved while they are all sitting at their desks. This is another way to keep the students involved because they are fascinated by them. Being able to use other teachers' lessons and being able to modify them is also a great tool that the SMART Board offers.

My classroom will be an environment where the students can talk and ask each other questions. I think it is important for the students to be able to interact and work together.  I am a very organized person and I think that my classroom will reflect that. I want to stress to my students that if you are organized then you will be more successful. Being organized will help in every aspect of someone’s life.

Dr. Randy Pauch and Time Management

Dr. Pauch talks about quite a few things in this video. I had to watch it a few times to get all of the information that he was giving us. He talks about how to set goals and time management. I am one of the people he is referring to when it comes to procrastination. He talks about how to overcome that in little ways such as making a to-do list. He suggests to ask yourself "Why am I doing" whatever we need to get done. We need to make sure of why we are doing what we are doing and what the goal of doing it is. He also talks about how experience only comes with time so in the end we will benefit in doing things now rather than not doing them at all. He talks about planning and how to do it. We should have a plan for every day, every week, and every semester. We also need to remember that things are subject to change but as long as we have developed a plan have something to change. He suggests that we should have to do list and we should do the least appealing thing first. I think having a to-do list is a great idea. I love when I can make a to-do list for the day and get everything done; it makes you feel like you accomplished things.