If I had to change things about my first blog post, I would add more project based learning and technology. Originally, when I started this class, I was an elementary education major, but EDM310 actually helped me realize that in order to help my students be the best learners they could be, I have to be the best teacher I can be. EDM310 has inspired me to become a wonderful math teacher and help children not to only learn what we are doing in math, but to maybe even enjoy math. So, as a future math teacher and not elementary, I would take out much of the art use as a tool in my classroom, and add technology instead. Throughout this course, I have seen the role technology plays in the classroom, and I think this would be essential for mine. Through my C4T’s and extending my PLN, I have found many math resources that I would have never been able to find before such as the math PBL resources I found in Michael Gorman's Blog. I also would add the Smart Board to my future classroom. Before my assignments in EDM310, I have not had much experience with smart boards, and now, I realize how useful they are. In my first blog post, I said “As Mitra, I would like my students to be the facilitators of their learning. They should be able excel beyond a curriculum, and take on the roles of researchers in order to continue interest in commonly “boring” subjects.” I think this is actually ironic, since I am becoming a math teacher now. If I had to rewrite my first post, most of what I said would stay. I still want my students to be active, confident learners, and I no longer want to play the strong head role as the traditional teacher. As a 21st century teacher, I want to be innovative, electric, and always a lifelong learner.
disabilities to be able to enjoy all the benefits of education. As for the use of the voiceover capabilities of the Ipad, these videos focus on the disability of blindness. The voiceover for the ipad allows students to scroll their fingers over the screen and be able to hear what apps they are sliding over. If they want to click that app, they just double click anywhere, and the app will open. These instructions are the same when typing on the ipad. After going over each word as it is read aloud, the student can double tap to choose that letter. One important app used from the ipad for the blind is the ibook. The ibook is important for people with blindness, because no other kindle or nook are accessible for the blind right out of the box. Normally, a software of some sort has to be downloaded. With ibook, the student can flip two fingers up to start any story out loud, and some books even have the images described. Not all gone are the days when disabled students are isolated from others, but hopefully, by giving blind people this reading tool and use of the ipad is just one way out of many that we can assist in recreating a better world of education for all students.
She wrote about her first day of school when she was five and how nervous she was leaving her mom. She described how she looked in her new uniform such as wearing long, black pants and a t-shirt and going into Miss Gorge’s room 3. Although she was nervous, she said it was easy to make friends. I told her how I understood how she felt, even on my first day of college. I still wished my mom could have gone with me. I let her know that it is always scary to start something new, but just as she did, it is always not too hard to make friends. 
EdCamp online is a personal learning opportunity for teachers. They meet together online in a "lobby" and wait for the instructor. When the instructor arrives, they can each submit ideas on what they want to talk about such as technology use in the classroom or Mrs.Yollis' idea, Educational Blogging. So, each person can join any session they choose, and if th.e session they chose is not one that they like, they are free to leave and join a different one. So, as for the post I was supposed to comment on, Mrs. Yollis demonstrated an EdCamp in her classroom. There were different sessions offered, and the students got to tally which ones they wanted to do. Just as the teachers, the students could leave a session if it was not fitting their needs and move to a different one. Overall, I think this is incredibly effective and useful to me as a future teacher. I told her how I loved her ending of the project, which was a "tradition slam" where each of the students stand up and share something they learned. I also told her I loved the freedom of choice promoted by being able to leave a session and choose another one. This seemed to me something that I would love to incorporate in my classroom.
we learned many things about bullying and different things we can do as educators to help our children grow, instead of putting them down. We all remember being little and wanting to do the things we thought would be fun such as being an artist or an astronaut.As Mr. Koyczan said, despite all we dreamed about or aspired to be, we were told to think about things more realistic. How can we ask our students what they want to be, and then, tell them it is not really possible and to think about something else? As educators, we learned we must always shape our students around their aspirations and dreams. That is what inspires creativity and promotes happiness. We learned the importance of continuing to follow our dreams. It is important to have a belief in something for yourself, no matter if you are five, twenty-five, or fifty-five. Dreaming is important. 
outside the classroom. One thing that really stuck to us is how bullying sticks with you. Mr. Koyczan discusses a story of a woman who was bullied at a young age for a small birthmark, and even as an adult, she does not feel she is beautiful. Depression, as well, as bullying is something that also needs attention in schools. It is important as educators for us to know that we have to bring the light to these children. We must continue to help them see their dreams and differences from other people as a strength and not a weakness. As Mr. Koyczan said, “there is a reason why you keep trying, despite when everyone has told you to quit.” We have to guide our students in to seeing what each and every one them tries for. 
In this post, he mainly discusses the advantages of combining flipped classrooms with project based learning. For those who don’t know, project based learning is a way for students to have more hands on and interaction in the classroom through projects. The flipped classroom was originally almost offering your class online. The students watch the instructional videos at home so they have more productivity in the classroom to focus on actually understanding the material. I told him how I think that combining PBL and flipped classrooms is a great idea, because it would push for better student productivity. I also agreed with him that instructional videos prove to be more productive in most cases versus a live lecture. With having a flipped classroom, a student can watch the video, replay it and pause it as many times as they need to. That is just not something you can get from live instruction. Overall, Michael Gorman is a great blogger and instructor, and I would recommend his blog to anyone.
With blogging, they could reflect on their assignments and share ideas on some things we could do in my math classroom. Another great tool she used was her classroom webpage. She uses this webpage not only for updates on the class but for the students searching. They have access to links that Mrs. Cassidy posted that helps their learning. This helps with the safety issue of using search engines. I would surely use a classroom web page in the same way that she did. I might encounter these safety issues, but I think with precise instruction and leaving all the useful links on our webpage will greatly limit any bad things they could possibly access. She also used Wikis. I am not very familiar with this tool, but she used it in the classroom for students to ask questions for people to enter responses to. For example, the students asked about traditions. Different people commented about the personal traditions they have such as brushing their teeth every night. 
If I learned more about wikis, I might use them in my classroom. One issue I might encounter is the feedback being negative, or someone might say something my students do not need to see. As a solution, most websites where you can comment have options to where comments can wait for moderation. That way I can approve the comment before it is posted where the students can see it. The other tool she used is Skype. Mrs. Cassidy uses it to chat with other classrooms and experts with her students. I think Skype is a great, great tool. I would use this in my classroom for sure. It is great to gain new perspectives on ideas from other classrooms or even experts on the subjects you are teaching. I think it is important for students to meet people who are using what they are learning everyday. It is important that students know what they are learning will help them in the future. One issue I could possibly see is trying to set up a skype interview during class and having technical failure. There are plenty of other sites that use video, and if that did happen, I would make sure to have those other sites ready for use. The last tool she used was the Nintendo DS. I do not think I would use this in my classroom, because I think it could end up as an distraction. 
Also, not every kid might have one, and I would rather the focus be on laptops and applying our knowledge to real life situations versus using gaming. I really loved when Mrs. Cassidy said that by not using technology in our classroom, we are “handicapping” ourselves and our students. This is the best way I have heard anyone explain it. Why wouldn’t you use technology in classroom? Have you seen how the world has changed? We can not continue to use the lecture and worksheet classroom. Our students need to know how to be able to use these tools, because technology is not getting any smaller in our lifetime.
She listed different facts such as the year the baseball was made and some people who are in the hall of fame. I really enjoyed reading her post, mainly because it gave me some great insight and opinion on a subject I did not know much about. Her post helped me realized that you can learn new things just from reading blogs and that it is important to read blogs because you may find new information on something that could make you change your mind about things you may not like.
He says that when things get you down “brick walls” are there, and they are there to let us prove how bad we want things. I think this holds true to both learning and teaching. The key to learning is making mistakes! Sometimes we may not want to climb those brickwalls, but in order to be true learners, we climb those brick walls to show our dedication and determination. He says brick walls stop people who do not want it bad enough, and I think that is very true! As a teacher, it is important for us to help our students get past these brick walls with constant encouragement and support. We must be dedicated to pushing our students, because if they mess up and we are not there to guide them, then that it shows that we, as teachers, gave up on helping them. Teachers and students must “never bail, because the best gold is at the bottom of the barrel of crap.” I found this very influencing and so very true. If we do not complain and just work harder, then when we get to the finish line, the rewards are so much sweeter! 
He used peer feedback to show students how they ranked against their peers. For learning, this is great for self reflection because you get a chance to think about how can you improve your process or how you treat others. The one thing as learners and teachers that we must realize is that must listen to this feedback. We have to open our ears, and listen to what others have to say, because feedback is the most valuable tool for learning or teaching. One thing that is also important for self-reflection is having an audience. In Dr. Pausch’s video, he talks about how the students displayed all their work in a show. For teaching, we should always incorporate an audience for our students whether it be their peers, the school, or a public audience. Having an audience gives the students a want to make their work exceptional, because they are showing it to other people. As for self reflection and learning, this is important because it gives you the chance to look at your work and make sure it is acceptable to show to a general public.
We learned many things about teaching and learning from this video. One of the main things we learned is that it is important to try new things. In this video, Paul Anderson, who is a high school AP Biology teacher in Bozeman, Montana discusses blended learning and how he uses it in his classroom. Blended learning is almost a mixture of instructional based learning with project based learning. For example, one thing we learned about and we really liked was that instead of lecturing to introduce a topic, Mr. Anderson gives his students a video to watch of him discussing the topic. This way he can spend more class time doing other things such as projects. We found this really useful for teaching. 
For my second C4T assignment, I was assigned to Heidi Siwak, an innovative teacher of technology in Canada. She is an award winning teacher and has been recognized by the globe and mail as one of Canada’s innovative teachers. Her students and her explore integrative and new learning projects, and have won national awards for innovation in technology. Overall, Heidi is a very great role model for teachers trying to apply project based learning in their classroom. 
I would have never thought about starting with this question, but it is such a wonderful idea. After asking this question and hearing some responses, she can get past the barriers and negative attitudes that some students may have towards art. She then talks about how the students responded. Some do like art, but more found art frustrating. When told, “tell me more,” many students figured out that the reason they get frustrated with art is because they start with an idea in their head of what their art should look like. Then, when their art does not meet that set expectation, they end up with those feelings of frustration. Siwak continued to surprise me while reading the post. The students start their art process with learning types of lines, and another discussion-“What is it that causes art to look bad? The students then come up with three key components as to how to produce quality pieces of art. 
artists lines. The next thing that I found extremely useful for an art class was that Mrs. Siwak says instead of them producing art, she asks them to “experiment.” This to me is great, because this takes the pressure of the student that they have to meet someone else’s expectation of quality art. Instead, they get to really enjoy drawing. 
Most students shy away from true communication and collaboration. She discusses how hard it is for students to fully participate in integrative thinking, because the students have to learn how to be comfortable with hearing their own thoughts as well as others. She then talks about her results in watching the students collaborate. As students become more comfortable, the student’s body chemistry becomes more open and relaxed. Even if they feel uncomfortable, using this confident body chemistry will help them feel more confident. This is very useful information, because of how many students are uncomfortable with collaborating. She also discusses with her students a "yes, and..." idea, instead of a "yes, but..." By doing this, they can accept their own ideas and be positive for others ideas. Her ideas in the classroom are great lessons for upcoming teachers. 
The students are more prideful for their work, because they are very engaged into it. The parents/administrators get to see these students retain all of this knowledge and apply it to real life situations. Overall, we learned that project-based learning is a great and more effective method of teaching compared to other “burp-back” ways of teaching. 
By this, she meant that no one is promised tomorrow, and we should every day as if it was our last. I fully agreed with her on this. She explains her story that is about her father and grandmother. Her father and grandmother were in a car accident and were stuck in the car as it was on fire. Her grandmother proceeded to wrap a shirt around her fist and bust a window open in order to escape. She says if not for her grandmother’s courage, she would not be alive now. After this story, If I would have not believed in living every day to the fullest, I do now! Booboo gave great details on her personal story, and I would recommend anyone to read it. This story really touched my heart, and I think it is a great story to share in public in order to express her belief. 
I found it awesome that Rowana and I have so many similarities on how we celebrate Father’s Day. She talks about how she wrote a letter for her dad and grandfather and how they both responded to her letters. She also talks about her night after giving them the letters and her nightly routine of showering and eating. When commenting back, I told Rowana how similar our Father’s Days were. I also told her about my favorite part of her post was when she wrote the letter to her dad, and it said, “You will always be in my heart.”
The question Angel answered was, “how much does the sky weigh?” She talks about how the sky does not crush us because of how we breathe. She said that because we breathe in air and out, the sky does not overwhelm us. I thought that was interesting, because I would have never even thought about how much the sky weighs. I told her how intriguing I thought the subject was and how she really got the reader’s attention.