Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets

The Growth vs. Fixed Mindset is a podcast that is done by a Psychology Professor Carol Dweck at Stanford University. As Carol explained how the student’s mindsets, either if they are fixed or by growth it affects their performance with academics. Carol did an experiment on students and split them into groups of fixed mindset and growth mindsets. Those students that were in the fixed mindset group were the students that become more visibly intelligent and the students in the growth mindset group were the ones that were taught how to take in information and store it. Professor Carol stated “That by telling people that their minds work as a muscle and the more you use it the more it will grow and get stronger just like if you were to work out the more you work out the stronger you will be.” A lot of people have a good chance of believing in them-selves and get better at things.

I can see by using this information in my classroom being helpful to me since I am going to be working such young kids. The kids are still going to be learning a lot and trying to take in all sorts of information and trying to understand everything. But I am going to do whatever it takes for my students to understand everything even if it takes a couple tries of just sitting down and learning the material until they truly understand it and I see that they understand the material.

WGBH- "A Night in the Coral Reef"

I watched the “A Night in the Coral Reef” it was really interesting. It talked about the different fish that live in the coral reef. It also talked about which fish and sea creatures came out during the night time and which one went into hiding so they didn’t get eaten. Only the plant eating fish stay out during the night and then they go into hiding and during the night the flesh eating fish come out and try and find stuff to eat. The night fish hang out at the sea bottom looking for food.

When I was in elementary school we had a different topic we learned about just about every month. One of my favorite topics was learning about the sea and the different types of fish. I always found learning about ocean was very interesting and I really want my students to have the same opportunity to learn about the ocean as I did.

I will definitely use this video and others in my classroom to share with my students. By watching this video it has a lot of wonderful information for young children and even adults to pick up on and learn many different things.

Edutopia Videos

The first video that I watched was “The Edible Schoolyard.” This is a program that teaches junior high school students the origin of their food and how to prepare it. It also shows them how a garden relates to other subjects that they have learned about. This video helps students to get a better understanding of environmental concerns and the value of hard work. This program also allows the teachers to teach different subjects to the students such as: math, science skills which teach them in a new way which helps them excel in the things they do.

The second video I watched was “A Night in the Global Village.” Which is located in Perryville, AR. This Village is ran by the Global Gateway Program, in which is dedicated to ending hunger, poverty and creating sustainable development in the poor countries. This pod cast talks about how kids were taking a 5-acre ranch and divided into groups and had to stay the night living how the poor do. Each group is given a very insufficient amount of supplies and they have to trade with the other groups in order to be able to cook their own meals. The next day, they have to do chores and then it is time to tell what they experienced the night before as they lived one night how the poor do.

I found the first pod cast very interesting and maybe something I could actually use in my classroom and have the students plant a garden and keep up with it and have them measure the each week and see the growth and in the plants. This would help my students get involved in the cultivating process.

The second pod cast would be interesting to take a group of wealthy students to a ranch and have them live one day in the shoes of a poor individual and see how it feels like. These days kids don’t realize what they have they take things for granted.

Accessible for All Presentation

On October 2nd our EDM 310 had the opportunity to have a wonderful guest speaker Mr. Sullivan come in and talk to us about “Accessibility for All.” Mr. Sullivan was very knowledgeable about what he talked to us about. I found his speech very interesting and I learned about a lot of technology that I have never heard of before. He also brought some of the technologies that he was talking to us about. One that really stands out to me was the keyboard thing with Braille at the bottom of it. I am not sure of the correct name. Deaf and Blind people can do all of the same things the seeing and hearing people can just with some modifications.

I will take what I have learned from Mr. Sullivan’s presentation and use it in my own classroom. I also learned from this presentation that you need to make all your websites accessible for everyone

Alabama Virtual Library

The Alabama Virtual Library which is also known as AVL. This is a great resource that students, teachers, and citizens of Alabama can use online access to essential library and information resources. This is a website that can be accessed either at school, or even at home once you go to your Public Library Branch and get a user name and password. Through the AVL, there is a reasonable core of information sources that are available to every student and citizen of Alabama, which is helping raise the level of excellence in schools and communities across the state.

This site has many databases where you have the opportunity to research different journals, magazines, and newspaper articles. When looking at this site you will see many helpful links such as news, campus, home,and frequently asked questions etc. These links contain information that helps the user better understand the usage of AVL. If you click on the campus tab you will be able to look up a book, or any other material you want to search for.

After research AVL I have found a lot of very interesting things that one day I could use in my own classroom for my students. I believe that this site will help my students understand how to search and find different things through libraries

PoDcAsT

The first podcast I listened to was smartboard lesson 146. The podcasters were Ben Hazzard and Joan M. Badge. They were very funny and energetic which made it fun to listen to also the music at the beginning was a good attention getter. This podcast was about clouds, stars, and saints. They say saints elevated above us and the clouds were sheltering us from the stars. For the first five minutes of this podcast they talked more about their lives and later in the podcast they talked about the white board challenge. This sounds more like talk radio to me and I am not to fond about listening to talk radio.

The second podcast I listened to was Connect Learning Episode 99. Again the music was a good attention getter. David Wallack was the podcaster talking with Ann Krembs the Libranian for the school in Boomba, India. David asks Ann how to describe her virtual library web page. Ann talks about how she got 3 students together to help her design the web page. She wanted the students to be able to take the physical library and put it onto the virtual library web page. Ann and the students wanted the virtual library web page to look some what similar to facebook since alot of students used facebook. This podcast had a good flow but it was kinda hard for me to understand and hear what the podcasters were talking about because there was alot of background noise. So I know now when I do my podcast assignment to make sure there isnt any noise in the background that could distract the listener from hearing.

The third podcast I listened to was EdTechTalk. Yet another great attention getter but it was very difficult for me to comprehend what the podcasters were talking about because they were talking really fast and it seemed like they were talking to close to the microphone so it sounded more like mumbling to me. This podcast was about welcoming conversations. It discussed the role of parents in education and how the parents and teachers should be involved in their child/students activities.

The fourth podcast I listened to was MacBreak Weekly. To me this sounded like a news channel. It featured four gentlemen that talked about a variety of things such as: camreas, economic and politically stuff.

Before listening to these podcasts I had no idea what they were I thought they were going to more like movies. Now I know what I need to do when I do my own podcast assignment. I learned some negative things which not to do and some really good tips to use during my podcast assignment.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture is very inspiring. This is my third time watching it and I really enjoy it and it teaches a lot each time I have watched it. As he begins his lecture he is very upbeat considering his condition and what he has to look forward too. Throughout his lecture he talks about his childhood dreams, and the fundamentals that he learned as a child helped him build his outlook on life. Randy talks about his life and some of the lessons he has learned throughout his life. One thing I found interesting was how he said “we can not change the cards we are dealt, just how we play them.”

Randy shares many of his childhood dreams and what he learned from them. I like how he talks about learning to work harder for the things you want most. This implies to me a lot since I am an athlete and I work hard on everything I do and it pays off. As we dream we will come to some difficult things. Randy refers back to “brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.” Don’t let obstacles hold you down - keep finding ways to get better and never give up. As we become teachers we will see many students give up on things and we need to step in and tell them to keep going and things will always get worse before they get better so just keep fighting.

During his lecture he points out what it takes to become successful. Never forget the people that help us along the way. We all need help to succeed in life. Learn to tell the truth, be honest, admit your mistakes and don’t be selfish. Learn to respect authority while always questioning it in your mind to learn why. As Randy was going through his life he said to always have fun. You need to be able to teach people to believe in you, build trust and confidence in your abilities. Listen to your critics – they are outside looking in. Hold your tongue and just work harder and don’t complain. Always be prepared. Everyone has a good side.

In conclusion, this lecture was mainly for his children because he might not be around to tell them what he wants as they are growing up and to live their dreams.
Be good at something – don’t waste your life it could end at anytime.