Blog Post #6

What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher and Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher
These videos gave me a better sense of what project based learning really is. Anthony gave many examples of projects he had done with his class, such as writing letters to our congressmen, and making movies about Afghanistan. At one point in the second video, Anthony Capps stated, "Never limit your students by giving them exactly what you want them to do. Create an opportunity to go beyond what you want them to do, and they will." After hearing this, it really made me think. Kids are so much more capable than many people give them credit for, and they can do more in the classroom than simple projects with an exact set of guidelines. A big part of this is student choice, which I also learned about. This gives students the opportunity chose what they want to write about or study. These videos were very informative and they got me much more excited about project based learning. I can't wait to take some of the projects Anthony did with his class and use them in my future classroom.

iCurio
Before watching this video, I had never heard of iCurio, so I learned a lot about it. iCurio is a tool students can use to safely search websites, images, and videos for educational purposes. It also has a storage component that allows students to organize themselves online, and they can save information to it. It has a directory feature that Anthony uses for historical figures in his class as well. Lastly, it has a read aloud feature so younger students whose reading skills are limited or blind students can hear the information.

Discovery Ed
In the beginning of the video, Anthony says that pairing a video with text helps students to retain more information. Discovery Ed is a resources that lets students search things such as "plants that can kill things" to find educational videos about things like Venus Fly Traps. It has videos for many subjects, and brings experts into the classroom. I think that this tool is definitely something I will use when I become a teacher. Students love to watch videos, and I think it helps them to remember the information they're learning. I had never heard of Discovery Ed before, so this video taught me a lot.

The Anthony- Strange List of tips for Teachers Part 1
In this video, Anthony and Dr. Strange give some great tips for new teachers. Anthony says that teaching is hard work, but you should let it be fun. Another great tip is to be flexible. Teaching is something that always requires flexibility. Things go wrong sometimes, and you need to be able to adjust and go with the flow. There are several other tips given, but these are my favorite. They were all great tips, and I learned that being a teacher can be tough, but there are many great things that go along with it.

Don't Teach Tech - Use It
This video taught me the most useful information out of all of them. Before watching it, I believed students would need hours of instruction to learn how to use technology. I work as a nanny during the summer, and babysit regularly, and most of the kids I watch can barely play games made for kids on I-Pads. However, they are all 6 and younger. This video made me realize that kids that are still relatively young are very capable of using technology that they have never seen before with very little to no instruction. This makes it much easier to bring technology into the classroom.

Additional Thought About Lessons

From this video, I learned that there are 4 components that go into making a lesson. First, you have to think about how your lesson fits into your year, and if you can finish meeting all of your standards. Then, you have to think about if you have devised a way to unfold the unit, which is 6 weeks or so, so that it makes sense. Next, you have to think about your week. You have to make sure you have a plan for each day of the week and that it all fits. Finally, you have to think about your daily plan, which is how you deliver it to your students.