Inappropriate C4K Comment

I have received a report from Mr. Cometti at Fairhope High School which is quite disturbing to me. Fortunately he is a graduate of EDM310 and he believes in the power of blogging. In addition, he moderates the comments left on his students' blogs. Here is his email to me:

Thank you [NoNoNoNoNoNoNo] for commenting on one of my students blog. They really look forward to the comments every week. Comments give them motivation to continue blogging and producing quality work. I hope you realize how important these comments are to my students. Please consider your words carefully in the future.

Here is the link to Zane's post.


Below is your full comment. I am sure you can [improve] upon this comment.

My name is [NoNoNoNoNoNoNo] and I’m in the EDM 310 class. I got your blog to read and comment on. Is this post a joke? It shows absolutely no understanding of World War One. It is nothing but incoherent babbling. The 1900′s is a long time period, when exactly was the war? I have never heard of ketchup gas. Did you by chance mean mustard gas? The Nazi party was not involved in the first world war. Saying that Jesus won the war is far from the truth. Hundreds of thousands of people were slayed during the war for no real victory. It was a brutal war of attrition that America and its allies happened to come out on top.

"Is this post a joke? It shows absolutely no understanding of World War One. It is nothing but incoherent babbling."

As a future educator, I hope you learn to make positive criticism to your students. ...[There] is no reason for you to talk down to him. He is simply a child that is trying hard to be funny to his peers.

"I have never heard of ketchup gas. Did you by chance mean mustard gas? The Nazi party was not involved in the first world war. Saying that Jesus won the war is far from the truth. Hundreds of thousands of people were slayed during the war for no real victory. It was a brutal war of attrition that America and its allies happened to come out on top."

Your comment to Zane displays your inability to pick up on the attempted sarcasm of a 14 year old kid. ... He purposely changed it to ketchup gas. He doesn't think Jesus won the war. His use of sarcasm is evident in his title "No, this one is for real, promise." ... he is trying to write creatively. This blog post was part of a creative writing assignment in a history class. As his teacher, I will inform him of his mistakes. I talk to my students constantly about the dangers of using sarcasm in their blog. Your job is to introduce yourself, lead with a positive comment, maybe offer a suggestion, and ask the blogger a question. Please consider the age of the students blog you are commenting on.

Regardless of Zane's poor use of sarcasm, you need to learn how to make positive comments that provide constructive criticism. As a future educator, I hope you consider your audience and choose your words carefully in the future. I am deleting your comment and I would recommend that you make a new one for a grade in your class.


Thank you,

Justin Cometti

Now for some heart to heart discussion from me:

NoNoNoNoNoNoNo must not have read my instructions in the Class Blog post Comments for Kids Starts This Week. Let me quote from that post:

"BEFORE you leave a comment for a kid you MUST read the instructions at the top of the Doc and the material in the links found elsewhere in this post. The kids ARE NOT YOUR PEERS so you approach you comments differently than you approach the comments you leave for your classmates."

And in the concluding section I write this:

"2. You must find out about the teacher and the school BEFORE you leave a comment. You are a visitor there. Know where you are and with whom you are interacting! This is extremely important!
3. The primary purpose of your comment is to be an audience for the students and to encourage them to learn. You are not their peer but a visitor. Ask a question. Be supportive and encouraging."

I would also like to call your attention to p.15 of the Project Instruction Manual. There I write:

"General rules:

1. Comments must be substantive in nature and appropriate for the intended audience. In other words, write for 3rd graders if it is a 3rd grader’s blog. Write for a teacher if you are doing a Comment for a Teacher (C4T).
2. One of the best set of instructions on how to write good comments is by Gracie. Gracie was a third grade student in Ms. Yollis' class in the Spring of 2011. Read Gracie's post Quality Comments.
3. All comments must be proofread and free of spelling and grammatical errors. Have you read Some of You Won’t Make It Through 3rd Grade ? If not, do so now. I do NOT want to find out that your comments have been rejected by a teacher (3rd grade or not) because of spelling or grammatical errors. For heavens sake! You are planning to be a teacher, correct? Here are the techniques Mrs. Yollis’ 3rd grade class follows in writing comments. Mr. Chamberlain, who teaches 5th grade, also has a list of useful advice when commenting on the Comments4Kids website. You should master these techniques as well."

I will edit this to read "I do NOT want to find out that your comments have been rejected by a teacher (3rd grade or not) because of spelling or grammatical errors OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON.

Obviously NoNoNoNoNoNoNo did not follow these requirements. You are practicing to be a teacher. This is NOT what a teacher would write to her or his 9th grader.

When you leave a comment for a kid you are a guest in the teacher's class. Behave like that!

We learn from our mistakes and from the mistakes of others. This is an important learning opportunity. Take advantage of that opportunity. I DO NOT WANT any additional feedback from teachers like this.

One Additional Comment:

Teachers often moderate comments. You can understand why when you read this account of NoNoNoNoNoNoNo's comment. If the teacher does moderate comments, you will not see yours appear. Again I quote from p. 15 of the Project Instruction Manual.

"6. Some teachers moderate the comments left on their personal blog and/or on the blogs of their students. This means that you may not see your comment until it has been approved. That may take one day or many days. You do not have to worry about it since you will summarize the post and your comment and you will post these summaries to your blog on a regular basis. This also applies to C4T and C4K."

Oh My!

The Special Blog Post #1 was due last night (Thursday February 7, 2013 at midnight). We now have 101 students in EDM310. Twenty-eight have not done the assignment. That is 28% of the class who are not regularly reading the Class Blog or who read it but forgot to do the Special Blog Post assignment despite the emphasis that our school systems put on being able to memorize. And despite my warnings in the mandatory classes that there would be three or four Special Blog Assignments which would be announced ONLY in the Class Blog to make sure you were reading it all the time.

Are you one of those 28? Probably not because you are now reading the Class Blog. If you did not do the Special Blog Post Assignment #1 and you happen to see this, or if a classmate asks you whether you did the Special Blog Post or not, I am going to give you a chance to reduce the penalty for not doing this post if you complete it by midnight Monday February 11.

You must read the Class blog daily. Since we meet as a class only once a month, I must have a way to communicate with you. I do that through the Class Blog.

Confused? Catch Up and Catch On by Jacey-Blair

This Wednesday at 6:00 pm amd during the Lab Hours 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm Jacey-Blair Chandler will help you Catch Up and Catch On to the many ins and outs of EDM310. Come Wednesday evening and help her sweep away your confusion! Leave a comment on this post if you have something in particular that you would like Jacey Blair to cover.

In the picture you see Jacey-Blair with her special broom that clears away all Confusion. Watch the movie below and ask her how she (and Elizabeth Brooks) did it.
Jacey-Blair and the Jag Brooms

C4K Starts This Week

Your first C4K assignment is now in your Google Docs. BEFORE you leave a comment for a kid you MUST read the instructions at the top of the Doc and the material in the links found elsewhere in this post. The kids ARE NOT YOUR PEERS so you approach you comments differently than you approach the comments you leave for your classmates.

I think C4K is one of the most important parts of EDM310. You will be commenting on kids blogs throughout the world. But you must PREPARE for this activity before you undertake it. Here's how:

1. Read/watch all material for which links appear in the section for Projects#3, #4 and #7 in the Projects Manual, p. 18
.....a in the opening paragraph
.....b in the General rules numbers 1-5 (on p.18) and 6c (on pp. 19-20)

2. If your C4K assignment has a Class Blog, look it over. See what you can find out about the class and the assignment. For Week 1 I have done a bit of that for you. Where possible I have listed the teacher's name, the school, and the grade. YOU must explore every week. Don't just treat this as a quick assignment. Think about the way the teacher is approaching instruction, how she uses blogs and for what purpose.

3. PROOFREAD your comment. Do not have it rejected because of your failure to use good grammar, to spell correctly, or to avoid texting techniques.

4. In this first iteration, C4K will take more time than it will later in the semester. Invest quality time in this assignment. I assure you it will be beneficial to you in the future.


Some Additional Reminders:

Many of these students have been blogging since September.

Three Special Reminders
1. If the student to whom you are assigned does not have a post, choose another student and notify me (at edm310help@gmail.com) of the student you selected instead.
2. You must find out about the teacher and the school BEFORE you leave a comment. You are a visitor there. Know where you are and with whom you are interacting! This is extremely important!
3. The primary purpose of your comment is to be an audience for the student and to encourage them to learn. You are not their peer but a visitor. Ask a question. Be supportive and encouraging.
4. Remember that you will be required to identify the class and your student and to summarize the student's post and your comment in a blog post on your blog. Start that post NOW! If you do not you will forget the class, the student's post and what you wrote. Save instead of publishing until the date specified in the Checklist.

Going in the Wrong Direction

Fifteen blogs were not done on time and two more were incomplete. We are going in the wrong direction. Was it the Superbowl? I hope not.

Special Blog Post Assignment #1 Due Thursday 2/7/13 at Midnight

In this Special Blog Assignment which is due THURSDAY February 7, 2013 at midnight, create a post titled Special Blog Post #1 in which you do the following:
1. Read the post Many Students Misinterpreted the Data in Did You Know?.
2. Answer the question in that post about what you found when you did the WolframAlpha search.
3. Do two more similar WolfranAlpha comparative searches. For each (a) state exactly what you searched for and (b) what you found. If a search is unsuccessful, try again until you have two successful searches.
4. In one or two paragraphs, discuss how WolframAlpha can be useful to you or your students or both.
5. Go to Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Watch the Social Media Count change. There are 9 tabs (Social, Mobile, Games, Heritage and Now, +1 day, +1 week, +1 month, +1 year). There are 20 possible combinations of Subject and Time Frame. Try them ALL. If you want to stop the clock at 1 minute (or some other interval), try doing a screen shot (Mac: Command/Shift 4 - or 3 for whole page which may be easier; or use Snipping on a PC. For detailed instructions on doing a screenshot see page 9 of the Project Instructions.
6. Think about these changes that are happening at such an astounding rate. What do they mean for your professional career as a teacher? Write two or more paragraphs in your Special Blog Post #1 following the requirements in Writing A Quality Blog Post.
7. Send Gary Hayes (@GaryPHayes ) a thank you Tweet. Tag it #edm310 so I will see your Tweet.

Many Students Misinterpreted the Data in Did You Know?

Many students interpreted the data in my version of Did You Know? as demonstrating that students in the United States were behind, or inferior to, students in India or China.

Lets take a look at the data. One slide reads: "The 25% of the population in India with the highest IQs outnumbers the ENTIRE population of the United States." What is the population of India? What is the population of the United States? While we are at it, what is the population of China? Do this: Go to WolframAlpha (There is also an app for Android or Apple phones and iPads or tablets which you can use if you prefer). Do a search for Compare Populations of India, China and the United States. What do you find? You will be asked to report on this in a Special Blog Assignment that I will post later today.

Another slide reports: It is estimated that 18 million Chinese speak English now and 300 million are learners. If we add these two numbers what do we get? The next point on the slide reads "So...if the "learners" do learn English there will be more people in China speaking English than the ENTIRE population of the United States." And what is the population of the United States?

Back to India. One slide reads "Let's assume ... the best 25% of K-12 students [in India] are designated Honors Students." The next slide reads "Then ... India has more K-12 Honors students than ALL of the K-12 students in the United States." Why is it easy for us to come to this conclusion? Because India has four times as many people as the does the United States. It is all a matter of the size of the population!

When you encounter data you must keep your brain on and think clearly about what those data really mean.

Special Workshop on Google Tools 6 pm Wednesday 1/30/13

Stephen Akins will lead a special workshop on Google tools this Wednesday starting at 6:00. He will be the Lab Assistant in the Lab from 6:00-8:30 so the presentation/discussion/workshop will be continuous.

Fifty-two percent of the students in EDM310 this semester reported that they had used Google only as a search too. Google, however, has over 50 different tools, many of which are extremely powerful and useful, in addition to search. Come Wednesday night and let Stephen demonstrate and help you learn to use other Google tools.

Eleven Students Did Not Do Blog Post #2

We slipped a little. This week there are eleven students who did not do Blog Post #2 on time. Three of them should know better since they have taken EDM310 before. One was sick so that means ten have red boxes by their name on our Evaluation Form. Red blocks are dangerous. Be on time with your work!

A quick look at what many of you have written about Did You Know indicates that many made the same mistake in interpreting the data comparing China and India with the United States. Watch for a general discussion of what the data really mean here on the Class Blog later in the week.

Don't forget that all posts from now on must have an image in them, probably at the top.

Summary Weeks 1 and 2 and Update January 27, 2013

Writing

I am extremely pleased (on the whole) with the quality of your posts for Blog Post #1. Most were well written and informative. Here were the major problems: 4 students did not do the assignment; 4 did not do all parts of the assignment; 4 were late; one student did not put all parts of the assignment into one post; 3 exhibited significant writing and/or proofreading problems; 3 more may have writing problems which were not particularly evident.

How could you have made your post better? One important way was to find out about more about Dr. Pausch. I raised that possibility indirectly with the question "Do you know anything else about Dr. Pausch?" I wanted to see if any of you would look him up. Remember the class motto "I don't know. let's find out." If you don't know something, find out. Seventeen students already knew more about Dr. Pausch or looked him up and reported on what they found. If you didn't do this, we want you to look things up when you don't know something. Take advantage of the technological tools available to you. Be inquisitive. Create a desire to learn within you.

Mandatory Class Attendance

This was another bright spot this semester. We had only 4 unexcused absences out of a total possibility of 408. Excellent!

I am extremely pleased that the semester is off to such a good start. Keep it up.

Some Reminders

1. I have posted revisions to Projects, Activities, the Syllabus (Lab schedule) and Blogpost Assignments. Make sure you are using the latest version as indicated in the sidebar of the Class Blog.
2. I have made all photos available. You should have gotten a Gmail with a link to the page where you can find your photograph. You can also go to the Emergency page for the Manuals. Near the top, in the middle, are links to the photo pages. If your picture is not a picture of you, please let me know.
You can use your own picture of yourself BUT the picture must be a HEAD shot of you and you ALONE. ALONE.
3. The list of Groups and Podcast Assignments has been shared with you and is on your Google Drive. If you do not see it, remember to click More and then All items... Order your copy of the assigned book now. Eight of you will also have a chapter from a second book available for you in the Lab. This is indicated in the assignment column of the Doc.
4. I have also shared the Class Roster with Groups which is alphabetical by last name. This Doc contains contact information for all EDM310 students.
5. Several of you are still sending mail to edm310new. From now on send all mail to edm310help@gmail.com which is read by me and Lab Assistants or to strange.john@gmail.com. Do NOT send any mail to edm310new. I use that address only at the beginning of the semester.
6. Wordle and Java Problems Thaere have been some major security problems identified with Java in the last three weeks. As a result some of the browsers have introduced measures which prevent Java from working or require extensive permissions from the user. If you are having Java problems, set aside the Wordle project until the Java problems are resolved. I will keep you posted.

Thanks again for a wonderful start to the Spring 2013 semester. Keep it up!

Monday January 21, 2013 Update

1. Your C4C Assignment (due midnight 1/27/13) is in your Google Docs (Drive).
2. Your C4T Assignment (due midnight 1/27/13) is in your Google Docs (Drive).
3. If you can't find either your C4C assignment or your C4T assignment, be sure you have selected All items under More.. in the left column of Google Docs. If you have done this and one or more is still missing, email me.
4. Most students (more than usual) answered the Questionnaire #1 due last midnight. Only 7 failed to do so. Great! We shall find out why the 7 didn't do it in class this week.
5. We had a much better record than normal of blog post #1 being completed on time. Only 9 students did not do this assignment on time, two of whom do not yet have a blog (and they attended no classes last week).

The EDM310 Lab (and all of the College of Education labs) will be closed Monday January 21, 2013 for Martin Luther King Day.

Link to Questionnaire Sent

You should have received a Gmail with a link to the Questionnaire at about 3:30 pm yesterday (or before). It is to be completed by Sunday midnight 1/20/13.

If did not get the link to the Questionnaire, check your Gmail again. Send me an email immediately (strange.john@gmail.com) if you did not get it.

EDM310 Classes Start Next Week - All Materials Now Available

EDM310 begins its 9th semester in its current form. Welcome!

A few reminders:
•Do NOT be late with any work in EDM310.
•Write well. Proofread everything you write.
•Learn to be an effective and honest evaluator - of your own performance of of that of others.
•Be open to new ideas. The world of education is changing fast and you must not teach as you were taught.
•Use your creativity
•Learn. Always be engaged in learning. EDM310 is NOT a "burp-Back" course where you will be told what to memorize and what to do. We will give you the tools to learn and we will help. But YOU must do the learning. Actually, we ALL must be learners!
•Don't worry about the first two weeks. they are hectic, often confusing, and very different. But they will pass.
•Have fun LEARNING!

All EDM310 Class materials are now available in the column on the right titled Essential Materials for Students and Visitors.

About the stamp: It was issued in 1980. The image is Glow by Josef Albers. Learning Never Ends!

Syllabus for Spring 2013 Now Available

Welcome

Have you created a Google account yet? If not, do so now. You must have one by the first day of classes.

The Syllabus is now available. Click Syllabus Spring 2013 in the right column under the heading Essential Materials for Students and Visitors. Other materials will be available on or before Monday January 14. You can consult the materials for last semester by clicking on the appropriate item in the column to the right.

EDM310 is NOT a course in which you learn how to use a computer. Nor is it a course in which you learn to use Microsoft Office (word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation software). If you do not ALREADY know these things you should not enroll in EDM310 but instead take a course which addresses these outcomes. Otherwise, we shall see you soon.

Important EDM310 Information

1. Class is CANCELLED Thursday December 6, 2012.

2. If you have not completed your Foliotek you must do so by 4 pm Thursday December 6, 2012.

3. You have been sent the Final Exam/Questionnaire. It must be completed by midnight Sunday December 9, 2012. Do it earlier if at all possible. If you did not get it, send an email to EDM310 Help immediately.

4. Your Final Reflection is due midnight Sunday December 9, 2012. Keep it between 3 and 5 minutes and I will be happier. If necessary, do more but do not exceed 10 minutes.

5. Grades will be submitted to the Registrar by noon on Monday December 17, 2012.

Happy Holidays.

Foliotek

We will check your Foliotek entries at the beginning of your first mandatory class this week (December 3, 4 or 5, 2012) or we will help you complete them if necessary.

1. You must have registered for Foliotek BEFORE your first class this week. It costs $ 35 for one year. To register and pay for Foliotek follow these instructions:
a. Use Chrome or Firefox browsers ONLY.
b.Go to the USA Online Login page.
b. Login. Your User ID is your J number. Your password is the last 4 digits of your social security number.
c. Click on Sakai and then click on Foliotek in the left column. If you have not established a Foliotek account, do so. You will have to pay by credit card. After all information has been entered you will have to Accept the Foliotek rules, etc.
2. Once you have registered and paid for Foliotek and Accepted the Foliotek rules, etc. you will be able to post to Foliotek.

Think of Foliotek as a storage device in the sky where you will store evidence of your accomplishments in the College of Education. Every course you take in the COE has state established standards which you must meet. You must store the evidence used to determine whether or not you have met these standards in Foliotek where anyone desiring to can see that evidence. Your instructors will provide detailed instructions of what evidence must be submitted for what standards. You then place electronic copies of that evidence in Foliotek.

In EDM310 all of your evidence for all of the standards associated with EDM310 is in your blog and the EDM310 Class Blog. Therefore your blog and the Class Blog are what "go" into Foliotek. Since your evidence consists entirely of blogs we only have to provide Foliotek with links - links to your blog and the Class Blog. Therefore completing the Foliotek requirements for EDM310 is quick and easy.

You will need:
1. A list of the standards associated with EDM310. They are:

Literacy: Oral and Written Communications (3)(c) 1.(iii)
Literacy: Technology (3)(c) 4.(i)
Literacy: Technology (3)(c) 4.(ii)
Literacy: Technology (3)(c) 4.(vi)
Professionalism: Ethics (5)(c) 5.(ii)
Professionalism: Ethics (5)(c) 5.(iv)
For Elementary Majors ONLY: General Special Education: 290-3-3-.34 (2)(g)2.(iii)

Note that the standards are grouped into Literacy, Professionalism and Teaching K-6(for General Special Education). (There are other groups.) Also note that there is one small letter i (or two or three of them) at the end of the numbering system. These are VERY IMPORTANT. Be sure you pay attention to them!

2. You will need the URL to your blog and the URL for the Class Blog ( http://edm310.blogspot.com )

3. Then follow the instructions in Foliotek Instructions.

4. After you have completed Foliotek, your entries must be checked in person by one of the EDM310 staff members. This is an ABSOLUTE requirement and it must be done in class before 4 pm Thursday December 6, 2012. If one of us does not sign off on your Foliotek entries in person you will get an I in the course. And if you do not complete Foliotek (which is a GREAT hassle for you and an even greater hassle for Dr. Strange) no later than February 18, 2013 your I will become an F no matter what you would have gotten in the course.

Dr. Strange Selected as "Top Prof"

Dr. John Strange was selected as a Top Prof by Mortar Board member Bailey Hammond at the Annual Mortar Board Top Prof Celebration held Thursday November 29, 2012

In her award comments Bailey cited Dr. Strange's antipathy to "burp back education" as one of the reasons for his selection as Top Prof.

Lab Open and Closed

For the Thanksgiving Holidays the Lab will be OPEN and CLOSED as follows:
Wednesday November 21, 2012 OPEN and staffed until 2:00 PM
Thursday November 22, 2012 CLOSED
Friday November 23, 2012 CLOSED
Saturday November 24, 2012 CLOSED
Sunday November 25, 2012 OPEN and staffed 1:00pm - 6:00 pm

Happy Thanksgiving

Normally I have no assignments during Thanksgiving Week. Hurricane Isaac necessitated moving the "lost week" into Thanksgiving Week. To partially make up for that I will end C4K posts after the one due next Sunday (11/25/12). I will also end C4C after next Sunday (11/25/12). And there will be no Blog Post #14 Assignment which I had removed but warned of a replacement. I am also allowing Blog Post #13 to be submitted no later than Sunday December 2, 2012. These changes do not totally eliminate the work necessary during Thanksgiving Week. I hope, however, these changes make the next two weeks a bit more enjoyable.

C4C and C4K assignments will be available by noon on Monday 11/19/12 and will be due Sunday November 25, 2012. They will be the last C4C and C4K assignments. Happy Thanksgiving (and the week after).

Foliotek

If you have not paid for Foliotek, you should do so NOW!

If you have paid for Foliotek you need do nothing until the last week of class.

I will post additional instructions for Foliotek on the Class Blog after Thanksgiving so you can complete your EDM310 Foliotek ahead of time. We must still check your Foliotek BEFORE classes are over. We will do this in the first class meeting of the first week in December.

You must use either Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer to access Foliotek.

Click on USA Online at the bottom of the USA Web Page.

Click on Sakai.

Enter your J Number as your user name and your JagMail password as your password.

You should see EDM310 at the top of the page. Click on it

In the left column you should see Foliotek. Click on Foliotek and follow the instructions to make your payment.

Entering the Contest? Watch These Videos.

These two videos should help you generate ideas for your contest entry. Remember: Due Date Sunday December 2, 2012. The contest entry movie should be from one to two minutes long.

Additional information can be found at the Made At the USA site.

Dr. John Strange and Chris Smith Discuss the Contest

Dr. John Strange and Chris Smith discuss the Made At the USA Contest in USA Contest Video 1 (3:21)

Chris Smith Discusses the Contest

Chris Smith elaborates on the Made At The USA Contest in USA Contest Video 3 (1:42)

Blog Post #14 Assignment Will Change

Beware. I have changed the Blog Assignments Manual once again. We are now using Version 11. There is no assignment for Blog Post #14 BUT THERE WILL BE. Another version of the Blogpost Assignments Manual will be published soon. If you have an earlier version, DO NOT USE the Assignment #14 that is shown in it. Always use the latest version of all manuals.

How to Use Green Screen and Examples

Learning to Use the Green Screen

Elizabeth Brooks shares her Green Screen (Chroma Key) Secrets in her video How to use Chroma Key in Adobe Premiere Elements 9 starring previous EDM 310 student Ramsey Willis.

Jacey-Blair and the Jag Brooms

Elizabeth directed Jacey-Blair in a thrilling green screen movie Jacey-Blair and the Jag Brooms. Watch it to see how the green screen magic allows Jacey-Blair to fly, as Elizabeth said,"around South Alabama's campus using the new Jag Brooms providing much better transportation than Jag Bikes".

Song used in this video is "Prologue" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by John Williams.

Spellbinding

Elizabeth and Bailey spend another Spellbinding Day in the Lab - well with a bit of "extra" added.

Special Blog Assignment Due Wednesday Midnight November 7, 2013

Read the USA Today article A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind by Mary Beth Marklein. Summarize the article. Then respond to the arguments of the author from your perspective as a preservice teacher. This response, should be thoughtful, personal, and reflective. It also must be well reasoned. It must not contain any grammar or spelling errors. DUE WEDNESDAY midnight November 7, 2012

Midterm Evaluations

Otherwise Known as Grades

You gave yourself a grade at midterm after evaluating yourself on a number of items of importance including doing all your work on time, the quality of your writing, the quality of the content of your posts, the grading system prescribed by the University of South Alabama ( A - Outstanding, B - Above Average, C - Average, D - Below Average, F - Unsatisfactory.) You also were to have been honest in your evaluations. You also were to have considered the evaluations provided by me and the Lab Professionals through our comments as well as the comments of your fellow students (which, I fear, must be heavily discounted since most are not true evaluations but cheerful "You are doing great" statements even if that is not true).

How do the grades you gave yourself compare with the grades I have given you?
Here are the data:

Dr. Strange gave a one letter better grade that the student gave him or herself: 4 - 3.5%
Dr. Strange and the student agreed exactly on the grade given: 37 - 32.7% (including 2 D grades)
The students gave him or herself a one letter higher grade than Dr. Strange gave them: 38 - 33.6%
The student gave him or herself a two letter higher grade than Dr. Strange gave them (A vs. C):10 - 8.9%
The student got a D from Dr. Strange but gave him or her self an A, B or C: 12 - 10.6%
The student did not complete the midterm questionnaire and therefore did not give a grade to him or her self. (All of these students were given an F or a D by Dr. Strange.): 12 - 10.6%

How were the grades given by Dr. Strange distributed?

A - 25 22.1%
B - 35 31.0%
C - 27 23.9%
D - 13 11.5%
F - 13 11.5%

How were the grades given by students distributed?

A - 59 52.2%
B - 31 27.4%
C - 09 08.0%
D - 02 02.8%
F - 00 11.5%
No Grade given 12 10.6%

Here are data concerning how you evaluated yourselves as to writing:

Here are data concerning how you evaluated yourselves as to as to the quality of the content of your blog posts:

Some of you need to sit down and have a talk with me about your work. Who needs to do that?
Everyone to whom I gave an F or D (24 students not including the 2 students who gave themselves a D)
Everyone who gave themselves a grade two letters better that I gave them (10 students)
The two students who gave themselves a D (and I agreed) might also benefit from a chat with me although it is not required.
If you were within one grade of my grade or equal to my grade (and you did not get a D or F), we do not need to meet. Why not?
1. I have not reviewed all of your work yet (podcasts, my sentence, C4T, and some C4K assignments as well as comments by partners on cooperation or lack thereof).
2. This is midterm. Most students are improving the quality and timeliness of their work (which is what we should expect).
3. I used + and minus scores which the University does not recognize and which will not show on your midterm grade report.
4. There is limited time and I must meet with 34-36 students already.
How can you find out whether you must meet with me? I will send everyone who needs to meet with me an email by midnight Sunday October 29, 2012 stating the time for our meeting. You MUST confirm the appointment by return email. All appointments will be scheduled during the time slots allocated to your EDM310 section.

Correction: Lab Open and Staffed Saturday 10/28 and Sunday 10/29

The Lab will be open and staffed Saturday and Sunday October 28 and 29, 2012. We have found an available staff member (Carly) for Sunday.

Richard Howell Offers Good Advice on Writing

Richard Howell, an EDM310 graduate, offers excellent advice on writing in his blog The Demeanor Report. Read his post How to Write Something Thoughtful and Commendable.

Lab Open and Staffed Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday

Need to catch up during the Fall Break? The Lab will be open and staffed Saturday 10/6, Sunday 10/7, Monday 10/8 and Tuesday 10/9. Regular hours will apply.

Lab Open Sat 9/29 But No Staff; Sunday 9/30 Open and Staffed

The Lab will be open (if it locked ask the Lab attendant across the hall to open it Saturday September 29, 2012. It will NOT, however, be staffed on Saturday. The Lab will be OPEN and STAFFED Sunday September 30, 2012.

Comment Rejected Because It Did Not Meet 3rd Grade Standards

On p. 16 of the Projects Instruction Manual you will find this listed as point #3:

All comments must be proofread and free of spelling and grammatical errors. Have you read Some of You Won’t Make It Through 3rd Grade ? If not, do so now. I do NOT want to find out that your comments have been rejected by a teacher (3rd grade or not) because of spelling or grammatical errors. For heavens sake! You are planning to be a teacher, correct?

If not, do so now made bold and italicized for this post.

I also told this story in every class during one of the first mandatory classes.

Sunday (September 23, 2012) I got this email from Anthony Capps, my very first Lab Professional and now a 3rd grade teacher (just like Mrs. Yollis) at Gulf Shore Elementary:

If you can't read the text in the image, here is what Anthony wrote:

Hi Dr. Strange,

I can't publish this comment because BBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBB didn't capitalize her letters appropriately, and she included more than one run-on sentence. We just got finished discussing the importance of capitalization and punctuation last week, and I don't want this comment to undermine our progress.

In contrast, Daniel Morgan's post was very helpful! We just began learning how sentence variety makes writing more interesting, and his use of questioning was exemplary.

Thank you,

Anthony

OH MY! Four times she used i instead of I. One time she made poll plural by adding an apostrophe s. She had one run-on sentence. In addition, data is always plural. The singular form is datum. Using data as a singular noun is incorrect. Unfortunately, many people treat it as a singular noun as did this student. The misuse of data as a singlar noun apparently played no role in the rejection of her comment. I would have rejected it for that reason, however.

Students:
You must proofread your comments.
You are not texting when you leave a comment.
Please do not let this happen again.

Where Have All the Students Gone?

One of my favorite songs by Pete Seeger is Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

So Where have all the students gone?
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Why do I ask this?
Well 25 (21%) did not do Blog Post #4
40 (34%) did not do the C4T#1
and 34 (29%) did not do their presentation.
For some they have started like the Saints: 0 and 3. Not many teams have ever made the playoffs starting 0 and 3.

Embed Your Presentation - Google Changes the Rules

Google has changed the way to get the code that will embed your Presentation in your Blog. Here are the new instructions:
1. Create your presentation.
2. Proof it for spelling and grammar.
3. Make sure you have followed the instructions and have 15 or more slides including a Title page and an End page as well as acknowledgements for pictures and material used.
4. Go to the File menu in Google Docs (Drive) with your presentation open in Docs (Drive).
5. Select Publish to Web.
6. Click Start Publishing.
7. When asked if you are sure you want to publish this documet, Click OK. 8. Change size to Small (480x 389). 8. Select time for slide to Automatically Advance The default - 3 seconds - will probably work. If it does not, go back and change it by selecting Publish to web under the File menu. (Unfortunately the new version of Google will not let you select Manual Advance.)
9. Copy embed code.
10. Go to Blogger and create new post.
11. Add a Title - Project # 5 Presentation.
12. Be sure the HTML tab is selected.
13. Paste embed code.
14. Publish and make sure it works.

C4K Starts Monday September 17, 2012

I think C4K is one of the most important parts of EDM310. You will be commenting on kids blogs throughout the world. But you must PREPARE for this activity before you undertake it. Here's how:

1. Read/watch all material for which links appear in the section for Projects#3, #4 and #7 in the Projects Manual, p. 18
.....a in the opening paragraph
.....b in the General rules numbers 1-5 (on p.18) and 6c (on pp. 19-20)

2. If your C4K assignment has a Class Blog, look it over. see what you can find out about the class and the assignment. For Week 1 I have done a bit of that for you. Where possible I have listed the teacher's name, the school, and the grade. But YOU must explore every week. Don't just treat this as a quick assignment. Think about the way the teacher is approaching instruction, how she uses blogs and for what purpose.

3. PROOFREAD your comment. Do not have it rejected because of your failure to use good grammar, to spell correctly, or to avoid texting techniques.

4. In this first iteration, C4K will take more time than it will later in the semester. Invest quality time in this assignment. I assure you it will be beneficial to you in the future.


Some Additional Reminders:

Many of these students have been blogging since September. The students at Pt. England School probably have been blogging for 3 or more years! They know more about blogging than you do. Pt. England School is one of my favorite schools and has been for a long time. We will visit Pt. England School quite often.

Three Special Reminders
1. If the student to whom you are assigned does not have a post, choose another student and notify me (at edm310help@gmail.com) of the student you selected instead.
2. You must find out about the teacher and the school BEFORE you leave a comment. You are a visitor there. Know where you are and with whom you are interacting! This is extremely important!
3. We will discuss what you should do in completing your C4K assignments in class this week. Tuesday and Wednesday classes are mandatory (Wednesday night 6-7:15). If I were you I would wait to start on C4K until after that mandatory class.

Add Your Picture to Your Blog Profile

Here's how:

Go to the Class Blog.

On the right, just under Instruction Manual, click on Click on the Emergency Access to the Instructon Manual.

At the top of the light blue area, click on your class in the Subpage(s) list

At the right, click on the Down Arrow. This will download your picture to your computer. On a PC it will (probably) go into the Pictures folder. On a Mac it will go into the Downloads folder.

Go to your blog.

In the upper right you will see your name with a down arrow. Click on the Down arrow.

Click on Blogger Profile

Click on Edit Profile in the Upper Right

In the area where it says Profile Photo, click on From your computer and choose your picture which should be in the location specified above. It will be named YouLastName,YourFirstName.jpg, e.g. Baxter, Alecia.jpg

It will upload and appear in the Profile page and on your Blog

VERY IMPORTANT: Scroll all the way down and click on Save Profile on the Left.

In a yellow bar near the top of the Profile page it will say "Your settings have been saved" and there will be a link to "View Updated profile". Click on that link to check it out.

Lab Closed 12:00 - 2:00 Wednesday 9/12. Use Lab Across the Hall

Due to a College scheduling problem, the EDM310 LAB (3301) will be closed Wednesday 9/12 from 12-2. EDM310 Lab Assistants WILL be in the labs across the hall (3304 and 3306) which you may use.

Missing Too Many Posts!

Be on time with your work! I hope you remember that. Some students apparently did not. We have 121 students in all four sections of EDM310 this semester. Of those, 2 are inactive since they have not attended class and have done little or nothing. That leaves 119. Of those, 18 did not have their Blog post Assignment #1 done on time. That is 15%, the typical percentage since the new version of EDM310 began 3 years ago. But I am not happy with that number! You are learning to be a professional. Act like one. And if you are having problems (other that procrastination), COME TO THE LAB.

In addition, 4 additional students did not do all parts of the assignment, and one did part of the assignment and then removed the entire post. I am not sure what that is about.

The staff and I will start reading the posts today. By the end of the week we will have a report on the quality of your work.

Five students are ahead in their posts! That is an excellent way to start EDM310. Some 8 others wrote their Blog Post #2 quite early but have given up that lead by not moving even further ahead. Being ahead in your EDM310 work is valuable, especially at crunch time for other courses.

Books and Chapters Assigned for Podcast

I have added to the Groups Fall 2012 Doc specific assignments for your Group Podcast. Each member of a Group will need to purchase a book. There are three possible books, all by Rafe Esquith. They are available from Amazon and other bookstores. Prices shown below are Amazon prices.
Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire - Paperback $ 10.20; Hardcover $ 15.59; Kindle $ 12.99
There Are No Shortcuts - Paperback $ 10.20; Kindle $ 13.99
Lighting Their Fires - Hardcover $ 9.98; Kindle $ 12.99

You can get free 2 day delivery from Amazon by joining Student Prime which is free for the first 6 months.

Your assignment is now shown in the Groups Fall 2012 Doc.You should order (or get a copy from a library) NOW!

Groups List Now in Your Docs (Drive)

I have shared the Doc Groups List Fall 2012 with you.

There are 9 students who are not in a group. There are several possible reasons for this:
1. They were absent on the last day of class this week (a mandatory meeting date).
2. The person who was supposed to send a Gmail to edm310help@gmail.com listing the group members did not do so.
3. The student left class before groups were formed.

If you are not assigned to a group you must contact me (Dr. Strange) as soon as possible.