Blog Assignment #3

Peer Editing 

Peer Review Rubric

Personally, I felt as the Prezi on YouTube and the slideshow were the exact same thing. It was just that one was enhanced with auto. I also feel as though if you made it this far in your educational career, then you should be all too familiar with peer editing. If you are still making unnecessary mistakes then you should really be taking remedial language classes to give your brain a little memory boost. I'm not trying to sound mean or anything, it's just a suggestion. I will admit that the kids' peer editing video was beyond cute and very informative. They were really good actors and actresses. I feel as though if children this young can get the idea of true peer editing, then a teacher can as well. 

 Okay, now to the assignment. Peer editing is beyond an important factor for and student at any level. In order to effectively edit someone's work, 3 components should be remembered: 1) Compliment 2) Suggestions 3) Corrections.

               

               Compliments are positive comments that are made by peer reviewers. Reviewers have to

                keep in mind that they are helping to improve another person's work. Compliments show

                what the writer did well.

               Suggestions are comments that makes the writing better. It is just as important as compliments

               and should not be taken in a negative context.

               Corrections are changes made to the work.

Why are these things important? Because these things create more responsible and creative writers!

 

When I was reading Heather's blog I saw that she had some really good points but we shared different views. I most definitely complimented her style of writing because her points where extremely clear and her transitions were smooth. I did not make any suggestions because it was an opinion piece. I do not feel as though you can suggest to someone about how they think. Also, she did not any corrections in my book and Dr. Strange seemed to enjoy the read as well.

PART #2

Using Assistive Learning Device

Becoming a Special Education teacher is my goal upon graduating from the University of South Alabama. I recently took EDU400 in the fall and I fell in love with the idea of giving special needs kids a voice in the classroom. Some are not as severe as others, but they all need a voice nonetheless. Watch the video Why Teach? just made me all the more excited about my career choice. I have learned that children are extremely creative when trying to communicate what he/she wants. Assistive Learning tools such as the iPad, text to speech technology, etc are great tools that can be used per the child's IEP (Individualized Educational Program). 

           

The Mountbatten

The Mountbatten Braille Machine

This was a very short but informative video. This device is so cool in my opinion. It is a type-writer type deal that not only types braille, BUT IT ALSO HAS AUDIO so that the student and teacher can hear what the student has typed. This makes me so excited as a future special education teacher because it is an advancement for those of use who do not know how to read braille. In my opinion, it is going to be money saved on a class that I do not have to take. This device gives feedback which is ideal for a special needs child. I say this because, depending on the disability, feedback is the keep to learning a concept in the correct way. The machine is so cool because it actually announces what is being brailled on the paper. This is what astonishes me the most. I absolutely love to have this in my classroom when I begin teaching. If you think the audio is the best part, you have not heard the best of the best. This incredible machine can save, receive and transfer files to and from a computer PC!!! How cool is that? I wonder, how come this is my first time hearing about this? I guess I'm not on my research like I should be. I feel as though this device can revolutionize the general education classroom because now all student, even visually impaired children, can be included in the learning process. 

Teaching Math To The Blind

Math was and never has been my strongest subject, but I do know that it is an extremely important skill for all students to learn. Dr. Art Karshmer and his team has done an incredible deed to the academic world. They are created a machine that can set up mathematically equations, basic and complex, so that the student can learn like any other student. The blocks have braille numbers and printed numbers that can be "lined up" just as though they were on a dry erase board. Not only are the numbers alined, but the board itself can talk. This too astonished me. Technology is just becoming more and more advanced!! I am loving this!!! Schools are slowly getting away from pen and paper and becoming more technologically savy. 

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

This video is awesome! Mrs. Davis and so many other teacher around the world, including Dr. Strange,  have brought the classroom into new world technologies. While I was in high school, the closest thing to technology that I came was working for the Cisco  Networking Academy. Student's learning to using technology like this to  communicate things that he/she feel to be important  but to aslo communicate with people half way around the world. Now, you can not tell me that  that is not incredible!! Students also learn that books, paper and pens are not the only tools that allows you to learn and learn accurately.  Technology takes you to a totally different level of creativity. Sure, you can draw anything on paper but  technology can give that same drawing a voice and movement! Lastly, technology can be used a peer teacher. Students use many different programs such as powerpoint,  blogging,  a class wiki,  and many other collbrative tools that expands a child's world. If you want to learn more about Mrs. Davis and her students just click the "play" button.