C4K February

My kids name I posted on was Sha Vaughn. She only had two posts. One was about how you should not drop out of school. She explains her thoughts on people who drop out end up becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol and have a child. She believes you should stay in school so you can get a good education and a good job.

Her other post was just a picture collage explaining things about her. She is a girl, her favorite color is purple, she is a picky person, fast, loves basketball, attends church, and many other things.

Project #9

Blog #6

PLN stands for Personal Learning Networks or Professional Learning Networks. In Steven Anderson's video "Building Your PLN- A Primer for Everyone", Anderson explains how PLN is a way for teachers around the country network with each other to share teaching strategies and tips that benefit the students overall education. PLN can also be used to better organize your teaching materials. With PLN you can interview other people to see if they would benefit in your circle to help further your teaching ability. PLN is a very useful tool I plan on using when I begin teaching so it can help me not only be a better teacher but more organized in my workplace. I will be using PLN for my favorite teachers across all spans of schools from elementary all the way to teachers I enjoyed in college. The first teacher I will be added to my PLN is my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Triplett. She has always been my favorite teacher and was the person who sparked my passion to teach. It has been over 10 years since I was in her 3rd grade class and I still talk to her on a weekly basis about school work or just how life is in general. She is a big part of my life and with her help I know my classroom will be just as entertaining and educational as hers was.

Book Trailer

My Sentence Videos

My Passion Is..


My Sentence..

Blog Post #5

This week I watched multiple videos with Dr. Strange have conversations with one of his old students who is now a 3rd grade teacher Mr. Capps, who uses project based learning in his classroom. In the videos he talked about multiple project and how it captured his students attention to learning and even were able to teach Mr. Capps a thing or two. Mr. Capps goes on to talk about how not every project will go according to plan. One of his project was the students had to do a project about what it would be like to be a child in Afghanistan. One of the students parents was a veteran and felt very uncomfortable with his child learning about being a child over there. So Mr. Capps, being a respectful person and teacher, had to student complete a separate project that helped the student still learn about culture since that was the topic they were on originally. Seeing how project based learning is used in a 3rd grade setting made me even that much more interested in implementing PBL in my teaching curriculum.

Blog Post #4

Asking questions is always better then just seeking answers. As educators in an evolving environment we have to constantly ask questions to our peers and students. Asking them if they enjoyed doing this activity or if they think the students will learn effectively with this approach. Every student learns differently, some are visual learners while others are auditory or hands on learners. I myself am a hands on learner and can suffer vastly if the teacher just talks the entire class. To be an effective educator one should ask their students if they understand the concept before moving on and making sure every student actually does understand it. If they do not understand the concept ask if t would be easier if they approached it this or that way.
When it comes to asking questions, it is very crucial on how you ask the question. In Dr. Chesley's video she explains the difference between open ended questions and close ended questions. IF you ask a student a close ended question, the student can answer you with a simple yes or no. With an open ended question a student cannot answer with a simple yes or no but invite them to have a discussion on the question and in turn they will learn more and better retain the information because they were more involved.

Project #3 Presentation

C4T Assignment

MiGoogle Blog: Brighton High School hosted the 2013 Michigan Google Conference and Mr. Sowash was able to coordinate the event. Not only was he able to coordinate it but it broke last years record by having over 600 attendants, being completely sold out. On day 2 he was able to give the key note speech of how teachers should be "Dot Connecters" instead of students being "Dot Collecters". The rest of the conference was showing the hottest new google topics.

My comment: Mr. Sowash my name is Lucas Skinner and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. That is awesome you were able to head the google event! I have heard about that conference last year and have been wanting to attend since I understood what it was. Your enthusiasm in involving technology into students education in today's world is very inspiring. I feel exactly like you in terms of helping students excel in the education environment by having teachers be Dot Connecters.

5 Chrome Settings that will Make Teachers Smile: Mr. Sowash makes not only teachers live easier, but any Google Chrome internet browser user. He tells of many useful tips and tricks to make Chrome even that much better of a internet browser. Two of my favorite tips he talks about is tab sync, and open tabs on startup. Being able to open up Chrome and specific tabs you always visit already being opened is what tab sync is about and makes it so much easier. If I am on a tab on my phone or iPad and need to open it up on a different device I can open up chrome on the other device and those tabs already be opened as long a I am on the same Chrome account between devices. He goes on and talks about 3 more useful tricks like "Zoom" and "Settings Search".

My Comment: Hey Mr. Sowash my name is Lucas Skinner an I am enrolled in EDM 310 at the University Of South Alabama. Google Chrome is my favorite internet browser and I never knew about these tricks. My life has become so much easier even since I read your blog and learned about "Tab Sync" and "Open Tabs on Startup". These two tricks have helped me out very much with studying and doing other school work. Keep up the good work!