Blog Post #5

If I Built a School

Krissy Venosdale has been a teacher for ten years and is currently teaching special education. She is very creative and full of life. Her blog, Venspired was inspired by her students and the continuous learning that occurs in her class daily.

Her blog post, If I Built a School was very creative. In this post she talks about her dream of building a school. It starts with her receiving a letter from someone extremely wealthy. In this letter, there is a post-it note that reads, "Follow your dreams, and build a School." Mrs. Venosdale then begins to paint a beautiful and elaborate picture of what her school would be like. She explains how "creativity would be oozing out from every pore", that there would be colorful walls, comfy seats, nooks, and crannies where every student could collaborate, discuss, and dream. How every room would be state of the art, with all the latest technology! She would have a school bus ready at all times to take the students on unlimited field trips, when necessary. My favorite part was when she reveals that she would have a tree house in the Library! What better way to inspire children to read than that!

I share some of these same ideas with Mrs. Venosdale when it comes to building my own school. I don't know all the ins and outs of making a school but I do know that I would create a place that is bright and colorful with classrooms that have all the latest technology, which would be at the students disposal at all times. The students will also be allowed to pick the theme of each classroom and decorate them accordingly with their crafts and art work. All the students would sit in big comfy computer chairs at their own individual desk. I would make sure that my school is on the outside of town so there is peace and quiet, so that there could be beautiful gardens and trees where hammocks would hang from so that students would be able to read, collaborate, and relax. My cafeteria would have top culinary chefs that would prepare healthy food for the students and faultily and for my Library I would also have a tree house along with big comfy couches and bean bags.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

This video is amazing. I would have never imagined something like this would be possible. Eric Whitacre got the idea of starting a Virtual Choir from a friend who emailed him a link of a fan singing one of his pieces called Sleep. After listening to this fan sing he immediately got the idea to get people from all over the world to send in videos singing his pieces so that he can put them together to create a Virtual Choir. For his first Virtual Choir he took 185 individual voices from 12 different countries that have never met and put them in harmony with one another. The piece was very beautiful and innovating.

Teaching in the 21st Century

I agree with Kevin Roberts's position on this video. Due to all social media, such as: Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, cell phones, Google, etc. being able to access where ever you are, whenever you want is a drastic change from where we use to be a decade ago. He is pointing out how important it is for all teachers to be technological literate because "teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge, we are the filter." And as a future educator it is my job to be able to teach my students how to use these resources correctly.

Flipping a Classroom

This is a great and innovated way of teaching. I love how this helps out all students on every level in math, whether they are lower-level students, mid-level students, or higher-level students. Flipping allows students to move at their own paste, and also allows them to have control over the lesson by, stopping the video, rewinding and playing back key parts, or even fast forwarding. It's also great for parents that want to be more involved in what their child is learning in Math at school. These videos , Why I Flipped My Classroom and Flipped Classroom - FAQ by Katie Gimbar are very helpful and shows a new way to teach students math.