Blog Assignment #14 - Final Reflection

Project #16 - Final Project

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Book Trailer Reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Dr. Seuss Jeopardy!

Project #13 - Technology Collaboration

My group, CLLL (Chanel, Linda, Laura, Leslie), tried to incorporate as much technology as possible that led up to our Project #15 and and #16. We used Google Docs to create out scripts and save the photos that were being used as as well. We also Skyped during times of planning. Linda and I were able to use Facetime to discuss meeting times. We also used our cell phones for text messages and phones calls for the project. Both projects #15 and #16 both took place on the SMARTboard. We used this to create our Disney alphabet and our Dr. Suess Jeopardy. We then used the Flip to film ourselves. Unfortunately, there were times we had to meet face to face because of the short amount of time we had to work on everything and put it all together. But we still were able to use a great amount of technology, and our projects turned out great! I enjoyed working with my group very much. We were all full of creativity and determination. It was a great  and memorable experience!

Blog Assignment #13

I don’t think I have ever realized how much technology influenced my life until I had to give it up. It was one of the toughest challenges I faced in this class. My phone, computer, and and TV are constantly being used around the clock.

I started my “no technology” trial at 12 AM Thursday. I knew this would be the easiest day for me since I had work all day and one class. I woke up at 8 AM and left my phone in my purse so I wouldn’t be tempted to use it in the morning. I got ready without out using the television, and then drove to work.
I use a computer the whole time at work, so I can’t really avoid that, but I didnt use my phone the whole day. I also challenged myself by not going on the internet. It was very hard to do because there were times when I wanted to check it and see who had been trying to contact me throughout the day. I also was tempted to check Facebook, and the weather, or even the news. I ended up using my phone one time because I had to contact a classmate I had to meet up with and study.

When I went to class, I left my phone in the car so I wouldn’t be tempted to use it through lecture. That was the only technology that was available at that time so the challenge go slightly easier. When I left class and headed home, I left my phone in my purse, again, so I wouldn’t be tempted. When I got home, my family had the TV on, so I just walked past and went to my room. I also left my computer in the living room so I wouldn’t be tempted to get on Youtube or Pandora. I did some of my bookwork and took a shower. Because I didn’t have anything to watch or use, I just decided to go to bed early.

This was was a pretty difficult challenge. The TV and computer were slightly easier to avoid but my phone was the hardest part. I use my phone for so much. It’s the way I communicate with the world. It was very hard when I wanted to search something or contract family and friends. There were times when I just wanted to listen to music, but I couldn’t. Doing this assignment help me realize that maybe I shouldn’t be so dependent on a small electrical device. It also opened my eyes to realizing that I don’t have much of any other type of entertainment because technology. I need to start finding othering things to do besides watching TV or talking on the phone.

C4T #4 - Summary

The Teacher I had for C4T #4 was named Mr. Doug Peterson. His blog was named Doug- Off the Record. Throughout his blog, he discusses new types of resources that he finds on the internet and some of the things his friends are doing on the internet.

The first post I commented on was about different types of personal home pages. he talked about certain ones like Tizmo, Symbaloo and Foks. I was familiar with Symbaloo because that is what I use for my PLN. Tizmo is a very simple homepage. It has pictures of what each website looks like that you decide to use. Foks is a bit more complicated.It has over 100 different sites. You are still able to add your own personal sites but there are so many from the start that there really isn’t any room to add more. I commented to Mr. Peterson that I had never heard of Foks before but I actually like it better than Symbaloo because you don’t have to search for each website you want on there, since it already has so many sites.

The second post I commented on was called Google A-Z. A friend of Mr. Peterson’s was creating a list called Google A-Z. I just thought this was a cool idea because Google has come so far. I remember when it used to only be used for searching the internet. Now you are able to do so much on Google, like create documents and blogs. I commented to Mr. Peterson that the list was a great idea and if his friend is able to fill the whole list, then it’s going to show how much Google has improved over the years.

Final Report on my PLN

My Personal Learning Network has been nothing but helpful to me for the rest of this semester. When I last reported, I wasn’t using it that much because I was still getting used to it and it was confusing to me. Then, I set it to my home page and it helped me more than ever. At first, I only had websites that I could use on my spare time like shopping sites and music entertainment. I later added sites that I could use daily like South Alabama’s homepage and other websites that I use for my other classes. My PLN was always very convenient when I had to get to a website quickly, or if I found a new website, I could always add that site to one of my squares. After EDM 310 is over, I will keep my PLN as my homepage because it helps me stay organized and it helps me surf the web in a quick and fashionable manner.

Project #15 - SMARTboard Instruction Part 2

Blog Assignment #12

When I graduate, I plan on teaching Special Education. We had a Special Education assignment which discussed how technology helps special needs students. I have to say, this was my favorite. But unfortunately, we only had that one assignment. This was slightly disappointing because I am going to be receiving a certificate to teach it, but I’m not familiar with ANY of the technology or devices special needs students use.

So, on that note, the assignment I am choosing to create is to find one device/technology for each of the following types of students:
A) visually impaired
B) hearing impaired
C) physically disabled
Once you have found one device/technology that helps each type of student, write a summary about it that explains how it works and how it helps the student in the classroom. Provide a picture of the device found.

Here is my example:

Visually Impaired

Screen magnification software is used by people with visual disabilities to access information on a computer screen. The software enlarges the information on the screen by pre-determined incremental factor. magnification software has the flexibility to magnify the full screen, parts of the screen or provide a magnifying glass view of the area around the cursor or pointer. These programs often allow for inverted colors, enhanced pointer viewing, and tracking options.

Hearing Impaired

Text Telephones (TTYs) are the telephones that deaf people use to communicate with others on the telephone. These look like small typewriters and come with an LCD screen and a cradle for the telephone. In order for a deaf person to call on the TTY, the person on the other end must also have a TTY. There is a national relay system that the deaf person on the TTY can use to call anyone who does not have a TTY. This helps students by keeping in touch with classmates and teachers.

Physically Disabled

Switches are a common solution for users with mobility disabilities, such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, and head injuries, who need to use computers or other electronic devices, but have difficulty with the physical interface. To allow easier manipulation than a standard keyboard or joystick, a specially-designed switch may be composed of a single button, merely a few buttons, a sensory plate, or another of the whole host of adaptive switches available; it may also be touch-free, relying instead on motion sensors, brain activation, or a sip-and-puff mechanism. Aside from simplifying user interfaces, switches can also be used as developmental aids, teaching children (or adults) how to interact with their external environment.

Creating this assignment actually taught me a lot about special needs devices. I’ve realized that special needs students used certain devices, but their devices need technology for them to work efficiently. Even though I only got a brief lesson through my assignment, it makes me excited for when I get to learn more.

Special Post #12A: Creativity and Curiosity - My Thoughts

I personally believe that schools do not destroy creativity in students but they certainly do not push to express creativity. In elementary school, students are required to go to classes like art and music weekly, where a lot of creativity is expressed. But as these students get older, they are given a choice of what classes they want to continue with. In high school, you need a certain amount of fine art credits to graduate, but many student just take classes like basic art, just to receive those credits. By the time students get to high school, the interest for those fine art classes are gone, because their main focus is academics.
I think a curriculum can be created that will increase the curiosity of students. When students are limited to what they are supposed to know and learn, they shy away from asking questions or thinking past the required curriculum. I think the key component of a curriculum that would help students to be more curious is open discussions. When the teacher does all the talking and just tell the students what to do, then there is no way they are able to express any curiosity. With open discussions, students will have the opportunity to express themselves and ask questions. Students will ask questions if they are given the opportunity.
I think students are born with curiosity, but don’t always have the opportunity to be curious. Many student don't ask questions, they just do what they are told. Teachers are able to increase the curiosity of students by limiting the information provided for them. When they are doing assignments, they can have their students ask questions and what they feel they need to know about the work they are going to be doing. That will cause the students to branch out for more information. Another way is for teachers to discuss something that the students will be more interested in. That will make the students more curious and want to find out more information.
I am naturally curious person and will ask anyone anything, but not everyone is like me. If I wasn’t curious, I think discussing things that interest me would make me a more curious person. When I take classes discussing topics that I don’t really care about, then my curiosity fades away. I don’t want to know more about something I’m not interested in. But sometimes I can’t control that because I need those classes for my major.

Final Project Progress Report

My group, CLLL, is working well on their final project. We have decided to incorporate some of the tools we’ve used in class such as the Smartboard, video making, iMovie and Google Docs to keep up with our information.  There is four of us in the group so we’re coming up with ways to include us all equally. I don’t want to give too much information since our idea is secretive, but I’m excited to continue working on it and ready to see the final product.

C4K Summary for April

For the month of April, we participated in the world blog challenge. I really enjoyed it because I was able to comment on the same student for three weeks in a row. The student I had was named Andrew. I was able to learn a lot about him.
One the first week, I commented on a post by Andrew about 10 things about him. In his post, he stated some of his interests like Lacrosse and video games. He also expressed his love for the New Orleans Saints and football in general. From his post, I could also tell that he enjoyed being outdoors because he goes 4-wheeling, his family owns a farm, and he loves playing with his dogs. I commented to him that he had really cool interests and he and told him that NO Saints are the big team down here.

Next, I commented on a post from Andrew about his home state, Vermont. I have never been to Vermont before or have never known anyone who has been there, so reading this post was very exciting. In his post, he discusses why he likes Vermont so much and what he does there. He gets to eat Ben and Jerry’s ice cream pretty often and Vermont makes most of the US’s maple syrup. He also tells his audience that it is not a very crowded state. He gets to be around all his friends and family. The last thing he mentions is that there are no natural disasters. I commented back to Andrew that I had never been to Vermont before but it sounds like a really fun state to visit. I also told him about our Natural disasters down here like Hurricanes.
The last post I commented on for Andrew was about Littering. He gave a lot of great facts about littering and how we need to stop. He stated that the most common litter items are fast food, beer bottles, and soda cans. Many animals eat the bags and trash that is left on the roads and die of suffocation. He told his audience to help stop littering and recycle when you can. I commented to him that he presented some really good information and that littering is a horrible problem that needs to be controlled. I enjoyed commenting on Andrew’s blog. He is a very bright and interesting student.

Also this month, I commented on a student from room 9 at PT England School in Auckland, New Zealand. My student’s name was Mubashshir. He seemed to be very interested in technology because be had the most blog posts out of his whole class. The post I commented on was about his trip with his family to a carboot sale. He made a video describing his trip. He said that he went with his mom and sister, and they bought things like clothes and shoes. He mentions how they get really good deals. I commented to him how much I enjoyed his video and how I thought a carboot sale would be really fun to experience. I enjoyed his post because it was cool to see what other families do in other countries..

Blog Assignment #11

Little Kids...Big Potential is the perfect way to describe the students in this video. These first graders from Canada are doing more with technology than I did before this class. Their video, First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class, shows the activities they do with technology throughout the year, like blogs, Nintendo DS's, wikis, commenting, and videos. Their teacher, Ms. Cassidy, educates them on everything they do. This video shows the exposure to technology that many first graders get around the world. This helps me to know how important it is to stay updated on new technology, and how much I need to keep up the skills I already have. Technology is definitely a part of life, and exposing students at a young age is the right thing to do because they will never be able to escape it. If they start building skills now then it will do nothing but help these skill grow for the future.

Our professor, Dr. Strange, had a Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy about her teaching strategies and how she became big on doing technology with her students.She explained at the beginning that her school had computers but they weren’t able to put any programs on them. She wanted to make use of the computers which started her technology journey.Through her journey, she was able to get some funding through the government which help a lot.
One thing about Ms. Cassidy’s process that I liked is the form she explains. It is a form that explains to the parents that they students will be working with technology and some of their work is going on the internet. This is definitely very appropriate because there are so many creeps out there that teachers must protect their students from. Dr. Strange asks how the parents react to the online work of the students and Ms. Cassidy says that the parents really like it because they get to keep up with their child’s work and their progress throughout the year and she uses it as an electronic portfolio. The viewers also find out how blogging helps her students. She explains that it improves their writing because they know that people are viewing their blogs and makes them want to write better. The college in the area where Ms. Cassidy teaches comments on her students’ blogs weekly and helps bring out writing skills.
Ms. Cassidy helped show me how to be a technology oriented educator for the future. She showed me that a little determination and drive will help you accomplish anything you want to in your classroom. I know I’m going to try and incorporate a lot of technology in my future classroom because I want my students to be successful with technology when the time comes for them to us it in their future careers.

Blog Assignment #10

Do You Teach or Do You Educate?

Teaching is a very rewarding gift, but from this video, I’ve realized that educating is even bigger. In Do You Teach or Do You Educate?, a video created by FWYL Foothill College (2006), there are different definitions for teaching someone and educating someone. With teaching, the teacher explains, shows, encourages, and they give information. With educating, the educators inspire, enlighten, and empower. Educators are known as a trusted and experienced mentor. Basically anyone can be a teacher, but it takes that special someone to educate.

When watching this video, I interpreted it as teachers do the bare minimum for students to pass and learn what they need to so they can move on. An educator will go the extra mile for their students. They will not only teach what needs to be taught, but they also reach out as a mentor that students can learn from. When I get my degree, I plan to be an educator because I want my students to want to learn, yet be inspired by me and my journey to success. I know I will be able to give my all to my students. But I know I have to get used to putting in the extra time and wanting the best for my students. If you want to be a successful educator, you must educate yourself first. I'm going to try to educate myself to the best of my ability so my students can learn from the best.

Don’t Let them Take the Pencils Home!

Wow, what a post! A teacher trying to be an educator and improve the his students while an academic specialist shuts the whole idea down. In Don't Let them Take Pencils Home!, a teacher is told not to to allow his students to bring their pencils home because it results in low test scores. The teacher tried to defend his students by telling the academic that he doesn’t agree with the research and believing that they can change the paradigm. When the academic specialist asks how, the teacher proceeds by telling her about the parent pencil program which gives the students and their parents a chance to do projects with pencils and not just think they are a toy. But then the academic specialist shuts him down by saying the students are going to be playing hangman and tells him not to blame her when his test scores are low.

The first thing that really stood out to me about this post was the negativity from the academic specialist! I don’t like how the specialist doubted the students without even giving the idea of the program a chance. I believe anyone working with students in a school should always have hope in them. Anothing thing about this post was grasping the idea that this specialist was so serious about the students not being able to take pencils home. I would have never thought that it would affect the score of a test but they did a whole study on it, so it may be true. I believe Mr. Johnson stood his ground with his argument of don’t believe everything you hear. He tried to give his students the benefit of the doubt by creating a program for them to explore the use of a pencil. He knew his students’ parents were not exposed to pencils on a daily basis and wanted to expose everyone that is involved with the student to use a pencil for learning. It never said if it worked or not but I hope he was able to pull through with his ideas.

Blog Assignment #9

Mr. McClung's blog post were a really good read. It showed to the struggles of a new teacher and how he overcame the situations he went through. I like how Mr. McClung was able to let his guard down and tell the work what happened through his first 3 years as a teacher. This is the type of blog that I know will help me in the future because eventually I will be in his position. Blogs like this one will help me avoid and be conscious of the mistakes that are out there.

The first post I read by Mr. McClung was his very first school year as a teacher. What I learned this school year (2008-09) states that he learned so much from the beginning to the end of the school year and decided to share his journey. I like how he broke everything down with titles that were his lessons he learned. Some of the titles were Learn how to read a crowd, Be flexible, and Communicate. Reading a crowd is important to do as a new teacher because you can make the mistake of not making your lessons student-based. McClung noticed that with a lot of teachers. With his teaching personally, remembering that student comprehension is key. Flexibility seemed to be a really important lesson to McClung and was something that I got a lot out of. He states to his audience to be flexible with your lessons because none of them will be as perfect as one may strive for. I can relate to this because I know when I start teaching, I am going to want everything I do to be perfect, and will be upset if they’re not. But I know that I am going to have to try hard to not beat myself up over the little things. Like McClung says “ When things go wrong, simply work with it and try to better the situation.....and make sure you do it with a smile on your face!” Communication is the biggest advice you can give for any job. As a teacher, there are so many people you have to communicate with which include students, parents, other teachers, and your bosses. The toughest part about communication as a teacher is you have to learn how to talk to each group of people because they are all different. McClung states that it is the hardest skill to learn, but I hope to gain practice and master it as best I can.

The second post I read was Mr. McClung’s second school year. In this post, What I Learned this School Year (2009-10) started teaching jr. high students at a new school with a different subject. The advice he gives in this post is on a different level as the first, seeing as he now has experience. and he’s learning how to make himself a better educator. He uses the same concept of giving advice through his titles. Some of the topics that stood out to me were Adapt, Check your Ego at the Door, and don’t lose sight of what is important. Adapting is very important as a teacher, especially if you plan on teaching in a new area. Sometimes you have to adapt within your own school like with the lessons you teach. I hope to be able to adapt without any problems when I begin teaching. I’m sure it was hard for McClung to check his ego at the door. It’s necessary to do what it takes for students to learn and worry about how you will look in front of your students. Unfortunately, Mr. McClung had some issues with his administration. But he remembered that he had to conduct himself in the classroom because he is not teaching for the drama, he’s teaching for the students. I agree with McClung on this situation. I feel that there are always going to be problems in a workplace, but with teaching, you have to put the big picture first, which is the students. I didn’t get to read Mr. McClung’s third post, but I’m sure it’s full of advice that will help a lot of third year teachers.
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Project #14 - Smartboard Instructional

Sorry, the volume is a little low.

C4T #3 - Summary

The teacher I had for C4T #3 was named Paige Baggett. She is a professor here at USA for the College of education. I believe she teaches Art for Elementary Teacher. She hasn’t posted much since last semester, but her posts are mainly about Art and the artwork her students have done. The first post I commented on was a video called “29 ways to stay creative”. This video showed 29 different ways to maintain your creativity. I thought many of the ways provided in the video could be used in everyday life also like things like get a lot of rest and take breaks. There was one on the ways that really stuck out to me. It was #4 which stated “get away from the computer”. This is really hard to do since technology is so prevalent in our lives. I commented to Paige that I enjoyed to the video and I hope to be able to use some of those creative techniques when I started teaching and even everyday life.

The second post I commented on for Paige was called “EDU 301 Birds Inspired by John James Audubon”. At the time of the post(November 14), John James Audubon had a bird exhibit at the Mobile Museum of Art. After Paige’s class had to take a tour of the exhibit, They had to make a drawing of a bird from the exhibit using only Crayons. She then created a post out of their out work. All of the drawings were very good. I commented to Paige that I thought the idea of the assignment  was a great way for the students to learn about the birds and expressing that they did learn something through art. I really enjoyed have Page Baggett’s blog. I learned ways to use maintain my creativity which will be very helpful as an elementary teacher. I also learned to be proud of your students and display their good work because it will show the good job you are doing as an educator. If you want to check out her blog, go to Pondering Paige.

C4K Summary for March

The student I had this month was named Klaudia. She was participating in her Class 12’s blog like the rest of her classmates. The post I commented on for Klaudia was called “a Poem for Justin Bieber”. It was really an adorable poem, because it brought me back to the days when I used to have celebrity crushes. In the poem, she expresses how talented, cute and kind Justin Bieber is. She also says that she loves him so much. I told her that it’s cool to see that Justin Bieber is loved all around that would and she should try to go to one of his concerts. I also complimented her poetry skills and told her to keep it up since she possesses so much talent. If you would like to check out her poem, go to A Poem for Justin Bieber by Klaudia.

Blog Assignment #8

Dr. Richard Miller - This is How We Dream

Dr. Miller discussed the change in global communication. In This is How We Dream, Everything now is every instant and now we can connect with anyone all around the world through social networks. He discusses an incremental change about people’s workplaces. Now people, are more likely to carry their laptops around compared to using pen and paper. In part 2 of this video series, Dr. Miller discusses how he feels that items on the internet not only  have to help us informationally, but they need to satisfy us visually and auditorily.
This is the new way of the world. Technology is the new way of learning, communicating, and entertainment. I believe I am ready to write in multi-media because it is the way educators are going to have to be. I feel that students will be able to learn it because students are starting to be exposed to technology so young. So, it will pretty much be instilled in them.


Blog Post #12 By Carly Pugh
Carly’s #12 post was really deep! I can tell this took a lot of effort and thought because it was really creative and well written. In Carly's Blog Post #12 The idea of making a playlist is really fun, but it also makes you think of what would be the “perfect” playlist. You want it to express who you are yet show who you will be as an educator. It’s a cool way to open up your creativity. When I checked out Carly’s playlist, I noticed that it was very long, which showed that this would be a very thoughtful process. But it did help that she showed an example of what she was looking for in this assignment, because I definitely wouldn’t know where to start.

EDM 310 is Different
When I tried to watch the The Chipper Series, it wasn’t working on my computer but I did enjoy EDM 310 for Dummies. I felt the exact same way those students felt when I first started the class; frustrated and overwhelmed. I also used to ask my fellow classmates the same questions about what the heck is going on in the class.But of course, as the time went on, the assignments  became a routine.  I think the primary message of this video is to use the videos that Dr. Strange provides because they will help you figure out how to use certain tools and how the tools can be helpful to you.  It looked like this video was really fun to make, and it would be a cool opportunity to take part in something like this. A video I would like to make for this class is a tutorial of how to use one of the programs we use or show how fun it is to use certain tools like twitter, blogger, and others like that.

Learn to change, Change to learn

This video was an eye opener for future education. Learn to Change, Change to Learn discusses that children today are surrounded by nothing but technology, and it can’t be ignored. Since this is what surrounds these children, then that means their learning environment needs to change. The adults in this video are explaining that classrooms need to start adapting to the new “21st century” learning, which needs to move away from memorizing facts and book work, and gravitating towards being about to find information through the internet and using social medias to connect around the world. Videos like this show me what kind of educator I will have to become when I graduate; technology oriented. It won’t be too hard since I am still young and it is still easy for me to learn about new technology and am still able to improve my skills. But now, I need to change my mind set from always using technology as entertainment to learning it as if I’m going to teach it.

Scavenger Hunt

This scavenger hunt was a really neat idea. Discovery Education Web 2.0 was a fun way to find new and helpful tools on the internet. I chose to numbers 1, 4, and 5.
1) The social networking site I found for teachers is teachade.com. There are a lot of helpful areas on this website that would be very useful to me as a teacher. Of course, there are the typical blogging areas and where you can connect with other teachers. You are also able to search for colleagues or even create your own workspace. One thing on the site that I thought was different was you are allowed to adopt a classroom. This is a program where you can donate money or supplies to different classrooms around the country and it’s free.
4) The video tool I found is called PhotoPeach. This would be an awesome tool to use, especially as a teacher. It is a website where you can upload pictures and create slideshows to present. I love taking pictures and I know I am going to want to take a lot of pictures of my students just because you can capture so many memories. because of this website, I won’t have to print out individuals to give to students. I will be able to upload them for all parents to see in private. A cool feature on this site is they have an area for educators that will allow you to engage with a large group of students at one time.
5)For my poll, I used the website app.zoomerang.com.

Project #11 - Short Movie

Project #12 - Book Trailer

Blog Assignment #7

The Networked Student

This was a pretty cool video about a way of learning that I have never heard of before. The Networked Student describes Connectivism, which is a way to learn through social networking. I’m guessing the teacher encourages her students to make connections with others around the world about the topic they are learning. With this way of learning, the student must create a PLN; just like the ones we have created in EDM. The students also have a social bookmarking sight, where others students share URLs.

When I was learning about this way of learning, I personally had the question of where is the teacher in all of this? But supposedly, the teacher is there as a “guide”. She instructs them on building their PLNs and shows guidance when her students get stuck. She also shows them what would be considered good and bad information and helps organize their PLNs so they will continue to use it in the future.

I feel like this way of learning is still new, but it is growing as the new way to learn. It involves so much technology which is important in the real world. This is the way students can get exposed to what they will be using for the rest of their lives. As a future educator, I like this way teaching. But that means I need to be on top of my technology skills so I am able to show my students how to learn in such a way.

7th Grader’s PLE

It is so different to see middle schools using computers in such an advanced way. Building an PLE for a science class? That is really impressive. This 7th grader's PLE explains how she uses her PLE to guide her throughout her science class. She has her school website that can be referred to at the bottom of the page and the ones that are not for school are at the top. My PLN is similar to this 7th grader’s because we use the same website to make it: Symbaloo.  I have also separated mine into school and not school tiles.

I like symbaloo because of how quick and easy it is. This is a great website for middle schoolers to use because they can start working instantly. Even though I had recently created mine,  I hope that PLN will be as much of a benefit to me as it is for this 7th grader.

Project #10 - PLN Progress Report

My Person Learning Network started out a little rocky because I was completely lost on the whole idea. When I watch some of the videos, my understanding because a bit clearer. I decided to use Symbaloo to set up my PLN. I set it up very basic with only a few categories. The categories are music, news, mail, social networking, and shopping. I like Symbaloo because it was very easy to use and figure out. I also like that when you click on the icons, it takes you directly to the sites. There is also a Google search right in the middle of the PLN so I am able to search anything I want. For the next half of the semester, I hope to grow my PLN with a lot of other titles that I can use throughout my education.

Project #9b - America's First Ten Presidents

C4T #2- Summary

My Teacher for C4T #2 is named Mr. Chase. His blog is called Autodizactic . From reading a few of his posts, I realized he is a very opinionated but honest man. He had discussions of all kinds, but mainly about college and his opinions on his classes.
The first post I commented on for Mr. Chase was called “Class Blogs should be open spaces”. It was a relatable post and easy to comment on since we blog weekly in EDM 310. In his blog, he discusses how is two colleges class do not all him to have a public blog. In his first class,  few students are assigned each week to post their thoughts on the reading leading up to that week’s class. Each other student is required to reply to one post per week with the option of passing on one week during the semester. In his second class, each person is encouraged to post weekly. The posts’ content might be related to the readings or simply to the topic for the week and comments are not required.  He felt like his classes were in a “Walled Garden” because they were not allowed to receive comments from the outside world. I commented to him about the set up of our class and told him that he may not want his class blog public because that means  people will start to critique you in ways you may not like.

The second post I commented on for Mr. Chase was about a group of students who go to school on South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux Reservation. The students have had new articles and documentaries made about them that discuss the issues in their lives. Their families deal with a lot of alcoholism and gambling and now the kids are suffering educationally and financially. There was a documentary on ABC called Children of the Plains about these students and their struggles. The documentary opened the viewers’ eyes to their situations but it made their situation look hopeless. I’m guessing these students saw what was being said and portrayed about them and took charge of the situation. They created a video that discusses that they are more than what we have probably seen. They have hopes and dreams. They may have a struggle but they are trying to be successful in their future just like any other American teen out there. I really enjoyed this video and told Mr. Chase all about it. I told him that I had watched the documentary and it inspired me but the students’ video inspired me even more because they endure so much on a daily basis yet they still push forward everyday.

Blog Assignment #6

Randy Pausch is an amazing motivational speaker. Even though he was dying inside, he still makes the time to give his “Last Lecture”. At the beginning, he discusses his childhood dreams and how he accomplished them. Most of them were so out there that they didn’t even seem like they could be accomplished. Because he has much motivation and determination, he was able to succeed at everything on his list. One of his dreams was to become a Disney Imagineer. After he graduated, he applied for a job there twice but was turned down. He had the chance to have lunch with Jon Snoddy, and got the chance to write a paper about the Aladdin Project which let him complete his dream.

One lessons I learned from this video is never set the bar for your students. When Pausch was teaching Building Virtual Worlds, his students were presenting really amazing projects. So Pausch went to his mentor, Andy Van Dam, for advice and he said “Tell your class guys, that was pretty good, but I know you can do better”. Andy told him that he obviously didn’t know where to set the bar, and it would only be a disservice if you put it anywhere. This will be useful in my teaching because I want my students to give me their all at all times. Setting the bar will only limit their work and I may not get their full potential.

Another lesson I learned is to remember to have fun. One of Pausch’s bosses named President Cohon gave him this advice. Pausch felt like the advice was like a fish discussing the importance of water because he is always having fun. His personal advice is to decide if you want to be a Tigger or Eeyore. He also told us to never lose your child like wonder because it’s very important and it drives us. This will help me when teaching because having fun is very important when it comes to learning. It have to be enjoyable or else the students are not going to want to learn.

Toward the end of the speech, Randy Pausch gives a lot of advice to his audience about how to get people to help you. He says to tell the truth, be earnest, and apologize when you are wrong. When going through my life journey, this advice will be very useful to me because I will need as much help as I can get. The things he says to do are not difficult at all. It will just be a challenge to remember to do them. Randy Pausch opened my eyes to being successful, being determined, and having fun while do so. He is such an inspiration, and I know everyone that knew him personally or was taught by him are all very proud.

C4K Summary for February

My first student, Terry, had a short but informative post. It was called “Curriculum for my classroom”. He basically explained which subjects he would like to teach in the future. They varied from math and science to foreign language. I told him that he should be a high school teacher because he wants to teach a lot of subjects that high schools offer.

My second student is named Kelly. She was blogging through her 3rd class. Each student in her class had their own independent blog, which were all so creative. Kelly titled hers “The Kelly Connection”. It was such an advanced blog for a 3rd grader! She discussed the trips she took with her family or her girl scout group. The post I commented on was about her traveling to visit her brother at USC. She posted a lot of pictures of her trip and told her audience how much she wanted to also attend USC when she graduates. I told her to just keep up the hard work and getting there won’t be a problem.

The third C4K I had was Mrs. Adair’s 3rd grade class. It was set up where Mrs. Adair would write a main posted about a topic they were learning and the students would comment on the post. The one  that she posted which I really enjoyed was about similies. It was titled “As White as a Polar Bear”. Mrs. Adair told her audience how the class had been learning similies that week and posted some examples of some. Then the students went on there and posted some similies of they own. The post I had commented on was called “Fun in 2012”. It was a short video of all the activities the class had been doing since the new year had started. Some of the activities included building Lego communities and dissecting owl pellets.I had commented saying how much I enjoyed dissecting owl pellets when I was in the 3rd grade, and it was one of the best things I actually remember doing.

My last C4K for this month was Atifa, a student at Terry Lane Primary School in the UK . On her class blog, she posted a cute poem about joy. In it, she mentions the happiness joy brings and it feels like spring time. I commented back to her saying how I enjoyed her poem and how it was so cool that young student her age were blogging. I also mentioned that when I was in elementary school, we barely used a computer.

The Unique 3 Podcast

My TimeToast Timeline: My Family's Birthdays

Blog Assignment #5

Don’t teach your kids this stuff
I thought the post, Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please? was very informative about what he wanted to happen with children and the Internet. I agreed with Dr. McLeod about not exposing children to the Internet because of all the unsafe features that are out there. Because technology is moving grow at such a rapid pace, children are being exposed to things like Facebook and Twitter at such a young age. But since technology isn't going away anytime soon, future educators should teach their students what is right and wrong on the Internet and ways to protect themselves. Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky.



iSchool initiative

The iSchool is a really great idea. I like how Travis Allen in iSchool Initiative realized what was going on in his high school at such a young age and decided to create a change. The iSchool seems to be a great way to save money and expose students to new and updated technology every day. The only problem I had with the idea was it being created through the iTouch. I think that is a little too small for students of any age. the smaller it is, the bigger chances it has of breaking or getting lost. I think they should consider building it through the iPad, which will have the apps and also serve as a mini laptop. Other than that, everything idea about this was great and will saves school districts a lot of money.

Virtual Choir

The Virtual Choir was really neat. I cant believe he got 185 people to sing at the same time and through the computer. Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir just shows how great technology is and how it can bring strangers together. These people had probably never seen each other until the video was complete. When they saw the final product, they were probably just as amazed as we were.

Teaching in the 21st Century

This was a long video. Teaching in the 21st Century was full of information and opened my eyes to what I will be faced with when I have my own classroom. I believe Kevin Roberts thinks teaching in the 21st century means guiding students through the technology that is going to surround their everyday lives. Students are being exposed to so much technology at a young age and will be exposed to a lot more when they face the real world. As future educators, we need to introduce our student to this technology as educational, not entertaining. The students need to engage in the technology so the results will last and bring out their creativity. The future learning can still be fun and exciting but we have to remember to have the students engage in their work. This video affected me as an educator because I now have to expose myself to more of the new technology and educate myself so I can educate others.

Reading Rockets

When I first entered the website, It was helpful from the start. Reading Rockets had sections for each type of person that would have an influence on a student’s reading: teachers, parents, prinicipals, and even librarians. They also had a tab for other professionals that may take part like speech pathologist. I liked what was on the home column. They have a section call ABCs of Teaching reading and a section that helps struggling readers.Each section had a lot of information for that certain person to help the child in anyway way they can. This website will help me in the future if I need help teaching my student how to read or if I have students who are struggling with reading. There are also blogs and podcasts on this site that I can refer to and get advise from.

Blog Assignment #4

Podcasting with First graders

This blog, podcasting with 1st graders shows how a first grade class put together their own podcast on a story they were reading in class. It explains step by step how the class made this podcast successful. The class read the story together and planned the podcast out to the tee, with scripting, recording and editing. Their podcast was very popular to its audience, receiving comments from around the world. Not only did it seem to be a fun project for the 1st grade class, but addressed many skills by the students like creativity, comprehension and technology. I felt that this blog would be a great tool for future teachers planning to podcast because it shows great detail and is well planned out.

Judy Scarf Podcast Collection

This website was nothing but informational. Judy Scarf's podcast collection starts out with the basic information of a podcast for anyone who is new to the idea. Scarf also includes the benefits of a podcast and examples that can be referred to.Tips are also included for a successful podcast. I would find this website very helpful if I was a teacher that wanted to introduce podcasting to a classroom, but right now there is too much information on this website that I need to take in. But the beginning part of it was very helpful, especially since I am preparing for the class podcast.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
This video was helpful in many ways. Joe Dale's benefits of podcasting explains how podcasts will are great in the classroom for “milenials”, who are students born after the 80’s, and are exposed to technology on a daily basis.  Joe Dale also gives various tips on why podcasting would be a good tool for the classroom which include development of creativity and innovation, shows parents their child’s involvement in the classroom and it gets the students involved with the technology that surrounds their everyday life. My take on the video was a good one. I like how it showed how podcasting is not only a classroom project, but a tool for students’ learning. They could access the podcast outside of class and use it for studying.

Project #6 - This is My Sentence