Blog Assignment #3

Technology in Special Education

This video, Technology in Special Education really moved me, especially because I want to teach Special Education. It is interesting to think about how much we use technology for entertainment and socially. Special needs students use technology for survival. It helps them to communicate with the world. It also provides ways for them to become more independent adults.
Because technology has become very promising for special needs students, it is being used and taught throughout the day. The student, Kris, were using technology in the classroom to show how it helps him to type words he wants to say. Another student was using a program that helped him see his work better since he was visually impaired. I planned to used technology for my special needs students that will be useful to their futures.
The App I would use on an iPad for my students is called Silly Numbers. It is a way for students to learn how to count. I think this would be a good app for younger autistic children, like Braden in the video.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

Soon as I clicked the page, I was amazed. Gary's Social Media Count really shocked me and showed me how social networks like Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook have taken over the Internet. Keeping up virtually is so important in our culture now. Another shock to me was the high number of apps that are downloaded by the second. They have become so useful to us that they are almost mandatory to have. E-mail had the highest number on the whole list, which is one of the first virtual communication users had.
The last category on the page was new Internet users globally.
So many new people are using the Internet for the first time, and that scares me. It feels like technology is taking over the world. If you are not apart of it, you become lost and feel lonely from the world. It makes me look at my future career as an educator. Now, I feel like I need to keep up with technology even if I didn’t want to. My career will be about my future students so I have to make it a part of my life just like they do.

A Vision of Students Today

What a powerful message. A Vision of Students Today was hard to watch and not have a student's perspective because I related to the signs they were holding up. I spend a lot of time on my cell phone and computer, a lot of my school work doesn’t relate to my life, and I will probably read more Facebook profiles than books. But when I watched it again through a teacher’s eyes, I saw it as a wake up call. Technology is changing the classroom atmosphere, and since students are still in classrooms that don’t pertain to technology at all times, they lose interest. Students see the subjects as a waste of time because the information will be useless to the in the future. Now they have other devices that with keep them occupied and pass the time in class.

I am just as guilty as my peers, especially being younger. With this now being the case, I feel that future educators, like myself should pay attention to the visions today, so we can change it for tomorrow. We need to learn the technology so we can relate to our future students and help them get more out of their education. That is why EDM has been really helpful about opening my eyes to the future of the classroom.

Project #5 - About Me Presentation

C4T #1 - Summary

The teacher I had, Mr. Kaechele, has a blog called Concrete Classroom. He doesn't post very often, but when he does, it is mainly about his new job as a high school PBL teacher, which he discusses in the first post I commented on. Before teaching, he poured concrete where he received bonuses twice a year. Now that he is a teacher, he gets rewarded by receiving compliments of his teaching style from his bosses. He prefers those better than money bonuses. I told his that I was happy for him and it just shows how teaching is different than the typical 9-5 jobs. It is a reward in itself. Of course the paycheck is nice, but it is also rewarding using your creativity to teach students and somebody recognizing and complimenting  your work.
PBL stands for Problem-Based Learning. I had never heard of this style of teaching before but Wikipedia broke it down into 7 main points for me:
- clarifying and agreeing on terms and concepts that are unclear
- define the problem and review terms which need more depth or explanation
- analyze, brainstorm and create potential hypothesis
- discuss, evaluate and organize possible explanations into potential hypothesis
- generate and prioritize learning objectives, divide research workload
- private study time to research objectives
- during next tutorial report back gained information, create an explanation and synthesize new      information in relation to the problem.
The second post I commented on pretty much was an example of how the classroom operated. These students are presented with a global problem, Genocide. As a class, they do research and the teacher provides main resources for them. On this project, one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan went to their class as a guest speaker. They also discussed the Penn State Scandal. Then, the students broke into groups and had to create a mini-documentary. They also had to think of ways the stop this violence. All of his lessons are student-based approaches. I stated to him in my comment that I had never had a class in high school that was like this and it was all new to me. In the post, he stated that his student were getting confused about what actually “to do” and I told him that I agreed because when I was in high school, I never had to think so deeply into my school work.
Mr. Kaechele was very interesting and I hope he continues to enjoy his job and using his creativity for his students.

Blog Assignment #2

Did you know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version
If you want some interesting facts about students and technology? Well, Did You Know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version would be a great video for you to watch. The original series was created by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. It has really cool facts about the intelligence of students around the world, to the future of technology. The most interesting facts about technology were the ones that discussed what was happening per minute. In one minute, 1,097,220 YouTube videos have been watch, 1,393,519 search are made on Google, and 11,453,577 SMS messages are sent!
One of the facts the really stuck out to me was the one about 7-12th students for spent about 2 hours texting a day. That report was published 2 years ago. I know that fact has changed because teenagers have other options on their cell phones now like Facebook, Twitter, and games.They also found that 85% of students have cell phones now, and with companies making 4G phones more affordable, the option of activities on the cell phones are becoming larger.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
This was a creative video about an old man who is asleep for 100 years but finally wakes up and explore. In Mr. Winkle Wakes , Mr. Winkle goes out for the first time, he goes to an office building where he’s a lot of new technology which makes him very uncomfortable, and leaves. He then ends up at a hospital but sees doctors using more machines that are hooked up to patients. He again becomes uncomfortable, leaves, and ends up in a class room. Here, he sees that the teacher is standing in front of the classroom, and the students were sitting in their desks paying attention to her as she lectured. He noticed a computer in the back of the room that wasn’t being used. He liked the school and was very happy to see that it had not changed.
The video was kind of sad because Mr. Winkle was asleep for so long and so much had changed. When he finally came back around, he couldn’t relate to anything around him. He also didn’t know how to use anything, like computers. I can understand how he became very overwhelmed and wanted to leave. It was like waking up on a new planet.


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Ken Robinson is a very eye opening man. In his video Sir Ken Robinson: Importance of Creativity, he explains to his viewers how children are born to not be scared of being wrong. He says “ If your not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” He feels that students are being educated out of their creative capacities. I agree with Robinson about this because primary focuses in schools are only academic topics. Creative things like art, dance, and drama are only options and not stressed.
The story that I enjoyed the most was the one about Jillian Lyn, a famous choreographer. He discusses how her family thought she had a learning problem because she couldn’t sit still. She was examined and they found that she didn’t have a learning problem, she was just a dance. So, she became one of the most prestegious choreographers in the world, because someone saved her and didn’t just throw some medicine at her and tell her to calm down.


Vision for 21st Century Learning
21st Century Vision of Learning really opened my eyes of what future classrooms are going to be like. The first contact of a computer of game console for children in America is in or before Kindergarten. These devices already play a central role for this generation and now it is very important for students today to be technologically literate to be prepared for the 21st work force. Therefore, The United States is planning to innovate method for teaching, virtual learning and teacher becoming more of mentors compared to old school lecturing.
 I think this is a great idea because as a future teacher, I want to know that I am not just educating my students, but preparing them for the future also. Because technology is becoming so prevalent in our society, that would be the best option for the future students to become successful. I’m not really a big supporter on teachers becoming more of mentors because it cuts down on the purpose of the job. They should try to come up with a way that students and teachers can become more virtually interactive.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your student’s Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis is a innovative teacher is Rural Georgia. Vicky Davis: Harness Your Student's Digital Smarts shows how this teacher uses many types of technology to connect to the world.She mainly focuses on teaching her students new software and making them comfortable with any technology.
I do like her methods of teaching by giving the groups of the class terms to look up and practice. Some of the terms she may not know what they mean, but by the time the students are finished, they are about to teach her, and it proves that the students are actually learning.

My Wordles!

 My URL Wordle

My First Wordle 

Blog Assignment 1

About Me
  Hello Class! My name is Chanel Ellison. I am a Junior here at South Alabama. When I first started college, I was a Nursing major. I changed my major this past fall to Elementary Special Education because I realized it was something I had always wanted to do, and something I know I would enjoy doing for the rest of my working life, instead of nursing. I rather do special eduation rather than elementary education, because I enjoy working with children who have disibilities. Also, knowing that you are going to help that child progess mentally and educationally will be a blessing that I can not wait to receive. Because South offers a dual certification, I also have the option to teach a regular elementary class, but special education is my first option.
  I come from a family of 5. My Dad, Mom, a sister who is 16, and a brother who is 6. My dad is originally from Vero Beach, FL. He when straight into the Air Force after graduation, retired after 20 years, and has decided to go back to school for psychology. My mom is full blood Jamaican but was born and raised in England. She married my dad in England, and traveled because of my dad's military career. In MS, she now works as the Credit Card Manager for Keesler Federal Credit Union. My sister is a fun and outgoing Junior in High school. She loves to play soccer for her high school team and hanging with friends. My brother is an energetic and comical first grader who loves video games and recreational sports like football and soccer.
  I don't have a set place where I am from because I am a military brat. My family now lives in Ocean Springs, MS and has been there since I was in 7th grade (about 8 yrs). I have also lived in Florida, Texas, California, England, and Ohio. Besides all the bugs and extreme heat, I do enjoy living in the South. But I feel that I have been here for longer than I'm used to staying in one place so I plan to move out of Alabama when graduation comes around.
  Some of my favorite past times are going to the movies, hanging out with family and friends, going to sport events, reading, and trying new foods. When I have the time, I do like to work out and shop.
  Something interesting about me is that I'm left handed. I also love to eat, and I can eat anything. I will probably be the least picky eater you will ever meet. Since I have lived in different places and traveled to more, I have tried all sorts of food, and I still haven't found anything I just can't enjoy.

Randy Pausch on Time Management
  Randy Pausch on Time Management was an informative video about goal setting, priorities, and planning. From the video, I learned to plan each day, each week, and each semester. That will help me to stay focus on my goals and reach them in a timely manner. Pausch stated "you can change your plan but only when you have one", which means you must have a plan first so you have a base that you can build on. I also learned to do the ugliest things first from my to do list. I think this would help when I am trying to get my to do list finish. If I can get the ugly things out of the way, then I can take it easier when I get to the less ugly things. Pausch came off as a inspirational man. His material was understandable and direct. I don't really know much information about him though. The only things I have heard about Randy Pausch are he was known for his inspirational speechs about life, had a #1 best selling book, and died of pancreatic caner in 2008.

Practice Post

My First Post