Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Post 32: Goodbye


I just think you are super cool! Thanks for being such a supportive teacher who really cared about getting her students through this semester with good grades! You did a great job! :)

Dear Classmates,

I have enjoyed getting to know you (even if it was by your presentations) and I actually enjoyed coming to class on Thursday nights. I think we had a really good group and I look forward to seeing you in the future... maybe even in the teacher's lounge! Good Job- we did it!

Post 31: Covering It ALL


I have to be honest... there were times when the very thought of our class syllabus made me want to cry, but overall I got through it and I actually learned a lot!
1.)As a blogger, I of course loved the idea of a classroom blog. I want to be an English teacher so blogging seems like a great tool to use in my writing classroom. Another thing I really liked was the igoogle pages. I really liked how you can add such neat educational games and tools for students to check out. I learned how to do grades in Excel which is something that I have always wondered how to do. I had never really heard of a personal learning network, so that was interesting when I had to set up one of my own and now I understand why it is important to do so. Comments4kids was so cute and actually gave me some ideas for my own classroom if I end up teaching middle school. I am still trying to get used to iTunes and iTunesU, but I will get the hang of it.
2.)I can't think of anything that I would have liked to have learned in this class that was not taught or discussed.
3.)This question made me laugh- how could you not want to use everything we learned in this class?
4.)Reading the kids stories for comments4kids was my favorite assignment! Their stories made me smile and I was always excited to write my posts about what I had read on their page.
5.)The only thing that I had issues with was getting iTunes on my computer at home. It still will not download to it and I am unsure why.
6.)I was never bored. There was too much work to be done to be bored.
7.)I think I would wait and give out one project at a time. I did not think that there should be so many projects due on the same dates and given all at the same time. It was overwhelming.
8.)I would say I am pretty great at being technologically literate!
9.)I plan to maintain and improve my technological literacy by staying involved with PLN's and keeping up with my blogging. You learn something new everyday when you sign online. I do anyway.

Post 30: Stupid is as Stupid Does

After reviewing the lists of Seven Stupid Mistakes and 7 Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology by Doug Johnson and the list of New Classroom Rules by Education Innovation, I chose two rules from each lists that served as the most important ones to me. Here they are and underneath them are my reasonings:

Stupid
3. Not supervising computer-using students. It is really stupid to believe Internet filters will keep kids out of trouble on the Internet. If they choose to do so, even the slow kids who can't get around the school's filter, can still exploit that 10 percent of porn sites the filter won't catch. They can still send cyberbullying e-mail -- maybe even using your e-mail address. Or they can just plain waste time.
Teachers would be neive to think that students don't go around filters to do what they want on school computers... and this goes for parents at home too. There is so much more communication going on through technology now rather than note writing. Students not only can go on sites that they should not be visiting, but can also send horrible e-mails to other students that teachers may never even know about. If grown people will do this at their job sites then why wouldn't kids at school?
6. Ignoring the intrinsic interest of tech use in today's kids. Kids like technology. Not using it as a hook to motivate and interest them in their education is stupid.
Ah man... teachers would be crazy to not captivate these young minds with the wonderful tool of technology. I love it! Kids love it! So... let's use it!

Brilliant
1. Empower kids with technology. Technology is an amplifier of natural abilities. Brilliant teachers see that good writers become better writers, good debaters become better debaters, good French speakers become better French speakers, good mathematical problem-solvers become better mathematical problem-solvers, and so on. by helping their students harness technology. They do not see technology as a crutch, but as a propellant. Brilliant teachers have experienced the empowering power of technology themselves. Brilliant teachers use good assessment strategies to rigorously determine the quality of technology-enhanced projects.

This is a prime example of why I chose #6 in my previous list as being a STUPID thing for teachers to do. Look at all the great ideas!

2. Creatively find and use resources. I can't believe the technology found in some of our teachers' classrooms. And it was neither provided by our department nor stolen (I don't think). Through personal purchase, through parent-teacher groups, through grants, through business partnerships, through parental contacts, through fund raising, and through classroom supply budgets, brilliant teachers amazingly amass digital cameras and clickers and sensors and classroom computer labs. One of our brilliant teachers MacGyver-ed his own document camera out of an old camcorder, plastic pipe, and duct tape. He calls it his Grover (not his Elmo).
I personally got to see an Elmo for the first time this semester in my Teaching Composition class and that is the neatest little tool! There are so many different techonological tools that teachers can use today that make learning more interesting for the students.

New Rules
8. Do not cheat, but remix, re-purpose, and sample other peoples’ work and ideas and give them credit.
I think it is very important that students know that they can't take whatever they won't off of the internet and use it without giving proper credit. It works just the same as copying information form a book. BUT students should know that it is a good thing to use others ideas and thoughts and use them as brain storming tools for their own ideas- just give them credit for it.


15. Know what you are supposed to be learning, why, and what you will do with the knowledge.
If you don't know what you are supposed to be learning- how can you learn it?

Monday, November 16, 2009

Post 29: At The Teachers Desk



I think it is important that we have blogs like "At The Teachers Desk" because teachers need a place outside of the teachers lounge to talk and discuss issues that occur in their classrooms. A blog allows teachers to talk to other teachers outside of their own schools and see what great ideas a teacher across the country may have for teaching a lesson that they have been stumped on lately. I think it is great! Part of this being teachers need to get out there and get past their phobias of technology and start interacting with others through the internet. Teachernz posted an entry titled "Getting Over It" in which he does not like to hear the sound of his own voice, but gave in and recorded hisself to help out another class by partaking in a youtube video. He asks how can we expect children to do this (get over our dislikes, fears, and phobias)if we don't?

Another post by Teachernz titled "Pencils and Crayons to be banned in Schools" was interesting. I personally thought the idea was insane and really enjoyed reading the post. I also liked "Why I Blog" by Mr. McClung because it gave a clear reason for why we should blog. I gave a teaching demonstration last week on 6th graders using blogs to learn how use descriptive writing more and the teacher's question to me was "so.. why blog?" I wish I would have read this blog entry first. The entry"Why Did I Move Out of My Comfort Zone" by Chamberlain I could understand where they were coming from and wonder if one day I might be in that same situation. Over the past semester I have changed my mind about wanting to teach 11th grade and now I would like to teach 9th graders.

"Preparing for the First Day" made my mind wander to that exciting place that I have dreamed of my whole life.. the first day of class when I have my very own classroom! I wonder what it will be like and I wonder how many times I will have to change rooms like Mr. McClung had to do (3 times).

Post 28: Dr. Michael Wesch


I thought the video by Dr. Wesch was pretty neat. It made me think back to how much I have used computers in school. I remember being in 2nd grade and seeing an Apple Computer for the first time ever and my teacher instructing us on how to play Oregon Trail. Throughout elementary school I remember typing stories and printing them in computer class. In 8th grade I learned how to make banners in my typing class. Then in 10th grade instant messaging and e-mailing became a big deal with all the kids at school. My family did not have the internet but I loved getting on friends computers and talking to our classmates. I made my first profile when I was a freshman in junior college (2002). NOW... computers and the internet are a part of my everyday life. I don't know how I would function without one.
The picture Dr. Wesch showed and discussed as being what he sees in his classroom (similar to the one above) every semester is a lot like what I see when I go to classes. It seems as though everyone has laptop computers now and if they don't have one of those, then they have internet access on their cell phones. I liked how he compared the use of the word "whatever" from over the years to how technology has changed over the years and how it means different things to different people. Some people could go without technology. I simply cannot.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Post 27: Importance




I think it is important for student's to be involved with today's technology and grasp the learning tools that are sitting at the finger tips! There is a world out there that some have no idea exists... the internet. Can you imagine being one of those people- a person who has never been online? Student's should get the oppurtunity to express themselves online and explore the world from their own classroom. Their are all sorts of things students could do on igoogle... such as add tabs to their igoogle homepage that lets them access cool things like Amazine Photos of Places to See Before you Die or the Weather Forecasts, Educations Games, and more! There are endless amounts of educational tools that can be added to one's igoogle page including a link to their teacher's, classmate's or their very own blog on blogger!
On blogger teacher can not only keep parents and students updated on classroom activities and assignments, but student's can express themselves through partaking in writing assignments by blogging. Teacher's can give out writing topics or sites for student's to visit online and then have them write a blog entry about them. Another neat place student's can be part of is facebook. Facebook could be the beginning of a student's very own personal learning network. They can keep in touch with student's all over the world- not just in their own schools.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Comments4Kids: Assignment 3



-Me on Christmas Morning-
I read Savannah's friendly letter on Mrs. Goerend's blog and I loved it! Savannah decided to write about the holidays and how much she loves Christmas! She discussed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. I loved how she talked about all of the delicious candy bar pies she likes to eat during the holidays. Her blog really got me excited about the upcoming festivities of Halloween this weekend and all the holidays to come soon after. She was very creative and festive! I told her that Christmas is my favorite holiday as well- I just wish we could have at least one snowy Christmas here in Mobile, Alabama!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Post 26: ACCESS

Source:accessdl.state.al.us
Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Students Statewide (ACCESS) Program has a goal of creating equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students. The project was launched in November of 2004 and since then has awarded 70 grants to Alabama high schools to implement a 21st century distance learning classroom! ACCESS is available to all Alabama public high school students.
Resources provided but not limited to are remediation modules for the Alabama High School Graduation Exam and Advance Placement Courses. They have a section you can visit where students can utilize practice tests, essay prompts, multiple choice assessments, and many different study resources to help prepare them for the required exams they must take.
ACCESS offers web-based and interactive video conferencing courses taught by Alabama certified and highly certified teachers. They also have e-teachers for online courses. Education is right at the student's fingertips.

Post 25: ALEX

Source:alex.state.al.us
Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is a work in progress by the Alabama Department of Education that provides the best resources to meet the unique needs of teachers, administrators, parents, and students. This website indexes and shares educational materials and information through a time-saving, one-stop resource.

There are eight different tabs you can click on when you first enter the site- courses of study, weblinks, lesson plans, search, personal workspace, professional learning, podcast treasury, and help. Also each lesson shows what catagory it is listed under such as: Frequently Tested Standards, Achievement Gap Standards, and Hard to Teach Standards. I think this website is going to be very successful and very useful to me now that I am aware of it's existence.

Above all I like that it is located and connected to Alabama Courses of Study by National Board Certified Teachers.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Post 24: Dear Kaia

Photo credit-Singing Hearts
Kaia is a little girl who's father took her outdoors and let her observe and take things in through a different light- a beautiful one. Her father is a school teacher and had recently read The Last Child in The Woods, which is ironic because I wrote about that book in my last post. The book encouraged him to take his daughter outdoors more and so he did. She even took pictures of various things outside their home and the father uploaded them for her to look at on the computer. He posted about the adventure on his twitter account and a teacher here in the states viewed it and showed it to his classroom. The father actually Skype'd in and answered some of the student's questions, which was really nice of him.

I thought "Dear Kaia" was a really neat idea and I was inspired by this father who longed and put forth effort to be a part of his daughter's life. He spent time with her and it was so sweet. I also enjoyed reading his personal blog and plan to follow it. I express his same concerns about making our children available on the worldwide web. Are we putting them in danger?

Looking at this assignment makes me wonder what things my son will be doing when he is school. The technology that will be available is beyond anything I can imagine. I already can't believe the things I am learning in this classroom and will be able to use with my classroom one day.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Post 23: New Media Literacies Project

After researching the New Media Literacies Project, I found that it is a research initiative based within MIT's Comparative Media Studies Program, that digs deeper into how we may be able to equip students with the required social skills and competence to participate in media landscaping and raising public awareness about how important it is to be literate and involved in a "globally interconnected, multicultural world".
They offer learning materials, videos, strategy guides, blogs, and more to help you participate in this technological world. While reading an article available on their website, I found the answers to questions I had from a previous post of mine on here "Post 22: New Media Literacies". Here is what I found:
The new skills include:
Play — the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving
Performance — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation
and discovery
Simulation — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world
processes
Appropriation — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
Multitasking — the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient
details.
Distributed Cognition — the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand
mental capacities
Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with
others toward a common goal
Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information
sources
Transmedia Navigation — the ability to follow the flow of stories and information
across multiple modalities
Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information
Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting
multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.

Comments4Kids Project

Photo by howstuffworks
I really liked this project! I loved reading what the kids wrote about and sharing my comments with them. Ashley D. wrote about a day that was recognized as "International Act Like a Monkey Day"! She said that everyone would start jumping around and swinging from monkey bars as they acted like a monkey all day! Sounds good to me- I could use a day monkeying around! This life is way too serious.
Rachel B. shared with everyone her love for Jimmy Buffett and how excited she was at one of his concerts. She loved his song "Margaritaville". "Incredible Pizza" was a cute blog by Chelsei T. that shared her day at this pizza place that had go-carts and all sorts of games to play where they could win prizes. I think this place is much like our "Chuck-E Cheese" so I could relate to her on how much fun it must have been!
An anonymous student wrote "Dance Like A Dancer" where everyone danced all day long and could not get in trouble for it. Sounds like a good day to me! My favorite blog entry was "The Campout", where Anna R. had a camp out in her backyard with her friends. They had a tent and even a fire pit to cook smores on. I liked how she included her parents cooking mac-n-cheese and grilling for all of the girls. She even included her adventure of chasing a grasshopper. Too cute!

A Personal Adventure creating My Personal Learning Network

Photo by glogster

Today I am going to take you on route with me as I begin creating my personal learning network.

First, I google "creative writing" because I am going to be an English teacher and have a special interest in creative writing. I want to find tools and resources to help me be a better teacher for my students. The Internet as well as a personal learning network can help me do this.

Google brings up the results and after scrolling through some of the results, I see Sydney Writers' Centre blog that lists all sorts books written by different teacher's or just books in general that are good reads for teacher's to use in their classrooms. There was two books that stood out to me- "The Puzzle Ring" which is a book that has just been released and was written by a teacher named Kate Forsyth ; and "Once" by Morris Gleitzman which is about a child during the Holocaust. This book reminds me of a teaching lesson I read about in "A Curriculum of Peace: Selected Essays from English Journal". It is about a little Polish boy during the Holocaust. I decide to follow this blog and then I go visit Morris Gleitzman's page and see that he has some recorded video chats about his book available on the Puffin Books website, so I watch those and then visit the "Wondrous Reads" blog where there is a review about the book.

I follow the blog and read every one's comments on the books. I click the button to go to the author of the blogs' "Twitter" page and decide to go ahead and join Twitter. My name is "bloggerbaby11". This makes me laugh.

I see where a guy posted that educators have a new conversation about the art in education and I click on the link. This leads me to "edutopia" so I become a member of this edutopia community so I can leave my comments and read others. After searching for a little while, I find a blog on there that is about the benefits of taking students outside to inspire writing, posted by Stephen Hurley. I read the comments posted by the different teachers and saw where a teacher used the book, " Last Child in the Woods" which talks about the effects outdoors has on education. I go visit the author Richard Louv's website and find all sorts of articles and interviews about education. After reading through some of these articles, I decide that I liked Kate Muir's article "The Dark Ages". Muir just so happens to have a twitter and facebook account. I ask her to be my friend on facebook and I follow her on twitter. The next time this girl writes an interesting article, I will know and can check it out.

While I'm on twitter again, I decide to check out Beth Still's (she was listed on Ms. Averitt's handout) page and click on a link she has provided "Avenue4Learning" and get some ideas for classroom lessons using "Photobucket" where I am already a member. The lesson talks about students using photography to write poems and how the students get really involved when writing assignments use photos to make things more interesting. It was very creative I must say! I subscribe to the site by enrolling my email address and happen to notice her Blog Roll that includes "Drape's Takes". I go visit Drape and am especially interested in his take on why every teacher should blog. I watch his podcast video and his videos available on YouTube. I read his poem, "If I were you" and thought it was really cute! I told him so after I subscribed to his blog.
Being a part of all these people's blogs, twitter accounts, facebook pages, and more will allow me to have access to teaching resources as soon as they are made available. These people will be there in my technology world to answer questions I may have, give me good ideas, let me share my opinions and teaching ideas with them, and more. I enjoyed the journey.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Post 22: New Media Literacies

Graphic artist hard at work.
I think that the new media skills covered in the video were interesting. I think to a certain degree they are the skills that will be needed to be effective artists, citizens, and workers of the 21st century. Alot of the creative ideas I get usually are prompted from things I have seen online. Also, when you think about it most of our teaching ideas come from online. I think I possess simulation, performance, collective intelligence, judgement, play, and problem solving already. Mainly I think I possess play. I am unsure of what they meant by multitasking on the video. I already know how to that without ever touching a computer. I think I will acquire the other skills discussed by first learning what they meant by them.

Post 21: The Networked Student

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler was a cute video. I liked the simple graphics it used to explain today's networked student. Although I do not like the idea of having students only learn online, I see where it can be convenient for some. I think when I think about it, I am thinking of a 9th grade classroom, but for college courses such as the one we are in now, it is a very good thing. I have learned alot in this class already.

I liked how the video covered students having access to lectures from professors and instructors from all different universities available at the finger tips. I would not mind going on iTunes University and seeing if I can find some useful lectures for some of the classes that I am currently attending. I never thought of doing that before. I think her video is a really good video to show students, parents, and other teachers in order to explain how students are using technology as a learning tool today. It was a very simple and easy to understand video.

When asked, "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" the answer is that the students still needs someone to be there to help guide them through the process of building a network, giving them guidance, and teaching them to communicate properly. No matter how much technology takes over, their will always be a need for teachers.

Post 20: This is How We Dream

Although Richard Miller's voice drove me nuts on these videos, they were really neat. As a future teacher, I am prepared to write with multimedia and I do think that my students will able to do so as well. It seems like every day the world becomes more and more electronic and technological. If you want to keep up with the world, your going to have to learn how to use computers and technological devices.

I was amazed at some of the things he showed in his videos. Sometimes I forget just how much I use technology on a daily basis. I remember playing Oregon Trail in second grade and being so amazed by the "apple" computer. Now, everything I do is on the computer: my hobbies, my recipes, my school work, and the assignments I take care of at my work place.

Kids today have had more access to computers than our parents had or even we have had. Alot of kids today know how to do more than we do, so yeah I do think they should have no problem writing with multimedia. I do wish that more computers were available in our schools- I have heard it is pretty hard to get grabs on the computer rooms with all of this advanced technology coming about. More and more teachers want to use it in their classrooms.

Post 19: iPods in Instruction

How in the world can you use iPod's in instruction? That was the first question that popped in my head. When most people think about iPods- they usually think about music. After doing a little research online, I realized that iPod's are more than just music. I found a Research Brief under the The Principals Partnership and it stated, "iPod is now deconstructing the border between education and entertainment. iPods are becoming study aids for students, allowing them to fast-forward to a part of a lecture they may not have understood the first time or review complicated themes before exams." I had never thought about using my iPod to study with. This is a great idea. The brief also discusses how some K-12 educators and schools have started using the iPod to enhance their curriculum and to support learning objectives in subjects such as mathematics, science, reading, foreign language, history, and more. Lectures and other audio resources can be recorded, placed on the web and then downloaded by students to listen to on their own time. Students can even do this recording themselves.

On another site I read that Duke University gave over 1600 first-year students entering their school iPod's in hopes of encouraging creative uses of technology in education and campus life. Can you imagine? I found another site that lists 100 ways to use your iPod to learn and study better that I found to be very neat and useful for not only students- but teachers as well. You can get different ideas on how to use an iPod in your classroom just by reading what some of the students are doing with their iPods to help them study. Check it out!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Post 18: iTunes University

A digital image of iTunes University logo
Point blank... iTunes University is awesome! There are so many things that students as well as teachers could use that our helpful. As a students I could watch various presentations, videos, and slide shows that could help me study or do projects for school. I could even take a video tour of a potential college campus that I might be looking at applying to. As teacher, honestly the the oppurtunities are endless! I could record my teaching lessons and put them on iTunes U for my students to listen to while studying or if they missed class that day.
I can't help but think about disabled students who may not be able to attend school for the whole year. For instance, if a child becomes sick and keeps missing class- they would be able to use iTunes U to listen to what I taught over that time and I could make sure the got all assignments turned in. That way they would not fall behind the rest of the class. Students could even listen to other videos or recordings on the subjects they are studying in order to help them better understand and study for tests. The greatest thing is.... IT'S FREE!

Post 17: Dr. Christie


I am currently enrolled at USA in order to earn a degree in Secondary Education/English, so when I visited Dr. Christie's site, I came up with some ideas while looking through her photography section. In this section, the "Doc" shares photo essays with everyone. They are a collection of photographs that she took and put together in a slide. I thought about having my students make their own photograph essay that tells a story.
Then they could compose an essay telling about the pictures, why they chose them, and what sort of story they were trying to tell. It would for sure be a creative writing project. Dr. Christie had a lot of neat stuff on her site, but that specific section is where I was most intrigued. We as teachers cannot make students enjoy writing, but we can help make it more fun for them and can encourage them that writing is an important role in self expression.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Post 16: What I've Learned This Year

An important decision I made this year was to be positive
I really enjoyed reading the post "What I've Learned This Year" by Mr.McClung. I often think about what my first year of teaching will be like and to be honest, it is mixed with alot of excitement and a whole lot of intimidation! I hope that I can learn as much as Mr. McClung did in his first year. First off, he starts off by saying an important decision he made this year was to be positive. I agree- negativity will get you nowhere real fast. I like how he noted that we must let our audience drive us in our lessons rather than just doing whatever we want to do thinking that the students should just do it. You want to keep the students interested. We are there for them, to teach them, to try and understand them, and to be there for them. "NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT." It is funny that he wrote this, because I sort of learned this yesterday in my Teaching Composition class. I had my first teaching demonstration that I worked really hard on and had my plan set in stone before we started, then as class began everything changed. My lesson took on a whole new perspective and at first I was disappointed, but then it all worked out for the better.
Communication is important not only in the workplace, but in your personal life as well. As much as I hate confrontation- it is always better to talk face to face rather than by email of note. Emails and notes can take on a different tone rather than expressing what you really meant for the person to read. It's best just to go talk and get it over with. You will feel much better too. Being Reasonable is something that will take me getting used to. I am a very impatient person, but I need to realize that sometimes it will take some students longer than others to get things. Listening to your students is the most important this McClung mentioned in my eyes. I have said before that students need to feel safe with you- they need to feel like they can talk to you about things. You are supposed to be a person they can look up to and look forward to learning from- not a person that is scary to them or in some cases mute to emotions.

Post 15: WIRED

WikiWatcher logo for their website
Virgil Griffith debuted the WikiScanner last year that allows users to track edits (even if they are anonymous) that people make to Wikipedia entries and trace them to their source. He explains,"It does so by taking the IP address of the anonymous person who made the Wikipedia changes and identifying who owns the computer network from which the person made the edits." Predictions are that this tool will eventually make Wikipedia a more reliable source. People will be less willing to participate in editing if they are no longer anonymous. I personally do not think that Wikipedia will ever be a completely trusted source of information.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Post 14: The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch's book cover The Last Lecture
I had the pleasure of reading Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" when it was first published and loved it, but when I watched the video I was reminded how much I truly enjoyed his lecture! He had a way of helping people to not only leave his presence thinking positively, but the ability to make you think about what he said for days to come. I love how he wanted to teach his children that dreams do come true, but it takes you working at them to make it happen. After I pondered thoughts about his lecture while I lay wide awake in my bed last night, I decided to write a blog about my own childhood dreams on my personal blog, "The Wonder Years".

I would have loved to have met him and learned from him as a teacher. He seemed to be such a caring person who truly cared about the people around him whether he knew them or not. He taught others to keep on even when the going got tough. There were a few quotes that stood out to me in his lecture: "Don't complain- just work harder," and "Be good at something- it makes you valuable." These are true to live by: complaining get you nowhere, but if you work harder you can move forward on to something better and finding something that you are good at does absolutely make you more valuable.

Randy was a hard worker and pushed others to be the same and work towards their goals even if they seemed so far out of reach. I thought the quote he used from a friend of his, "Don't bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap," was hilarious but seriously true. That's how Randy lived.. when things got rough and seemed impossible, he kept digging for that gold and he eventually struck rich.

I think these methods should be brought to all classrooms- teachers should care enough to push their students along to bigger and better things. Teachers should not let students settle for average grades- they should help them exhale because they believe in them and anything is possible if you keep trying. His quote, "Loyalty is a two-way street," can be looked at as.. if you are a good teacher and believe in your students and take time to help them , they too in return will believe in themselves eventually and try harder to achieve their goals. It takes both.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Post 13: Fisch

If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write. That is the question asked by Karl Fisch on his blog page >here< .
The truth is that I am not really sure. This kind of goes back to my last post about who is a technologically literate teacher. I for sure think that you should evolve as a teacher by keeping up with what the world is doing and using updated tools to teach the children, but I don't think it makes you a bad teacher to not know so much about computers and such. I do think it could be considered ignorant to not give it a try. If you are just dead set on not being a part of new technology and sticking to the books and blackboard. If you are not willing to try new ways of teaching and exploration with new resources then you should not be a teacher.

Post 12: "It's Not about the Technology" by Kelly Hines

After reading Kelly Hines blog about technology and the 21st century teacher, I happened to scroll down a bit and see Dr. Strange's comment on her blog. I agree with him; the 21st century teacher would include a teacher who is technology savvy. My mother just learned how to do basic navigation on a computer- she was proud of herself (and I must admit I was too), when she learned how check her email and then I was just flat out astonished when she called me at work to learn how to set up a facebook account. She is 23 years older than me and much more knowledgeable, but I know way more about technology than she does. Kids these days are surrounded by computers, video games, i-pods, and more. Our parents were not. As time passes, technology is taking over more and more so in order to be a 21st century teacher, we are going to have to keep up with the Jones's of technology. Let me note that this does not make you a "good" teacher, it just makes you a better teacher because you are learning as you go and staying on the same level with your students. You can't just stick to your old self- the things that were taught to you while you were in school and that is it. You have to keep learning.

Post 11: Michael Welsch- A Vision of Students Today

Girl playing on facebook on her pc
I thought Welsch's video was cool. I found it to be very similar to my college experience. One thing in particular that I did not agree on personally was being on facebook or my computer doing other things during class. Yes, I will admit that I do check my facebook before class starts if it is in a classroom with accessible computers and I have nothing else to while waiting for class to get started, but believe it or not some students like myself do want to learn and do listen in class. BUT, in alot of cases that scenario is true. I was embarrassed when one of the professors at our College of Medicine came to me about one of my students playing on facebook and listening to their ipod the whole time class was taking place. I thought it was disrespectful, but the professor informed me that if I was to come by during the Fall semester and take a peak in his door window, that I would see at least 10 out of 20 medical students playing solitaire or browsing their facebook pages. That scares me quite frankly! Shouldn't our future doctors of America be paying attention in class?

Post 10: Plagerism and Copyright Rules

It is so easy for students to plagiarize while writing papers. Most students are not meaning to copy, but they do. You should always use your own thoughts and opinions while writing a paper or doing anything actually. If you did not come up with it, then you have to give credit to the person that did. It is not fair to take someone else's words or ideas and make them your own without giving props to that person. A couple of ways to avoid plagiarism is to take notes in your own words, interview different sources and make sure you use quotations when sharing their information with others. You can also paraphrase. Changing a few words on your paper and making it sound a little different does not count. You can get into some serious trouble for copying someone else's ideas and claiming them as your own... even if you did not intentionally do so. The complete version of the U.S. Copyright Law contains thirteen chapters explaining what will fly and what will not, but you can skip all of this by just playing it safe and sticking to your own words. You would not want someone else to steal your ideas and share them with others as if they came up with it. You would feel violated- like someone stole from you. Because they did. Don't be that person.

Post 9: Alternative Web Browsing

I am amazed at the alternatives available for the disabled when it comes to web browsing. I have never heard of any of these things except for maybe the screen modifiers. Software such as ZoomText and Magic help people who have low vision or learning dissabilities. I thought Jaws and Window Eyes were pretty neat because they actual read everything aloud that is on the computer screen in order for a person who is completely blind to know what is in front of them. People with limited hand use due to all different reasons can use the Via Voice or Dragon Naturally Speaking to browse. They can actually speak into a microphone their demands rather than use a keyboard. It is amazing how the web has been made accessible to people with dissabilities. I think it is great! Point blank- things have come a long way since Mary on "Little House and the Prarie," found out she was blind.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Post 8- Other Resources

I really enjoyed looking at this site: http://practicalprincipals.net . I found the resources they offered to be very beneficial. They had alot of good information to offer such as using different tools to add to your podcast/videocasts to make them more interesting. I specifically liked the "Bluebird's Classroom", which is a blog that a middle school teacher writes. They are blunt and quite funny to say the least. I thought the blog written today by the teacher about President Obama boring the students with his speech was interesting. As I watched the news the past few days, I have wondered why teachers and parents did not seem to be concerned with the students watching it, in fact they seemed aggravated. This blog helped me to understand the reasoning.
Also, I really liked the idea of the "Fruit Machine", which is a site that you can visit to play a learning game that helps students learn vocabulary words and their correct definitions. Depending on your age group of students, this could be very beneficial. Overall, it showed me that their are so many things out there, creative things that we can all use at teachers to help educate our students in not so boring ways. There is a whole other world out there that I never knew existed - a teacher's world. I love it.

Post 7- Podcast Improvements

The podcast/videocast that I watched that was done by students in last semester's EDM 310 course was not very good to me. The main change I would make is to have all of the individuals in the video facing the camera. To me, they should all be speaking to the persons viewing the video, not Dr. Strange. I could barely hear the one girl to the very right.. whom may I add that never even looked at the camera. I thought the material they spoke one was legit, but the video itself was not very good. Also, it seemed a little rehearsed with how they were reading off their information. It should have been more like a news cast.. where they use their papers to look down at every once in a while if they forget what they are going to say next... they should have looked at the camera as well as converse with each other.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Post 5- Next Generation Learning

The "Next Generation Learning" video was really neat. Of course it would be awesome to have such technologies in our schools around here. Maybe one day we will be that advanced and I look forward to those non-messy boards to teach with, but I think we can get creative enough without them. If we don't have the money then creativity is the next best thing when it comes to educational tools. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be negative and act as though we will not ever see such resources, but it is hard for me to visualize them with everything going on with economy these days. I try and think positively about teaching instead of thinking "oh... well we don't have a Smart Board so lets just pass out worksheets." How about, "Let' go outside and learn today!" Let's take a field trip to the super market to learn how to work math equations or take a trip downtown and go on a walk to learn all about our history here. We could volunteer at a homeless shelter for a field trip and learn about poverty and how the economy affects the public in general. There are endless lesson plans that could be prepared and taught to these young minds that costs far less money. After all, Aristotle did not have a smart board and made it just fine. Like I said though, this is if we did not have the means to receive funding for these remarkable resources.

Post 3- Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

I agree with Sir Ken Robinson. I have always believed that our schools should have more creativity in them. Even high school. Alot of teachers seem to stay clear of colorful materials, bulletin boards, and alot of things that make a classroom a classroom if you ask me. I have always wanted to bring that feeling that you get when you are in elementary school (if you are blessed and get at least one really good teacher like I did) to the high school scene minus the babyish techniques. I understand that their are boundaries. There is a certain sense of nurturing that these children need even when they are in high school and I feel as though alot of teachers today are quick to just hand out a worksheet and be done with it. Not me. I want to TEACH and to me TEACHING is being CREATIVE. Students need to feel as though someone there cares if they pass or fail, someone to find there inner stregnths and help them progress with those stregnths as well as their weaknesses, and someone that gives them something with depth- something that makes them go home and think about it. I love it when I learn something new. I can count on one hand the teachers that taught me something that has stuck with me throughout my life. Those are the teachers that I remember and that I can thank for helping reflect in me what I wanted to be when I grew up- a teacher like them; a teacher that taught someone something worth remembering. There are many characteristics that teachers can pick up on with a student if they take them time to listen and pay attention to what is going on in their classroom.

Post 2- Did You Know?

I most certainly did not know this information... and found it to be extremely interesting! It shocked me to see how many honors kids there were in India vs. the amount of kids period in the U.S. The fact that was stated on how many people were brought together and then married by meeting on myspace put a smile on my face since my husband and I met on myspace. The text messaging facts did not shock me one bit. I have noticed changes in myself over the past three years. Three years ago I had never sent a text message before and now that's all I do. Every once in a while I receive or place a personal phone call, but mostly I just text. Even the Dean of Admissions of our school does not receive phone calls throughout the day, she receives text messages that we send her from my office.
The question was asked at the end of the video, "So, what does all of this mean?" I think it means that we have come a long way in a short period of time and there is lots more to come. More than any of us can ever imagine. The technology today is just unbelievable. Teaching students to solve problems before we even know they are problems and training people for jobs that don't even exist yet- truly remarkable. Working at the College of Medicine has shown me some of the new advancements in this world and I am overwhelmed when I see everything that some of the students I work with can do and what they are capable of learning.
We often joke around in the office by saying our computers have a mind of their own... before too long they really will! It is almost scary to think about it.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Post 1- Who is Emily?


Hey guys! As you can see from my description to the right of this screen, I am a 26 year old wife and mother. There are a few other things listed, but to go more into detail for this assignment, I will tell you a few more things about myself. I graduated from Satsuma High School in 2002, then received my Associates degree in Business/Office Administration from Faulkner State Community College in 2005. I worked for an Institutional Review Board and traveled to and from Miami for several months and met alot of interesting people. Among those people, I met my husband Jimmy on www.myspace.com ! Yes.. on myspace! It was love at first comment. ;) We got married in October of 2007.
I worked for that company for 4 years and then received a job at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. I am the secretary for the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Educational Enrichment. Together we help disadvantaged and minority students achieve their goals of becoming doctors one day.
At that same time, I started school at USA pursuing my degree in Secondary Education/English. I work full time, go to school on my lunch breaks, evenings, and online. On Spring Break of last year I had our first child, a little boy named Judson Bailey- my heart, soul, and world. I am so excited about my future as a teacher. I want to show students how creative they can be and how beautiful English really is.. if you just dig deep enough. Plus it does not hurt that I will have summers off with my little man. :)