EDM FINAL BLOG POST

Final PLN Report

My PLN rocks! I love this site because it links to whatever site I want instantly! It's so neat how I have set it up to match my personal needs for the internet. I even added my favorite headline news site "Fox News". I plan to keep this site as a personal tool for the future!

EDM Final Project

Blog Post #14 (Special Assignment)

 

I definitely missed the metaphor example in that post. I guess I completely overlooked it! Most of the time I catch things like that right off but I guess not this time. Maybe I just read too much into it and decided to take the post seriously. Now I understand after Dr. Strange pointed it out! 
In the future I want to use metaphors as a learning tool in my own classroom. I want to teach them what a metaphor is and how to use them in everyday conversation. I intend to incorporate them into my lessons and use metaphors in my everyday teaching! I want my students to become comfortable with using metaphors.

Today, we use metaphors to exaggerate things all the time. We do this in most cases to tell a story. For example telling someone that it is "raining cats and dogs" really doesn't mean it is literally raining cats and dogs. It means it is simply a downpour outside! Metaphors can be so much fun if you know how to interpreter them.

I am hoping next time I come across a metaphor like in the last post I can read it like it was meant to be read. I don't want to be the girl who thinks gullible is written on the ceiling!!

April C4K Summary Post

This month I had the privalege of reading and commenting on a few excellent student blogs! I was impressed with the talent the students aquired when it came to using technology.

The first student blog I was assingned was neat! Mr. McClungs had one of his students post about a famous Irish Punk Rock Band. Which I found to be so awesome! I actually downloaded their music after reading this kid's blog! It was cool to see a young student have an interest in different music.

The next student blog was actually Mrs. Yollis' 3rd grade class blog in California. Her students seem so great to be around. The students were able to post what they were learning along with projects they had worked on. I really enjoyed this blog! It was so great to see so many students activily using technology at such a young age!

My last blog I was assingned was Adia's babble blog where students were able to create basically a chat room and talk about random things they found interesting. Adia is one of Ms. Yollis' students and she seemed like quite the character. I had a good time getting to know her by reading her babble blog!

Blog Post #13

ALEX was an interesting new website to explore. ALEX stands for the Alabama Learning Exchange and was actually a very impressive site! I found some excellent tools that I know will be very useful as a teacher. The homepage has 8 tabs on it. The first tab is the Alabama Course of Study which includes all of the standards in the Alabama Course of Study. Having such quick access to the course of study can be very important as a teacher. The second tab is Lesson Plans which will take you directly to the lesson plans that are already made for you! This could be so handy if needed! The third button is the Search button where you can search the entire site of ALEX which is awesome. The next tab I couldn't access. It was Personal Workplace and you had to have an account with them. The next tab was Professional Learning. This had everything from info about Special Education to Library Media to School Improvement. The seventh tab was the Podcast Treasury. This tab seemed as if it could be used by many teachers to incorporate technology into the classroom. You could choose a content area and then search different podcasts for that area. The last tab was ALEXville. The clickable icon is a globe with surrounding houses called ALEXville. That tab contained all of the information you could ever dream of.

I loved exploring this site. As a future teacher, you can count on me using it! I will probably recommend this site to every future teacher I work with. I want everyone I work with to know about this site and the unlimited access we as teachers really could have. Classrooms all over Alabama could benefit from this if used correctly. 

Progress Report on Final Project

I am excited to say that for my final project I will be working with Mary Ashley York and Miles Bubbet. We will be describing our attitude toward the EDM 310 class. We will be looking at ourselves and trying to discover how to inform future students of this class. We want to explain how we feel technology is advancing. So far our project has many great ideas and I feel as if we are ready to hit the ground running at our next meeting!

Blog Post #12

Read  A light bulb moment, a post by Dina Tillman. And watch this video  The Fun Theory.com . Tell me who Dina Tillman is? What is the Fun Theory website? What does it do? Where was it published?

Write two-three paragraphs on what you thought about the post. Describe your reaction on both the blog post and video.

USA "First Gift" Video Contest Project #15

Special Assignmet

Special Assignment

  

1. After reading the many posts from Mr. McClung, I have grown very fond of his teaching. He is extreamly organized and super excited about teaching his students. Not only does he get excited about teaching, Mr. McClung strives to the best of his ability to make sure his students learn the material too. I love how his blog is set up so that all his classes can go to the appropriate tab for the appropriate class.

2. Mr. McClung seems to have very effective methods of teaching. Especially when he says "class" the class responds with "yes" and also in the same tone of how he says class. This helps with listening and making sure the students are paying attention. I love that method because it keeps the students focused and alert. He also seems extremely excited to teach. I think staying positive and being excited makes all the difference.

3. I like his rules because he has so few. It should definately be a rule of thumb that with the less rules you have, the more affective your teaching can be. In a classroom setting where time is limited and the students are in surplus, the teacher will not have time to work with each individual student and give him or her each individual instructions. This is why following directions quickly is vital. Every student must be on their toes and watching out for one another while getting their own work done. 

4. The first item under "Everyone Needs" was a day planner. Knowing when and what assingments need to be turned in can make all the difference in a school classroom. For example, I love our checklists in EDM 310. They help me stay organized and know when and what exactly needs to be turned in before the week is over. 

5. For each day that your homework is late, it results in loss of a letter grade. I think this is more than fair especially since you know ahead of time that it is due and when. This is similar to Dr. Strange's way of grading as well. The loss of letter grade is what he uses to grade his assignments with as well. I think it is a fair and effective strategy.

6. I love that the blog is for students and parents both. This cuts out paper in the classroom much like in EDM 310. Parents can also see what's happening in the school and forgotten notes and flyers won't be a problem. The students learn to find things for themselves as well and better equips them in this area.

7. My first link I went to was 

8. I love the internet safety tips. They seem like they are excellently thought through and effective to a classroom setting. 

10. I think a classroom would be a wonderful reason to keep a blog. I feel as if it wasn't assinged to me I would create great things on my own if I had more time to work with my blog. I spend so much time on my EDM blog already it would be sad to see that time end. When I look at Mr. McClung's blog, it is so organized but also full of fun stuff and links and projects his students did and I love it.

11. Mr. McClung's blog is extremely easy to navigate around and so simply set up. I think any parent with accessability can log onto this webiste and easily find things and posts from their child.The search box at the top is also a great tool if they were looking for their particular child on the blog. I love that there is no privacy so the parents can see their child's work.

12. Mr. McClung has one of the greatest class blog's I've seen. He obviouslly seems so enthused about learning and he has such a fire for teaching his students the correct and safe way to use technology and the internet. Hemakes me want to do the same with my classroom!

13. He has so much posted on his blog of his students work. It isn't just a post once a month on an update of the class. In just March his blog had 23 posts. That is crazy!  Thank you Dr Strange for sharing this special assignment!

Project #14 How to Bernie

Blog Post #11

The youtube video we were assigned about Ms. Cassidy's Class was great! Who knew that first graders could blog and write books? That is amazing! Her students seem to love it! I thought it was so cool that they use Nintendo DS's to practice writing. I believe that these students are already a step ahead of the technology world at such a young age. . Technology is obviously changing constantly. It only makes sense that students and the classroom need to keep up with it. This class in particular has helped encourage my feelings toward technology. I'm glad I took this class or else I am sure I wouldn't have a job for very long! The techniques that Ms. Cassidy suggested to use in a classroom included in everyday things in the classroom.  She loves to use Twitter and PLN's which I think is awesome. I also think Twitter is such a cool tool to use. I know that I find myself on Twitter almost more than Facebook these days. Ms. Cassidy didn't hit any major bumps in the road with anyone that tried to stop her from doing this with her class. She didn't always have support, but at least no one tried to shoot her ideas and techniques down. I know that is a huge risk when I have a classroom on my own. 

Ms. Cassidy had the best safety percaustions. I loved that she made a point to never use the student's last name on the blog. I think that is excellent advice. She also makes sure the students know what to not write on the blog, which is also an excellent point! I think that her students do follow her rules because they are easy and simple. They are really there for their own protection! 

Summary Post C4T

Will Richardson is a very well educated man that seems to know what's up when it comes to his students. In his post about valuing change, he talked about how he believes that today's schools are not valuing the technology change and accepting the classroom for what it is becoming. He is right on the money here! I mean, seriously, when are schools going to realize that we need to step up to the plate as teachers and accept the direction in which our future in techology is going. Mr. Richardson had a very wise thought process in his post that was easy and exciting to read because I felt as if he definately knew and meant what he said! It was such an excellent thought and post!!


http://weblogg-ed.com/2011/valuing-change/


Justin Tarte- "I just Wanna Be a Kid"

Justin is a high school teacher with little experience around young children. His post inspired me. He explained an incident where he was sitting on his porch and happened to watch a group of children in his neighborhood that developed a pick up game of soccer. They quickly formed two teams without argument and words. He explained how simple children see the world today and how they tend to live in the moment. I agree, it is so neat how younger children don't take life for granted. They live thier life in every moment like it was the best one they've had. If we could all have the mindset of a child, I believe the world might work a little smoother. I am thankful that I was able to reflect on my own life and how I should live each day. Soemtimes we seem to forget what is most important in our lives. So my challenge to each of you is to not take granted of today or any day for that matter!

http://justintarte.blogspot.com/2011/04/kids-got-it-all-figured-out.html#idc-container

Blog Post #10

Blog Assignment 10

1. An Open Letter to Educators
This was a post by Morgan Bayda, when reading it I felt relieved that there are others that feel cheated through school like Ido. I always feel as if I am just wasting my time in college. Besides my few education classes EDM 310 is the only class that I have actually learned anything useful for life. Too many schools have lowered their standards of education. Although they say that teaching in a classroom is the only way to learn, I have to disagree. To me, learning is hands-on, not in the books. The faster I read things, the quicker I forget them if they are not applied. Morgan and I had a very similar experience, there is no doubt about that! I feel as if we are just wasting time and money and this has got to change.  In Dan Brown's video, he made such a valid point.


2. Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home

This post by Tom Johnson was so awesome! I loved the deep message it brought up, I actually had to think. We shouldn't smother the students' creativity anymore than standardized testing and the school institutions already do. Standardize testing weighs way too much in the school system today. Why cant't the students need . If the students still are applying skills through that then there is no problem with that. We need to definitely let students know how to be creative. "Taking their pencils away" is no solution to this problem. We need to let them "take their pencils home". Children can be so creative if we just allow them to! This was such a great post!

Skype Project

I chose to interview my Mother who is such an inspiration to why I want to be a teacher!

Summary Post C4K March

During the month of March we have had to read and comment on two different children's post. The first comment for kids was about Room 17 in Pt England. The students are required to keep their own personal blog in the classroom. They use the blog like a journal and the teacher requires them to write about what they did over the weekend, what they are learning in class, and about other students in the classroom. I thought this was so neat that the students were able to keep a blog like this. And I was impressed that the teacher kept each student's blog on the class website.

The second comment for kids I did was about ways to prevent bullying in and around the school campus. Matthew was a boy in the classroom I was assigned to. His great idea was to install video cameras in the school hallways. He also thought teachers and hall monitors should pay more attention to what was going on and be aware of the surroundings. Another idea the students had was to be aware for each other and report things when they see them. These studetns had excellent ideas on ways to prevent bullying. I enjoyed reading their thoughts!

Blog Post #9

What I've Learned This Year
By: Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung gave so much excellent advice in this post of his. I think he made me think about evaluating my own life and the way I look at thing. I loved it when he talked about being flexible. I felt like I could relate so much to it. As a teacher we will probably never have a lesson that turns out the exact way as we had planned. I think teachers should take a lesson in improv so they know how to react in certain situations and go with the flow. I also like how Mr. McClung talked about on technology and how it is our friend not our enemy. So many teachers back away at the word technology! I was extremely skeptical of technology before this class even. This class has helped me realize how technology is really not that scary and if we slowly take the time to understand it, technology could be our best friend! I love learning about technology and everything it has to offer! This post by Mr. McClung was so great. I want to read more post on him for sure! Teachers and Schools could learn so much from his teaching about teaching!

Puppet Project for EDU 301

Smart Board Presentation

This was our Smart Board presentation. I thought it went very well and I am excited to read your comments!

Blog Post #8

Dr. Miller in this video made me understand how "old school" paper books in the classrooms really are! There is so much that is possible to do online now or at your computer without ever opening a textbook or newspaper. Dr. Miller wrote an article on the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting and he didn't have to even touch a book or newspaper for information. All that we could ever need is right in front f us! I believe all teachers need this knowledge. Teachers nowadays are trying to keep up with this ever-changing technology and that's not an easy thing to do. I think it is important for the teachers of today and the future teachers to learn this. I want to be educated on this so that I will be able to teach my classroom this. Int less than 5 years our future could be looking at no more books and all technology!
Teaching this would require someone who is up to date on all of this to come in and maybe teach a workshop or two to a few different schools at a time to just get a general knowledge of the available technology and media out there. Then from there, the workshops could become more specific to subject matter and schools. This could be so effective!
In The Chipper Series and EDM 310 For Dummies, it definitely got my wheels cranking for some ideas that I could use. The videos were great and informative even though they were silly. I think that I would like to keep along the lines of this. As silly as they were, they kept my attention and the messages in each were very clear. I think that is one of the most effective ways of teaching. I am not sure of what the video would be about yet if I were to make one, but the formatting would be along the silly lines for sure.



In the video Learn to Change, Change to Learn, it was sad to see how many people do not even value education and technology. Technology changes everyday even and we shouldn't be so blind in the classrooms. I think the classroom needs to mold with the new advanced technology as it constantly changes.  We as future teachers shouldnt be left behind in the classrooms. We need to apply standards if we are to have standardized testing in the classroom like they stated in this video. Students don't need to just memorize facts, they need to know what to do with it, how to apply it!  This video was great! And I know I will use the information to help benefit my future classroom!



The Secret Powers of Time by Philip Zambardo was a video that shed light on the situation of how fast our sociey reacts to things. Everything is down by the second and not the minute. I can blame myself for getting angry at my computer for being slow. This video was awesome! That part was one part that particularly jumped out at me because I am guilty of doing that very thing all the time. We should absolutely take technology as far as we possibly can, but I do think that there is a point that it eventually comes to that we need to take a step back and just take a deep breath. I know I will try to!



In the last video, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, shows us how we will do anything if we have an incentive. People will do anything for the right reward. Money is a huge motivator. If we take money out of the equation so that the workers can focus on the work.We are extremely purpose-driven. . Money is the center of most things for most people. This can get dangerous in my opinion. No wonder the economy is so down. We can make the change! We can stop doing a good job for money and we can start doing a good job just because that's the right thing to do! We are so purpose-driven. I think everyone needs to work on this and change!

Video Project

PLN

For my PLN I used Symbaloo. It was way less complicated and some what more efficient one of the two choices. I have only 19 tiles as of now, but it has been fun organizing and sorting through them! I think this is a very useful thing to have! . This seems to help me eliminate the use of tabs! I am glad this was an assignment for us to do. This helps expand learning and networking to a whole new level. I am constantly learning new things about this! I am constantly amazed at the tools such as Symbaloo that are available! To view my PLN you may click on the link below

http://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAACHha7oQAA42Agaq9yA==

Blog Post #7

This was such a great video. Randy Pausch made excellent points. I loved listening to his life dreams, they inspired me. It is so sad that he is dying but he looks at it with such a great outtake on life. If you were to look at him, the last thing you would think is that he has cancer and has a few months to live. This man is such an inspiration. Throughout the video, he made some awesome points and stated some eye-opening quotes. My favorite was when he stated,  "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." This is true as well in my life. If you always get what you want, you wouldn't necessarily see your achievements as anything more than accomplishments. Another quote I loved was , "If you are being corrected and criticized, it is a good thing. It means you are doing something right." If they aren't correcting you, it means they have given up on you. I never thought of it like this, I know constructive criticism is a great thing, but even harsh criticism can be looked at as a great thing. It just means that your critics still have faith in you and are still holding out on you.

When Dr. Pausch spoke about his childhood dreams and one was to be an Imagineer at Disney World, he spoke on the brick walls that came in front of him. "Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things." One brick wall for him was the rejection letters he got from Disney at first. For most, that would have been the end of trying. Dr. Pausch actually went on to work on the Aladdin Virtual Reality and got an offer to be a real Imagineer at Disney World. He really did accomplish his dream! That was so cool to hear!! Brick walls filter out the ones who don't really want to achieve their childhood dreams. Brick walls are useful tools. Helping with the Aladdin Virtual Reality led him to create a course at Carnegie Mellon called Building Virtual Worlds. 50 students are chosen and every 2 weeks you do a new project. You do a total of 5 projects. This was such a major accomplishment! When it came time for the students to present, they would bring their parents and friends and roommates to watch their presentation. They soon moved to the room he gave his talk in.

Dr. Pausch summarized with a few points. The first one was, we learn from our students. This is a true statement. I have learned this in EDM 310. We have watched countless videos on students actually teaching their teachers things they discover through technology, and this is just one example. The next point he made was to always have fun. Through his life journey, he always had a good time even through the bad times he still looks back and laughs. Even while he is dying, he is still having fun! This is such a mind-blowing thing. He is dying, yet he still manages to live everyday to the fullest. Thirdly, he says to never lose the child-like wonder. He is basically a huge kid and wouldn't change anything. We need to keep that child-like wonder at all costs! It is our sanity for some days. Lastly, he stated to help others. This can mean so much, whether its helping someone at school or work or over in Thailand like he and his wife do. This means so much to so many people. He probably doesn't even know how much he has helped people or how many lives he has touched!

This video opened my eyes. His talk was titled "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Throughout his talk, he brought up numerous "head fakes". At the end of his lecture, he asked if we discovered the head fake of this talk. The head fake was: It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how you live your life. That is so true! The second was when he said there was a second head fake. The second head fake was: The talk is not for us, it's for his kids. That was huge. I thought the whole lecture was about achieving my childhood dreams and that the talk was for the viewers. It wasn't about that at all and it definitely wasn't a talk meant for me. I still learned so much though. Dr. Pausch said you learn the best through head fakes. This is so true. It was proven as I watched this video. I am so glad I was able to watch this video! Thanks!

Summary C4K #1-3

       The student blogs I was assigned to ended up being a variety of different children. The first kid I was to comment on loved sports. His name was Owen and he replied on a thread of what he loves. His exact quote was,"I love sports because sports are something you just don't watch, you can do them too." I thought this was cleaver and really neat that he loves playing sports so much.
      The next student I was assigned to was kid who said he loved math. I thought this was funny because I am not that great at math but I was excited to see his excitement about something he loves, especially when that thing is a school related subject. My last student was a girl who had posted on a thread of how their Holiday break was. She stated, "This was the best Christmas ever because it snowed, and I love snow!" I thought this was cute because she was so excited it snowed on Christmas Day. 
    Commenting on these students blogs is fun! I loved reading what the class and teacher were doing in school. 

Harper Lee (Timetoast #2)

Blog Posst #6

1. The Networked Student

I though this video was very helpful with explaining the "networked student". It is a good deal of information to process especially when we were raised in a traditional student and teacher learning environment where everything is taught off of the chalkboard and the internet was used for research papers. Students today have skills that will enable to help them master technology. Today is the future! The tools available to the students and to the teachers should not be wasted. In this video, the networked student built his own online textbook. I thought this was awesome! He had no book for the class. His networking and web searching helped him build his own book. This idea was awesome! His classmates can see the information he has gathered.  This way of teaching is so very different but very exciting!
It is the teacher's job to teach a networked student in a few ways. For starters, the networked student is not going to know where to begin. The teacher is there to help him or her to begin with building their network. The teacher's job also is to help him with any questions he may have with setting up his network, adding onto it, etc. Also, the teacher is there to help him distinguish what is a reliable site and what is not. The guidance of the teacher is so important.
I think my favorite part about this is that the student makes his or her own textbook while learning to network and search for information. I know that I always learn best when I do it myself. So, if the student would like a text for the class, he or she must go out and basically build it. They will learn so much more doing that than being given a textbook that they probably wouldn't open anyway. If you decide not to build yours, then it only hurts you, the student. I loved this! This is such an imperative thing to teach and to prepare our students for!
http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2009/06/networked-student.html




2. A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)
      I can't believe she is only in 7th grade. When I was in 7th grade, I remembr having to get a permision slip signed in order to even use the internet. Looking back on my 7th grade year, we had to sign permission forms to use the internet at school. I cant believe how organized she is! Her PLN is so organized, thought-out, and efficient. I will definitely use some of her techniques if not many to do my PLN.  I know it will take some time to get everything in your PLN, but it made me eager to get a jump on it! This can and will take learning to a whole new level.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEls3tq5wIY


3. Critiques of Smartboards
Why Smartboards are a Dumb Initiative by Michael Staton
Michael Staton in his stand against smartboards argues the cost efficient side. He says they are too expensive for what they are and that you can do the same thing with different programs.
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-smartboards-are-dumb-initiative.html


Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards by Bill Ferriter

Bill Ferriter also thinks that interactive whiteboards are too expensive and that don't do any thing positive for the students or the teacher. He gave his away after using it for a year. In his post he quoted:
"Most of the time, interactive whiteboard programs are, in fact, nothing more than vain attempts to buy change. Rarely paired with a clear vision of the classrooms we’d like to see, a set of tangible objectives that can be measured, or any systematic attempts to evaluate outcomes, these high-priced contraptions are sad examples of the careless decision-making and waste that
are crippling some of our schools and systems."
I personally think everone is allowed to have their own oppinon on the use of a white board. Mr. Ferriter clearly stated his here.
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/01/27/tln_ferriter_whiteboards.html?tkn=Q%5BRFGmQux6XnMebDMl4nddRDutTae13KtmNE

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Project #9 TimeToast

Project #8 Group Podcast

Summary Post #2

    
    Matthew Needleman is a teacher who is clearly dedicated to the education of the students. His post was filled with information on a project that he has come up with to solve a problem with the computer lacking schools face today. He proposed the idea of a portable computer lab. I found this idea to be very useful. I think it could benefit teachers and students as well. Teachers would have easy access to computers to pass to students during class time and use for projects and such. I thought Matthew's idea was fantastic and I think all schools should look into investing in a portable computer lab!

Blog Post #5

Eagle Nest Radio & Class Blog


This is so cool! The third graders that did this are awesome! The Roman podcast that I listened to was very interesting.  I feel as if  I actually learned something about Rome by listening to the podcast. I thought it was neat how they went on a journey through Rome. The music was a hit! It made the transition from one step to the next so much smoother. The students' different voices were neat to listen to als. I incorporate that idea in to my podcast. This was so cool!

Langwitches

I thought it was neat how she helped out the Language Arts Teacher. The upgrading with the podcast idea was a great idea to mix some things up. This was in part also to inspire other teachers to try something different in their classroom and to do something new. Overall I thought this was a great idea for teachers and students!

Education Podcast Network (EPN)

This was so cool! This should defninately have an impact on future teachers like myself! To have a podcast site specifically made for a teacher's benefit is such a great idea! The ideas are endless on this site. It's just podcast after podcast of everything you could hope for. It is exciting to know that teachers today have access to sites like these that provide all the tools you could ever need. I will definately use this site when I begin my teaching!

"My Sentence"

Blog Post #4

Blog Post #4
Scott Mcleod:
He is a an associate Professor with his PHD in the Educational Administration Program at the University of Iowa State University, the co-director of  "DID YOU KNOW",  and has received multiple awards. Scott made excellent points. The one thing that stood out to me was that it would be difficult to accomplish this because we live in such a technology age today. It is going to be impossible to stop something that is happening at such a rapid pace. I want to protect my children one day, but I know that what they learn in school with technology is impossible to stop. This was a great post!

ISCHOOL:
     I became very interested in this kids idea of the intergration onto the ischool system by watching this video. It would be very useful for the funding of schools seeing as how it is already lacking the support. This is the way to do it if we want to integrate technology into the school system. I think it would be successful and teachers would have to worry less about the loads of paper work they inquire. 

    The usefulness of the ischool system is amazing. As we move green, you can see the awesome changes in our school systems already. This was such a great post. 

LOST GENERATION:

        This video was a very interesting piece. There was clearly a lot of thought put into this video. She talks about  family, divorce rates, poor employer to employee relationship and work ethics which I found to be so interesting. These things take such a huge role in a person's everyday life.
     It is true, we all strive to be different. Although I believe that every human was made equally, we were also made completely different. I feel what she had to say in this video some of us at one point of another have thought ourselves. I loved this video! I feel as if she was speaking directly to me!

VIRTUAL CHOIR:

This was so amazing! This is what I love about technology. It can take something like musical choirs and bring many people together for the love of music. I would have loved to participate! This is excellent use of technology!

Teaching in the 21st Century:

     Any child who can learn something such as the use of technology for school work I feel would find it fasinating. There is no limit to the use of technology and both the student and teacher are in the process of learning together. I know that this class has helped me with my personal education with the new technology so far! This was an excellent video that dealt with education vs schooling. Such a great reminder of the times we live in. I loved it!

Why I Am The Way I Am

Summary C4T Post

Manaiakalani
 The most recent post this teacher had was about her local school in Pt England. The students there have never had a swimming pool and the schools in the area try to focus on water safety and swimming lessons. "For safety lessons students have been using the local swimming pool across the field," she says. It is becoming difficult for the students to have access to the pool grounds due to increasing prices and the one lane access.

   The children decided to approach the Mayor of Auckland with their concerns about the pool access. This idea was fantastic and was a success! The Mayor heard the concerns of the students and approached the idea with a new aquatic location site for the students!


http://vimeo.com/18773858


C4T # 2
   Mathew Needleman is a computer teacher at his high school. He is dedicated to teaching the new age of technology to students in his school. He feels that all students should accomplish and succeed at life through technology.
   In his first post he talked about instead of closing the computer lab, he wants to have a portable computer lab. He said that," In a perfect world every school would have both a computer lab and computers." He thinks teachers would benefit in the classroom if there were portable computer labs where students would have easy access to projects and papers on a laptop.
   His second post was  a triangle on what he feels that Higher Level of Technology Use should be. With the top being students as influencers on the outside world, it is because the foundation of the triangle is teachers as multimedia consumers. Mathew made excellent points in both of his posts. I enjoyed reading them.

Blog Post 3

Children and Technology

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
       I think that this video is a great reflection of the everyday college student. I have personally bought books before and never opened them. I have spent maybe a thousand dollars on different text book during the time I have been at South and I have come across many that I haven't even touched since the day I bought them from the USA bookstore. I am also guilty of not attending classes that I know I am paying for. Freshman year when everything was so new and exciting I would find myself skipping class and looking for any and every reason to not go.I struggled with the thought of having so much freedom. Like almost every freshman, I took advantage of my time and would skip class to hang with new friends.When you skip too many classes, students fail to see the consequences that follow. If I could tell any new coming freshman anything it would be attend class. It affects your grades and your GPA. 

        Being a multi-tasker is a super important tool to have. It is difficult to balance school, work, sororities or clubs, and friends. But if you can be an ultimate multi-tasker then it may come easy for you. What worked for me was buying a daily planner, I planned out my days down to the hour that first semester. That way I could accomplish everything I needed to get done all in that one day. I really enjoyed this video. I would want to show this to high school seniors before they decide on their college choice and major.  

Kelly Hines: It's Not About The Technology
Kelly Hines made some excellent points in her post. If you do not know how to use the technology effectively then what good is it doing. I think she was right when she said that it is up to us to make a technology a success for us. Most educators would disagree and refuse to educate themselves on something new. For some subjects it will be hard to integrate technology into the classroom.

    All teachers should teach their students to be creative and I think that is the most important thing. When kids are using their creativity to all of their ability there is no telling what they will come up with. When you allow children to use enjoyable things in classroom activities, I think it helps them learn the material better. Encouraging your students to be creative is I think one of the most important things to bring to your classroom. Without our unique senses of creativity we would all be very similar, but as children express their creativity they begin to see talents they did not know they had.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
After reading this I do not think that it is okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher. I really enjoyed the examples that he used in this reading. He wrote that many parents use their poor math skills growing up as an excuse for their child's poor math performance. I liked this example because I am guilty of telling  people all the time that I am terrible in math. He says that many people use this same outlook when they talk about their computer skills. Even if you are technologically illiterate you can still teach your students what they need to know.

Gary Hayes: Social Media Count
This site was really interesting. It is crazy to see what could happen in just a few seconds. I think what this means for us as future educators is that we are going to have to start learning things about technology now if we want to be prepared when we enter the class room.Who knows what we will be teaching in the near future if technology keeps growing!

Blog Post 2

Video # 1 

Did You Know? 

This video had so much information in it. Although the music made it difficult to read, I found the facts very interesting. Who would have thought that China will soon be the number one country for English speaking people? Americans are so blind to the outside world, it is like we live on some one mind island or something and the rest of the world doesn't exist. I also can't believe that 1 out of 8 relationships meet online. Communication over the Internet sure has taken a step into the future within the past decade.

Video #2
Mr. Winkle Wakes.

It was for Mr Winkle to wake after a hundred years to find that the world had completely changed.  It shows us that technology is always changing and nothing is as it was 100 years ago. 
 Although, there have been advances with technology in schools there is still improvement lacking.  Yes students and schools have computers, but they are not used in a way that will enable students to move forward in this world of computers and technology.


Video #3
Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

I found this video to be very interesting. Sir Ken Robinson was very enthusiastic about the importance of creativity in the classroom. He is absolutely right. Students in the classrooms now are bombarded with tests and paperwork. Very seldom to you find a teacher who likes to incorporate great creativity with their lessons.

I believe teachers should encourage the schools to get back to the arts. Interweaving arts in the lessons of the classrooms can encourage students to branch out into their own creativity with the arts. The arts will also help students perform in their studies and other subjects.  

Video #4

Cecelia Gault's interview with Sir Ken Robinson can be found here Scholastic.com

Cecelia was amazing. She is a very bright young lady!
What can I do with my future students to make sure they have as good an education as Cecelia Gault? Teachers must be educated themselves with the new ways of creativity and the lessons. Another way is simply to just have fun while teaching. If you as the teacher are having fun, students will react to that.

Video #5
Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts | Edutopia

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Mrs. Davis said it correctly when she said that technology changes everyday and there is no way one person could possibly be educated on every new thing that comes out. Mrs. Davis had a good idea by encouraging her student’s research their own things. That way they can become technology savvy themselves. That was a great idea to help students learn about technology!

Blog Post 1

My name is Cherish Hamner. I am currently a Junior at South Alabama majoring in Elementary Education. I am from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I lived in that wonderful city for all of my life. Immedietly, I know what you are thinking, "Is she is a huge Alabama fan? And why did she not attend the University of Alabama?" The anwer is yes I am a Bama fan, but I was looking for something different. So I moved toward the beach for my college experience.
I am the oldest of three girls. My poor father has to deal with a lot of women in the house. I was initially inspired by my mother to become an elementary teacher. She has been a Kendergarden teacher for 21 years. I enjoy working with children and I feel like this is my opportunity to give back to the community.
Since I came to South Alabama, I have joined the Chi Omega Fraternity. These ladies have been there for me since my first day of college here at South. I have learned what it means to be a leader from these individuals. Chi Omega has given me the tools I need to achieve my goals in life. Such as organization skills, etiquitte behaviors, and leadership opportunities. Joining the sorority is one of the best decisions I could have ever made and my college experience would not have been the same without it.

Practice Post

My First Post