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!