Final Word

This class has been one of my most educationally rewarding experiences. I feel like every student should have learned how to bring elements of technology to their future classrooms that will benefit students. Students should have fun in school and we know that our new generation loves using gadgets. I enjoyed connecting with a new group of like minded students this semester and loved all the presentations you shared with us. Dr. Strange should be an encourager to all of us because he never gives up on learning! I hope to continue to stay in touch with everyone as we enter into our professions. Please feel free to friend request me on Facebook if you would like to keep in touch with me.

End of Semester Summary

Made by a student on Glog EDU
I've learned: how valuable iTunesU is for mankind; how to install and use a webcam; how to embed video codes (and now, size) into my blog; the power of a good PLN; the ease and convenience of google doc.s; how to use Twitter as a continuing source of education; how to make a short movie; how to find important/useful information when conducting web-searches; wordles; glogs (yes, Glog); and most importantly, how to finally format HTML! (Something I've been wondering about since 1997.)If you notice some of my earlier posts, the links and pictures are very "choppy," however, as the semester progressed, so did my work product.

EDM 310 was more of an education than I had originally thought a computer class would be. The only project that wasn't appealing was the Delicious bookmarking tools. I've heard Anthony Capp's express his love for it, but I just couldn't figure it out. Will keep trying though. The most intellectually challenging activity was developing my PLN. I say this because it can take a couple of weeks following someone before you know the information source is what your looking for. The PLN is a definite expansion of knowledge! So, I would only say that Delicious and Google Earth were the only two boring nights.

At first, I was apprehensive about using webcams and Skype. Before, I though they was just another useless tool and I couldn't see how the things could make a difference- let alone in a class room. Boy have I changed my mind! Opening up your students to another set of students in another part of the country, or world, seems so valuable. As teachers, you're creating memories for the students that will last forever, and break down social barriers that start with our world's youthful generation.

If anything should be added, I think that learning to use/teach Glog EDU would be valuable. Some teachers already use this around here. Apparently, this is an interactive poster board that can be used to build collages for projects, and students seem to LOVE this. Have a look. I also found that the professional career network,!Linkedin, might be an interesting place to build an online career portfolio and connect with other professionals.

I feel like I'm more tech literate than I've been. If I had to rate, I'd say good. I look to continue my interest in technology in the future, and see myself incorporating blogs for my literature student as I enter the teaching world. Technology is so fun, when you know more about what to do with it

Edublog Presentation- Project 11

Rachel, I and Ashley presented our group project on Edublog. We each took a portion of the information and developed our own slides, pictures and video. Edublogs seem to be a safe solution for students because they can monitor what their students are posting or commenting about. I think this is a good thing since the rise in cyber-bullying has become a problem in public schools. Also, the organizational value that the site offers can be useful to teachers and interactive parents. Please check out our video below for more information.

My Personal Learning Network

The "Personal Learning Network," as Dr. Strange stated, is a continuous stream of knowledge, I've enjoyed developing this project above all others. The reason is simple- a source of continued, shared, and current information empowers me. I truly feel connected just reading what others write about in the world of teaching and I haven't earned my degree yet. It's like I'm ahead of the game- career wise, that is.

I Check my Twitter account two or three times a day, and read the various websites a couple times a week. Here it is:

1. Education Week- following on Twitter, I began noticing that many education blogs were posted and was able to read and connect with other students working on an education degree. Most of the blogs are education news postings, but keep me current on the state of our public school system. They currently have over 14,000 followers.

2. English Teaching- following on Twitter. An important component when considering lesson plans, this Florida ET dishes out comparative essay ideas and blogging works for her students. She also evaluates the English words and how they take on new meaning through time.

3. Teacher.Net - Follow on Twitter and read website couple of times a week. This is advertised as being a great place for beginning teachers to reach out to others for help. So far, i see a lot of craft projects and recipes posted on Twitter, but the literature area of the site offers more of what I'm looking for. Plus they offer up a pretty good post board that contains comments. Ive noticed so far that most of the teachers seem to support technology in schools.

4. Sir Ken Robinson- Follow through Twitter and peruse his new website. Sir Ken caught my attention from the required lecture early in the semester. I agreed with him that schools steal the creativity in our students when we do little to nothing to foster the creativity, so I began following him. Here's his video:
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5. I follow Mr. Chamberlain and Jabiz Raisdana both on Twitter and read their blogs.

6. I follow and collaborate with most of the EDM 310 network of students and refer to Dr. Strange's instructional often. It's nice to know that after we leave the class, we still have access to the blog and can use the information!

Podcast, Project 10 (we actually compiled a short video)

API photo credit
Me, Rachel and Ashley put our heads together and asked "what is Baldwin County doing to increase tech use in the classroom?" We then interviewed two different teachers within the school system and found that no one was blogging; however, the use of Glogs was new to us and we experimented a little with them to make this video. Rachel has a MAC, so she was able to create music to set behind the video with a little help from Dr. Strange. If you're interesting in reading more, please click here.

Project 2: Personal Presentation

In the first month of taking EDM 310, we were assigned to make a presentation that says a little about who we are and how we came to decide on the field of education. This link will take you to my presentation. To review, i was raised in Maryland and was previously working in an office as a paralegal- which I obtained a worthless degree in. I've always wanted to be a teacher, but felt that there wasn't enough time to juggle school and single parenting at once. i overcame my time obstacles and i am now a junior with a serious case of "I'm ready to graduate!"

7 Things by Doug Johnson, and New Classoom Rules

From the 7 Stupid mistakes list, the two most important factors I considered are 1. Not supervising students online, and 2. Thinking online activity is private. First, children should always be supervised when performing online tasks. They are young and vulnerable to vicious activity that can rob innocence in the blink of an eye. Certainly precautions through education can be passed on to the young students, but monitoring is most essential since the young user can enter an incorrect URL and end up at a porn site. This is bad new people. Second, we should educate student that if they post it, the material will likely be found and viewed. Accountability in our publications needs to be an essential component to tech teaching. Please click here for the full list.

From the list of seven brilliant technology ideas, the creative aspects appeal to me most. First, teaching students how to creatively find and use resources is invaluable. I've mentioned before that the technology itself is quite overwhelming. We cannot expect to perform a basic search and equate substantial information from that search. So, we cannot expect students to do the same. Teachers must educate students on how to find the most viable information and network to other reliable sources so the the resulting information is the best/current. Second, using the students own devices to teach them is brilliant! No matter what it is, a manual is never thorough enough to capture the entire devices capabilities. Also, the students will always have their education materials with them- this is empowering indeed.

The two most important factors i found in the New Classroom Rules are 1. use polite speech when texting, twittering, Facebooking, emailing. and 2. Come to class on time- at your convenience. First, we should always be polite and treat others with respect- even if opinions are not shared. This manner is sorely lacking where Youtube comments are posted, as well as social networking sites. Second, coming to class when it's most convenient to the learner is an exceptional rule. Some students may work two jobs and cannot sit through a formal classroom setting. Internet use allows for maximum freedom.

At The Teacher's Desk

In my opinion collaborative effort is what's needed for a successful teaching community. A place where other teachers throughout the world can share ideas and evaluate their own performance, and further enrich the material teacher's use by allowing a broader perspective. The tips shared from other teachers range anywhere from how to get more hits on your class blogs, questions concerning age appropriate material, teaching student accountability for materials posted on web, and advice on what all this technology stuff should mean to your students. Gadgets that connect the reader to all the contributing writers help to investigate the writer class blog.

It's most interesting that all these topics are opened for discussion, and in these comments we find ever more insightful ideas/discussion. ATTD to me is the ultimate research drop box for teachers that want to collaborate and learn continuously new information for the advancement of students. Personally, i follow many of the collaborators on Twitter and read their blogs. This network of teachers have become part of my PLN and I plan to continue to follow them after the close of this semester. Leading by example is encouraging and appropriate, especially in the case of a teacher.
Please click here to peruse this collective effort.

Finding Recognition of a Deeper Self in a New Generation- Michael Wesch's

Michael Wesch's lecture raises questions that have personally had effects on my performance as a student and as a citizen. When we are one in a million of mass producers, how we do find importance, or appropriate recognition for our individual works. For example, when I'm writing a twenty page research paper that's could have creative significance, it's merely for a grade and I know that it's for the teachers eyes only. I compare the lack of gratification to isolation when Wesch asks "where is the meaning in finding the authentic self?" The final grade is the measure for how successful our ideas and skills are according to the teacher.

When considering the Youtube phenomenon, isolation takes on a different form entirely. First, students can make profound statements that will reach millions even tough it begins alone with just camera and an individual thought. Creative works take on a new meaning when they are shared with more than just a teacher. The resulting feedback could be gratifying. I'm not suggestion rattling off a twenty page research paper, but a succinct version that creates awareness. Youtube is the ultimate social and cultural experiment that permits communication and a new type of education that is more for the people than anything we've known before.

I'm often bothered by the lack of creativity that exists in our youth today. Surely this will be argued, but I'll try to prove my point. Our school systems have intensified programs geared toward passing standardized testing and lack essential funding for the arts. In turn, we create generations of mediocre test takers that lack creativity. I see recycled material in all of our modern forms of expression like: movies scripts, music videos, art, fashion, music, and television. Even Youtube videos are recreated! This annoys me because whoever is recreating the material had to use some creativity to perform the action- I question why they didn't just go ahead with a new idea. The results are boring and dull.

For future teaching purpose, I'll do my best to identify with all types of learning styles and encourage creativity in all their work. I think this can be done by using strict guidelines for plagiarism where the student is forced to use their own ideas for self expression.

Three Reasons Why Students Should Blog

Reason #1- I am an English major, and find most interest in the uses of literary blogging. Watch the student in the Youtube video above describe how she furthers her knowledge by interacting with others reading the same books. Another student declared literary blogging as an expression of herself. I agree with both young girls that by interacting with peers through blogs can help determine how literary works can are critiqued and understood.
Follow this link for literary blog suggestions.

Reason #2- that blogs should be used is the in depth instructions on subjects that most students struggle with. Let's take math for example. Students can sit at a desk for weeks at a time and lack the knowledge to complete an entire lesson because they don't get it. Through math blogs, like this one ,the students can interact with teachers and practice with drills so that they may solve equations without the threat of feeling embarrassed.


Reason #3- there's no greater way to cultivate a creative thought than learning how to write it down and build from those thoughts. When students blog, they are able to exercise their writing skills and become stronger speakers throughout their lives. The children above talk about what a blog means to them and describe how they utilize their own blogs- and they're only 6 & 7 years old!

Accomodating Students With Learning Disabilities Through Multimedia

I originally found this post through my classmate, Jim Fawacett's, EDM 310 blog. In a comment, Mr. Chaberlain shares a profound and believable observation that students with reading/writing learning disabilities can be mitigated through multimedia tools.

In responding, I'll share with you the personal experiences of my 11 year old daughter Emma, who has always struggled with reading, writing, and spelling. Emma has created a learning system that involves mostly observation and active listening skills in order to memorize, and survive her classes. This method is sadly the form that Emma has measured her achievement by asking herself "how much can I remember to take this test in Science on Friday?" You see, I've searched mighty for the right way to engage her in these subjects and try to spark interest in reading.

I'll happily report that we've found a source of engagement. Emma has become an active user of all forms of multimedia, and her ability to comprehend most academic materials has improved greatly, as well as her grades. Multimedia has brought the classrooms home for her and now the learning continues. I've found that even through frivolous activities like text messages (i encourage good sentence structure), IMing, and watching Youtube videos have all contributed to the reward. She has begun to develop a personal learning network that revolves around some of her favorite activities like swimming, and science.

I'm not teaching in a classroom yet, but I can't help thinking of the possible ramifications of including digital media in order to accommodate students suffering from LD's. After all, education is suppose to be about learning. I finally get that using various forms of multimedia is a big deal, and we as teachers should be diligent in appropriating accommodations for our students. Lastly, knowing these methods make a difference, I don't understand why digital media is so underfunded and controversial in our education system.

Comments4Kids Database

After our Skype on Wednesday night with Russ Goerend, I began questioning why Comments4Kids isn't recognized or encouraged amongst more educators. Mr. Goerend, who teaches in DesMoine, Iowa, spoke very passionately about the need for Mr. Chamberlain's (the programs creator) idea, and that these comments motivate the creative side in students.

Personally, I know about C4K's because I'm in EDM 310, and Dr. Strange assigns our work. If I wanted to continue to participate after this semester, I'm curious where I can find such blogs. I'm aware of a Wiki Space that includes an interaction, but it would be nice to see a more descriptive area that links to these blogs. An area that describes who the teacher is and what her students are blogging about would also be a nice feature.

These guys encourage me to want to participate because I think that creative thoughts and problem solving is an important aspect that I feel has been somewhat lost in our test-driven system. As adults I feel we're obligated to the youth to restore this deficit. Public schools should be a place where creativity is fostered.

ACCESS Distance Learning

Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, & Students Statewide began in 2004 by Governor Bob Riley, and is offered to high school students statewide. The program is designed to ensure to success of all 9th-12th grade students through the supplemental support of distance learning. Foreign Language, technology, advanced diplomas, and additional course offerings are all provided for the high school students. If a student wants to take a foreign language that is not offered through their school, one will be available via online learning, if there is another teacher within the state.

The program is designed to promote equality in learning, with the goal to ensure the future success of any Alabama Public School graduate. For teachers, ACCESS provides the appropriate technology tools for the classroom. Videoconferencing, and web-courses are offered through the site for teachers to use in the classroom. This program is given first to the school systems that show the greatest economical need.

The site is difficult to navigate and most every link opens to a longer brochure. The program itself seems to be fundamentally positive and would probably assist students on a larger scale to succeed in areas they were unsure of prior to. Opportunities exist in programs like these for teachers and students and It's good to see Alabama has ACCESS.

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX)

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), is an Internet exchange for Alabama teachers to obtain lesson plans, web links, podcast, and gain further knowledge of the required Alabama standards for testing. All lesson plans include a key that describes what standard the lesson teaches on; such as ARMT/SAT, Direct Assessment of Writing, AHSGE, and AL Science. All subjects offered in the AL public school system have supplemental materials available to them through this website.

The Podcast Treasury is designed for teachers in all areas of curriculum to further their education on historical AL monuments, and provide educational lessons on important AL/U.S. figures that pertain to the subject area. Personal Learning dedicates a space for teachers to review other Internet resources in effort to further their own educational material to present to the student. A Personal Workshop area is provided for teachers to store lesson plans or any other organizational material needed for classroom success.

I find ALEX to be a valuable supplement for teachers entering the field. In effort to cover all state required material, the lesson plans appear to be creative and thorough. I viewed English/Language Arts lessons for secondary education and found them to be organized and fun. The most important and valuable aspect of the lesson plans, I thought, is the AL Standard key that describes the standard covered in the lesson plan. For a new teacher,ALEX will be quite useful.

Intrepid Hearts, Dear Kaia, and Mr. Chamberlain's Response

I was alerted to these blog posts back in September when Mr. Chamberlain left a comment responding to one of my posts. I'll re post the original exchange from Mr. Chamberlain and I concerning Jabiz Raisdana daughter Kaia, and voice thread Mr. Chamberlain's class compiled below.

My response to Intrepid Heart is personal, since I too have children. As parents, I can relate to how we feel the need to keep children sheltered in a cave as long as their in our care- or longer. However, parents often have a breakthrough at some point and realize how unrealistic our safety expectations are, and we cave. This is true especially concerning digital media. The most beneficial we can do as role models and leaders for our students, is teach the importance of Internet safety on a global level. This should begin as young as possible, I think, in order to instill a good measure of protection.

I believe that just as our daily lives involves negatives and danger, so does the digital world, and both continue to expand beyond our imagination.

September 23, 2009 2:54 PM
Wm Chamberlain said...
Have you read this post?

http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/2009/09/using-skype-to-connect-esol-students.html

Or these two posts?:

http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/dear-kaia-voicethread-and-video.html

http://intrepidteacher.edublogs.org/2009/09/24/singing-hearts/

These are both examples of what can happen when you reach out to your PLN to make connections. What is amazing about this is how quickly these connections develop. The skype call came from a connection with a friend I made less than a year ago on Twitter.The "Kaia Saga" came from following a link on Twitter. My students are benefiting greatly because of these connections. Will you do the same thing when you have your own class?
Mr. C

September 27, 2009 7:53 AM

May said...
Mr. Chamberlain- Thank you for sharing your learning links with me. The voice recording furthers the personal connection and adds a quality learning opportunity for the students.

Interactive learning is amazing, and I can't think of a better way to engage students!

Thanks again,
May L.

4:52 PM

New Media Literacy

The New Media Literacy Group is an MIT program that assists young students in how to obtain the best information in a global environment. Judgement, negotiation, appropriation, play,trans media navigation, simulation, distributed cognition, collective intelligence, performance, visualization and multitasking, are listed as the skills involved. These skills are referenced in my early post concerning developing a "personal learning network," where I address the need for teachers equipping their student with the know-how to find and evaluate the importance of any information taken in.

I question if these skills can be taught to students that are mainly focuses on the novelty in the Internet, but I do believe they can. I believe that each one of these are 21st century skills, as in the past. These qualities never go out of style, they just take on new meaning. By educating the students on the skills and incorporating them into the classroom, teachers would be giving students the confidence needed for finding great information, as well as awareness on Internet safety.

Dr. John Strange seems to continuously find the best and most important information for this class, and I've often wondered how he does it. How do we find gold in a pile of what sometimes seems like rust? Personally, I'm not confident that I have these skills. Hopefully, my judgement and negotiations are decent. I'm certainly decent with play and multitasking, but my goal is always finding the gold.

Wendy Dexler: The Networked Student

Image by: Sue Waters
As I watched the video Wendy Drexler: The Networked Student, I thought there would be a lack of instruction from the teacher, and the student would miss out on important tools for learning information. However, when reaching the end, I feel that the student benefits more so from the continuous learning their "personal learning network" provides.

The PLN acts as a supplement to classroom instruction, and the teacher acts as the sole influence on where the student can gather the appropriate information. Though, the teachers role in developing a strong PLN must be specific. There are to many articles to the student to spend their days sifting through. Knowing this, I feel that the teachers themselves must know where to pick the fruit from the tree- they must be current in their own PLN's and be willing to continuously research information for their students.

As teachers, we'll need to act as an expert in our field of study in order to pass along good material. We cannot simply say, "you're going to develop a PLN" and expect the student to do all the work. Giving students the proper research tools to find substantial supplements, as well as arm them common sense they can use throughout their learning lives. The PLN has a potential to create one of the smartest environments we have ever experienced.

Connecting through people and sharing information is the future way. Why shouldn't we share the wealth of knowledge we have? Besides, I like the fact that I do not have to pay tuition in order to listen in on a creative writing lecture from Carnegie Mellon. Thank you iTunes U!

Richard E. Miller: This is How We Dream Part 1&2

My reaction to this video began as confusion and heartbreak over the incessant branding of print material. Honestly, I'm actually quite tired of the tech world's attempt at taking books into a primarily digital world- it's like a big bully, and I take it personally.

Like Richard Miller, I too love books. You cannot curl up with your PC monitor on a rainy day and read a great story. As a future English teacher, I dream of assigning important creative works that involve enlighting discussions and teaching my students good writing skills they can carry to higher education. Personally, this is the fun stuff!

I wasn't planning to back down from my strong stance, but then I saw the interactive page Miller created on Martin Luther King, Jr.. I'll admit that while watching his presentation on what he created from a history lesson melts a good portion of my apprehension. I had visuals of reading a biography that explains occurrences and milestones, and having those events played out for me as I'm reading.

What an amazing tool for teaching. In fact, this could be one of the greatest ways to engage students using hands on tools, and visuals for memory retention. Another positive realization is that the information has no excuse to be out-dated- it's current and cost effective for schools. Anyone in the world can learn from web pages like these, and by using a free translator tool, those that speak a foreign language can also learn. Why are schools not already doing this?

So I admit to having been sold on certain aspects of this idea. I'm not ready to throw out the library, and I still firmly believe in maintaining the importance of books. Richard Miller teaches me though that there is a better and more universal way to educate other than a textbook. The lesson plans are truly beautiful, and I would love to learn how to make lessons like this for my future students. Please click here to read Richard Miller's This Is How We Dream, Part 1&2.

The Fischbowl

I certainly took a few weeks posting a response to Mr. Fisch's post,"Is It Okay To Be a Technology Illiterate Teacher?" I was thorough in my reading and visited the article about five or six times, on separate occasions, just to digest the rant. It's not that I don't agree with Mr. Fisch, it's just unfathomable that any school official or teacher would not encourage education through technological resources. For one, it's virtually free information. Teachers constantly struggle with budget issues, and the need for updated textbooks can be greater in some district. Updated textbook resources should be required by the BOE and teachers should be required to use them!
I'll agree with Mr. Fisch also in that anyone in the field of education that uses the excuse "I'm just not that good with the Internet," should be fired. It's not cute. It's also not cute that most people that use this excuse have no problems going to their favorite game sites and playing a game for several hours. You can read The Fischbowl and the famous post here.

Comment for Kids

I visited Molescroft Primary School to leave a commented on their fantastic cross country running team. I'm most impressed with the mascot showing up in support of the running team, and I mentioned that our school mascots generally are only sighted at Friday night football games. It's great to see kids making time to run long distances. If you wish to see these kids in action click here.

Comments For Kids

I left a comment for 3W's class blog this week. They were working on their measurement unit and investigating how many "hands high" each person is. What a fun way to explore objects, measuring, and Math in general.
For more information on how to determine a giant click here.

Duke and iPod's

Duke University tested out the academical uses of iPod's on their many freshman's in a 2004 experiment. The results showed that the audio intensive required assignments were more accessible for the students, therefore, the students earned more of an understanding and stayed interested in the material.

Learning what options are available for students, in the way of additional support at iTunes U, would seem to make this an invaluable option for all universities. By providing materials that engage students and faculty simultaneously, both will seem more organized. This study was five years ago, and I'm certain other universities have followed Duke with just as much success.

iTunes U

I actually have found iTunes University so very interesting that I've been exploring for almost three days, and I've collected a different "school" for each day that I may keep up with. I'm sure there will be more. Starting here: http://www.apple.com/itunesnews/itunesu/?cid=ITS-NAUS-ITUNESU-ITUNESNEWS090506I was able to select from a group of subjects that interested me. The Apple claim is that you can learn a new language, explore museums, and enrich your worldly perspective. Once you begin to explore their claims, you'll find that there are indeed free Spanish, French and Italian lessons.

The convenience of having this information so readily available, and from various sources is mind blowing. I don't need to be enrolled as a student at Stanford in order to listen to a lecture on "Teaching and Learning." You can follow the link here: http://itunes.stanford.edu/when you get there, follow the education link, under the left side bar. It's free!

Podcasts in the iTunes U offer educational advances for all topics and I'll find great value in gathering others insight when I'm teaching.

Dr. Alice A. Christie

I really like that Dr. Christie encourages students to take ownership for their personal learning. That's a hard lesson learned since we're instructed upon entering school to do the work the teacher assigns. I think that students often don't take an interest beyond the assigned work because they're not interested, or it's not fun, and they're not challenged/mentally stimulated by the work.

The approach that Dr. Christie is taking in most suitable for learning, and I think her succinct format for the lessons, like "Art," would be highly effective for students of all ages. First, what I realize from her lesson is that this is instant learning that can be updated to include current information, unlike a book can. Text books cost big bucks, and most schools are facing a budget crisis now that force them to reuse texts for years. Second, Dr. Christie has personalized her pages to include an introduction that states key facts in a list-like format. The art lesson includes photos, just as a book would, but her lesson offers links to other websites in order to acquire more knowledge about the projects discussed. This furthers the instant learning quality, and again, encourages students to own their educated mind.

Included at the bottom of the lesson is a list of all the state standards that are being met through that one page. Title's like "lets begin, what we'll learn, etc.) include condensed information, and take the guess work out of the lesson for the students. I feel like there's a lot to learn from her.

What I Learned from Mr. McClung

First, Mr. McClungs post is wonderfully insightful, and I'm glad it was part of Dr. Strange's required reading list. Where I gained most insight was the points on being effective as a teacher, and how we must teach students according to their needs. I would imagine as a first year teacher there will be a lot of uncertainty. Until you learn your audience, the students should "drive the instruction," as Mr. McClung suggests. His remarks on lesson planning mirror this as well, stressing flexibility in adapting your lessons according to the pace of your students.

He furthers his comments by advising to set reasonable, within limit, goals for your students and taking steps toward achieving those goals. If the work is too challenging, I think the students may shut down or become uninterested because they don't think they can do it. If you know something about your students and listen to them, as he suggest, teachers can effectively help a student rise to their potential. I have heard this before from other teachers, that by listening to your student, you may have been the only teacher that ever has. Also, creating a positive relationship with your students solidifies your confidence in them that they can achieve anything. I'm not sure why more teachers don't' do this, and I think that not having enough time is garbage for an excuse.

Mr. McClung's best advice is to never stop learning! I love this, and for teachers to be effective we have to love learning too.

Comments For Kids

Mr. McClung's blog truly reinforces his lesson plans in a fun, insightful way. I focused on the globalization post, where he incorporates a slide show for students to review the days material and make sure their notes are sufficient- all for their learning. I think this is an important aspect of keeping an informative blog. Teachers know their students have an area to review before taking a test, like a virtual study guide. With all the classroom news, it's a fun place to keep parents informed too.

Wikipedia, Virgil Griffith, and the Wiki Scanner

Students must be aware, or they are already, that citing Wiki as a reference on college (or high school) papers just doesn't cut it. Anyone can contribute what they consider facts, so the source and information are both unreliable. Having grown up reading World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica, I personally see wiki as a novelty reader. The Wired article (click here) describes most of the violators as press release writers, that have "deleted whole swaths of critical material." This would be disappointing, had I not already been aware of the misinformation.

The only positive quality I find is that Wiki can be an excellent resource router when I need to find a trail to a reliable Internet source. Most of the time, the links included in the footnotes will lead you to an actual source and not just an opinion or puff piece. However, the validity is always in questions just because my starting point was Wikipedia. Therefore, I feel that Virgil Griffith has a marvelous idea. The Wiki Scanner personally holds an entry writer accountable for the information they, or their company, are feeding us as consumers.

So I wonder, can anyone imagine what a invaluable tool Wikipedia would be if it was legitimized?

Randy Paush's Last Lecture

Randy Paush made a profound statement in what can be done when you bring a student body together. The outcome was/is significantly rewarding and immediate for students guaranteed employment after graduation. Offering job placement with Activision would definitely be a perk! Not only were his teaching techniques important, but I found his life lessons and advice equally valued. After listening to him, I wonder if specific dreams are easier to obtain- almost like a small goal can sometimes be easier to reach than the big one. I also find it relevant his point of making yourself valuable, and assuring you can bring something important "to the table."

BVW began by assigning work that Paush felt would be intellectually beyond a students means. The students were challenged and appeared to be having a blast creating the programs. The results created a buzz on the campus and the students accomplished something they probably never thought they would do. The uniqueness about his programs concept of bringing together 50 random students is that you may have a English Lit kid designing virtual playgrounds- in turn, and receiving a job offer outside of their major. The possibilities and opportunities Randy opened to the CM students was/is more than what that student probably thought possible for themselves.

"Having fun while learning something hard." This reminds me of School Of Rock, and how I essentially learned basic math skills. Having fun and learning something, now that's ideally what we all want. While studying to be a future teacher, my personal concern is how do we make it fun? Education is most effective when we're having fun and the results are often of great quality. His students learned through his project what some folks go to school for a five years, or more. They learned because it was fun! Another point: having a support system in your parents, mentors, and students is invaluable to success. Knowing your parents can provide you with the means to succeed and support you throughout; having a mentor to guide, teach and lead you; and listening to your students. These are all parts of his successful learning and life skills.

"People have to help you." This advice really did take him far, and it's good to know people when you need an insider to achieve your goals. "Apologize when you screw up." A simple sorry and yeah, I did it, will erase a mountain of error sometimes. Randy talks a lot about showing gratitude to those by being loyal. This is important to success, I feel, because you want to be someone that others want to work with. "Don't complain, just work harder." I like that he mentions this point since I'm always complaining that I spend too much time working on school stuff and not enough elsewhere. In order to achieve the greatest amount of success, we need to work hard. I think the greatest advice to counteract the complaining issue would be- make it fun!

Did You Know 4.0

Think about this: there are almost as many television sets in America, as there are people; 2,000,000 of those televisions are in bathrooms! I'm personally against the whole "t.v. in the bathroom" decorating scheme. However, I can understand that fitting the morning news into your wake up routine is part of an intricate, multi-tasking, master plan. Haven't these people heard of "Dr. John's Bathroom Reader"? Hmph.

On a personal level, I was discouraged that only 5,500 magazine are still in print. As far as instant info (i.e. gossip), there's no need to waste the paper. There are some magazines that I miss terribly; like Cottage Living, Sassy, and HARP, that were unique/creative pub.'s. I don't think their effectiveness could compare on a web-page. Reading certain information, with a glossy photo spread accompanying, will never be the same on the Internet. Maybe the print corp.'s should think about printing fewer copies in effort to save the publication? As a book lover, I wish people read more books. I'm thinking that people that aren't encouraged or motivated to read a book in the first place, will take the time to read an e-book just because it's online.

My third reaction to DYK 4.0 is regarding politics, Twitter, and social networking. Obama's results from using S/N were discussed during the election, but I can't believe Iranian's were using Twitter for their election information! I'm new to Twitter, and didn't really consider it as a global operation yet- more like a trendy updating tool. (I'm also human and know this to be a mistake) I see the greater picture in using Twitter as a tool for personal learning.

Comments for Kids week #3

I visited Mr. Toft's 5th grade class in Ontario, Canada. Each creative child has their own blog, where they remark on their favorite activities. The class is encouraged to leave comments for other bloggers as well in a respectful and encouraging fashion. Mr. Toft also has a "class blog" that keeps the community and students up to date on all the news, homework, classroom activities.

I like that Mr. Toft is encouraging his students to participate in "comments." It's so important the kids learn how to positively interact with all cultures. Using the Internet in the classroom really opens up social and geographical learning. How cool would it be for students learning about India to actually communicate and ask questions with other kids living in India? Good stuff!

"It's Not About Technology" in response to Mrs. Hines

Before taking Dr. Strange's EMD 310 class, I was one of those "green" people that thought Smart Boards and technology were the answer to everything lacking in the classroom. That was about three weeks ago. Now, I'm getting the whole picture as one that survives on first the desire to learn as a teacher yourself, and creativity thinking. Mrs. Hines states that successful teachers must be voracious and self motivated in order to evolve and understand. From her statement, I am most interested in the aspect of success and how we personally measure ourselves.

I fully believe that success, even now in such a tech driven world, can be achieved by simply staying interested in the subject your teaching and learning all aspects of that subject. I'm 100% agreeing with Mrs. Hines that learning and teaching are not the same. From learning the core subject, a student can expand their knowledge using tech tools. By starting with simple reading and some interactive studies, we gain a sturdy foundation to build from. The best example I can think of for this would be science.

I've often felt that students can be overwhelmed by the Internet- heck, I'm often overwhelmed. One of the most valuable tools for learning Internet use is how to research using key terms! Mrs. Hines also references that what good is the technology if your not properly taught to begin with? For our high school kids, I would even suggest a class on time management skills- what do you do first, open your email or write a paper that's due? There's actually so much information out there now that we as adults even need to learn what works and does not. Most importantly as future teachers, we need to teach "smarter and not harder."

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

"A structured and patterned classroom" All I can say after watching the message in this video is yikes! These students did a great job summarizing a common issue among students in college classrooms today- we know there's a more interesting method to learning. It's a discouraging fact that most of us will end up $20,000, or more, in debt for our college education, and I'll honestly admit that almost every class I have is teaching to a test. Yes, even in college we must know the right bubble to fill in on the scan tron sheet (and I have horrendous test anxiety). Taking timed tests do not prepare you for the workforce.

To make this video more convincing, I would have actually shown the students browsing facebook during a lecture or taken random video shots of the students throughout lecture time. By making these visuals tangible, the outcome may impact the lecturing professor or student and result in a more creative approach. I would have also surveyed students and provided a solution for progressive learning methods. Maybe that would be taking an interactive approach online, and allowing us to watch their lecture at home in our pj's, or listening to a podcast of their weekly lecture while we exercise at the gym? One more thing- I feel strongly against testing our skills via scan tron. Why shouldn't all classes require each student to blog about their knowledge of that lesson and grade according to their response?

Comments For Kids #2

I just left from reading Moturoa's Blog for 4th and 5th grade classes. The Appleby Country Fair held this fundraiser in effort to raise money for a new school hall. The fair was rather successful and the newspaper even had a piece on it, along with a video. It's amazing how the classes included family activities for all ages! Older kids sang Karaoke, little ones had blow-up jumpers, a petting zoo, and the men had a wood chopping contest. One mother commented how her little ones were "shattered" and ready for a nap. How encouraging to see families out supporting their kids and community schools!

Topic #3.2

I reviewed the Education Podcast Network (EPN) and ended up bookmarking it! There are tons of useful podcast ideas, and ideas found in the podcasts themselves. For example, I listened to a class reading of a play and each person took their turn reading aloud for their part (Classroom III). Since most people are scared of being seen acting on stage, this is a great idea, and the kids actually read their parts with expression! All subjects matters are compiled for this network and you can select the grade level you teach. Under English/Language Arts, there are listed certain university podcasts that pertain to teaching secondary and elementary students.

On the down side, a few features currently do not work. Most of the podcasts for secondary English were not in working order; however, I found that many of the science and tech class casts working fine. Also, there were off topic podcasts under the non-specific areas, like on politics and personal spaces that talked about what the person ate for breakfast. Regardless, i feel like this could be a fantastic network to follow as far as staying current with students, or posting a class podcast. EPN has the resources to become a major tool for students and teachers.

Summer EMD 310 Videocast

While I was watching this videocast, the first area thing worthy of change is the audio. Keeping in mind that five people are sharing a mic set up in the center of a table, I would suggest sitting at a round table. Perhaps the sound would not "bounce" back into the empty space and you may achieve a rich, pronounced audio. If your listeners are engaged from the beginning, you have a greater chance of making your point and keeping their attention.

Second, when video is used, there's an opportunity to directly appeal to your audience through eye contact and demonstration. By demonstrating a few methods for the topics discussed, then showing your listeners how to use the knowledge successfully, seems to be more productive for a videocast. One last note- I feel that eye contact is important; otherwise, it feels like you're watching a video of a podcast.

Comments For Kids

How wonderful to see Mr. Lamshed's class being documented in their blog! He recently won the Hadley Harrington and Strange Award and purchased two digital camera's for classroom use. The kids will love that. I also found another class blog linked from his site called "Mr. McClung's World" that has a post about actively involving students in groups to take notes. A tech literate classroom is inspiring.

Blog 2

After listening to all six podcast's I've decided that this is a great way to communicate information! Having a group of people from a different community speaking about their opinions, or expertise, is a highly useful tool for teachers. (This also applies to hobbyists.)Even though I did decide there were unlikable features, I still found just a many useful ones.

First, I'm a huge sound snob, so it was hard to look over the poor sound quality on EdTech Talk. The topic of staff development in other states and how their district was approaching this topic, was useful though. Overall, I liked the different points of view on others teaching methods and how strongly they felt about staff development. The sound on the Mac Break Podcast was amazing. As usual, everything about Macintosh is always high quality. The speakers are very enthusiastic and informative about troubleshooting and using your Mac products.

Smart Board Lessons was tough to get through at first. i found the chatter between the two hosts annoying and maybe intended for listeners who know them more personally. The most useful bits of information on SBL Podcast came from the "movies with math in them" topic. Both hosts describe this as a way to reach children on their level, and suggest this as an idea to connect with the students and make the interested in Math. This seems like a pretty good idea, especially since Math is not appealing to so many kids.

My favorite podcast's are Dave Warlock's "Connect Learning", "Kid Cast" and "This Week In Photography." Let me add that I'm not a photographer, nor have I found myself interested in this subject, but I really like the style of this podcast. It's very casual and seems like a good tool for keeping up to date on all things related to camera's and stuff. Dave's podcast has the best variety of topics and I found it to be the most informative. The comments on how children learn and making it fun for the kids, is most useful. I feel that looking for ways of keeping learning fun for the kids is one of the most important things a teacher can do. "Kid Cast" had a few useful tips on video podcast that I liked. Basically, the host comments that as long as the children are staying true to the content and not spending much time on the production, a video cast can be great. Many of us do learn well through visualisation since we are visual people.

Harness Your Students Digital Smarts

The approach Ms. Davis is taking to educated her school and community in a small town like Camilla, GA is encouraging. After she mentioned that she is teaching her students to be thinkers, I'm impressed and think her innovating. She has opened her students minds up to exploring career paths they probably would not have considered before.

The flat project Ms. Davis' students are exploring, has educated the kids about other countries and cultures. Having a global personal experience with another human must be rewarding. The exposure to be creative and online at the same time probably keeps her students interested too. I'm sure the students are proud and respectful of her knowledge of technology.

Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Ken Robinson makes a profound statement in this lecture. Both Mobile and Baldwin county school (as well as others across America) have considered putting our art programs on the chopping block, at a time when we seem to be operating in the "red." Mr. Robinson states that English and Math teaching is thought to be most important everywhere in the world, and we are taught to be scholars while our creative minds dwindle away. The honesty of his lecture is hard to swallow because as children we are encouraged to dream big.

Our society is not encouraged to use their creative talents. If a child can play an instrument well, they are encouraged to use that talent to gain scholarship funds. Unfortunately, the child is rarely encouraged to use that talent to earn a living. We are accustom to going to school and earning a degree, then working in our field of study, just as our classmates are. An interesting thought; many people I know are working in jobs they love and have an associates degree. They actually earn a better living than the scholarly folks I know.

Education is a treasure, as well as our creative natures. Merging the two sounds good and teachers should encourage all the qualities their students possess.

Ken Robinson

Did You Know 3.0 / Mr. Winkle Wakes

Did You Know 3.0 :

What does it all mean? First, that was quite a bit of information to take in even before the two minute mark. To read that the top jobs of today did not exist in 2004 is discouraging for almost anyone trying to achieve a degree in an older field. As a teacher in a technology filled society, we must do our best to stay current so that we can better communicate. If we are current, I feel we will have a little job security amongst teacher that are not tenured.

The video states that we are currently preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist, and thinking ahead in order to troubleshoot the future. People everywhere seem to be keeping ahead and preparing themselves for any change our world sees. I'm most disturbed continually by China's English speaking statistics. To clarify, I'm not bothered that they are prepared to communicate with us, I'm disappointed that we are not preparing our citizens to speak with anyone else that doesn't use English. Our schools predominately do not offer another language until the secondary stages of education. This should change, if only to empower our nation with the ability to communicate with more people.

Mr. Winkle Wakes:

This is a great analogy of how technology has progressed and changed our society. Mr. Winkle was asleep for 100 years of course, but just think how quick our daily world has changed since the inception of the Internet. Anyone can be a published writer or a celebrity now. Something worth taking note of in the beginning of the video, all the office workers are dressed very casually. Most office attire is casual in the tech world, a trend that has bled into a few other fields as well.

Rip takes pause to notice these changes, but feels most comfortable in the old classroom setting. Unfortunately, funding for schools is often cut short and tech advancement is expensive. Most private school settings offer Smart Boards for their students today, but public schools lack any advancements such as this. I have noticed that computer labs are commonplace in most schools now, but students are not permitted to use them freely. The bottom line is that tech equipment is very expensive and when you have public funding, many times other programs are set as a priority. It should be a requirement the our schools are equipped, but we don't control the money spent on our schools.

About Me, Post #1

Hello! My name is May and I'm beginning my junior year here at South. I'm originally from Maryland but now reside in Spanish Fort. I'm majoring in English / Secondary Education with Spring 2011 being my completion date. I've experienced a career change and this will be my second degree- the first landed a boring cubicle job. I'm very excited to be in the teaching program and do not feel discouraged by the recent economic turn facing our school system. I believe we will recover within the next two years.

For fun, I'm a big fan of music and collect vinyl. To feed my habit, I have worked in the local independent record store, Bay Sound, part time for the past seven years. I'm also an avid reading and love comedy.