5-2-2010

I learned how to do many things this semester in EDM 310. The class was extremely time consuming but eventful. I learned how to make a podcast, edit videos, and expand my knowledge of Twitter, Google Earth and Google Docs. Amongst other things I continued blogging and commenting on children’s blogs all around the world. To say that I learned nothing would just be wrong. I will admit that I did not have as much fun as I thought I would learning how to do these things. In a few years when I begin teaching I plan on using Google Docs frequently, maybe some podcast and videos. Since I am not a big fan of blogging it will probably be unlikely that my students blog, but you never know. Out of everything that I learned in this class I cannot think of anything that I was curious to learn about. Again, since I do not like blogging, I am sure that I would have enjoyed the class more without all the commitment to blogging. My only reason for this is because it does not capture my attention. However, if my students wish to blog then they can have at it and blog their little hearts out on it. This class was not exciting to me. I dreaded this class and majority of the things that we had to do. It was an extremely needy class and I do not sit in front of my computer all day long. I do not have that kind of time, but some of the things that I learn are going to be useful later on. Hate to admit it but, Google Earth took my head for a spin when I was trying to get the embedding code. That stressed me out and again the dedication to blogging and few times a week. I found the class to be quite boring most of the time. Nothing that happened in class caught my eye or made me want to research farther information; it was not interesting to me and didn’t keep my attention. I would definitely change this course… there would be less blogging, but you should have already seen that answer already coming. I would not assume that the students spend hours upon hours in front of their computers. I felt very overworked in EDM 310 and I’m pretty sure so does the majority of everyone else taking the course. I would have to think that after taking this course that I am somewhat technologically literate; a little bit more than when the class started. I will maintain my knowledge of the things I learned in EDM 310 by utilizing them with other courses until I graduate and then use them when I am teaching.

It was nice being in this class. I wish everyone luck. See ya later.

4-25-2010

After watching the 7th grader's PLE, I was very impressed.  It did not blow me away to see that her PLE was much better then mine at all.  I saw it coming from the beginning.  She did a great job on setting everything up. Kudos.

Whats my sentence? It has not been created yet. Someday something will happen and it will be created and known.

Was I better today than yesterday? As of today, I was better than yesterday.  I have been more productive and not lazy. Ups and downs of everyday. Maybe my tomorrow will be better than today, maybe not.

Google Earth - Project 12

4-21-2010

Comments4Kids (week 13 and 14) -

Here is Brandon's post talking about fitness. He did such a great job and was very clear.

Brandon's Post

This is a link to Dante's blog. He was amazing and I learned about whale hunters and some of the history of New Zealand.  It was pretty cool.

Dante's Blog


Presentations -
Tie-Dye

Survey -
Survey Spreadsheet

Project  8 -

4-18-2010

Blogging - 


I do not like blogging, I never have. I find blogging to be a little ridiculous majority of the time.  Don't get me wrong, it is a great idea for people all around the world to view your blog.  However, how many people really search blogs sites for people half way across the world.  I don't and I'm pretty sure half the people in my classes don't either.  So back to why I prefer not to blog; I usually do not think that I have anything of that much importance to say to people I do not know or why they would want to know what is going on it my life.  
I have had to blog for other classes along with EDM 310 and my feelings towards blogging still have not changed.  I would much rather do something else than blog.  Hypothetically speaking I did enjoy blogging, I would not be discussing my views on technology, what technology I might be using as a teacher (honestly, I don't know until I reach that part of my life), early pioneers and so forth.  I'm sure whoever you are reading this that you might be wondering what I would be blogging about.  Honestly, I am not too sure, but I do know that it would not be about the above topics.  Maybe about some of the music I like, my tattoos and future tattoo ideas, taco bell, things I do with my friends..... 
 As you can tell by know and by my choice of words that I am not the hugest fan of blogging. Any ideas that you think could change my mind?  I'm all ears (or eyes).

4-11-2010

Why is it important for students to post their work to blogs?

There are three main reasons why students should post their work online. One reason is for all the grandparents, parents, and siblings who are overseas fighting in a war or traveling and  and can not be present to see the progress of their family member.  This is a wonderful way to see their are projects and anything else that is being posted.  Another reason is for your teacher.  If they need to look at current projects or items from the past they can always view previous blog post.  And the last reason is that using blogs to post students work will give them more technology experience for the future.
 Example:

"I'm a PC and I'm four and a half"

A few projects...

 Project 5 - Google Form

Survery on Books

Project 6 - Skype

A number of my friends have Skype I have noticed.  I use this program plenty to talk with my parents when I am not at home and to my friends.  I used Skype over spring break to video chat with one of my friends and co-workers. It was quite interesting because it was the first time for me to use the program. However, I did have fun and will continue to use this.



Wordle Image -

Project 9 - Timetoast Timeline

The Simple Life of Penelope Humenansky

Project 10 - Timetoast Timeline 2

Dante Alighieri

Project 11 - Google Earth

 I have used Google Earth several times. I googled my house and a few other places. I am still using the program and finding new things to search.

3-28-2010

Morgan Bayda -

I found this blog to be pretty interesting.  What Morgan Bayda and Dan Brown both had to say was good.  If students can not afford to go to college and further their education, then they are just going to be down the toilet.  However, if said student uses their head correctly, they will be able to find probably the majority of the information needed for them to graduate from college online.  A lot of the information today is free and online for all to see.  This is helpful so that you do not have to sit in the lecture hall for a couple of hours copying down information that can still be found on various websites. 



Comments4Kids -
The page that I commented on this week was about Mathletics.  It is a mathematical website to help students from k-5 and up to improve on their math skills. Is seems like a great way to learn the new techniques. Here is the website for further reference - Mathletics

3-12-2010

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) –

This website is amazing. It has many different items that you can click on to help you when you are teaching. For example, if you needed some help creating a lesson plan for your third grade science class you can go to the left hand side of the page and click on “lesson plans” and then click on the ALEX lesson plans, select the correct items needed for your search. After the search in completed there will be numerous lesson plans for you to choose from. If you do not want to find a lesson plan that has already been created you can make your own. Not only are there lesson plans, but there are also podcasts, web links for teachers and students, professional learning and personal workplace.
I would definitely recommend this website to other teachers and students that did not know about it. As a future teacher I now plan on getting great use from this website. There are so many different features that could help me out for when I am in a jam with my class.

Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS) –

This website contains useful information for high school students and teachers. There are plenty of test preparations for AP classes and graduation examinations, advance placement tests, and whether or not a text will be required for class. Not only does it have test guides, but also chemistry help. There is so much more on this site that can be utilized.
I do like the site. Even though I am not planning on teacher high school students, if I was then I would use this site to help them if I am not explaining something that they can understand; for example, chemistry. I would also inform teachers and students about using this site and the many ways that it can be helpful in the long run.

3-7-2010

Comments4kids -

This is Henry and he wrote some poetry about pandas. It is a very cute and funny poem. I really enjoyed reading it because I read it repeatably. Henry's Blog Post






Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture - Achieving your childhood dreams


 By far this is the best video I have watched for this class.  Randy Pausch made it so very interesting to want to keep watching. 
The video was about his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and the lessons learned.  One of the things mentioned is something that everyone should know already- "don't lose sight of your inspirations."  Not everyone, but some people do lose sight of the things that help them to achieve their goals in life.  One of the quotes the Randy Pausch used was "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."  True.... we do not always get what we want.  However, there is always some great experience behind them.  Sometimes we even use these experiences to our advantage. 

Randy Pausch also says that we need brick walls.  These so-called brick walls help show us our dedication to our dreams.  He also mentions the term "head-fake," which is making someone think that they are learning something else.  This happens all day and everyday to millions of people. I know that it has happened to me plenty of times.  I give many kudos to this video, it was by far the best one. 

2-28-2010

Comments4Kids -

This week I had a little girl named Isabella from Mrs. Kolbert's class. She was running to be the representative for her class. She listed a few good reasons for why she should be elected. I hope everything went well for her.

Here is her blog-
Isabella's Posts

Richard E. Miller: This is how we dream -

During the video I realized that a lot of our research is through the web today. Many books are becoming available through the internet. The information that is available to us can be found in text, voice threads, or videos. The information is usually updated frequently. iTunes U is used by many college students and teachers to help find information and to hear missed lectures. One of the things that Mr. Miller mentioned that idea's belong to us as a culture and we need to share our idea's as teachers. Also, we place limitations and restrictions on ourselves and we need to be inspired teachers.

Wendy Drexler -

This presentation show us why we, networked students, need teachers. We need them to show us how to build our networks on the internet. They offer guidance when needed, they can show us how to communicate correctly and how to ask to correct questions. Teachers can show networked students to recognize the difference between good and bad information. More so, teachers help us stay organized.

Michael Wesch -

In this video Mr. Wesch pointed out that the majority of conversations are focused around television. For example, the use of the word “meh” became popular because of the T.V. show Melrose Place. Also, the word “whatever” has several meanings. One, is the “whatever- what you said,” another is “whatever- I'll do what I want.” How these meanings keep changing? Every generation chooses a different way to explain it. Our generation is more disengaged leaning towards conceded; not everyone, but a lot of people are this way.
Video's posted on the way are posted by people who are not talking to anyone in particular just a webcam. They are talking to something not someone. It might be easier this was because of the embarrassment or issues that people have to talk to and object and not a real person. Whatever works for them, go for it. We also do not who or when our videos are going to be viewed. Someone in Norway could watch a video post that morning from someone here in Alabama at 3:38am their time. Some people use videos are confessions, I suggest being careful on what is said.

Personal Learning Network -

I decided to make my Personal Learning Network on Twitter. All I had to do was follow their directions and sign up. Mainly, I have tried to add people from my classes. Although, I do have a few friends on there, but many use Facebook. So far, I like to think that everything is going well.

2-21-2010

Dr. Alice Christie -

I decided to look at the constructive criticism area of her website. I do agree that everyone learns from their mistakes. Everyone has experiences and knowledge on how to change things and make them better. This can be seen at useful to teachers because of the hands-on mistakes that are made by their students. Each student will learn to find new ways to correct what went wrong. If a child is having trouble in math, they would figure out a different way to solve their problems if they way they learned is not helping.

itunes U -

iTunes U can be useful to students in many ways. If a teacher post podcast or video cast on iTunes U, then their students and review what happened in a previous class session. Also, if a student missed class they can always from the teachers podcast/ vodcast and watch the class session that was missed. Teachers can also use this for their students to help them with their classes.

2-14-2010

Wikipedia Scanner -

There is a possibility of Wikipedia being a reliable source in the future. Virgil Griffith created the Wikipedia Scanner to find who was editing the information already on the wikipages. Some of the bigger companies, such as, Diebold, Wal-Mart, and polical campaigns login and make positive changes to their pages and deleted anything that could harm them. However, by using the Wikipedia Scanner, many students doing research for school among other things can now view who editing the information to find out if Wikipedia can be used as a source.

“What I have learned this year” by Mr. McClung -

This post really makes me realize that all the things that I want to go a certain way will most likely not happen. I need to learn to mold myself to my students and learn from them as well as my students learning from me. Mr. McClung learned to change things around and work with what he had. He is pointed out things that should be obvious, however, are not until you hit to teaching world.

2-7-2010

I chose to listen to “The benefits of podcasting in the classroom.” I have learned numerous things about podcasting that I hope to utilize in the years to come. Podcasting is an effective way to get the students to interact with each other, it can be listened to anytime and anywhere, they also allow a more in depth learning. In this podcast, I learned that my generation is called a “Milllenail,” which is a child born after 1980. This means that the children born after 1980 have always been surrounded by technology. We have not gone a day in our lives without it. The podcast allow for differentiation in the classroom, and teachers can record and playback their lectures from earlier to study and recap. This will come in handy.
The difference between a podcast and a vodcast is that podcast are tools to be listened too and vodcast are videos for the visual learners that can also with viewed and listened too. Many teachers who use podcast can upload them to iTunes. If a student is out sick they can find their class lecture from that day and not have to miss any information. The podcast that are uploaded are also beneficial to the parents because they can also listen to what their child is learning in class.

My Presentation.

1-31-2010

Podcasts-
I listened to all the podcasts the you wanted us to listen too. I enjoyed listening to “This week in photography” and “ Kidcast.” I liked how that started their podcasts with introductions on what was going to happen in the session. Although, I did find it to be funny in “This week in photography” about how some camera with think that asian people are blinking and how some dark skin tones are not picked up. “Connect Learning” episode 92 was also good. They were very informative on the Educon program. The one that sounded the most like a radio talk show was “Macbreak Weekly.” It seemed to me that they were just sitting around drinking coffee and discussing different matters.

1-24-2010

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today:

I found this video to be very interesting. I really enjoy reading the statistics that the students are holding up. Although they may not all be write, they are still cool. It amazing to see how much is expected of the average student. Majority of the time those expectations are not followed through. For example, this EDM310 class is expecting its students to work 9 hours of homework in a week. This goal is not meet.
For one thing lots of students work jobs, often times more than 1, they are in the military of some sort and there for are traveling quite a bit, or they live far away and have a long commute to school.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines:

I do have to agree with her. I use to be a teacher aide in an elementary school about a year ago. There was a lot more technology being used today and some of the children were not fully understanding it. The teacher would try a variety of ways to help the child, but they would not always work.
However, there were smartboards installed into the classrooms and the students thoroughly enjoyed learning with them. They are interactive and the child has to use their brain to figure the subjects out more.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

I posted my comment on his blog. I did agree with him that teachers and people all around the world should try harder to grow as technology expands. If people decide that it is too complex to learn how to technologically literate then they will lag behind.
For the people who are lagging behind because of there technology choices, they can lose there jobs, or not be able to find a job. More and more places are stepping it up to grow with technology.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count:

WOW! This is way cool. I like that it shows us how much of our time and money is gone to waste. At the moment, 672 members created a Facebook account. People should really learn how to manage their time a lot better.
If we are spending over 75 thousand hours on Facebook then clearly some of us need a better hobbie. We could all try to enjoy reading more and art.... something besides spending thousands upon thousands hours on Facebook. Come on people.

1-17-2010

Did you know response-


I was amazed at some of the facts that popped up on the screen. Many of them I did not know. For instance, India has more honors children than how many kids are in the United States total. How is that possible? Are the we not pushing our students to try harder? What else is there that we can do?

Not only did the India fact blow me out of the water, but so did the text message fact too. Here it is... “More text messages are sent and received everyday, exceeds the total population of the planet.” All I have to say to that is “WOW!” That is amazing in itself. I know I send quiet a few text messages everyday but to for everyone in the world to text is over the whole population. We are defiantly advancing faster than I think we should. Our technology doubles every two years. Soon enough there will be no time to fiddle with the technology that came out a year ago before something else fascinating come out.


Mr. Winkle wakes response-

I thought this video was a bit slow and I lost interest a few times. However, during the film I did realize the while the outside world is changing and growing schools will always be around to teach our children. Technology will not be a constant use in the classroom. There are going to be times when there is just going to be pen and paper.

I am curious as to why Mr. Needleman chose to create a story using Rip Van Winkle. Would it be because the majority of children know the story and can in some way relate back to it, whether it be because of the unused technology or the school environment?


The importance of creativity-

I absolutely enjoyed this video. I enjoyed it so much that I posted it on my Facebook page so that all my friends could watch it. Sir Ken Robinson is so funny, yet can still make you think. He is able to take serious situations and turn them into something that is entertaining. I did have to agree with quiet a few things he said.

“Education take us to a place that we can not grasp yet,” which is very true. No matter what there will always be a struggle with mathematics, science, literature or any subject. I agree that creativity and education should be treated the same. If we choose one to be higher than the other them we are slowly getting rid the lesser one. Creativity is part of the education process.


Harness your students' digital smarts-

This video did not reach out and grab my attention or anything but it was a little useful. The teacher does not always need to know what he/she is teaching. There will be times when the students can shed some light on the topic and at the same time the teacher can also learn something new. Teachers can also try to use every type of technology that at there grasp. I realize that it will not always be new and up to date but at least there is some technology to help the students get involved.

I'm not a real big fan of the blogging, but in this video I have begun to realize how useful it is to get involved and try to get others to blog too. Blogging helps connect people from all around the world. It's a great way to meet new people, expand your knowledge, and travel the world.