Blog Post #14

Final Reflection

Project #13

Before I took this class, I was already familiar with using Skype. Thanks to Dr. Strange's interview with Kathy Cassidy, I now know you can use Skype to conduct interviews with people all over the world. I loved Google Docs, I check mine 24/7. I like how you can share documents and let people edit the documents you send them, or you can make it to where they can only view the documents. Me and my group used Google Docs to communicate all the time for our project #16. Google+ was also new to me, it is a lot like Facebook. I'm glad Dr. Strange showed us how to use these free tools for educational purposes.

Blog Post #13

Back To the Future
Brian Crosby is doing a great thing with his class. I like how he has a student that is at home, but can still participate in class activities. Mr. Crosby shows other teachers across the world how to do experiments. He has all of his students blogging at a young age, that will benefit them greatly. Overall, Brian Crosby is an instructor who has done a great job in incorporating technology into the classroom.

A Vision of Students Today was a very enlightening video. If I was an educator watching this video, I would first take notes on how to improve my classroom for the students. The students told you what they go through, now it is time to act on it. If I was an educator I would check to make sure that the work I assign to my students has a purpose, and is not just busy work. I would also check to see if I'm making my students buy textbooks that they are not using in the classroom, and if they are I would change that right away. It is not fair to the student to make he or she buy hundred dollars worth of books not to be used.

Educators should have no excuse saying they cannot get feedback from the students about the classroom, because the video clearly depicts it is possible. The video had students stating how long they be on Facebook, so the teacher should start looking on how to incorporate Facebook into the classroom, or some form of outside the classroom communication. If I'm an educator watching this video I'm making sure technology is used somehow in my classroom, because only having a chalkboard is not going to cut it. I think this video was a nice selection by Dr. Strange.

How Will You Teach me in the 21st Century
The graduate student at Full Sail University is saying teach the kids technological tools; we use them so why don't the students use them. What I want my students to know is this is the information era, answers to their questions is just one click away. Second I want my students to be able to do things I was not able to do growing up. Blogging, Twitter, and etc, but use these tools for educational purposes too. I would have never thought Facebook would help me in my EDM310 class, but it did. I want my students to have experienced using technology, because they are using technology in the real world. I want my students to know something about technology so the world does not leave them behind. Finally I would reflect on how time has changed, and if I was using Melinda Kraft's approach I would do this by pulling up pictures from classes in the past. Then I would take pictures of classes of the present to show how the classroom has come a long was with technology involved in it. I can reflect on how more things can get accomplished in the classroom now due to technology.

Dorothy Burt's Video

I totally agree with Ms. Burt's standards about what teachers should be able to do. I'm not even a teacher yet and I can do all what is listed on her list. I believe I have the skills to do all what Ms. Burt demands. School systems in the United States may want to take a look at this blog post; this would be some good guide lines for teachers to follow.

Exemplar of Students Work with Video
Miles Webb is showing everyone can use technology, it is not limited. I personally loved the video, and I think Carlton did a great job. Making this video may help Carlton improve in ways we could not imagine. The video shows how truly dedicated the teacher is.

Jenny She's class is using iPads. The kids are really going to enjoy that. Click here to find out more about Jenny She.

C4T #4

I was assigned John T. Spencer's blog, education rethink.

Comment #1
In this blog post John T. Spencer is talking about his PLN, and what it means to him. He goes on in the blog post talking about the people he was able to meet through his PLN in person, and the wonderful time they had. Mr. Spencer was thankful for the people he met, because if it was not for his PLN, he would not know some of the people he knows today. I commented by saying Dr. Strange had us working on our PLNs in class, and PLNs are very beneficial. Mr. Spencer replied back by saying it took him years to get his PLN to where it is now.

Comment #2
I really enjoyed this blog post. In this post Mr. Spencer gives his eleven reasons to why teachers do not use technology. All his reasons were very informative. I commented by saying his reason #7 was the reason I believe most teachers do not use technology. Teachers are sticking to what they are familiar with and know work. I also stated that a workshop going over these reasons would be great for some teachers. You may never know, the workshop may change the way they view technology in the classroom.

Final report on PLN

Well I said my PLN page would be full by this time, but it is not. While developing my PLN I came to the realization that it would take some time to fill it up, especially after hearing how long it took some people to get their PLNs to where they are now. I'm glad Dr. Strange introduce me to PLNs. I will be working on my PLN far after this class is over.

Project #15

Blog Post #12

I am going to be a secondary science teacher, and I think a good blog post suggestion would be to have the edm310 students find two websites and videos that would relate to what they are going to be teaching. It would give the future educators practice on how to search for useful tools the kids can look over outside of school.

Here is my two websites and videos:
Project Noah (Thanks Stephen)
Science News
Lab Safety
Study Hard Anthem

Progress Report on Final Project

So far so good. We have been working together as a group to get our iBook project done, and I think it is coming along nicely. We picked an encyclopedia theme. I think our product, when finish is going to be awesome; we just need to keep up the good work.

Blog Post #11

I think it is wonderful how Ms. Cassidy's class is already working on blogs in the first grade. I see why Dr. Strange says if a third grader can do it, we can do it. She is doing a great job starting the kids off early with using technology in the classroom, and some of the kids probably already use computers at home. I also think Ms. Cassidy's students are having a blast making videos; I never made a video coming up through grade school. Seeing themselves on the computers has to be exciting to all or most of them, and also gets the students more involved in the lesson.

I going to be a secondary science teacher, and I plan on using blogs and making videos in my classroom. I think this approach would be great for the students, especially the making of the videos. I think the making of the videos would be great for labs and projects we do in class. It would be a great way to keep the student's attention; I know I keep saying this, but how can you teach a student if you don't have their attention? Videos will play an important role in my classroom. One problem that might occur from trying to make videos is the time. Will I have enough class time trying to let everyone use the camera, or would I have to have multiple cameras? I think I am going to have to do a few test trials to see how things are going to workout. Don't want to spend a whole class period trying to edit a video.

Ms. Cassidy's approach is awesome, and I hope she keeps it up. I like how she is telling the students to only use their first name online, as she stated in the interview. It is great Ms. Cassidy is saying this, because we do have to remember they are kids using the internet. I know this is off topic, but I love the view of her backyard, wish it would snow like that in Mobile. Ms. Cassidy is doing an outstanding job with her students, cannot say that enough.

Blog Post #10

I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga.

This cartoon reminds me of the old mac vs pc commercials. The cartoon is comparing pencils, and I think the cartoon does a great job in doing that. Personally I prefer papermate, because as the cartoon depicts it is cheaper, but they don't always break on me. The cartoon is right about ticonderoga pencils and people buying them just to be hip; I know people like this.

Part 2

Why were your kids playing games was something similar to what I plan on doing when I become a teacher. I was planning to play some games with the students, pertaining to the lesson, so they can better comprehend it. This may all change if the principal comes down on me like the principal came down on Tom. I think Tom had a great idea making his class play a game, makes the students more interested in the lesson. The principal just don't understand.

The other post I read was banning books. I thought this post by Mr. Spencer was hilarious. This post is about the Book Banning Committee banning books they think would be inappropriate for kids. The Book Banning Committee gives him the list of books they are banning, and Mr. Spencer asks why they are banning certain books. Every time he asks them why they decided to get rid of a book, the committee gives him a reason. For example, he asks why are they going to ban Mark Twain, the committee tells him because Mark Twain won't use his real name so you cannot trust him. So Mr. Spencer keeps asking why they are banning some of the books and they keep giving him these ridiculous answers. So finally, Mr. Spencer says he has a book that talks about a man who tells people to abandon their family, is brutally murdered and then his friend commits suicide, and he is also friends with hookers. He asks them do they want to also ban this book, and of course they say yeah. They want to know what the title is, and he tells them the Bible. I think this is where the funny part comes into play, to see their faces when he said that had to be priceless.

Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please?

Scott McLeod post is some what clever. You have to think before you comment on this post. In this post McLeod talks bad about technology, just giving you the negatives about it. I can tell by some of the comments I read people do not understand this post, and continually keep talking technology down. At the end of the post he clearly states he has his kids involve in technology, and by doing this they will be ahead in the future. McLeod wants us to teach our kids about technology, but in a positive way.

Scott McLeod is a man of a lot of things, click here to found out.

C4T #3

I was assigned Denise Krebs, blog Dare to Care.

Comment #1

I commented on Krebs's blog post about leaving comments. Her post was about people being scared to leave comments on blog posts because they are scared to be judge or they do not know how to. This post was for people to have a safe zone for commenting as Krebs stated. She said she will be willing to help people learn or comment better on blog posts.

I started off by doing what Dr. Strange always say to do; introduce myself and tell her about our class blog. Afterwards I stated how it was a coincidence how I was assigned to leave a comment about a post, and the post is about leaving comments. I was wondering the odds of that. I told her I was new to commenting, because I did not start leaving comments online until I got into EDM310. This was one of my favorite post to comment on thus far.

Comment #2
The next post I commented on was Krebs's post about her PLN. In this post she was thanking her PLN members for their comments, and wanting to know how they benefit from their PLNs. I told her PLNs is very beneficial,and Dr. Strange has us working on them in class as we speak. I also told Krebs about my blog, because she wanted to know if I had one.

Blog Post #9

What I've Learned This Year was a very informative blog post. I read Mr. Joe McClung's post on what he learned his first year of teaching, and I really enjoyed it. Mr. McClung said he was so worried about being assessed by his superiors, that he did not take the time to see if his students understood what he was teaching. I thought he made a great point by saying that, and letting us future teachers know what not to do to our students. I'm also glad Mr. McClung talked about never to stop learning. He states even though you are a teacher you do not have to stop learning, you can learn how to make your lessons you are teaching better for the students.

I also read Mr. McClung's post on what he learned from his third year of teaching. This was extremely interesting now he had some years under his belt. In this post Mr. McClung reminds us not to get caught up trying to please our superiors so much we forget why we became a teacher in the first place. I think this is very important because he stated this in his previous post about what he learned. I thank him for informing me to keep my focus on the students, and I plan on doing that.

My favorite section of this post was the don't get comfortable part. This part is talking about not settling with your lessons, but finding ways to incorporate different things into the lessons to make them better or easier for the students to understand. You do not want to fall into a routine, because you would not be advancing anymore as far as learning. I plan on being a teacher that does not get comfortable with the way things are. With the information Mr. Joe McClung has posted I now know what to expect when it comes to being a new teacher, and the things you have to over come.