Good-bye!

The thing that I am going to miss the most about this semester is my classmates. We worked together which was a lot of fun and helpful! I am definitely going to miss my group! :( Also I want to think Ms. Averitt and Dr. Strange for the help yall gave us this semester!

Final Blog Post!

This will be my final blog post for EDM 310 class but not my final blog post for me! When I first signed up for EDM 310, I did not know what to expect. I thought EDM 310 was just going to be one of those classes where it teaches you how to do a power point or a spread sheet. This class was nothing like that! But to my surprise this class helped me with things I never knew how to do. I am very thankful for this class in many ways and thankful that I had such great teachers!
Question # 1. There are the things that I have learned from this class:
• Blogging- I will have a blog for my class where I will put up what we did in class, homework, important information, and many more. Also my students will have there own blog where they will express themselves!
• Video cast and podcast- Podcasting is one thing I will use in my classroom in the future, it is a fun way for the students to use technology! I will also use video cast.
• Twitter- This was a great tool to talk to and follow other teachers and to be able to get ideas and suggestions that will be helpful to me in the future.
• Timetoast-I really think my students would like to use timetoast and would benefit from using this site, it also could be a great tool for me to show the students when event happened.
• Picasa- I think it is very easy to use and my students could create small projects with Picasa. It is very easy which I like.
• Wiki- It was not my favorite, I was confused with it.
• Google doc and Google Spreadsheets- I never knew that Google was more than a search engine! I really like it, there is so much you can do with it and I will use it in the future!
•
YouTube- I have always used Youtube it is such a great site! You can learn so much from it and I will definitely use it for my class.
• Moviemaker- I really liked using movie maker you can do so much with it! I will most likely use it in the future!
• ITunes- I have been using ITunes before EDM 310 and will continue to use it after this class
• Goggle forms- This allows surveys to be done more effective, which I love! I think this will be useful in my future class and I will use it!
• Google earth-Did not like this at all, it did not work all the time which can be frustrating. I do think that it is a neat, but I probably would not use this in my class.
• ACCESS & ALEX- The knowledge of ACCESS and ALEX is very useful!
• Presentations- I will definitely use this in my classroom!
• Skype I will use this in my professional and everyday life. I would love to have people talk to my class about different things and with skpe this could happen!
• PLN's- I have learned and got some much good information from others, so I will definitely be using my PLN!
• Comment for classmates- it was hard to do this sometime because people did not do there work or dropped the class. I think we should be able to pick someone’s blog to comment on every week but never be able to comment on the same persons blog twice!
• Comment for teachers- I loved doing this, I learned so much from other teachers blogs that I will do in my classroom.
• Comment for kids- I really enjoyed doing this each week! It also gave me ideas on how to start my class on technology.



Who I am as a professional- Now that I have taken this class I am going to be a technology literate teacher!

Teaching literacy- I will continue to learn and learn more about technology in the future to keep up with the change in time.

Future of schools- technology is changing our classrooms. Teachers need to learn to keep up with our students and our technology! As a teacher you should be able to use technology!

Intellectual trail- I learned to only put things on the Internet that I would not be humiliated by. I will continue to only post good things in both my professional and personal life.

Things I learned: Wow, where do I begin! First would be blog and how important it can be and fun, also how to use power point and spreadsheet using Google forms, how to Twitter, how to Skype, how to upload a video to Youtube, how to make a podcast, how to use Google Earth, embed a picture or video onto my blog, how to enhance and change pictures using Picasa, how to use Vocaroo and CamStudio, and how to make my PLN.

2. Things I would have liked to have learned but did not: There is nothing I can think of that you did not cover!
3. Everything that I learned in this class will be useful in some way in the future.
4. The things that I learned that were useful and “excited” me were: Skype, and blogging! When I started this class I did not no how to Skype or really what it was but after the first time I Skyped, I loved it an will use it in my classroom and personal life! Blogging really excites me now!! I will use it for my class and my students will use it as well!
5. The only thing that I found “intellectually challenging.” Was google earth, It would have been easy if it worked all the time!
6. I was definitely not bored in this class. With the blog post, projects, comments4 kids, teachers, and classmates there was no time to be bored. But I can say I stayed busy.
7. The only thing that I would change for this course would be the syllabus. It was hard to read and was unorganized. It was great having all the links.
8. I can honestly say that I am more technology literate now then when I started. Coming into the class, I only knew basics when it came to Internet and word. Now I am able to do so much and I understand so much more about technology and how to use it! I am very thankful for this class and will use everything I learned in the future.
9. As technology changes so fast I know that if I want to stay technology literate that I will have to keep learning everyday. I will keep using Google docs, Skype, YouTube, blogging and looking at other teacher’s blogs!

Comment4kids 6

I really enjoyed this video! It was about Daraja Academy of Kenya opening its doors on February 26, 2009. The students were so excited!

Comment4Teachers week 13 and 14

Educators royal treatment is the blog sit that I followed for week 13 and 14! I read a post about blueprints for today’s classroom! It was a dream classroom! Some of the ideas for this classroom was:
1. An energetic, compassionate, forgiving, curriculum knowledgeable, appropriate technology-using teacher.
2. A teaching station laptop that plugs in easily at school, but also gets to go home with the teacher after school and weekends. Equip it with graphic, video, presentation, and word processing software.
3. A classroom set of netbooks, laptops, smartbooks or similar 1:1—real computing devices that are as reachable as pencils used to be at school. And at the end of day they go home.
4. Handhelds for fieldwork are a good idea when traveling digitally light. And I’m not as opposed to smartphone-style devices anymore—if appropriate and they work to improve learning. And yes, recorders and reporter’s notebooks allowed, too.
5. Safe and quick Intranet connectivity for both teachers and students at school and home.
6. An online desktop, curriculum, portfolios, software, and digital tools for teacher and students—that can be accessed anywhere.
7. An interactive wall of some sort—whiteboard or whiteboard solution—with all the hook-ups, and pen and touch software.
8. A projector with sound and closed captioning for multimedia presentations
9. A document camera with audio and video to display, record, and video communicate.
10. Hardware and software for special needs, hearing, and sight-impaired students.
I said: Hi, my name is Lauren Reeves I am in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama, with Dr. John Strange! I would love to have all of that Technology when I become a teacher!!! That would definitely be great classroom!
Reply
The second post that I looked at was summer professional Development! It is about; teachers planning their summer activities!

Comment4Teachers Week 10 and 12

Creating life long learners by Mathew Needleman Is the blog I followed for week 10 and 12! I learned so much from his blog! He had alot of input on how to handle situations that I would not of thought of! The first blog that a I commented on was about test taking startegies which I got great ideas from! (everyone should go look)

I said:
Hi, my name is Lauren Reeves I am in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama, with Dr. John Strange! I liked your test taking strategies! I will definitely be using your suggestions to improve my class’s comprehension scores when I begin teaching. Thank you for sharing your ideas, I will definitely be following your blog in the future!
The second blog that I commented on was about kids crying in your class! He started the post off with a funny video! He made great points in this post that i will definitly follow!

I said:
Hi, my name is Lauren Reeves I am in EDM 310 at the University of Alabama. I really enjoyed reading this post about how to deal with crying kids and watching the video!! I agree with all of your point’s especially the big girls don’t cry or big boy don’t cry! I have to admit I have said that before, but after reading this post I will not handle it that way any more! I will definitely deal with crying kids the way you do by saying “I understand you’re feeling ___________ I’m sorry you feel _____________.” Thank you for all of your good points! If you would like to view my blog just go to: http://www.reeveslaurenedm310.blogspot.com/http://www.reeveslaurenedm310.blogspot.com/


If any one would like to look at Mathew Needlemans blog you can CLICK HERE!

Comment4Teachers Week 7, 8, 9

For these three weeks I was following Jen Deyenberg's class blog! She had so many great ideas and used lots of technology! She gave me many ideas that I can do with my class one day! The first blog post That I looked at was my favorite! It was about doing Science vocabulary! (You all have to go and check it out, it was such a great idea) She put groups together and made stations for each group to rotate to! The comment that I left was:

Ms. Jen Deyenberg, my name is Lauren Reeves and I am a student in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I will be following your blog post and at the end I will post an overview onto my blog. If you would like to visit my blog, I would greatly appreciate it. My website is http://www.reeveslaurenedm310.blogspot.com. I really love your learning stations! That is such a great idea and a fun way to learn. By doing that it really makes the students want to learn and they will remember the definitions! I would definitely do something like this for my class one day! Thank you for sharing this idea!

If you would like to see it CLICK HERE

The second post that I looked at was so cute it was called Eggesercizes! For an Easter activity she hid plastic Easter eggs all over the school yard. Each group had six eggs they had to find.Inside the eggs were exercises or “eggersizes!” After they found the egg they had a task to perform outside!

I said:
Hi, my name is Lauren Reeves and I am a student at the University of South Alabama! I love this idea about Eggesercizes! It is such a good way to get your students to exercise and have fun at the same time!

The 3rd post that I commented on was about exercising and using technology with it! It was called Nike and the kids marathon! She definitely keeps these kids healthy!!! But it is such a great idea for the kids to run a marathon and incorporating technology with it!


If any one would like to look at Jen's blog you can CLICK HERE!

Blog 6 February 21!

This week I looked at Dr. Alice Christie's website which was very useful! It had links and information about different programs that can help teachers. One link that she had was Google Earth. You may be asking what Google Earth is, it is a program where you can see different places on earth! To me it is not a very useful site but it can be fun for students and a way for them to use technology in the classroom. Her website has many more fun sites like web designs and many more that are helpful.
Dr. Alice Christie’s website is a great place for teachers to look at! I will definitely use things from her website!

iTunes University

iTunes University is great site for students to use! The number one reason is because it is free for you to download! You can download as much material as you want. ITunes University is a source that can be used by teachers and students. ITunes gives free information and resources to universities. It also gives you free videos, books and podcasts. This can really help teachers and students out!

While iTunes U is perfect for accessing and replaying lectures, many other forms of content can also be distributed, including slide shows, PDFs, films, exhibit tours, and audiobooks. ITunes is very helpful and great! I did not realize how great it was until now!

iPods

Believe it or not, IPods can be useful in elementary school. Teachers are doing so much with ipods in classrooms such as students doing podcast! Universities are also using podcast! For example, one major college is Duke University. Researchers at Duke University posted an article about iPods in the classroom and how it increased in just one year. It also said that the university has courses that require the use of iPods. That is great that they are using different technology in the classroom! As a future teacher I will definitely use different technology's in my class!


Wiki

This Wiki space is created and started by Dr. Strange! He took a question that was asked in 2007 by author Karl Fisch .He is the director of technology at a high school in Colorado. His question was: Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher? The answer that Mr, Fisch said was “If a teacher today is not technologically literate and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more it’s equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who did not know how to read and write.”

Dr. Strange also makes a discussion dealing with Mr. Fisch’s question. I think it is such a great idea to have a site like this where you can have a discussion and chat with other people!

PLN 2

My PLN has grown so much since my first PLN and it will keep growing when I learn more about technology. Since my last post I have used skpye which my username is Lnreeves.I skyped a professor and asked him questions about his job and his opinions! I have also talked to Mrs.Tommy Autrey alot more and got many of ideas from her and asked her plenty of questions about technology. I have also learned so much with doing comments4teachers that I will use in my class room!

From being in this class I know now that there are sites available to me for new ideas in the area of technology and in the classroom! The Internet has been a big source for my PLN! One thing that I have learning from this class is how much blogging can affect people and help them! I will have a class blog each year for my students! It will have what we did in class, whats for homework and many more things that will help the students! I am very grateful for this class!

Professional Blog

Here is a link to my professional blog. Please check it out and leave me a comment!

Project 8

I am teaching you how to use Vocaroo! I hope everyone finds it helpful!

Podcast Week 3

Podcasts
I listened to many podcasts. You may be thinking what is a podcast! A podcast is a pre done audio session done by one or more people. Podcasts are not live and can be recorded at any time of the day and then they are able to be replayed when preferred. The podcasts that I listened to were: KidCast, EdTech, ConnectLearning, Smartboard Lessons Podcast and This week in Photography.

The first one I listened to was KidCast it talked about when it is suitable to use podcasting or vodcasting. Vodcasting is a visual images as well as audio. I will definitely use KidCast for my elementary students. The second podcast that I listened to was EdTech. The presenters were great; it was about using gaming in schools. This podcast flowed and seemed more interesting than one with just one or two speakers. Next was he ConnectLeraning podcast, Episode 91: Conversation about Podcasting with Media Coordinators. I liked it because of the question and answer format. It made it easy to understand!

Podcasting can be a great tool for a teacher. I can record a podcast about school assignments that were given that day or on previous days for the students who were sick and put it on my class blog! This can also be a good way for teachers and parents to communicate with each other. Without this class I would of never of knew what a podcast was or ever use it. I will definitely use it and teach my students to use it!

Group Interview (Project 15)

For this interview I worked with Pam Overstreet and Heather Ludwig! We interviewed Stephen Ludwig, an administrator of technology in Clarence city schools and is also a part time teacher at the University of Buffalo teaching the NY version on EDM 310. The question that we asked Mr. Ludwig was what constitutes a technology literate teacher?

My Google Earth! New York City

Week 15

PLE

I watched a video by a 7th grader called Welcome to My PLE. Her Personal Learning Environment is like a personal learning network (PLN) her PLE organized her school work and her personal work! She has all of her work organized, for example the top row is her personal things such as facebook and the bottom row is her school work. Everyday she would come to class and check the class blog to see what she had to do for the day. Some days she would have videos to watch and much more! She would do a lot of things at her own pace! She had the freedom to do the work on her own and go in any order she would like to.
EDM 310 is a lot like this! Instead they organize their work! Maybe we should make a PLE! It would be nice to do things at your own pace, but you would have to be responsible enough to do it. And not wait until the last minute! I will defiantly do a PLE in my classroom.


Two Questions that can Change your Life!

The second video that I watched was by Daniel Pink. He said there are two questions that everyone needs to ask themselves. They are: What's my sentence? Am I better today than I was yesterday? What’s my sentence means is that every person has a sentence to do something great. What I want to think of my sentence in life is to help people. So I would want people to look at me and say “She is a great teacher that wants to change lives!” Question number two was, am I better today then yesterday? I try to improve myself everyday, so hopefully I get better instead of stay the same or worse! I believe that no one is perfect and has room to change so if you have the attitude to want to do better then you will!

Comment4kids 14

I read a story that Carson wrote called I Love Dogs! He did such a great job. I really enjoyed reading it! The pictures were also great.

Comment4kids 13

I watched a video called Bin it! It was about students picking up at their school! They did a very good job. What a great way to show students that they should pick up after themselves and others!

April 18 blog

We could pick any topic to talk about this week and mine is going to be about blogging! At first I hated to blog, but when I got the feel for it I loved it! Its your own thoughts. I enjoyed some of the blogging assignments that we had because it made me watch different videos, and read different post that I would have never read without this class. Blogging is a great way to learn. I will definitely have my elementary class blog because it is a great way to learn how to write and express yourself.

I also loved looking at the teachers blogs. That is such a great idea. I have wrote down so many ideas that different teachers have done and when I become a teacher I will use some of them. Comments4Teachers is a great idea and I am very happy we have had the opportunity to do that. After this class I will still continue to look at different teachers blogs!

My Wordle!

(Project 14) To Blog or Not to Blog...Is that even a Question!!

In our group we had Lauren Reeves, Heather Ludwig, and Pam Overstreet. We did our project over Blogging. The video has facts about blogging then short videos over creating a blog, posting on a blog and adding pictures to your blog.

Podcast Group! (Project 13)

My group was Alice Anderson, Heather Ludwig and Me (Lauren Reeves) we discussed interesting school blogs in the United States.

LISTEN HERE

Class podcast

Vocaroo Project!

For my Vocaroo Project I read a child's book!! Vocaroo was so easy to do, I was really surprised!

Skype

Before EDM 310 I really did not know what skype was. I knew a little about it but not enough to know to use it! But now that I have been in EDM 310 I know what skype is and I know how to use it! Skype is a free way to communicate with people, even if the person is across the World! You can talk to someone and see them! It is so neat! The first time I used skype was with Heather Ludwig and Pam Overstreet. We interviewed Heathers father in law! Skype is a great way to do business and also to talk to the ones you love! Now that I know how to use skype I will use it more in my everyday life, and I am thankful to have this class because without this class I probably would have never used it!! My username is lnreeves.

PS22 Video

"Why is it important for students to post their work to blogs (or in other ways)?"

I do think it is important for students to post their work on blogs. It gives them many opportunities to do different things it also gives other people opportunities to learn! These students were just singing in at their school and then next thing you know they were offered to sing with Fleetwood Mac! It just shows you having a blog can be a great thing! Three examples are:


1. Mr. C’s class blog- Mr. C's class saw Kaia blog and then in return after skyping with her father they made a voice thread for her to listen to their comments.
2. Mr. McClung- He blogged about everything he had learned in his first year of teaching. This really helped me know what to expect for my first year teaching!
3. Dan Brown- I could really relate to what he was saying.

Week 13 Blog

Dr Seuss's video The Zax, is about a North and South Zax going their own ways. They run into each other and refuse to move out of each other's way. Even though they did not move the world continued as normal. They can stand there as long as they would like but the world will change either way!

This video just shows you how stubborn some people can be. Some people are just stuck in their own ways and refuse to change for anyone or anything! It just shows you that people should just accept change! For example some people do not want to accept that technology is changing everyday! Some teachers are set in their own ways and I am going to make sure I venture out!

Blog 12

I loved looking at these blogs!! Kaia's father thought a great way to share his daughter’s childhood with not only his family members but also, the whole family was to create a blog for each of them. This was a great idea in my opinion! Kaia loves taking pictures with the help of her father. She has many pictures that she took on her blog. Kaia is using technology at a young age which is great and with help from her father she is able to share it with the world!

The voice threads in the blog that Mr. C's class had created was great and well put together. The class did a great job communicating with Kaia. As a future teacher I would love to do something like that in the future! I think it is wonderful that Mr. C is and also Kaia's father is helping her use technology at a young age!

My Timetoast Timeline!

I did my timeline on the University of Alabama's National Championships! I found timetoast to be very easy and helpful!

Comments4kids 12!

I read Izac blog about going to the beach! The student did a great picture for their blog!I like how the student did a picture to go along with their blog, but I wish the student would of wrote a little more about going to the beach!

Week 10!

I read a post by Morgan Bayda called an Open Letter to Educators; I also watched a video by Dan Brown. They expressed their views about University teaching. They talked about having a professor standing up at the front of the classroom lecturing facts and then giving two test, midterm and finals which is the wrong way to approach teaching.
I went to the University of Alabama my freshman year and I know most of my classes were like that. There were over a hundred students in the class and no roll being called. The teacher would just lecture and that is where the test would come from, I would never open my book which would upset me because I spent so much money on them. Dan dropped out of college, because he was failing. He believes that his "schooling interfered with his learning." They both mentioned how several times they had bought books for classes and never even opened them. I can relate to that!
I think teachers should not just lecture but me more hands on. When I become an elementary teacher my goal is to be a hands on teacher and use as much technology as I can! It is very important and changing our lives every day!

Comment4kids 10

The blog that I read was about making rice Krispie treats! Hannah did not write much about making them just that she was the mixer and her mother did the rest!She had a picture of her making them which was a cute idea!

Comment4kids 9

I read a blog about St. Patrick's Day! It was a cute blog with lots of pictures! I really enjoyed reading it. The student put lots of information about st. Patrick day and all the fun things that go with it! I would love to read more blogs like this one!

Comment4kids 8 Cold War Kids

I read a blog about the Cold War Kids! It was very informative. Cold War Kids are an American indie rock band from Long Beach, California. The post was well written and I enjoyed reading it!

Comment4kids 7

I read Janet's blog! She wrote about her class and did a wonderful job! She said the most important thing about her classmates are that they are all different from each other. She wrote about what they do daily in her class and how she enjoyed it!

Comment4kids 5!

I read Ben's post Bitten! He did a great job, and used great words. His story was short and sweet! He said "Peter's jelly legs stumbled and fell" which was well written! I really enjoyed reading his post and would love to read more!!

Google Form Project

For my Google Form project I did a survey on Your Health. There were twenty-one questions in the forms of text, multiply choice, check the box, and selecting one of the following, and rating. I had a total of twenty- one responses.
The responses show that 24% where males and 76% where females answering this survey. This means there were 5 males and 16 females who answered my survey. Only 2% of people do not exercise at all, 38% exercise one or two days a week, 33% exercise three or four days a week, 19% exercise five to six days a week, and 0% exercise seven days a week! More people exercise one or two days a week. I asked the question how many times a week do you eat out including fast food and the answers were never and there were only 10% which is 2 people who never eat out. 71% eat out one to four times a week and 19% eat out five to nine times a week. No one ate out ten plus times a week. How many calories do you consume in a day? The answers were 1400, 2000, two people 1500, 1200, 2500 plus, and the rest said they did not know. I asked the question how many meals do you eat in a day, and the responses were 12 people said 3 meals a day, 5 people said 2 meals a day, 2 people said 4, and 2 people said they ate 5 meals a day. 15 people would rather have fruit for a snack then anything else, 3 people would pick a bag of chips, 1 person would pick a hot pocket, and 2 people would pick a candy bar. I asked the question what do you eat the most of. The answers were 10% eat more fats, 38% eat proteins, and 52% eat more carbohydrates. Eight people would prefer to drink water, five people would pick soda, three people would pick juice, and five people would pick tea. Which means more people would pick water! I did a poll on do you eat vegetables on a regular basis and 86% of people said yes and 14% said no. I asked do you consider obesity in the United States a problem and everyone said yes. 43% of people are not on a diet and 57% are. Only three people do not enjoy working out which means eighteen people do. 52% of people are not members of a gym and 48% of people are. The gyms that they are members of are 4 people are at the YMCA, 2 people are at Planet fitness, 2 people are at Anytime fitness, 1 person is at Atmore, 1 person is at cottage hill Baptist church, 1 person is at Springhill athletic club. 71% of people have not taken a supplement and 29% have. 62% of people do not take vitamins on a daily basis and 38% do. 100% of people who did this survey do not smoke! 81% rated that they did not know their body fat and 19% does. I asked about how many times a year do you get sick and the answers were between 1 to 6 times a year. 76% of people do not get an annual physical and 24% of people do. The last question the students had to rate themselves 1-10 on how healthy they think they are 19% said 6, 38% said 7, 29% said 8, 10% said 9, and 5% said 10.

Week 9

ALEX

From just looking at the web site it seems very easy and organized. The home page has 8 links that can guide teachers to the course of study, web links, lesson plans, search, personal workplace, professional learning, podcast treasury, and help. When you use the Courses of Study link it takes you to a list of courses that you can pick from. After you choose a course that you would like to look up then you pick the grade that you would like to view, it will then take you to a list of lesson plans for that subject and grade. Web links can be helpful for teachers; it gives many links for teacher, students, and administrators.
ALEX can be very helpful to any teacher. It can be a very useful tool. It provides a way for teachers in Alabama to share their lesson plans and many more things, which can really help you as a new teacher and give you ideas. When I become a teacher I will use this site to help me with my lesson plans. I would encourage all teachers to visit this website.


ACCESS

When I was looking throughout the ACCESS web site and many more websites about ACCESS I found many links to the main site . Many people were talking highly about the program and how it helped students. The Alabama ACCESS Distance Learning Initiative was launched on November 1, 2004, with funding of $10.3 million starting October 1, 2005. The distance education program was the result of research and planning by Governor Bob Riley’s Task Force on Distance Learning. It Provide access to advanced diploma courses targeting foreign languages, access to additional course offerings, access to Advanced Placement or dual credit courses, access to remediation and supplemental resources, Leverage existing resources and distance learning offerings, Provide teachers with additional multimedia and technology tools to enhance instruction, and it Utilize outside evaluation to periodically assess weaknesses and strengths of the program in order to make appropriate adjustments to the implementation of Year Two through Year Five objectives. ACCESS provides many more things to students.
This program can help many students! I hope in the future more teacher’s use this site to help their students who do not have the programs available at their school. But the problem that some schools are going to have is that they do not have enough computers for all of their students or computers that work so that could be a problem. But if I had the opportunity to use this program I would!

Week 8

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I really enjoyed this video; it was very inspirational to me! Randy Pausch had 10 tumors in his liver and is still very positive, which I look up to him for that. One thing that inspires me is that he does not let anything stop him from achieving his dreams. He made all of his childhood dreams come true through his virtual reality worlds. He talked about: lessons about childhood dreams, enabling dreams’ of others and lessons learned and how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others.
One of his childhood dreams was to be in the NFL, which he proceeded to talk about his time playing football and he made a comment saying "When you're screwing up and nobody is saying anything to you any longer, that means that they gave up on you." Which is true in my opinion, when I become a teacher I will always give feed back and try to motivate my students to do better and give them advice and the guidance they need to become successful.
In his lecture he talked a lot about the program he started at Carnegie Mellon University, called Building Virtual Worlds. He taught his program for many years, and inspired many students. He was blown away with how good his students were doing and said he did not set the bar high enough for them, so after talking with his mentor he decided not to set a bar. This made the students work harder and opened many more doors for them.

Overall I think of Randy Pausch as an inspiring person. He said “It is not about achieving your dreams; it is about how to live your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself and the dream will come to you.” That statement is very true and one that was memorable to me.

Week 7!

Richard Miller videos part 1 & 2


When I was younger I always went to the library to look for research for projects. Now days I seem to just find all of my research or information that I would like to learn online. I have always been the type of person who would enjoy reading a book but I just don't seem to find the time; it is just much easier to look up the information online and you are able to find just about everything you need online!
From watching these videos of Mr. Miller, writing with multimedia, it has many benefits, Such as you can make study guides, lectures, videos, and even bring up different things at a time. It may take a teacher some time to learn how to use multimedia but the benefits are well worth it, now day’s teachers have to be updated on their technology and should be, that is why I am thankful to have this class so I can be updated! As far as if my students will be able to write with multimedia, I believe they will be able to. If elementary students today are blogging and doing what I am doing now then I’m pretty sure they will be able to write with multimedia.


Wendy Drexler' s : The Networked Student

This video was very easy to follow and straight to the point which I really liked! I can relate to this video since I have been in EDM 310. This video can give us a lot of help in the learning process that we live in. One of the comments in the video about teacher’s that I liked is that their here to guide you and help you throughout the process which is very true. That is why we as teacher's need to be able to use and teach technology to our students, we do not want out students teaching us!
After watching this video I asked myself am I ready to be a teacher with networked students? My answer to that question as of right now is no. Before this class I would have said yes because I was not aware of all the different networks and technology used today. I am hoping after this class I will be ready to teach networked students! As a teacher my job is to be updated with all the different learning tools and different networks.


Michael Wesch's Whatever video

I really enjoyed this video even thought it was long. Mr. Wesch made some very good points. He said Earlier in time Media was on T.V. that is where the conversations were, now the conversations and media is online such as facebook, youtube, myspace , blogs, twitter, and many more. He made a statement saying we no our self’s through our relations with others, new media create new ways of relating to others, new media create new way of knowing ourselves. This is very true and got me thinking. Such as the web cam there can be many different versions of our self’s and many different takes.
Mr. Wesch talked a lot about youtube, according to him over 99.9% of youtubes are irrelevant to you, and he is right! But youtube can be a helpful tool. You can learn many of different things from youtube and watch different videos such as this one. Youtube can be helpful for teacher and I will be using youtube to show my class different things. He said 20 hours of videos are updated every minute on youtube, WOW! That means there is a lot of information on youtube, it can be informative or irrelevant but there is a lot. From watching this video it made me think about all the information online and there is a lot.

PLN

I have contacted a few teachers in the education department and plan on asking many more. These teachers that I have emailed are elementary education teachers! I emailed these teachers about giving me advice on teaching ideas and assignments. The teachers that I have emailed are Tommie Autrey and Carolyn Burmeister.They teach at Daphne East Elementary School. I also made a Twitter account (Lnr903) and plan on following a few teachers.

Week 5

Wikipedia Scanner

The program that Virgil Griffith made for scanning Wikipedia to see who edits something can be a useful tool. Wikipedia has never been a trusted site to me, and most of the teachers I have had in the past. As a student I was never allowed to use Wikipedia as a source for a research paper. It is just too easy for anyone to go on there and edit things. With this new scanning program I think it might help a little. People will still be able to edit things; they will just be caught sooner.

Wikipedia Scanner is a really great idea but, I would still prefer to not use Wikipedia as a reference. However, it is appealing to see all the companies in Wikipedia using it and editing their own information. It makes you think about why they are changing their information. Wikipedia Scanner is a great update to Wikipedia but I do not think I would trust it 100 percent.



"What I've Learned this Year"


The post by Mr. McClung of "What I've Learned this Year" was Fantastic and interesting. He went through what he thought his first year as a teacher was going to be like and what it ended up being like. He said he thought it was going to be all about him and how he taught. He was in a fantasy word which means, he would go by his lesson plan, everyone would understand everything, but he soon found out it is not always like that. It is all about your students and its ok to get off course you just need to pick the students up and stay positive.

His thoughts of what he went thought at the beginning is what most new teachers go through. I am taking classroom management this semester and it really has helped, it teaches us the things Mr. McClung was talking about. He says being flexible and communicate are very important, so as a first year teacher you need to know these things that Mr. McClung is talking about and I thank him for sharing this with us!

My Life After High School!!

Blog 4

Comments4kids
I read Anna H. post about being safe on the Internet. She made great points! Reading a student's blog is a lot of fun and interesting. I think it is a great idea for students to write blogs, it really seems to help with the student's ability to write and think. I really enjoyed reading Anna’s post and look forward to reading other student blogs.





Benefits to Pod-Casting in the Classroom
Pod casting is a rapid growing new way of teaching. There are many benefits to pod castings like it can be used to access learning materials anywhere and anytime. Pod casting is manly used by “millennials”; which refers to people born after 1980, and has always had a life with access to personal computers. Pod casting is a creative and innovational way of learning using differentiation; which is more student centered.
Pod casting is a new and relevant way to learn and has been shown to excite students. It allows students to demonstrate higher learning experiences. One great thing about pod casting is it allows students out sick to still receive study materials to help them study. Pod casting provides relevant information on the go and the info easily uploads to web sites. Parents can easily get involved and make sure their children are keeping up with their assignments.

Blog 2

After Watching Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today, It reminded me of when I went to the University of Alabama and I had 100 or more people in my classes, where the teacher did not know your name, You did not have to go to class, you could also be on your lab top and not be doing school work. I feel like I did not learn as much in a big class like that because I never got the one on one treatment that I may have needed. Also Bigger classes like that mainly just have test and no work from what I have experienced. Changing school to Faulkner and now to South Alabama was a smart choice for me because the classes are a lot smaller and there is more one on one help. You tend to stay more focused when the teachers looking at you. Also you do not have that option to not come to class because the teacher will know!

The video was right on target to me, it is like that in big classes. The video also showed you the hours that students spent on average on doing homework, Studying, facebook, etc. It seemed to not be enough hours in a day to do it all. One thing that I really liked was about how much each student spends on books and never opens them. Some by choice but some are because the teacher never teaches out of them. It would be nice just to have to buy the books you really will use, I know that would help out a lot with students financially and the student loans would not be as big.

It's Not About the Technology

After reading this article, I agree with Kelly Hines about numerous points. When she says that it really doesn't matter how much technology is brought into a classroom or how much a student uses it, it really doesn't matter unless something is being taught. If there is nothing being taught, then how will a student learn? I think technology is very important in the classroom but it should not be the main focus.

I also agreed with her first point about how teachers must be learners also. You have to be a learner to become a teacher, there are new things to learn everyday and if you learn these things then you will be a great teacher. She made the comment "I don't know why these kids don't get it. I've taught it a hundred times." Then she proceeded to say “If an object does not move, no matter how much force has been applied, no work has been done. Therefore, if a student has not learned, not matter how much effort has been exerted, no teaching has been done.” I really looked up to her when she said this because that is very true and not every teacher faces this fact. I really enjoyed reading what Kelly Hines had to say.

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

After reading this particular article, I set and thought. Thought back to my days in grade school; remembering different teachers, the ones who were technologically literate and the ones who were not. I remembered how each one of them taught and how well the information they shared stuck with me. I came to the conclusion that the teachers that were illiterate with technology don’t get me wrong, did a good job teaching, but not as well as the ones who used technology to their advantage. In today’s world technology is a major part of everyday life. Students today, not just trying to get ahead in class, but just trying to keep up need technology.

So to answer the writer’s question; Is It Okay To Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher? The answer is quite simple, no. The author states strong opinions that his teaching peers that are not literate with technology seem to struggle compared to the ones who are. I believe that teachers should be able to use technology to their advantage, not necessarily be tech savvy, but at least want to learn more about. Learning this would not just help them out but it will help the students in our future that are with no doubt going to have to use a lot more technology then I did growing up.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count.

Wow, it is crazy how many people are using technology. Just imagine what it is going to be like in 10 years. When I become a teacher technology will be a little more advanced than it is today. That is just a year and a half from now but it is advancing so fast. Which brings us to the question is it okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher? And the answer to me is no, teachers should be up to date with technology.