My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

We have had many good times in EDM 310 this semester. I will always remember the questions Larrica asked after each presentation and how funny her presentation was. I will also remember all of our podcast and how nervous each of us were, besides Daniel. I have enjoyed having class with each of you and look forward to seeing you around campus.

Last Blog

I learned many things from Dr. Strange. I learned about blogs and how important they can be in a classroom. I knew nothing about blogs and how to use one before I started this class. Dr. Strange opened my eyes to blogs and how I can use them in my classroom. I plan on continuing to use blogs especially my professional blog so that my students can have access to it.

I also learned about spread sheets. I knew how to use spread sheets but Dr. Strange showed us how to calculate payments and how how long it would take you to pay off your loan. I didn't know how to do this before this class. By doing spread sheets I also learned to never tell a car dealer how much you are willing to pay.

Another thing I learned was about Google. I didn't know that you could create documents, power points, or spread sheets in Google and it still be FREE. Google is a very helpful tool and can be used for more than just a search engine.

I think that Dr. Strange did an excellent job teaching this course and that he covered a lot of material that was very helpful. There was really nothing more I would have liked to learn but did not. We covered a lot of new stuff that was very beneficiary to me.

ACCESS Assignment

I visited the ACCESS site at Citronelle High School. I found ACCESS to be very interesting and useful for the students. I met with Mrs. Rankin who is over the ACCESS lab there and she gave me a little more incite on the lab.

Mrs. Rankin explained how ACCESS works and showed me the different schools that they connect with and that teachers from Citronelle teach to. She stressed the importance that there is supposed to be a teacher in the room monitoring students at all times. On one incident, one of the teachers at Citronelle was trying to teach a lesson to studets at another school and the teacher that was supposed to be in the room with the students had no control over them.

We discussd ACCESS and the benefits of it and how helpful it is to students. Mrs. Rankin said at this point not as many students as they had hoped for are participating in the program and the ones who are are just doing to because they think it will be an easy grade and play time on the computers. They are expected the lab to bring in more students after students realize the benefits they can receive from it.

I found the ACCESS lab to be a good tool for the future of our students. It gives the students more of a chance to take some of those classes that aren't offered at their high schools. All of the bugs aren't out of the system at this point because it is a new program but soon they will have just as they need it.

Electronic Contact Assignment

I contacted Jennifer Ibrahim a teacher in Nashville, Tennessee. Jennifer teaches elementary education in the Metropolitan Nashville Public School System. We had several discussions and conversations about technology, education, and some of the differences in there and here in Mobile County.

Jennifer expressed the importance of education that her school system conducts. She said that the Metropolitan Nashville Public School System values every students education and the particular school she teaches at includes every student and brings out the strengthens in each child.

Jennifer just to teach school in Northern Alabama and said that in Nashville it is so much more relaxed than in Alabama. They have more funding than where she was and have more technological advances. When going to the computer lab Jennifer stated that the students each have their own computer and don't have to share where as some schools have to split a computer between two or maybe three students.

I enjoyed getting to talk to Jennifer Ibrahim and talking about the education and technology with her. It was able to open my eyes more to what others are doing in their classrooms and the more advanced some are than others.

Plusses and Minuses of Blogs

After having to do my own blog and reading the one of Amelia Perkins I become to think that blogs have more pluses than minuses. When we first started this class I didn't really know what a blog was let alone how to use one. Through this course though it has gave me the opportunity to share views on various podcast assignments as well as our other assignments.

Some of the pluses of blogging is being able to communicate with others in your class as well as others around the world. I know that by us having to find others blogs about different schools and various other things it has opened a whole new view for me. I didn't realize blogs were so popular. Blogging also serves as a good tool for teachers to use with their students. Blogs allow students to communicate with their teachers, check assignments, as well as posting homework assignments for the students. I could go on and on about the pluses of blogging.

I don't think their are many minuses about blogging. Maybe one problem you may run into is that you don't know how to use the blogs or are unfamiliar with a computer. Blogs for the most part are very beneficiary to students and I really feel they are a good tool.

As a future educator I believe I will be using blogs in my classroom. We have already had to set up our "Teaching Tools" blog and I think I will continue to update it and allow my students and their parents to access it. Blogs are an easy way to keep in contact with your parents and keep them involved with whats going on with their children.

Duke University

I listened to the podcast "The South in Black and White". I really liked this particular podcast. To me it seems like the podcast was put on to get students to enroll in this particular class about the south in black and white. This class was in to me setup in response to the Duke Lacrosse incident that happened.

In this class they are going to be discussing the history of the South. How things are complicated because of race and to for the students to realize we are all citizens together. We are to realize who we really are so that we can succeed together.

For the students to better understand the history different speakers are being brought in. One particular person that is coming was going to put on a play so the students could discuss race, sex, and the differences between them. A lot of other different Southern story tellers would also be coming to the class to speak.

I think it is important as a future educator for us to be open to the different races, elasticities, and sexes. We all can succeed and should all be treated fairly.

EDM310 Podcasts

I listened to four podcast from the Tuesday/Thursday 2:00 class. I first podcast that i listened to was my own, "YouTube as a educational tool." I think that our podcast could have been a lot better. We were kind of all over the place with our podcast. We were not organized at all and jumped from point to point throughout the entire podcast.

The second podcast I listened to was "Technology Used at USA." I felt that this podcast was just basically read from a script. It was a good overall presentation and gave good examples of the technology used at South Alabama and in parts was quite funny. I just feel they should have relaxed more and been more open and less scripted.

The third podcast I listened to was "Facebook as a Educational Tool." This presentation was really funny but a little short. I thought that the way Larrica asked most of the questions and Theola answered them was a very good technique. I felt that the podcast was a little dry and at times the two needed to speak a little louder.

The last podcast I listened to was "Burp Back Education." This podcast was also very well put. I think that it could have been a little better organized like the one i mentioned early but overall it was very good and very interesting. I think that all of the podcast went really well and I enjoyed listening to them.

Technology in Mathematics

In these two podcast Judy Chandler is a math teacher that thinks that using technology with math is a great tool. Using technology with math gives the students experiences that can be useful for preparing for upcoming tests. Using technology provides immediate feedback for students and gives them a hand on experience. Also in her podcast she mentions how students learn more by using critical thinking skills. When students think they can remember and retain more information.

Using podcast like this one as well as others in other subject areas is very useful in teaching. I think that by giving the students technology to learn by they want to put and give more into their studies. In iTunes their are a lot of useful podcast like this one in different subject areas. I hope that when I become a teacher i will be able to find podcast useful to my students.

"Growth" vs "Fixed" Minds

This video podcast was about have a "Fixed" or "Growth" mind set. A "fixed" mind set is where the individual thinks that intelligence is based on certain amounts. Before these individuals can do a task they have to think whether they look smart or not before completing it. They think about what they have and how much is their intelligence is going to show. The "growth" mind set individuals think that you can develop and have more intelligence, its not fixed.

In this podcast Carol Dweck discusses a study that was performed on students in an eight week workshop. In this workshop there were two sets of groups. One group got taught strictly study skills while the other group got taught study skills and the growth mind set. The students that were in the first group of strictly study skills showed little improvement and had much lower grades. The second group who were taught growth mind set came out on top. This group had a better understanding that the brain is a muscle and every time you use this muscle it gets stronger. They learned to apply what they being taught unlike the other group with the "fixed" mind set.

Carol Dweck also talked about how in the business world you have to have the "growth" mind set. You have to be open to new skills and be able to handle the ever changing world. Without a "growth" mind set you can't handle the changing world we live in today.

This discussion affects me as a teacher because my students need to have a "growth" mind set and I need to make sure of it. To be a student with a "fixed" mind set I think it would be harder for them to adjust to things that are going on and in general a harder life. You can't live trying to think all the time "Am I going to look smart enough doing this or does my intelligence show." With the "growth" mind set you have the opportunity to develop new skills and be more relaxed when something comes about.

Observe Clouds and Observe Precipitation

I watched two video podcast in the Grades K-5 section. Both of these videos were very interesting and could very well be used in the classroom. The first one I watched one I viewed was "Observe Clouds." This video podcast observed clouds for half a minute and showed how clouds move and change shape. The other video podcast I watched was "Observe Precipitation." This podcast showed different forms of precipitation.

The first podcast I watched can be used in the classroom when you are studying a lesson on clouds. I know students at some point study the different types of clouds and the way they move and change shape. This video is a very good example of how they move and change shape. It would be very beneficiary to students who are not understanding the full concept.

The second podcast could also be very helpful in the classroom. The video podcast showed that precipitation can come in the form of rain, snow, and hail. There are some other types of precipitation but these that are covered in this podcast could give the students a first hand look when you are teaching the different forms.

There are other video podcast like the ones I viewed that are also a good source of information for school teachers. As a future teacher I think that I would be one of the teachers that do introduce these videos into the classroom so the students can learn more because these days more students are visual learners.

The Edible Schoolyard AND A Night in the Global Village

The first podcast I listened to was "The Edible Schoolyard". The edible schoolyard refers to an outdoor classroom at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkeley, CA. This school has a garden where kids spend their morning planting, watering, and tending to the crops. This gives the students a chance to participate in something that they may not really associate with school work. The teachers use the garden to relate things to Social Studies, Math, Science, and Life. The students get to go through the whole process of growing crops and get a better understanding.

I think that this podcast could be used in the classroom or maybe even take things from this podcast to make your students more involved. As future educators we need to have the means to make school fun and want the kids to learn and not be kept up inside the whole time. This podcast could give students the extra push to want to make a difference in their school.

The other podcast I listened to was "A Night in the Global Village". This podcast was very interesting. It was about a Heifer Ranch set up in Perryville, AK. At this ranch students are taught the importance of walking in someone else shoes through poverty and hunger. On this five acre ranch different living conditions are set up to simulate different countries. The students are put into groups and have to live in the conditions of the country they are assigned. The students have to bargain with the surrounding other villages in order to get food, water, or maybe even for their fire. These students get an up close experience of being in poverty and being hungry.

I think that this podcast would be a great one to use as a future educator. This podcast teaches the importance of different cultures and the conditions that they live in. In this podcast some of the students even had to act as if they were pregnant or had the lose of an arm. I thought this to serve even more as an example of how people of poverty live because not are healthy and have to deal with difficult situations.

Overall I liked both of these podcast they serve as a great educational tool for us as future educators and give us some advice on issues we may need to address.

Podcast

Most of the Podcast that we had to listen to all started out with some sort of music. I guess this was to draw you in a little more than just announcing what your going to talk about. When I first heard the music I automatically assumed the podcast were going to be interesting, little did I know not all of them were. Some of the podcast presented very interesting information while others I would have rather not listened to.

I really enjoyed "ed tech talk". This particular podcast had a few hosts and had guests that participated in their discussions. This wasn't just a podcast that they sat there and talked the whole time, the hosts and guests actually tried out the different techniques they were discussing. This podcast also has a website that listeners can go on and give them feedback or ask questions. Some of the questions presented to them they even address on the air.

I found "kidcast" to be very boring. The host for this podcast was just so dry with how he presented the information. I really couldn't get into this podcast because of how boring it was. I can't get interested in something that is just monotone. I think that this podcast could have been better if there was more than one host. Podcast do better when you have someone to give you feedback or discuss different areas with you.

After listening to these podcast I don't know if I am ready or not to present mine in class. I don't like talking in front of people much less being recorded to be put on the internet where anyone can listen. I just hope that my podcast is more interesting than some of these that we had to listen to.

Randy Pausch's Last Speech

Randy Pausch's Last Speech was wonderful. It was a great lecture to view and very interesting. His speech begins by telling of the childhood dreams that he had and how it is important to dream as a child. He went on to tell how each dream that he had was obtained and not just left behind.

I really enjoyed the "brick wall" metaphor that Randy Pausch used. He refereed to "brick walls" being the things that keep us from achieving our goals. The "brick walls", as he explains are there for a reason. They are not there to keep us out but are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. He also says the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t really want it badly enough. I completely agree with this. If someone wants something bad enough you aren't going to give up just because something is trying to come in your way.

Randy Pausch believed that being a good teacher was what made learning interesting and fun. He helped sponsor a program called the Entertainment Technology Center. It had a project based curriculum and there were no textbooks. In this program he wanted feedback from the students. It gave the students a chance to give feedback of their peers and to improve. Through this program "Alice" was created. "Alice" is a "head fake" style of teaching students to computer program. It teaches students to program while they feel they are creating virtual reality.

Randy Pausch believed it was also an important role of the teacher to learn from the students. He went on to say how he had learned some important lessons from his students and how he had gave back to them. He believed that everyone should show gratitude and be appreciative. I really enjoyed the speech and I'm very glad that I got to watch it. He gives teachers a incite on how they should respond to their students and how to succeed.

iPods in Instruction

I think that the use of ipods in schools would be a really good idea. Many universities have started using "iTunes U" to post lectures and and other materials that can be available to download to your ipod. Some K-12 teachers have even began using ipods to enhance and support their curriculum.

Ipods can also be used as a storage device by connecting to computers using a USB or Firewire cable. Students as well as teachers could really take advantage of using ipods in instructions. This is a really good means of keeping up with the times and keeping kids interested.

ipods in instruction

My Presentation

Dr. Christie's Site

On Dr. Christie's site there are a lot of useful tools. I really liked the rubric's page. A rubric is a guide line for students to use when they are completing an assignment or project. It can also be used upon completion of the assignment or project to evaluate how the student has did. When using rubrics students know what you are looking for and how they are going to be evaluated.

I think that this would defiantly be using when I am teaching. My students will know exactly what I am asking of them and how they will be graded. I think that it will be easier to grade projects and assignments when you are using rubrics because you have already established the guide lines and expectations.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is not a reliable source. It doesn't matter if this is the first source that pops up when you do a search it can't be trusted. I have never used Wikipedia and really didn't know anything about it but I'm glad that I have read this information so that now I won't use it in the future. Anyone who wants can just go in and edit information. Wal-mart has even gotten on this site and changed information.
I don't know when if ever that this site can be trusted. As long as there are people going on Wikipedia and being allowed to change information it can't be valid. If the information was not allowed to be changed it may be totally different.

180 Days?

I read the blog for April on 180 days of school. I really liked this blog because it argued that there isn't enough time in the school year to cover everything that is assigned. Oh is that so many other things are going on in the school year that take away from teaching.

I watched the power point that was posted on this blog and it was very interesting. It said that we have 180 days in a school year then gave all the days that are used for taking test, assemblies, and other things that take away from the classroom. When it comes down to it we have less than 180 days to teach everything that needs to be taught and many distractions that come along with it. Here is a link to the power point that I found very interesting. 180 days?

Technologically Illiterate Teachers

I thought this blog was very interesting. I completely agree that teachers should know about technology and adapt to the changes that come about with it. How can we expect teachers to instruct kids if they are unable to it for themselves?

I agree with the statement that was given, "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 didn't know how to read and write." This is so true because times are changing so much and it's to the point now that computers are a big part of our everyday life. When I read this blog it reminded me of some of the teachers here at South and the knowledge they have about Foliotek. They expect us to be able to do it when they have no knowledge at all about it themselves.

Blogs In International Classrooms

I found two sites of International Classrooms that use blogs. The first site I looked at was the Tsukuba International School. They are an elementary school in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. This site gives information about the school as well as keeping you informed of what's going on in the school. http://en.tsukubainternationalschool.org/.


The next site that I looked at was the Yogyakarta International School. This site tells about the school, upcoming events, and even mentions the curriculum taught there. This are both very good sites and I found them to be very interesting. http://www.yisedu.org/

Blogs in Classrooms

The first blog that I looked at was one of Mrs. Curl. Her blog address is http://pcawinters.blogspot.com/. She is a first grade teacher at Providence Creek Academy in Clayton, DE. The main purpose of her blog is to inform the parents of what's going on in the classroom. Providence Academy has its own website: http://www.providencecreekacademy.org/. On this website many teachers have links to their blogs.

The next blog that I looked at was Ms. Flammang's. Her blog address is http://language-link.blogspot.com/2008/08/welcome-8th-grade-students-and-parents_29.html
Ms. Flammang is an eighth grade English teacher at Jackson Hole Middle School in Jackson, WY. The purpose of her blog is for parents to stay connected and for students to have access to assignments and the homework schedule.

Did You Know?

This presentation was very intriguing. This presentation was first developed to for a staff of a 150 educators to determine what students need to be successful in the 21st century. Since then this presentation has spread all over the world. Our world is changing at a very rapid pace especially in technology and we all need to be prepared to adapt to the changes.

I found the numbers in this presentation to be absolutely mind blowing. The one thing that interested me the most was the number of text messages sent and received in a day, they exceed the population of the planet. After watching this, I understand how much technology has changed and still growing in our world today so be prepared for shifting.

ACCESS

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS) is an outstanding program for students. ACCESS offers students the opportunity to take courses that they may not have access to at their own school. AP classes, electives, as well as remediation for the Alabama High School Graduation Exam are all offered on this website.

ACCESS uses three methods of teaching on their website. They offer Web-based, videoconferencing, and blended classes. Students are allowed the opportunity to take these classes during the day at their school just as if it was a regular class. All of the classes are taught by an Alabama certified teacher and in each class the students can connect with kids from other schools.

I think that is such a great program. I which that it would have been around when I was in high school, it would have given me the chance to take more AP classes. I could defiantly see this program being very beneficiary to lots of students as well as teachers who want to teach these types of classes.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is a fantastic website for teachers, parents, as well as students. This website allows teachers of many different courses of study the chance to find lesson plans in addition to interactive activities. ALEX also provides teachers with professional learning opportunities. Also on ALEX you can create your on account for storing and submitting lesson plans.

Parents and students have the option to get on ALEX and find web links that could help a child in the course of study they are taking. Alex is designed as a website that a child can get things they need on just one website. It is intended to be a one-stop, time saving resource.

When I become a teacher I think that this website will be very helpful to me. I can accomplish a lot of things though this website that can be used to benefit me as well as my students.

My First Class Post

Hi. My name is Adrienne. This is my first year at South and I'm really enjoying the change of atmosphere from Faulkner. My major is in Physical Education and I'm looking forward to working in that field. I enjoy working with kids and try to be a mentor to them as much as possible.
I really enjoy to watch baseball and love to try and play softball. I am currently on a co-ed softball team even though I'm not really great at playing. It's all about trying whether or not I succeed is another thing.
I'm looking forward to taking this class and learning a little more about computers. I've already learned how to set up a blog so I'm on the right track I guess.