Final Goodbye

Ms. Averitt,
Wow, this semester went by fast.This class was extremely helpful and I plan to take what I learned and put it all to good use. I'm glad I had such a great teacher, who could explain things to where I could understand them, took their time and helped everyone in the classroom and not just a few people. You were very understanding and helpful this whole semester. You are a wonderful teacher and I hope to see you around some time.


Dear Classmates,
This semester is already over! can you believe it! it has flown by. I'm glad I had such a great, fun and exciting group of classmates to enjoy the semester with. I hope you all the best of luck going in to your teaching career!

God Bless,

Tiffany

EDM 310 SUMMARY

The first day of class I was so overwhelmed, when I read that sylabi, I thought WOW, there are so many projects, and I'll never get done with all of them, I don't know how to any of it. As the semester went on and I found out what a great teacher we had and that Ms. Averitt discussed and went over ever project, that's when I took a deep breath and knew that I would get through the semester.

All the projects that we discussed Blogging, was the one that I never heard of or even attempted for that matter, so I was really nervous. Come to find out I really enjoyed doing the post that were assigned and found that this blogging stuff could really be useful for when I become a teacher. Blogging is a neat way of sharing what you feel with different things, it would be a great tool for all the teachers to use it.

Presentations were a lot of fun, I thought. I enjoyed listening to every one's about me presentation, you really get to know who they are and what they are all about during this presentation. You can really get to be yourself, and have fun with that presentation. Our Professional Presentations were also a lot of fun. I personally, learned a lot from each and every presentation that was given. Some had some useful information that I didn't know or wasn't sure of. I think these presentations should be kept in the curriculum for this class and maybe add another fun one for the students to do so they can get use to standing in front of an audience.

Excel, I think was my favorite project of all. Excel was so helpful and I learned how to do tables and do the grade book, that I have yet to learn in any of my other classes. The formulas weren't that difficult once you got the hang of it. I think it's my favorite because I know that when I become a teacher it's going to be the most useful thing that I've gained from this class and will help me.

Our podcast was so much fun! Heather and I had a lot of fun planning our podcast. What to say, the format, what was going to be the topic, how we were going to present it. While doing the Podcast, it gave me so many ideas for when i become a teacher that I can incorporate it into my class, and have fun with it with my students.

PLN's, well I'm going to be honest! I didn't really like this project, you encountered a lot of difficulties during this assignment. Some of your better contacts wouldn't respond or they wouldn't answer your question in one email so your playing email tag, I thought that it wasn't a useful or helpful assignment to do for this class.

Comment4kids, LOVED IT! Reading all the students post and had to hear what they said in some of them was fantastic! I enjoyed commenting on these students, they were so funny, they brought you back to when you were little, and believe it or not they have a lot to say, and its funny what they find interesting. I wished we had more students that we could have commented on. I would leave this in the syllabus.

The videos and websites that we visited was awesome. Most of the videos we watched said a lot of interesting information that opened my eyes. The websites like, ACCESS and Alex were great sites to visit. I'm so glad that we had to research and know more about them, they are great resources for teachers and I would recommend them to anyone.

This class has taught me so much, that I probably would of never learned anywhere else. I'm excited that I learned everything I did and think that it will all do some use. The only thing that I didn't like in this class was the PLN's. I wouldn't say that the class was exciting but you were always busy working on your projects and trying to keep a good pace so you wouldn't get left behind. I was a little bored at times, mainly when I caught on to something that others may not and I had to sit there and wait for those to get what we were talking about. Other than that we had a pretty cool class and we all had a good time. i didn't find anything to be Intellectually Challenging, It was all simple if you read and followed directions. As I said before the only thing I didn't enjoy was doing the PLN. I would probably delete that from the course all together. I think I'm SOMEWHAT technologically literate, but know I could learn a lot more. I think that some of what we went over I will still continue to do when I graduate and when I start teaching. I have learned a lot from this class and will put it to good use.

The Good and The Bad

For this assignment we were to read Seven Stupid Mistakes and Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do with Technology by Doug Johnson; Also we were to read the list of New Classroom Rules by Education Innovation.

Seven Stupid Mistakes:

2. Treating a school computer like a home computer. Teachers who use a school computer to run a business, edit their kid's wedding videos, or send tasteless jokes to half of North America (including that fundamentalist math teacher down the hall) are being stupid. Teachers who take their computers home and let their kids hack on them are being stupid. Teachers who don't own a personal computer for personal business deserve to get into well-deserved trouble.

****I picked this one because I think it's important for teachers to know that a school's computer is not for your use, it's for keeping your students grades, school board emails and etc. Like Mr. Johnson stated it's not for you to send funny emails or to download pictures to and what not. And teachers who do do this,I agree, are stupid!

3. Not supervising computer-using students. It is really stupid to believe Internet filters will keep kids out of trouble on the Internet. If they choose to do so, even the slow kids who can't get around the school's filter, can still exploit that 10 percent of porn sites the filter won't catch. They can still send cyberbullying e-mail -- maybe even using your e-mail address. Or they can just plain waste time.

***** I picked this one to, this one is really important. You should also supervise children while they are on the computer to make sure they are doing what they are suppose to be doing. Some students think that they can get away with it and it will be okay cause the teacher wont find out about it, because some teachers don't watch their students while they are occupying them. I think that teachers should really keep an eye out so that students wont get on these sites, cause it will all come back on the teacher anyways.

Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology:

6. Use the kids’ own devices to teach them. Brilliant teachers understand the old Arab proverb, "It's easier to steer the camel in the direction it is already heading." Students are increasingly and unstoppably bringing in personal communication devices -- cell phones, cameras, game devices, iPods/mp3 players, netbooks, laptops, and PDAs. Brilliant teachers know how to use cell phones to poll their classes; create podcasts of lectures for later review; use games to teach difficult concepts; and make "Google-jockeys" of student wireless laptop users. Read the report, http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/publications/index.html?tr=y&auid=4393966 Pockets of Potential for a great overview of this topic

****I really think that this topic is very interesting! I think teachers should incorporate these items in their classroom, I believe that students would learn a lot more, and the interest level would rise if they were to use the things that they owned! Cell Phones, Cameras these things would really help the students have the hands on experience they may need.

5. Accept the role of co-leaner. One of the best signs of intelligent people is that they tend to willingly admit when they don't know something. Brilliant teachers not only accept the dismal fact that they will never know all there is to know about technology, they also turn that condition into a classroom advantage by having their brilliant children teach them how to do something techie now and then.

*****This is so true. No matter how much you think you know about a topic/subject there is always something new to learn about it. I believe that you will never know ALL there is to know about something, and that it's true that brilliant teachers/persons tent to willingly admit when they don't know all there is to know about something. Accept the role of co-learner, cause you will learn from your students as they will learn from you to.

New Classroom Rules by Education Innovation;

6. Don't Talk to your neighbors, unless you are sharing your ideas, asking for help or giving help

**I agree you should be able to talk to your neighbors to share your ideas give them help when they ask for it or ask your neighbor for help when you need it. Some students learn this way by having another student demonstrate and walk them through it, which the teacher can't do to each and every individual student in the classroom, so why not.

3. Leave your seat only when necessary, which should be often to go collaborate with others or demonstrate something to the class

****This one also caught my eye, we are always telling our students to sit down, don't move. When actually they should be up with the other students sharing and comparing projects,ideas and etc. Having the students up and moving keeps their brain active instead of sitting all day. Have them up and moving with the other students.

Professional Blogging

For this assignment we were to read 5 post made by Teachers.

The first blog that I read was written by teachernz. In this post named "Pencils and crayons to be banned in schools" was really interesting. In this post it says that pencils and crayons if found on students will be confiscated; this is a new law coming into force later in the month. Teachernz says that the pencils are being used to poke people and are spent more time being sharpened than doing actual classwork. I do agree that sharpening your pencils and passing notes are disruptive in our classrooms but if taught at the beginning of the year (Classroom Management) the students will know your rules and if you enforce those rules you shouldn't have a disturbance in your classroom, but if by chance you do then yes confiscate them and notify the parent because it your rules.

The second post I read was by William Chamberlain called "Using Skype to Connect with Others". This post was really interesting, he talked about using Skype to communicate with other classrooms around the world! I do agree that it gives the students an opportuninty to see the different cultures and to see the similarites and differences amonth themselves. Skyping I think is a great way to connect with other individuals and to learn so much more in a different way. I am planning on incorporating Skype into my future classroom.

The third post I read was by Jarrod Lamshed. He wrote about Using Technology for Effective Communication. I do agree that teachers should be aware of current practices and participate in appropriate in-service training. We should know all the new gadgets and websites that the students/parents may be on. In his blog he says that it's difficult to communicate with the parents, and that it may be the hardest part of his job. Parents don't check their e-mail frequently, or don't answer the phones when called, he says the most effective way he has done to reach parents is by facebook. Facebook, Twitter he states seemed to be checked more frequently than regular emails and that's how he gets in touch with the parents. I myself tend to do this. I check my facebook account more than I check my e-mail, why? I have no idea!

The fourth post I read was written by William Chamberlain and it was about the usage of technology in the classroom. He feels that other classroom teacher should use technology, but wonders if he's pushing his passion onto them; He asked the question "Are we pushing it or just catching up with today's times?". I feel as though it's being pushed a little bit. That we need to try all the latest technology and that we should have them in our classrooms, and yes I do belive we should stay up to date on all the new things coming out such as smartboards, but feel as though if we want it then we do if not than we don't!

My last post I read was titled "Helping students Crate Positive Digital Portfolios" by William Chamberlain. He states in his post the violence in the younger students in today's society and he expressed the need to help them showcase their positive experiences. Mr. Chamberlain mentioned some examples on how to do this and that way was by digital content, to express themselves and to create a positive self, to be shared through digitally. I believe this to be a great point, Student should have this opportunity.

This assignment was very interesting because you got to read what other teachers are doing with their classes and gives us future teachers ideas of what to incorporate into our classrooms.

The Future of "Whatever"

Michael Wesch's Video really caught my eye. It was really interesting to here some of the valid points he made. This video discusses how the media is controlling how we communicate. How its removing the one-on-one with others instead of bringing us together. Mr. Wesch also points out that technology has came along way and how it's changing over time. Also, how the media is having an effect on the way we communicate for example: I know personally, that there is so much now with all the new technology that everywhere you look people are on their phones texting,emailing,Facebook, etc.. and I see this while class is going on here at South, while we are suppose to be listening to the teacher.

Also throughout this video he talked about our culture and how our culture is headed in the future. he said that today's culture is self-centered and some of those characteristics he gave were people who have short attention spans, or materialistic, also those who are not easily impressed. I also know that I see people with the Whatever attitude and don't really think of it as selfish, but do see the point Mr. Wesch made about narcissism and how it leaves us being self centered and disengaged. These things are all contributed through media. Professional, I know my students will be wrap up with all of the new media and the "whatever" attitude, but hopefully I can steer them in a different direction, because you can't get the same connection you can when you have the one-on-one interaction with a person than you can on the computer.

Children Posting to the Internet

I think allowing students to post their own ideas on the Internet lets them express themselves. It allows them to connect to other students and get to comment on others post like on Mrs. Georends Class Blog. These students get to share stories that they have encountered and really get to share their experiences with anyone who wants to read. They get great feed back from their classmates and others. I think posting their thoughts on their blog really gets them excited. I believe allowing students to see each others work and comment on them or have other people comment on them it gets them motivated, and want to do more.You as a parent or a teacher just have to keep close eye so that you know what they are putting out there for the world to see. Making assignments, or telling your child/student what is acceptable and what isn't. Facebook, is another way to connect and share your ideas with people from all over the world. The PS 22 Landslide Video, is another great example of students sharing how they feel.

These different examples are great ways to really share how you feel, do assignments, share experiences and connect with people from all around the world. I think it's important that students share what they want on the Internet that is acceptable. Weather or not it be on Facebook, YouTube, or on Blogger or etc..

Comment For Kids (Part 3)

For this weeks assignment, I commented on Taelor's Blog. Her blog was about High School Chemistry Lab. She stated in her post that she did an experiement using colors and how she had a partner named chase and her leaders were Olea and Andrea. This is what she wrote about her experiment: "Our process was, we got filter paper and cut a hole in it. We drew a circle around it with washable markers. The colors we used were black, green, blue, red, and mixed colors. We had to fold a piece of thick paper into a triangular shape and stick that piece of paper into the hole in the filter paper. Then we stuck the filter paper and the triangular piece of paper into a glass of water. Pretty soon the colors started to separate. For the green, the yellow molecule is lighter than the blue molecule so they separated. For the red, the white molecule was lighter than the pink molecule so they separated. For blue, the white molecule was lighter than the light blue so they separated. The black was the coolest because it has every color in it so it was like all the colors mixed together to make one really cool science experiment." I commented on her blog and told her that the experiment sounded really fun and that she needed to keep up the good work she is doing, That I really enjoyed reading her post.

ACCESS

Alabama Connecting Classroom Educators, and Students Statewide, Also known as ACCESS, is a program that was launched November 1, 2004 and their mission is to provide and infrastructure that delivers equitable, quality learning opportunities for all citizens. This program is available to all Alabama public high school students. The goal of the distance learning program is to create equity through additional educational offering to high school students. It's providing classroom courses and teachers via technology. This program has have a lot of great and positive feedback so far!

I believe ACCESS is a wonderful program. They have different online courses that have e-teachers, and video conferences that allow students to really have education at their fingertips. So far there have been alot of great and positive feedback so far. I think that ACCESS is very beneficial to Alabama students, and Hopefully will make it to all the school statewide.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange, which is also known as Alex, is something I never heard of until this assignment was given. Alex, although a work in progress, already has so many different and helpful resources that meet the needs of teachers, administrators, parents and students. Some examples of the helpful resources are: Lesson plans, links to websites, access podcast,a personal work space for teachers and etc. Also about Alex, that is very interesting, is that it is a collaborative project, teachers are sharing information through this website and helping it grow.


Overall, I think that Alex is really helpful to students and teachers. It gives you great resources that I hopefully will soon use. This assignment opened my eyes to a wonderful website that will soon be of great use for me.

Comment For Kids (part 2)

I visited Marks blog and left a comment on his blog post about his group assignment of building a Lego Robotics. Mark stated in his blog that he was very upset because he did all the work while his partners in his group "screwed around". He said that it sucks to have a group that didn't help with anything. Mark says that next time if he has to work in groups he will pick better partners. I told him that I think everyone will experience this in their life at some point, that it goes on here at South Alabama, that some students just don't help in projects like they should. I also told Mark that if he does what he is suppose to that it will all pay off in the end, and that he did an great job on his Lego Robotics that he should be really proud of himself. Also, to always do his best,even when others aren't and to keep up the good work! :-D

Comment For Kids (part 1)

I visited Mr. Georend's Class Blog and I left comments on Chandler, Maddie, Dmitriy, Jacob and Shelby. Their post were so intresting and fun to read. They all had very diffrent post, well written and very very creative, they made me laugh!

Chandler was the first child's post that I read. He wrote about Running The Mile, which is at his P.E class they have to run a mile around the football field. He dreaded running this mile. He said in his post that it felt like he was running forever and that his legs felt like jello, and his stomach would get queesy! But when he was finally done he went to go get his grade, and was a little disappointed because he didn't do as well as he did the years before. He said that he would of liked to improve his grades. I commented on his post and said that it was great that he finished the mile, and that I knew exactly what he meant by saying his legs felt like Jello.

Maddie's post was about Dress Like a Penguin Day. She said that the reason she tought of this day was becuase one of her friends fell down at school one day and when she got up, she was walking funny; and to immiate her she walked like a penguin. She stated in her post that she would like everyone to dress up like a penguin by wearing flippers and a stubby beak and to eat fished shaped cookies all day. Also they would go ice-skating untill they ache. She would like her Dress Like a Penguin Day be a National Holiday in January.

Dmitriy's was the third child that I posted a comment on. He wrote about his dog Madi, and how he let her out and she saw a squirl and began to chase it. While his dad was telling Madi to come back the dog just kept chasing after the squirl. Also that the squirl ran really fast and ran up a tree. Then he let his dog back in and he sayed that Madi was really thirsty from all the running.

Jacob's post was really funny. He wrote about Dance like a Hippi Day. He wanted his holiday to be on January 3rd. He said it all began when he drove by a man with BIG puffy hair and was doing a weird dance. Then he said in his story that he then went home and done the dance, and improved it. Then went to school and showed all his friends how to do the weird funny dance. That's how he came up with Dance Like a Hippi Day.

Shelby wrote about a Horse Camp that she had visited. And at this camp she met two horses, Sue and Smokey. She explained how she rode the horse named Sue for three hours bare back. She also played a game with the horses, where she acted like she was in a horse show, she sayed "I acted like a snotty rich girl showing my horse". Too funny! Then after they rode horses her grandpa came to the stables and they all went and ate Marshmellos. She said she misses the farm and wants to go back.

Reading these post from Jacob, Dmitriy, Maddie, Shelby, and Chandler really brought back memories from when I was in School and that young (I miss those days). I really reading all their post,they were very creative and told great stories. This assignment was really cool.

KAIA

Well first off, What a wonderful assignment!

This was a great assignment! watching Kaia and her Father was amazing. They turned everyday living into something so precious and unique. Dr. Chamberlain's voice thread really added a special/personal touch for Kaia and her Father. Mr. Chamberlain and his class uses video/audio in their post, since little Kaia can't ready very well yet.I really admire the fact that Kaia's father was so willing to learn how to use technology so that Kaia could take pictures. Kaia took beautiful pictures which allowed them to openly communicate and interact with Dr. Chamberlain's class.

Her Father is so inspiring.

Kaia's Father wanted her to explore the world around her, and Kaia took pictures and found beauty in everything she took pictures of, she didn't care of what. This post was really heart felt and touched me! I take for granted all the little things such as a camera. This assignment really made me think about the power of technology and how it really can turn something so small so BIG. And not to take things that we have for granted. This post has encouraged me to do this in my own classroom, it would be a great learning experience for all of my students. But Kaia's Father was right, that learning does extend outside of the classroom walls and technology does make this possible!!!

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

A personal learning network is where you ask a question of interest to you and seek out people, places, organizations and activities which will enable you to learn about it. I asked five different people how they used technology in their classroom and how effective it was for the students and parents.
The first person that I came into contact with was, Ginny Haskins, I asked her what technology she used and how it was helpful to her students and parents. She responded to me and said she was a big fan of facebook. She would give a parent letter to all the parents at the beginning of the school year and have them add her as a friend. This way she could talk to the parents, about student progress and about upcoming events for her class. She stated "It's a great way to communicate and its easy".

The second person that I contacted for my PLN was Jessica Normand she teaches 8th graders. I asked her the same question, how is technology used in your classroom and is it effective for your students and parents? She commented back that her use of technology was using web cam to post assignments and homework for her students. She also stated that her students and parents love it because students who have missed her class can look and find out what they need to make up for the following class day, where those students who missed wont fall behind. She said it's been successful thus far.

The third person I contacted was Michael Stewart, he teachers Literature and had some helpful tips for me of using technology in the classroom. He stated that for his Literature assignments he allowed students to use podcast to do their poetry assignments. This is so that they can express them selves. Parents and students love it. Parents get to watch their children's podcast and see how they did, and students love it cause it's like their on TV. Mr. Stewart also stated that he has received great comments from other teachers that also would like to do the same for their classrooms as well.

The fourth individual I was pleased to contact and ask her the same question was Mrs. Beth Baldree, she told me that she incorporated technology in her classroom by having students do research on different individuals that she assigns. She gives them a list of names and they have to find that particular person and find all the information on them, and when the project is due she sets up a web cam and has that student give all a presentation to the person they were assigned to. She said that the students love it and the parents love it as well, cause they learn so much from doing this assignment because its much more involved.

The fifth person I interviewed was Sharron Hetzel. She stated that she uses technology for the entire class. She commented that she loves to set up video conferences with persons that have are of educational use. For instance she told me one Video Conference was with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. She also stated that it is hard to get them set up but well worth it;My students love it, it really involves them, they get to ask questions and its as if they were in the classroom with them.

During this PLN, I have learned that technology can be of great use all around the world. These five people have really given me some great ideas to use for my own classroom. I really enjoyed talking with the five individuals and think they were of great help.

New Literacies Project

Project New Media Literacies (NML) began as a research based program,in 2006, to explore how they might best equip students with the social skills and cultural competencies required to become involved int he media. It raises public understanding about what it is to be literate in a globally interconnected multicultural world.

New Media Leteracies are set of skills that everyone needs to deal with our cultural today. These skills are vital in students success. The New Media Leteracies Project hopes to solve some problems such as the participation gap and the transparency problem. They need to be taught how to participate in New Media Literacy skills. Having learning these skills will help in a students day to day life.
Some of these skills are judgement, negotiation, appropriation, play, transmedia navigation, simulation, collective intelligence, performance, distributed cognition, visualization, multitasking. If you would like to see more about this project you may visit this website, New Media Literacies Project.

New Media Literacies

The New Media Literacies video, by the NML staff, had talked about skills of New Media, some of which I have never heard of. These skills I think are good to have if you are living in the 21st century.
The skills this video talks about are;
Judgement
negotiation
appropriation
play
transmedia navigation
simulation
collective intelligence
performance
distributed cognition
visualization
multitasking

I can say that some of these skills I have encountered and already do well, for example multitasking. This skill, I believe, is a crucial part of living, you need to know how to do more than one thing at a time. It keeps the brain working and always thinking, I think.

I think these skills are necessary and can be very beneficial both as a teacher and a student. I can't say that I have all these skills, I definitely need to work on most of them, so I can teach it to my future students.

Networked Student

Wendy Drexler's video, The Networked Student, was interesting to me. Mrs. Drexler makes a wonderful point that students need to become connected with the rest of the world. I think that it is important that students are able to express themselves and share it with other students, they learn better, I think, by doing this. But then again I don't really like the idea of students learning solely from the Internet, but do think they should have the know how, if that makes sense.
This video was easy to understand, it gets straight to the point and has lots of valuable information. It really gives you an insight on how students today are using the technology as a learning tool. To have these technologies at your finger tips can be a really useful tool in learning, such as iTunesU, you can get lectures from other schools, how cool is that.
This video asks us a question "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" Well this question is simple to answer, No matter how much technology this world has or comes to there will always be the need for teachers. You need a teacher for their guidance and help along the way of learning all the new things.

"This is How we Dream"

After watching Richard Miller's videos, This is How We Dream, I didn't really follow him at first. His videos were really interesting though. As a future teacher I do believe that I will be prepared to hope that my students will be able to also. Computers and technology is a big part of the world and we all need to keep up with it.
Have you actually took a step back and realized how much your life is based on technology? How often you use it? Some of the videos Richard Miller shows was how often we use technology. But should we take away the basic writing and reading of the students? This is essential for learning; However we should teach our students to be multimedia familiar.
So I believe we should be prepared to use multimedia and teach our students, but we shouldn't loose sight of teaching our students the essentials of reading and writing. Richard Miller has a goal of teaching students to compose digitally no by using word processors. What is your goal?

IPdos in Instruction

While researching the use of Ipods I came across a website on Duke Universtiy on how they incorporated Ipods in their education curriclum. They gave out gree ipods to all entering freshmen that professors were using them in their classes. They have so many different ways of using them one example is that they can use them for quiz's using IQuiz. Also, some great features is to have flashcards or they can have a 2 way chat on their Ipod. The professors could also use them to comment on the students progress in that particular class room.
Ipod to me is downloading music, I had NO clue that Ipods had all these different uses to them. They can be use so many ways and to your advantage. I'm not a techincal person and don't really own anything like this so, learning a finding out what an Ipod all can be used for was really helpful and gives you great opprotunities. This website gives you a clear understanding on how to use an Ipod and all the ways.

Itunes

I have never heard of Itunes University, so when I went to Itunes University's Website, I found that it's a wonderful tool that students and teachers could use. As a student you could look up things such as presentations or videos on subjects that you may need help in, for example the Science link I went to would be very helpful. You could download anything to help other and etc. I found that it can be helpful to us students and not only now but also when we become teachers.
Itunes University would also benefit teacher as well. A teacher could download their lesson or lecture and have their students listen to it right from home. How cool would that be? Me as a teacher cold post class notes or have helpful hints for test and my students can have it for extra help. It's also a great tool when your on the go. Itunes University is a Great tool to have as a student and a teacher and by the way it's FREE!!!!
And if you know nothing about Itunes University you can go to this website for the introduction: http://is.gd/2c3RH

Alice Christie's Google Earth

Alice Christie's Website was all very interesting. Google Earth is one of the things I looked at on her website. Google Earth is a free program that helps students and teachers. It provides useful tools such as visual tours and maps. I think Google Earth will be a very helpful and useful website to use as a teacher especially in Science. You can have Google Earth and it can be a telescope, to look at all the stars and constellations,that's only one cool feature that Google Earth has.
Mrs. Christie talks about why Google Earth should be used in the classroom and, I agree with her it really puts hands on experience for the students so they can be excited about school work and still learn from it. Google Earth allows students to know what is going on it the world, since most students now days don't have a clue. I learned alot about Google Earth that i didn't know before. I think I will use this site when I become a teacher so my students can enjoy it like I did.

Mr. McClung-What I've Learned This Year

The Post by Mr. McClung was really interesting. He says in his post that the most important thing to a strong foundation for a relationship is communication, I totally agree. He also states that lessons should be student centered and not focused on the teacher. Mr. McClung stated some great facts that us future teachers today can take to our classroom, and one that I know that I'm going to do is I'm always going to be willing to learn. In able to grow as a teacher you need to be able to learn, and who not better to learn from than your students. Teachers must be willing to learn and grow.
A great saying that Mr. Mclung mentioned was "No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different." I believe this to be true and that you can't get upset if it's not like its planed, because it may turn out for the best. also, this goes with what he decided on being at the beginning of the year, He said that he wanted to be positive! I think you should always have a positive attitude, especially in the teaching profession, cause the attitude you have will reflect the attitudes of your students. So always stay positive is a great piece of advice Mr. McClung mentioned.

Can Wikipedia Be Trusted?

Every time we have an assignment for our classes, the teachers will always say not to use Wikipedia because it can be changed by anyone. This has been happening since I've been in High School and still today, and it's my third year here at South Alabama. Having read these three articles, NPR News blog, NPR Article and the Wired Article, I really believe that all those teachers are absolutely right, I don't think Wikipedia can be trusted at all. You never know who is making changes to these entries. You can not trust someone that may not know anything about what their changing. You may can look up simply defintions or simply task on wikipedia but as far as actually doing a important report, Wikipedia may not be the best source to go to. I wouldn't use Wikipedia for my assignments, or suggest it for anyone to use. Having sources that are and can altered shouldn't be allowed to be used as a crediable resourse.

Randy Paush's Last Lecture

I found Randy Pausch's Last Lecture so inspiring. I really like his view on life. He handles his diagnosis so well, and he assures everyone that his not in denial. Not many people that I know can handle something so severe like he did. And, yet he still was trying to encourage others. He really is an amazing and courageous person for doing what his doing and only had few more months to live.

While listening to him talk about his childhood dreams it really was touching and I'm so glad he go to accomplish some of his dreams before he past away. Him wanting to win stuff toys, and meeting his idol were some of his childhood dreams and was a great accomplishment. He didn't give up and its so inspiring. Like he said brick walls show us how much we really want things. His a very driven and hardworking individual and people who actually knew him were very lucky.

I love how Dr. Pausch made it his mission to enable childhood dreams. His teaching was creative and he made is own curriculum. He was such a great teacher, and it's ashamed that we don't have more like him. He let his students come up with their own assignments. To me he mentioned some things that another speaker we listened to had said, that they are killing creativity in school, and Dr. Pausch was putting that back into the schools.

This video of Dr. Pausch's last lecture is well worth the time to sit and watch. It just shows you how amazing this man really is and how he accomplished great and challenging things. It makes you take a look at your life and dreams that you may have and tell yourself that no matter how far fetch your dreams may seem it is possible to accomplish them, you just got to get through that brick wall.

Alternative Web Browsing

Mr. Stephen Sullivan's presentation really opened your eyes and make you think what would you do without these alternatives if you had a disability. There are so many different software's that are so wonderful for people with a disability. It's amazing to see them all, I had no clue of all the advances until I saw this presentation. These browsers really make it so much more assessable for a person that has to have special needs.

BrooesTalk, Marco Polo are web browsers that are specifically for people with disabilities and those are only a few of the many. They allow touch screen, speech icons, and etc. It's awesome all the neat things that they can accomplish now, rather than 15 years ago they couldn't have. Convers a web browser, is a web browser that is voice activated and allows you to speak which Icon you want with using "say cons". This site really opens your eyes, and shows you all the new technology that is advanced for disabled people, it's really a great thing to do since in some cases a computer can be the only thing they can actually do.

Plagiarism and Copyright

Plagiarism to me is when you steal someone else's idea's or words and us the as your own, just like Bates College of Lewiston, Maine had stated on their website. Plagiarism is very easy "sometimes" to do especially students who are in school, rather it be middle school all the way to college. Teachers see plagiarism happen all the time. But it also can be easily avoided. as long as one gives credit to that particular person that they are using their information from they they are okay. You do this by using reference pages, quotes and etc. Plagiarism is a big deal and should not be attempted. how would you feel if you worked so hard for something and it was taken from you and some one else was given all that credit and they didn't even lift a finger. I would be very angry.

To get your work protected and not be stolen you can put a copyright on it and then if a person steals it they either are prosecuted or have to pay some sort of fine. According to the article Copyright Basics " In order to get a copyright you must have the work in fixed form", fixed form is putting the work in a compact disc or in a book type form . This will allow protection to that persons hard work. If you have a worked really hard for something and afraid that someone may steal it, getting it comprighted is the best choice.

Karl Fisch "Is it okay to a technologically illiterate teacher"

I had mixed feelings on Mr. Fisch's post. I do agree with him, in the fact that teachers should be technologically literate and we should know the basic skills of using different kinds of technology, but my question is should we rely so much on computers to do all the work, it's taking away from the teacher becoming creative and finding new and exciting ways to teach the material. But I do see the importance of using technology in our classrooms and how it will help our students become more involved. Technology can be a very helpful and useful resource.

As a soon to be teacher, I would think that I should know all the basic standards of technology that may be placed in front of me for teaching purposes. And I do believe when I do start teaching that I will definitely incorporate technology into my lessons so the students and have that experience. I just want be so dependent on it as most teachers are today. So Mr. Fisch's post was really good and I do agree with him, just don't think we should be so heavily dependant on technology as we all no can not be the most reliable thing to count on.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I really believe that our college system is exactly whats on this video Students rely on the Internet so much, its almost like they are addicted to it. Some students pointed out that students look at facebook, myspace, and emails while they are in the classroom and I can 100% agree that I see this all the time in our classrooms today. They aren't at all focused on what the professor is saying they are more worried about whose looking at their profile on facebook or myspace. But then you have to ask the question on why are these students no listening? Some students can't focuse on the teacher because all they are doing is reading right of the power point and not trying to catch your attention at all. They want you in and out of their classroom.

Some students find that some classes are a waste of money and time because they have nothing to do with their major. We have to take so many classes before we actually get into our actual major. Why is this?All they want is our money, and to make it as hard as possible for us cause they think we don't have lives outside of school.

As far as adding anything to Mr. Wesch's video, I don't see what else to add. This video really shows students of today, especially us younger generation. We should really take a step back and look at it all. I agree with him and the students and think that we all should maybe do something about it.

Kelly Hines "It's not about the technology"

I really enjoyed the post Kelly Hines wrote. Some of the things Mrs. Hines mentioned I agreed with extremely. We should not only be teachers but learners. I strongly believe that as a teacher you will learn something new everyday and be willing to or you want be a successful teacher. I believe that if the student didn't learn anything then nothing has been taught, even if you taught for three hours. I totally agree with Mrs. Hines.

Also, Mrs. Hines says that Technology is not the key to education in the future which i agree with 100%. I feel as though some teachers are heavily dependent on technology to help because "it's there", convenient, and also easily assessable. I think I wont allow myself to be caught up with so much of the technology that seems to consume a lot of people/teachers, because then you loose your creativity.

Langwiches Blogsite

Langwiches blog site was very useful in making a podcast. They gave us useful and helpful tips on how to create our own podcast. They had different list of recordings that you could reference to if you wanted to listen to them. The different links that's on this website tell you different techniques to use such as how your voice looks like and gives you helpful tips on how to do this. You can listen to several different peoples podcast to get an idea of what yours should sound like.

I found Langwiches blog site very useful and think that i t will be a great tool for me to learn how to do my podcast now and also, if I teach about any of this stuff later on in my career it's a good tool to have handy for my class to look and and navigate through. I found this website very beneficial and I would use it.
http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/03/08/producing-a-podcast-2/

Video Cast From Past Classes

I really enjoyed listening to Technology Literate Teacher video podcast. You could understand them very well. Their conversation between one another was great, two girl mostly done the talking,but I think they all participated and did really well. They didn't seem to be reading from a script, they seemed to be just having a conversation amongst themselves and enjoying it. They stayed on topic most of the time and I found their topic interesting. These are the things that when I start to do my video cast that I will keep in my of doing.



Things that I may try and do differently is maybe try and be less nervous while on camera, cause it really shows in your movements and also it shows in your voice. I know everyone gets nervous and honestly I probably the worst one. I would try and control my nerves though while doing the video cast. Also, I would try and relax, not look so tense and tight while doing the podcast. I want to be comfortable and try and deliver the message of my topic and not have everyone focused on my being nervous or tense. Overall, I really enjoyed listening to the video cast and can't wait to see what mine is like!
http://gallery.me.com/jstrange/100544

Podcast

I have never listened to a podcast before so this is all new to me.

Smart Board Lessons Podcast was very interesting and understandable. They made it very relataeable , funny and they were energetic about what they were talking about. It's a great podcast for teachers that are working on the end of the year things to do. The website that was given about allowing teachers to give their insight and ideas called Teachersconnecting.org was a great tool for teachers to use I thought. Smart Board Lessons Podcast seems like it would be a fun way to teach the students I would use it. I found this Podcast very useful and interesting.

KidCast is using video podcast to teach. Which personally for me would be a better way to learn other than audio podcast cause when your just sitting there listening you can become easily distracted and also can become mis-communicated because you don't see the body language of the others your talking with. Using video podcast I think would make the students more interested in learning if they could talk to someone over the video/Internet. And you know that their attention is focused on them other than wondering off. I find KidCast so useful in our classrooms today cause students like to be involved.

This Week In Photography was almost like a talk show. I found it could be very useful in our education system now. Its really interesting to me how they engage photos as a teaching technique. They gave useful websites that teachers could go to and find some photography that could be very helpful. I feel that if the students feel as they are interacting and engaging in the lessons they will learn faster. Pictures having them look at the picture point things out will get the students engaged.

MacBreak Weekly I'm sorry I wasn't interested in this podcast at all. I did not really get anything useful from this podcast. They didn't get straight to the point and wasn't focused on what the topic was about. They were kind of scattered, they would talk about it then get off subject. Maybe people who are interested in this topic found it useful and it could help. I just didn't. It was my least favorite podcast that we listened to this week.

I really enjoyed listening to all the different Podcast. My favorite was the KidCast. I think it would really get not only the students interested but the teachers interested also.

Next Generation Learning

This video really caught my interest. I agree that technology can be helpful in schools and that children do learn more if they can see it and explore it themselves rather than someone just telling them. Like Harry said research has shown that playing the wii or having that on hands kind of work improves concentration. I believe we should have these kinds of technology in our school for the learning process because children do learn more when they can have that hands on experience. Having ICT would be beneficial and I think would improve the education that students learn. We would just have to watch and limit ourselves as to us not getting carried away. I really enjoyed seeing this video clip and seeing how others are learning.

The Importance of Creativity

I agree with Sir Ken Robinson, that creativity is as important in education as literacy. We need to have children be more creative in school and have them be able to express themselves that way. Like Sir Ken Robinson said if your not prepared to be wrong you'll never come up with anything original, I agree that we would never learn different ways of doing something unless we have tried and was wrong from time to time. Children our pushed to learn about math, science and language that they should just focus on being a "university professor" than to have the creative and imaginary side that comes along with it. Teachers don't focus on art or drama like they do the main subjects of the class it's less. Sir Ken Robinson really helped you to realize that creativity is just important as mathematics or any other subject. I honestly have forgotten about it myself, you focus on the you trying to get a job, and learning the basics that you forget about what you are good at.

Did You Know? 3.0

I thought the Did You Know? 3.0 video was very interesting and mad you think a lot about whats coming of the world with all the new technologies, especially with Internet usage. I think that people have came so dependent on the Internet or other technology such as their cell phones that we don't know how to do simple things anymore unless we use them. We have allowed the Internet and cell phones to rule everything we do from dating to simply finding answers that we aren't sure about. The video really highlights that technology is just getting better and better everyday and that computers are going to exceed to become superhuman. To watch the video and actually see the actual statistics of whats actually happening and what will happen over the next few years is scary in a sense, it's amazing how we depend on technology to do everything for us.

A Little About Myself

Hi, my name is Tiffany Tuinder I'm 21 years old, I'm from Wilmer Alabama, I love living in the country. It's my third year here at South Alabama. I'm majoring in Elementary Education in hopes to become a First grade teacher one day. My hobbies include: Playing with my nieces and nephews, fishing and playing softball, well I really just like to be outdoors having fun. I'm pretty laid back, I don't say much I just go with the punches.