bye guys!

I had a great semester with you guys!! have a good break and I'll see ya around!

Class Summary Post

1. I did learn from this class...however not what I thought I would learn. I enjoyed learning about blogs and blog posts and how to upload pictures and links to my blogs. I like the requirement of making a professional blog. I found the google docs, presentation, forms and spreadsheets to be very easy to use and useful. I had worked with Picasa before I love it because I love taking pictures and being able to edit them. I think the podcasts were cool, but don't know how much I would use it. I used to only use YouTube to look up funny videos and music videos, now I know I can use it as a source for teaching. I enjoyed the connections we made with students and families outside our country through blogs, vidoes, and comments for kids. Some of the other stuff we blogged about I think I need to go back and research a little more to really be able to use it but I'm glad I got the chance to find out about it.

2. When I signed up for this class I figured I would be learning about microsoft office: word, excel, publisher, and powerpoint. I was looking forward to that, and I really wish we would have done those things as well.

3. Yes I probably won't use podcasts right a way.

4. I can't honestly say I was excited about this class. I am proud to have learned what I did, but not really excited.

5. Technology in general is intellectually challenging to me. I think maybe you should put less in your syllabus, so you'll be able to cover everything, and give each important subject enough time so everyone catches on and understands.

6. Yes I was bored sometimes, only when I had already done my blogposts and you would still go over what we were supposed to do, I would just sit there bored, and most likely on facebook.

7. What I would change in this course is all of the changing. I really recommend getting your syllabus ready at the beginning of the semester and not changing it. it was frustrating to me to have all the changing of the syllabus.

8. I would rate my tech. literacy at medium

9. I will keep looking for stuff to use in the classroom that will make learning fun for my students and staying updated in the technology world.

Developing a PLN

Developing a Personal Learning Network, and keeping up with it, is important. There are so many resources out there to get lesson plans and projects and endless ideas for creative things to do in the classroom.

For project 11 my group and I signed up for Classroom2.0. This is a website that is kind of like facebook or myspace, but it's for current and future educators to get and share information with one another, mostly about technology in the classroom. This website provides tutorials on using the website. They hold conferences online,about technology in the classroom some live some not. They also advertise they're conferences that you can go to, not virtually. It also has a place where people post videos, some educational to be used in the classroom, and others just for fun. There is a discussion board used for posting questions of inquiring minds or posting dilemas, and getting input back from other users of Classroom2.0. I will continue to follow this and learn more about it so that I can benefit from the rescources it provides

Twitter is another good resource for a PLN. I haven't really gotten into it, but from reading other's blogs I see that it can be very beneficial to a teacher, if you know who to follow.

Also "At the Teacher's Desk" is an excellent source! It is a blog for teachers to share ideas, post work, give advice, inquire for answers. It has a lot of well renowned contributors!

Project 11

For project 11 my group and I signed up for Classroom2.0. This is a website that is kind of like facebook or myspace, but it's for current and future educators to get and share information with one another, mostly about technology in the classroom. This website provides tutorials on using the website. They hold conferences online,about technology in the classroom some live some not. They also advertise they're conferences that you can go to, not virtually. It also has a place where people post videos, some educational to be used in the classroom, and others just for fun. There is a discussion board used for posting questions of inquiring minds or posting dilemas, and getting input back from other users of Classroom2.0. I will continue to follow this and learn more about it so that I can benefit from the rescources it provides

Comments4Kids

I'm not sure if I posted on here for each of the comments4kids assignments, so I wanted to make sure that it was on here for you to see. I really enjoyed the comments4kids assignments. I was really neat to see the work of kids around the nation and world. I liked being able to see what I can do with my classes in the future!

New Classroom Rules by Education Innovation

Ok I had to choose this one because some I agree with, others, I don't. I guess I have old-fashion ideas about the classroom. I do realize that some of these will have to change but I can't say that I agree with texting during class. If the students are allowed to text in class, I'm almost certain it won't always be about the educational topic they are supposed to be texting about. I think this may be the only one I disagree with completely. The others are good ideas for rules. Some I would use as they are but there are a few I would probably tweek just a bit. I don't necessarily like the getting up and moving around whenever they want to. I understand that the students should be able to get up and interact with each other, but I think if we allowed this to go on throughout the day it would be a big distraction. I do understand the technology of the rules, I didn't miss that. This is just my opinion of the rules.
Education Innovation

7 Brilliant things Teachers do with Technology

I decided not to focus on the 7 stupid things because I figure there are probably more than 7 stupid things a teacher ( or anyone ) could do, and no matter how much we talk about it people will still be stupid.

The reason I picked the 7 Brilliant things is because I very much agree with the post. I know I have a lot to learn about technology but I do believe that it can be used to empower students and give them motivation to do what they love to do, to learn! Technology can be used to bring more creativity into the classroom. We can use it to communicate with parents by posting assignments, announcements, and updating them on their child's progress in the classroom. We can use technology to reach people all around the world. I need to embrace technology and encourage (which probably won't take much) my students to embrace it as well.

Please read about the 7 brilliant things teachers do with Technology yourself. And get more information from Educationworld.com

At the Teacher's Desk

As I navigated through this blog, and read the posts, I realized how much I liked it. It seemed to be a very helpful site! It lets teacher's share what they've been doing in their classrooms. It also provides a place for teachers to post ideas. I like the post about forms of communications with parents, twitter, mobile communication, even facebook. I think this site will be very helpful in my career as a teacher!

The Future of Whatever

Wesch kept me interested in the speech, with all of the clips and media that he used. I didn't see the connection with all of it, the books, whatever, and youtube all put together. But I don't blame him for that, I had to read the book "A Brave New World" in a lit class and I didn't really follow it, or understand it.

I do like what I heard about "whatever." There was a lot of truth to what he said. A lot of times it's used to show that one doesn't care about the situation or conversation, or what ever they are in. And it's also used to show that one thinks highly of themselves and feels that they should not have to listen to, pay attention to, care about, or acknowledge something/someone that they don't want to. Hopefully it will evolve to mean "I'll do whatever it takes" to make a difference, change, or impact on the world.

The videos on youtube, I've found that some of them are entertaining, some are educational, some are inspirational, some are just for fun and some are just stupid. I think that the educational, or inspirational ones could be used in the classrooms to help illustrate a lesson.

Why students should post their work.

Students should be able to post their work to a blog or to the web somehow, so that they can express themselves and show how much they are learning and growing. We've seen several groups of students so far. The first I'll talk about is the group of students in a chior from New York. WOW these kids were amazing in their song! I'm sure they don't know how many people have viewed their video and were touch and impressed with their talent. And by having their talent posted on the web, they were invited to sing at Madison Square Garden, what an experience to remember!! Please go view this video!!

The second group I'll talk about is a group at large. It's all the students that we come in contact with by doing Comments4Kids. They post their work and I'm sure they are learning as they post. Their posts are always about something they have learned or a project they're doing or a writing prompt they've been assigned. Posting for these students is a way that they can do their work, see it published, and be proud of what they've done, and hopefully want to work just as hard if not harder in the future.

The last group is really just a representation of a group. It is Kaia and her daddy. Kaia is a representative of the coming generation. Her daddy is doing her a huge favor by experiencing, showing, and teaching her all that he is. She is already steps and steps ahead of others her age. Her daddy has published her work for her and I'm sure she'll want to continue and soon she'll be doing it all by herself. This is the future. I think her daddy is awesome for doing what he does for her.

Publishing students work, gives them something to be proud of and something that they can always go back and look at and think "look what I did!"

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange is a database full of lesson plans of all subjects. It has lesson plans that are already made up to the state's standards and it also has a place for teachers to store any lesson plans for a later use. Teachers can also go on this website and create their own lesson plans and save them in their own learning space. There are plans for many subjects and all grade levels. It also has links for students to use in different subject areas. I think this is a great tool and source to pull from in the classroom. To visit the Alabama Learning Exchange Website Click here.

ACCESS

ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Students Statewide. From what I've read, I understand that ACCESS is website for students to take online classes. It is for grades 9-12. It is for students who want to take regular or advanced classes that aren't offered at their hometown school.

This is good for those students who are ambitious and want to get and stay ahead and will work hard to get there. But it's been my experience that if you don't stay on top of the work in the class you could fall behind. It is definitely a useful and effective tool for those or are dedicated and determined.

To visit the ACCESS site Click Here.

Comments4Kids (applesmiles)

The student that I was assigned to,from Rocking Room 334, who I think is going by "animal" on the blog page, wrote about the day that they made apple smiles. They said that their class enjoyed making apple smiles and they were yummy.

I told the student where I was from and told them how much I liked apples. I asked them if they could tell me how to make an apple smile.

Dear Kaia

A little summary of the assigned viewing/reading: Mr. C's class was commenting on Kaia's blog one day, her dad noticed them. He contacted Mr. C and they started skyping. Mr. C's class made a voicethread video for Kaia because she can't read yet, so she has no way of knowing what their comments were saying. Her dad, Mr. Raisdana, then started thinking of how much exposure to his daughter, he was giving the world. At first her blog started out as a way to share pictures with family members but now it has kind of become a way to record her life events.This concerned him, so much to blog about it and await responses. Here's my response to it all.

I think that it is very cool how we can contact people from all over the world. I do see the risks but I also know you can protect your site by having visitors be approved or blocking someone you aren't comfortable with on your site. I think it's amazing how Kaia's dad saw the activity on her page and was able to track it down, and get in contact with Mr. C and his class. I personally think that Mr. Raisdana is doing a great job as a dad and teacher. He is exposing his daughter to things that open her mind and expand her imagination. He is right to be concerned about her exposure to the internet and the world, but I think if he monitors it efficiently everything will be fine.

She is super cute and seems to be very bright!:)

New media Literacies.

These skills are very much needed to work, live and contribute to our world and society today. I would say that I have the bare minimal of the skills. I can navigate through certain websites, once I've found my way to it. With the way things are going, I do believe that everyone should have these skills. I need to work at it more and research and learn more about them.

You can watch this video now if you'd like

wendy drexler

This is a very good way to get a message out, very creative and simple.

My reaction to this video is that all of this technology and ways to get information and share information is all well and good, if you know how to access it. It's good to know that there are websites and links to websites out there that I can use to get almost any information that I need. But it is very frustrating to me when I go and try to find these places and I can't. In my opinion, they aren't that easy to access, but I'm no computer wizard.

I want to learn more about it so that I can better myself as a person and teacher. But I think we need separate classes. One class for those who understand a little more and one for those who will need a little more time to catch on. I think there should be a class that moves at a slower rate and takes time to explain a little bit more, because I would definitely need that one.

This is how we dream 1& 2

This video is about the change in how we used to work, study and research. We used to be in a library using books to get information. Now we work from our desks on the computers and get our information offline. I respect this change but wish I knew more about it.

There is a lot of technology and information that's out there and it would be great to know how to use it. As of right now, no I can't do this, hopefully I'll learn and my students will be able to learn from me.

Watch these videos.

Comments4Kids

Last week I had the assignment to post a comment for a child with initials IML. The topic of her blog was Talent. She/He said that she/he was going to post about her/his talents but first she/he wanted to hear about others talents. I commented and told her/him about my sisters, mother, and I and how we sing together.

Comments4Kids

I had the assignment of posting a comment for a kid named Matt B. I think the assignment for this particular blog was to make up an international holiday. Matt made up the International Laugh like a witch day. This day is the day before Halloween to get people in the mood for the holiday. He was very descriptive and creative. He did a good job!

iTunes University

iTunes University would be useful to students as a resource for information on many different subjects and would be helpful for assignments and papers. It's also useful for students if they happen to get sick and not be able to go to class they could get their assignments and lectures from iTunes.

It would be useful to Teachers to be able to use iTunes to post their lectures and assignments for those students who are out or for when they happen to get sick and have to be out or if they have conferences or retreats to go on.

Dr Christie

As I looked through Dr. Christie's website, I saw that it would be very helpful. There were a lot of helpful resources and ideas and advice. She seems to be very knowledgeable.

wikipedia, reliable or no?

I have used wikipedia before, but now after reading about this wikipedia scanner, and about how we know that people have been influencing information on the website for their own benefit, I probably won't use it anymore. I don't know if it will every credible again. I mean if any random person can go in and change the information that is shared with the world, how can it, in any fashion, be accurate? why would anyone want to use it?

What I've learned this year --Mr Mcclung

I appreciated his thoughts on his first year. As a Education major I'm a little nervous about graduating and starting my first year. It was nice to have a first year teacher's view and insight. I agree completely with him when he says that listening and creating a teacher/student relationship with your kids, is so important! If they can't feel comfortable with you and relaxed and able to learn, I don't believe you'll accomplish very much.

I also liked the part about the communication. I know a lot of times, words and thoughts can get turned around and misunderstood. Then people's feelings get hurt, or someone else gets mad, then gossip starts to spread, and all because a few words were misinterpreted. I think it is very important to keep all lines of communication open for your students as well as your co-workers.

Erica Freeman and My People

Comments for kids post

I had a blog from a 1st grader named Allyas. He posted a blog about making patterns. He did a very good job on his patterns and I let him know.

Randy Pausch

I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture from Mr. Pausch. It seemed like I had watched the video before, I'm just not sure when or where. I thought he chose a very good topic for his last lecture. I enjoyed hearing about his childhood dreams and how he helped others achieve their dreams. The Vomit Comet was really cool I thought. I would love to be able to float on air!

There were a few quotes he used that really stuck with me. The first is "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted." I really liked this one, because it's so simple and so true. Even when life doesn't go the way we want, we'll always come out with something, experience.

Another quote I liked is, "Brick walls are there for a reason: to show our dedication and to prove how badly we want things." When things get in the way of our goals and what we want to accomplish, keep going, keep trying, keep working and show your desire for what you want.

The last one is when he said "When you don't know where the bar should be, you'd only be doing them a disservice by putting it anywhere. If students only have certain qualifications they will do just that, but if they don't have limitations, you'll see what they can really accomplish!!

It was a good video, sad that he had to make his last lecture, and sweet that he had everyone sing happy birthday to his wife. I really liked it.

is it ok to be an technologically illiterate teacher?

Obviously according to Karl Fisch, it's not ok to be an technologically illiterate teacher. I have to agree with him. It does seem that there will soon be little success without the knowledge of technology. I hate to say that because I'm having to admit that I'll have to learn it myself. I'm not technologically illiterate, but I certainly have a lot more to learn.

I want to be the best teacher I can be. I want my students to learn as much as possible and as much as I can give them. I need to know more about technology so I can give my students the education to help them succeed.

It's not all about Technology

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Hine's post about technology. While I agree that Technology is good to have and use, I also agree that it's not everything. I think that learning in the classroom has a lot to do with the approach and the level of enthusiasm from the teacher, and how they make it interesting. Granted making it interesting for some students may require technology, but really it's about getting on their level and working hands on with them to help them understand what you're trying to teach. I like what she said, if the child is not learning, you are not teaching.

A vision of students today

This movie was amazing!! All of it was so true!!! We spend tons of money on tuition and books and unnecessary fees. How does this improve our education? Classes are large and only a fraction of the faculty know the names of their students. And in a lot of classes the teachers lecture day in and day out. This movie really captured the reality of college life.

I don't believe that technology alone will save us. I believe that being creative and working together and being hands on will save us. I believe we'll learn more as well.

podcast blogs

These different websites have lots of information on them about different conferences and resource sites. I think they would be very helpful.

PodCasts Blog

I listened to the student prepared podcast about burpback education. While there was a lot of good information in the podcast, the students didn't hold my attention very well. You could tell that they were only reading what they had written down for the podcast, which is fine, but it is hard to feel the emotion in a audio only podcast.

In the podcast that I will do later on this semester, I would hope that I'd put a little more enthusiasm into my presentation and use my voice to captivate the listening audience.

PodCasts

Teachers connecting # 11 Year end ideas
The first 10 min of this blog were basically pointless. They didn't really get into much. Ben was talking about his trip to Ottowa, and about Obama cookies in the market. Towards the end of the first 10 minutes they were talking about Math movies, which I thought was a good idea. There are different well known movies that have information about mathmatics in them. Mathmovies.com shows clips of these movies to get the students interested in the topic you're teaching that a specific lesson.

Kid Cast
Podcasts
Dan Schmit
In this podcast, Mr. Schmit gave some reasons why video podcasting "vodcasting" is better than just audio podcasts. Video podcasts, of course, give visuals rather than just sounds. You can see the emotion in the face when you could miss that if you were just listening to voices. It also shows the body language behind the speech. Video podcast are also good for demonstrations, making it easier to explain with visuals rather than just audible instructions.

ConnectLearning
David Warlick Episode 91

Some of the representatives attending the podcast seminar were concerned about young children being posted with their names and pictures, and being indentifiable online. Warlick and another rep. suggests that for young children creating their own podcasts should probably stick to audio podcast. He also suggested that they should review and use their acceptable use policies. They also talked about how podcasting could improve their jobs, here are some responses. Use them to help "sell" books, by talking them up and drawing in readers. We could have podcasts of spanish translations of books for ESL students. Children can use podcasts to express themselves. They could be used to interview people in the community.

This week in Photography. Alex decides on a camera
The last one I listened to, I didn't like so much. I thought I would because it was about photography and I enjoy taking pictures. But they just talked about this alex character picking out a new camera and it wasn't very interesting...

Harness your Students' Digital Smarts Blog

This video is inspiring. I want to be the kind of teacher that has an open mind and is ready for anything. I want to let my students be hands on and create their learning modules. The more they're interacting, I believe, the more they're learning. I always loved doing different crafts and projects in school. I didn't like sitting around listening to lectures and taking notes.

I like the connection she gave them with the outside world. Even from south Georgia, those students were connected to others all over the world. They were learning technology while learning different cultures and ways of life at the same time and that, to me, is awesome.

Ken Robinson Blog

I really enjoyed this video. It seems like they were having a good conference. He is exactly right about the schools putting arts and imagination on the low end of the hierarchy. The arts are very important in my opinion and it's sad that they are slowly but surely being removed from the school systems.

I enjoyed what he said about the choreographer of CATS. The doctor said that there was nothing wrong with her, simply she was a dancer. A lot of times, students, who are diagnosed with this learning disability or this mental handicap, simply need to be approached in a different way. Not every student learns from lectures and note taking.

Mr winkle blog

This video is sad. Imagine going to sleep of 100 years and missing everything. You have no idea what's been going on around you and you feel completely lost in everything. You don't know what to do in your office. Everyone is bustling about around you and you're spinning around in circles. You don't know what the doctors are doing to you at the hospital. You're completely lost in the world around you. But the saddest part would be that you feel right at home in the schools. They're just like you remember them.

If you're lost in the world around you, and there are so many technical advances, why are our schools the same. Why are the kids still coming and sitting and listening to the teachers yap all day. Why are they not up and doing and learning and participating with hands on activities that will contribute to their life in the world and help them contribute to the rest of the world?... it's something to think about.

did you know blog

I liked this video. It was very interesting to see how rapidly things have changed and are continuing to change. So what does all of this mean? It means that with each generation more and more discoveries are being made. It is a little irritating that statistically everything I learned in my first years in college are now outdated. It kind of scares me a bit to know that my students will probably know a lot more than I do. I guess that's why I have to keep my eagerness to learn and continue to learn over the years.

It also scares me to know that it is predicted that by 2049 there will be a computer that can do exceedingly more than any human being can do. Personally I think that is ridiculous. Why, when so many people are out of jobs now, would someone create something that could do so much more than a human could do? I just hope Jesus Christ comes back before any of that happens. I'm not sure why all of this rapid growth of communication scares me so badly, but I do know that I want to be off of this Earth when things go south...

Blog #1

I just posted most of this stuff about me on the about me section on my blog page, but I'll go ahead and repeat it, since that's what our first blog is supposed to be about.
My name is Erica Freeman. I am 21 yrs old and live in Pascagoula Ms. I drive every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, to Mobile for class. I am going to USA because the community college close to home doesn't have an Education Program. I am an Elementary Education major. I want to teach 3rd grade. I grew up with 3 sisters and I now have a brother-in-law as well. I still live at home with my parents. I'm waiting for the day that I don't have to live at home anymore! I love to laugh and have a good time. I spend a lot of time hanging out with my friends and family. I sing on the worship team at Church on the Rock in Pascagoula. I love to sing. I'm a christian girl and I don't know where I would be without the strength and guidance of Christ. One of my very best friends is my sister Natalie, that I miss very much...basically this is me: a fun loving girl, who likes to laugh and have a good time and watch movies and read.