Final Blog Reflection

Edm310 has taught me many things. From all the devices i have come accustomed to using, to the critically thinking about different aspects of education in its entirety. But what i've most come to appreciate most from class is the interaction I've taken part in with my fellow peers and educators about how to change the way we teach or students so that they are getting the most out of their learning environment and are better to prepared to adopt to our ever changin world. There isn't anything that i wanted to learn that i didn't. I think the class covered enough to help an up and coming teacher become more technologically literate. I was always excited to come to class. Because I can use these tools in and out the class. I did get bored with all the different blogs because blogging with so many different people made me get lost with all the conversations i was having. If i could change one thing it would be commenting on three different things at the same time every week on top of our blog. My technology literacy is at a good level. I will try my hardest to use every tool available to give myself the best opportunity to become a well-rounded teacher.

Interview

Substantive Presentation

Showing him how Skype works

April 25th

Everyone has different combinations and preferences for their social networks but they all revolve around the same job which is helping people learn and also teach others. This student uses her PLN similarly to mine by letting it be reviewed by peers to make sure her info is correct. She also uses it to teach others, like how she did with explaining the difference between being poisonous and having venom. I do the same thing when i use my social networks to explain how certain social networks work like twitter and blogging in my blogs.

The second video asked "what is my sentence?" and "I'm i better today than i was yesterday?". I think my sentence would be "He got his bachelors in physical education and taught thousands of kids how to become healthier people." With the second question i would have to say no. I have a bad habit with taking days off. Kind of one of my problems on the football field too.

Comments 4teachers 10, 12

I commented on Candice Follis's post about a handout she read called the "Reciprocal Teaching".

http://follisfiles.wordpress.com/

Google Docs Survey

Here is the link to my Survey.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsGEo3697y5edFR0SFJqY1dxcHNKRlh2MDliczdOdUE&hl=en

Google Earth Tour

Comments 4teachers wk 7,8,9

Commented on Mr. Ferriter's article on questions to ask before buying IWBs

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2010/04/5-questions-to-ask-before-buying-iwbs.html#comments

Comments 4kidz wk 10

I watched and commented on a video done my a 5th grade class in New Zealand's. They made a video of the pictures they took around their school and had an audio explaining it.

http://spxroom6.blogspot.com/search/label/A'Leina

April 18th

Teachers and facebook unite!

Can teachers and facebook work together? It would seem that these two advisaries have engaged in a war that has been going on for years now. I know from my personal experiences that facebook is probably the biggest distraction for college students hands down! And by the loks of things i don't see students coming anywhere close to stopping their usage of it, at least as long as its free. In our EDM 310 class we have witnessed how many internet social networks are being incorporated in the learning process. But i haven't seen facebook being used as much as other social networks and i always wondered why. If schools and teachers could somehow use this network to their advantage i think they could impact millions of people.

Students spend tons of time on the computer. Whether it's doing homework or socializing with social networks, or surfing the web the fact of the matter is there online constantly. If educational departments say had a facebook page where their teacehers interacted with students and posted information about school work i think they would receive tremendous feedback. Its so much more convenient for students because they are facebook more than any other network so the are more likely to see and respond. I can even see it replacing emailing.

Vocaroo

My Skype'n

Skype is a program that allows users to communicate with eachother incorporating chat, webcam, or telephones to talk to one another. I use Skype to talk to my friends back in Florida and a few who live in other parts of Alabama.

Timeline Toast

This is a timeline of a few things I have done this week so far.

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/49945

April 11th Blog

There are many benefits for students in blogging their work. When a student post work on the world wide web he is able to get feedback from so many minds, including fellow peers and professors from across the globe. Also, it inspires others on a much more broader scale so they effect of it can teach millions of people instead of hundreds or thousands. Thus, putting your work on a blog is like putting work up on a chalkboard and the internet is a classroom with millions of seats.

The Dear Kaia blog sparked the interest of a couple of U.S. teachers and classrooms and encouraged more involvement of parents with their child's learning.
http://dearkaia.blogspot.com/2009/09/first-photo-essay.html

Another example is the blog of Morgan Bayda. Her blog caught the attention of our teacher and this actually lead to a Skype discussion with her and our class where we learned about how a person just beginning their careerer in the education field values and uses technology to teach as well as learn.
http://morgbayda.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/an-open-letter-to-educators/

In the NPR news blog, they educated people about the cautions of using Wkipedia as a credible source of research because of how easy it is for people to change it so its information favors a certain group's opinion instead of being completely factual.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2007/08/whos_been_messin_with_my_wikip.html

Student blogging educates people outside the classroom while also obtaining feedback from millions of readers over the world. This creates a learning cycle that extends far beyond the limits of teh four wall classrooms.

April 4th

Kaia's Blog, Dear Kaia, and Singing Hearts are all connected together by the story a young girl and her father's attempt to use technolgy to explore and learn about the world outside their house. But with the help of documenting it on the internet, their exploration has inspired teachers and classrooms all over the world.

Even thought she is only 3 years old what she is doing is a small version of what professional photographers do. Simple adventures outside become the foundation to a learning process that children carry with them into the schools and workplace. Asking questions, critically thinking about the answers, finding new ways to look at old things are all products produce by the curiousity of a persons mind.

What sticks out to me the most are two areas of these events. The first is how even at 3 years of age technolgy can greatky aid in a child's learning. The other is how technolgy is a great tool for children and parents to work together in stimulating their child's learing. With more interaction from parents, it will make a teachers job that much more lighter of a load.

Comments 4 kids week 9

In this weeks comment for kids i viewed a video about bullying done by a girl named jessica and her classmates on bullying. It was very entertaining and they are some good actors. Especially the bullies.

Comment 4 Kidz WK 8

I commented on a girl named Cristal's poem about her feeling like a slave. Her poem is on Ms. Shelter's blog site

March 28th

An Open Letter to Educators
In early humanity only the privileged and select few were able to obtain knowledge, while most people were left in the dark with no means of access to this treasure called information. But with the invention of the internet, information has been freed to be obtained by anyone. Although this decreases the value of information because it is more commonly found, it also creates more convienent ways for peolpe to get and use it. Dan Brown uses the example of how before the internet people had to use globes and atlases to plan trips. With the internet all you have to do now is plot in your location and destination and it gives you instant directions and seconds.

The most significant fact that Dan pointed out was that we as students are programmed to come into class and memorize facts and how well we memoize these facts determines how smart we are. But in todays age, the value of being good at memorizing facts is alomst pointless because of the internet. Now everyone has instant access to facts thanks to the internet. We are wasting a lot of time teaching students this way.
I've been in college for about 3 years now and it amazes me how i can pass classes without ever having to buy the books for them. I can just google any information i need and the informations is just as accurate.

March 7th

The first part he emphasises is the importance of the fundamentals. Fundamental are like the framework, the foundation of every persons house of learning. You can not build a strong, stable house without having your fundamentals together. This principle is found true any many places. Like the example he uses with Football. I play football and the first thing they teach you before anything is the fundamentals so you can build on those and move on to the more advance skills and techniques. And the same rules apply for learning and teaching in the classroom as well.

He talks about the brick walls as metaphors comparing them to the rejection people face when they are turned down. He says that these brick walls are there not to turn you away but to test how bad you want something. Everyone didn't get the dream the first time around but those who really wanted it kept knocking until that door finally opened.

He talks about handing over things you are so attached to. And these could be students who you've been teaching for years that you are really fond of, but aren't coming along like they should be. He believes that when you have to let these things go, that you make sure it's to someone who can take better care of them. I agree with this because as teachers we are very caring for our students, but we can't solve all their problems alone. Sometimes you do all you can and if that's not working than find someone who can do more for them.


The last part I wanted to mention is that he was saying how important it was to help people. Everyone needs help, even you. Kids are going to need your help teaching them, caring for them, and disciplining them. Other teacher are going to need your help on advice on how teach to teach a lesson or on some creative ways to teach it. Your going to need help when you run out of supplies and need to borrow from the teacher next door. Everyone helps each other. That's the power of a team because together everyone achieves more.