My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

Dear Fellow Classmates,
It was great to meet you . I hope you do well this semester!
~Erica

My Review on Mine and Other Classmates Podacast Re

I listened to four different podcast, mine and three other classmates. I believe they all had great content and were very well prepared. Though the content was great there is always room for improvement!

While I was listening to my podcast I realized that we said "um" a lot. Maybe if we had practiced just a little more our speech would have improved. I believe that our group had very interesting facts, but we should have cut back to make the podcast not so long. What I did like was that our podcast did not sound "robotic" it sounded like a true conversation.

However listening to the others I noticed many people were quiet. They did not speak into the mike therefore you could barely here them. Another was that some sounded like they were reading straight from a sheet this makes the listener uninterested.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture 5 Key Points

Randy Pausch in his last lecture taught 5 techniques. Introduce the elephant in the room, define the scope, conclude strong, show enthusiasm, immerse yourself, and get personal.

First, randy introduces the elephant in the room by spending a minute discussing his pancreatic cancer. If he had not opened this way, the audience would have been distracted for the entire lecture. This way by introducing the elephant everyone can focus on what is ahead.

Second, he proceeds to define the scope of his lecture. He outlines what he will talk about and, more importantly, what he will not talk about. This allows the audience to be at the same starting point and in the right frame of mind as you.

Third, randy concludes strong by recapping everything he has talked about. He reaches back to one of the concepts introduced earlier — the head fake — and reveals that his entire speech has been a pair of head fake. It forces the audience to think back into the lecture and replay it in their minds. Concluding strong leaves them thinking.

Through his lecture Randy has shown much enthusiasm and immersed himself through wearing goofy hats doing pushups, and many other things. These things allow the audience to relax and become interested. You want your audience to have fun.

Finally, get personal by showing your personal life and side it allows the reader to see that you are real. It gives them a chance to connect with you.

What I Have Learned

In My EDM 310 class I have learned one main thing; that the internet is a very great teaching tool. Through the blogging and research that Mr. Sullivan made us do I have learned about so many different teaching tools on the internet; as in iTunes u, and the fischbowl, and many other websites. These websites have taught me different ways to make my classroom fun and a fun learning center. I really truly am excited about learning how to use these things more in my classroom.

One thing I do wish we learned about was actual Word. Google docs. Is convenient, but I will really never use it. I would have liked to learn excel or power point on Word. However one thing that I found pointless to use is Twitter. It is a useless tool that stops people from communicating through calling and actual conversations.

WGBH K-5

On iTunes U the Boston PBS station has podcast called WGBH. There it has grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-10. I chose grades K-5. The podcast videos were very interesting. One I watched was the coral reef it showed many different fish and spoke about the coral reef it made you interested and want to listen.

I will definitely use these in my teaching it is an amazing teaching and learning tool. It can show them places they will never see. As in the coral reef not many students will see that it will give them insight, it will also allow them to connect what they are learning to something they can see.

Many of these podcast show me different ways of teaching students in the classroom. It has open my eyes to ways other than the traditional teach and worksheet method. I am so excited about using these podcast.

Edible Schoolyard and Night in Global Village

On iTunes U you can find these two podcast. Edible Schoolyard is a program with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California that takes the class to the outside. These students learn to plant, harvest, and cook crops. While they are doing this they learn math, science, social studies, and other subjects. Then the Night in Global Village is a program at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning in Perryville, Arkansas. Groups of students come to experience life in a third world nation setting for one day. One group is given nothing and another group is everything they are made to come together and help one another. This is made to teach the children how privileged we are.

These podcast can help me in my teaching. It can give me different ideals on how to teach subjects and lessons where they are not so routine. Maybe one day for science instead of staying in the classroom we can go outside and study the plant itself.

It can also help to teach the children to be creative. I can also show them that we are all different and unique in our own ways. Even though I couldn’t do the Night in Global Village per say I can show them how privileged we are so they do not take advantage of the education they are given.

Twittter

Twitter is a website where people can follow what you are doing. It was created to help people connect and know how others are doing. By becoming a follower of someone you can follow how their day went by their updates. I created an account with Twitter, but did not like it. I tried it for a week to follow my friends and family. I even watched the YouTube videos on it, but it did not interest me. I felt as if it was Facebook minus all the other things. I am sorry for those who may like Twitter, but I doubt I will ever use it. I feel it is pointless because I did not learn anything important from it. People would just type "I'm eating". I might sound rude, but I really don’t care of they are eating. It is a pointless task and waste a lot of time. I would not refer this to anyone. I feel as though it is an excuse to just not call some one. How hard is it to call and say how was your day if you truly cared. I believe this hurts our communication skills as people. Things like this make the gaps in our conversations.

Pro's and Con's of Blogs in the Classroom

I am not going to lie blogging wasn’t my favorite thing this semester. Mostly I believe it was because of assignments. For example I love to read but I hate reading assignments. But through the blogging I learn many things. Especially the pro's and con's of blogs in the classroom.

As much as I did not like blogging I loved reading other peoples blogs. One person I like to read was Jarod Peirce. He showed his passion for teaching through his blog post. This is a pro of blogging in the classroom it could help the students see the passion and have passion for the things y'all are learning.

Another pro is that students will be able to communicate and understand what went on in class that day or what y’all are studying in the chapter. This will help them learn better. It will allow them to challenge their mind more especially if you give them other links and other places for them to learn about the subject matter more.

However, I could not find a downfall other than for the teacher. As a teacher you would already be very busy. So you would have to take time to blog for your students. Other than this matter blogging is a great way to help children grow and learn better.

Growth v.s. Fixed Minds

This podcast done by Stanford University is based on how children learn to learn. Some students have a mind set of I was not born with intelligence so there is no way I will ever be smart. So therefore they stay with that mind and do not challenge themselves.

As a teacher I must teach them that intelligence is through growth. You have to expand your mind through reading and challenging their minds. Teachers can get so focused on standardized test they forget everyone is different some need more challenge than others. I really hope in the future standardized test are disposed of and the fixed ideal is gone.

Information on Itunes University

Apple offers on their ITunes store a section called ITunes U. ITunes U has free downloads and audios of many universities around the United States. PSFK shows that students do better in school with ITunes University. The website states an experiment that the results said "Students who downloaded the podcast averaged a C (71 out of 100) on the test - substantially better than those who attended the lecture, who on average mustered only a D (62)."
Though these studies show improvement on test, many professors fear the drop in attendance. So some professors are limiting their podcast on ITunes U. However some do think that is great; that this technology can make the classrooms better. I think if the University of South Alabama had ITunes U I would be using it for sure.

Ipods in Education

Looking up the IPods in education I found a terrific website World. It gave me so many links to different websites detailing IPods in the class room. One website was the Apple website. This website I found the most interesting. Apple talks about students having IPods along with Iphones to bring learning wherever they go.

Duke University gave their freshman all iPods. They were found effective and now they allow certain classes to use them. I think this would be great to have to put lecture notes and the teacher’s lesson for the day on. I believe it would be very helpful. Technology is becoming a big deal in our society and our children need to learn to be able to use devices such as these to learn. With supervision I believe IPods in the classroom could be a great success.

Alice Christie's Site

Alice Christie has created an amazing site for teachers, parents, and students. She has gathered over 30 years of experienced and put all on one website. This is very valuable for teachers. I believe that you should always take from other people’s experience. She gives you everything she knows.
Her website has links on everything a teacher needs and more. Alice says that you never stop learning. I truly believe that you can teach old dog new tricks. So this website does not only give new teacher’s great help and advice it can also enlighten older teachers. I believe you should always try to learn and improve and I believe this is a site as a teacher I will love to learn and use.

Wikipedia Is It Credible

Wikipedia is an unbelievable source. I think it is great if you just want to know something general but it is not credible. I like the Wikipedia scanner that Virgil Griffith made. It will allow many companies conspiracies that try to hide the facts on them to come into light. Yes this will scare many companies to not change their information, but it does not eliminate it. I will never use Wikipedia as a credible source. It will, and won’t ever be, but it is a good general information site.

My Response to Fisch "What IT Wants"

I love Karl Fisch's blog. It is full of interesting facts and information. I learn so much from this blog. I believe I will always read it even after this class.
One post I read from this blog was What IT Wants. Though I truly don't know what "IT" is per say I like the other things she talks about. He tells you the things a graduate student should look like as in:

• Passionate about learning.
• Self-directed, motivated.
• Curious.
• Creative.
• Global perspective. De-centered – focus on others.
• Tech enabled.
• Has their own Personal Learning Network and is actively nurturing it.
• Understands that working on problems that haven’t been solved is what real people do, not following step by step procedures. Be problem solvers. Also problem finders.
• Able to be given a “big picture” overview of an assignment and go for it without a lot of direction.
• Collaborative.
• Learn how to learn.
• Don’t stop at the first right answer.
• Producers, not just consumers.

His facts and personal views are so creative and so passionate I agree with him. He truly believes in great teachers and that gives me so much respect for him.

My Thoughts on the EDM310 Fall 08 Podcast

To improve one you must listen and learn from others. I listened to different pod cast from Dr. Strange's fall class. Listing to his EDM 310 class gave me insight and allowed my self to see what I can do to improve any future pod cast of mine.

Listening to these pod cast help me learn that I need to be lively. I need to talk to where I catch the person’s attention. You want the person to want to listen. Also, I learned that you need to know the information. Sometimes in these pod cast the host would say "um" and talk as if they were reading off a sheet. The listener needs to believe I know what I am talking about and trust what I am saying. Learning is apart of education. And learning allows you to grow.

My Presentation

Karl Fisch and Her Blog on Technology and Teachers

First I listened to "You Tube as an Educational Tool", next I listened to Possibilities of Facebook for Educational Tools. These pod cast were very informational, but boring. Karl Fisch's blog Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher? is very opinionated about teachers knowing their technology. I agree with her in some ways. Yes the world today is all about computers and technology. As teachers it is our duty to understand them, but that is not all that we need as teachers. The classroom should not be all technical there should be "Old Fashion" teaching.

There should be hands on teaching (old fashion teaching) where the teacher is not reading straight off the power point. I am a kinesthetic learner and technology is not how I learn. I believe that technology is isolating us and we are becoming an unsociable generation. Students do not have civil one to one conversations anymore. It is all about the text or instant messaging; no more conversations there should be equilibrium between computers and old fashion teaching.

Podcast and The way They are Done

Pod cast is like a talk show on the Internet. Many pod cast are instructional and teaching. I listened to many pod cast - SmartBoard Lessons, Kidcast, EdTechTalk, MacBreak Weekly, and This Week in Photography- doing research to see how most are setup.

Many pod cast start with interesting music. The music is what lets you think that the pod cast could be interesting. Many people put cool rock music to get a "hip" feel to their pod cast. Some will put in neat sound effects as in the pod cast SmartBoard Lessons. They put in school bells ringing to go along with their theme.

After the music, the introduction to the pod cast comes on stating the pod cast name; what they will be talking about; and sometimes advertisement. This allows the listeners understand what they will be talking about and discussing on the show.

When it is time to start the main person will introduce the co-host, if there are any. They will talk a few about news and other things to get relate to the listener. Most pod cast sound like talk shows off the radio. Many times these discussions lead into the issue of the pod cast. They clearly discuss the issue at hand. Some put in jokes to lighten up the mood, and to not bore their listeners. Some of the pod casts were boring so I agree with the ones that put in jokes or stories as in This Week in Photography. Pod cast are great instructional audio files that allow you to learn things easily.

International Teachers and How They are Using Blogs

I searched and searched for international teacher's blog, and found one. This blog is for international teaching community. It has post for students and teachers of the international community.
It just has things for students and teachers where they can relate and fit in. It gives them a place to ask and get answers for questions. I think this is a really great site and blog for students.

USA Teachers and How They are Using Blogs

Many teachers in the United States use blogs to keep parents, students, and other teachers up to date. As in these two examples:

In Fox Hollow Elementary fourth grade teacher Mr. Bachler has a blog for the parents of his students. Mr. Bachler's Blog has newsletters where parents see what he has planned for the week and also homework. This allows parents to be more connected to what their child is doing. Mr. Bachler has web links for parents to go to as in Scholastic book orders , Utah Core Curriculam , and Natianal standards for physical education. His blogs really connect the student's parents and give them easy access to web sites they need. She put pictures up from their class.

Also in California Mrs. Davis at Rio del Mar elementary uses her blog just like Mr. Bachler. Mrs. Davis' Blog states that "this page was created to help streamline communication between school and home, with information about field trips, homework, and other important news." Her blog shows homework, events, test dates, and what they will be learning. She has polls as well that way she can get parents and students' opinions. Her blog is set up to really help the students and connect the parents. She has links downloads and wish lists.

Me Trying To Alt Sample Text

Did You Know?

Technology is advancing every minute of the day. The video Did You Know, created by Kari Fisch, is a video about our students and technology. This video really opened my eyes to how much our world is changing. Kids rarely go out side and play anymore, video games, TV, and the Internet fill their minds.

It amazes me the increase of college graduates over the year. We had 1.3 million graduates in 2006. This to me means our world is becoming smarter and our minds are expanding to new heights. Are minds are growing where we cannot stay at one job the average learner will have 10 to 14 jobs by the age of 38. The question most of all was what will our world be like in the future for our kids and my answer is I have no idea!

Parents and teachers watch this video it will enlighten you in so many ways!!!

ACCESS Another Resource for Teachers!

ACCESS is Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Student Statewide which is a distance learning program. This program, set up in 2005 by Alabama governor Bob Riley and State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Joseph B. Morton, allows student to have the opportunities to take AP courses, electives, and other classes which they may not have access to. This gives student the chance to be equal and to expand and challenge their minds. I believe this is a great program for students that come from areas that do not allow them many opportunities. This will allow them to get the education they deserve. Also, it will allow them to prepare better for college. ACCESS says that their vision is that the State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning. Students and teachers deserve the opportunity to be the best they can be.

Talking about teachers this distance program is not just about students. ACCESS provides multimedia and technology tools to enhance their teaching and classrooms. Teachers want the opportunities to help their children in anyway they can. As in my last post about ALEX, this is another great resource for teachers. Many teachers did not have the chance to use these advance technologies till now, using the ACCESS program.

I urge teachers and counselors to take advantage of this great resource. Your students deserve the best that you can give them and by using this website you can increase the learning in your classroom and allow them the chances and opportunities they ought to have.

The Real Me - Natalie Grant

Let God in he already sees your brokenness allow him to heal you!

Teachers Here is a Great Resource : Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) !

ALEX is a very helpful website for teachers, parents, and administrators. The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is a great source for lesson plans and ideas for teachers. The homepage has many different things you can look at. It has web links, course study, and a workplace to make your own lesson plan.

The courses of study cover all different classes; and ranges with grades K-12. The course study gives you terrific lesson plans from veteran teachers. You can trust that these lessons were efficient. With allowing teachers to share lesson plans this allows the teachers all across Alabama to be connected and teach closely the same curriculum. Also, the lesson plan is printer friendly which is great for people like me who are on the go and need to do I quick print out.

This web site also gives you a way to create your own lesson plan. It is well organized for teachers to save their lesson plans and share them. This can allow them to be able to go back and change things and compare their lesson to other teachers. This website is beneficial to all teachers.

Erica

ME!!!!!

Hi! My name is Erica. I am a freshman at South Alabama. I am majoring in Special Education k-6. My dream is to become an elementary teacher and teach the mentally challenged and handicapped. I love those kids they are so sweet. I want them to have somebody and to know that just because they are handicapped does not mean they are not self sufficient. People treat them as babies, but they can do everything we can, just with a little more work.
I also go to church at F.B.T.C. I am very active in church by teaching Sunday school, nursery, and being a youth leader. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. He has taken me from the filthiness I was and has made me new. He loves me and I live everyday to please him. He also loves you and died on the cross for your sins. If you are feeling alone and hurt He can heal your pain.

Another thing about me is I have a wonderful boyfriend, Kendall, he is my everything. I love him with all my heart my body and soul. He makes me so happy! With him I am the happiest I have ever been. He has shown me so much as in how to open my heart and love a person again. He has helped me grow in the Lord, also. I would not know where I would be without him. Look for wedding bells soon hopefully. Ha just kidding.

That is me and my life it is not very exciting, but I am a simple girl so simple is all I need.

A Link to My University

Click Here to go to the University of South Alabama website.