Dad, Kaia, and Mr.C and class

Intrepid Teacher: Singing Hearts and Kaia
The whole project of Kaia and her dad's adventure outdoors is inspiring. The idea of Kaia who is 3 going outside and enjoying taking pictures of random things and thinking they were beautiful is very inspiring. I wish everybody could look at something that is consider nasty like garbage and see that it was beautiful. I do believe that Kaia will be a example for future projects like this. I really do think students need to experience the outdoors more and stop staying in the house watching television and playing on the computer. The idea that her dad had about the fears of the internet is reasonable, but I hope it doesn't make him stop with this experience. The internet can be harmful, but being cautious and keeping a close eye on things will help from being so bad.

Mr. C's class blog: Dear Kaia: Voicethread and Video
The project that Mr.C and Class did was very thoughtful. I enjoy seeing other students inspire each other. I really respect the class for sending that video to Kaia because Kaia can't read at this age. That was a way to use technology for the good. I believe that Kaia really enjoyed seeing and hearing that. I also believe that you can use voicethread for kids who just haven't learn to read yet; this can also be used for students who have special needs such as having problems with reading.

In the end, these two posts show that technology can be used for learning and teaching. Students all over the world have gone to Kaia's blog and watched the video and have been inspired. She is only three years old and will probably lead other students to do projects like this on their own. We can post blogs and videos that will touch someone that is clear across the world and inspire them to do things that might reach out and touch another group. These days, information can be spread all over in a few minutes. This world has evolved, and we might as well use what has come to be.

Comment4kids #8

This week on comment for kids, I watched a post on Team Two Tells Tales. I got to watch Zane's imovie. He was talking about the most exciting part of Ambury's farm. In his video he said he enjoyed feeding the animals.

My Comment to Zane was "Zane, I really enjoyed watching your video. It sounded like you had lots of fun. My grandparents live on a farm, but all they have are cows."

Timeline

Dr. Seuss

My time line that I had to do for EDM 310, made on Timetoast, was on the release of Dr. Seuss' books. I started out with the day he was born and went through the books. I included the year that the books were published. I didn't know their exact date of publication of any of the books except for THE CAT IN THE HAT book. All the other books have January 1 and then the year. I thought this was a wonderful idea because I grew up reading these books. I never knew that they had been written years before I was born. It makes me happy that they are still real familiar these days!

If you want to see the time line Click Here

An Open Letter To Educators

Morgan Bayda



The points that Morgan Bayda brought up were very good. I have had some classes that are boring and I did not see how they would help me in the future. I had dreaded some classes so much that I wished that they were over even before they began. I do believe that we can get free information any time we want it. Why should we pay for something that we can get for free. He brought up the idea that the world is changing, so we must change with it. I have been saying that the whole year. The world has so much more now then we could have ever thought of. We can do so much more with computers than people could five years ago. The guy in the video was saying that soon kids will not want to sit in class because you can get the same information on the computer. Kids are learning some information now that will be useless in a few years. The guy in the video, Dan, said soon we won't need institutions to learn; we can use the computer.

Skype

SKYPE



I have used Skype many times in the past month. I have used it to talk to fellow classmates about assignments. I have also used it to talk to my boyfriend in Mississippi. I have used it to talk to family. At first I wasn't sure about getting it, because it was another chat program, but it has turned out better then any other chat program I have used. I can either text chat or video chat. I have really enjoyed it. I do think that Skype will help me in the future with my career. I could talk to students and to parents if they needed me too.

Brittany South
SKYPE Name: brittany.south

Comment4Teachers

My teacher for comment4teachers is Ann Carnevale

My first comment4Teachers
March 24, 2010
The title of the blog was Website Wednesday.

In this post, Ms. Carnevale talked about this week's "best of" websites that were helpful in teaching kids. She mentioned that she knows how hard it is to find media that is good educational material on Youtube,. so she told people to go to WatchKnown. It is a relatively new service that
has brought together lots of educational videos and multimedia from many different sources (not United Streaming), and organizes the content by approximate age level and topics.

She also mentioned a math website from Harcourt School Publishers. This site has math activities, organized by grade level, which are available for number sense, data analysis, probability,measurement, and more. The math site is Think Math.

The third site she mentioned was a great resource to spark writing. It was organized by grade level, and provided prompts that focus on character, plot, and setting. She said the intent for the site is for students to type their stories online, but you can also use it for a writing activity in class. The fun part about it is when the students spin the wheel to see what the prompt will be. Ms. Carnevale wrote a hint on this site to tell you to not forget to click the link for the Teacher's Guide. The writing site is Story starters from Scholastic

Another site was Spelling City. She said it is an online spelling practice site. Teachers or students can enter their word list into the site, and it will generate online practice games and tests, as well as some printable worksheets. Ms Carnevale said she doesn't know of many sites that wow her, but this one did because "it reads not only the spelling words to the students, but it also generates the word in a sentence, and reads the sentence as part of the online practice and test."

The last site she mentioned was Teachers Love SmartBoards. She said "this site is a blog full of ideas and links for using your SmartBoard. Each entry features teaching resources that can be used in the classroom, or tips and tricks for using the SmartBoard." She also mentioned to look at the links on the right side of the page.

My comment to her was "I really enjoyed this post. I am majoring in Elementary Education, and these sites will be extremely helpful. I am hoping to graduate in spring 2012. I will save these and continue to follow your blogs even after this assignment. I am grateful for you finding and sharing these sites. I really enjoy you recapping the sites especially since I just found your blog."

My second comment4teachers

March 29, 2010

In this post Ms. Carnevale gave tips and tricks about cleaning out computer files. She tells people how to look at the files without launching the program of the file. These steps are for Macs. 1. Click one time on the file. 2. Press the space bar on the keyboard 3. View your file! She said it's really as simple as 1,2,3! You can even scroll through multipage documents or keynote files. You can't edit the document until it's open, you can only look at it. If you want to open the document just double click on the preview and it will open in the application.
She also gave a hint that said "this trick doesn’t work for all file types. It will not work for KidPix, Kidspiration, Graph Club, and SmartNotebook files. It also won’t work with web shortcuts you’ve placed on desktop or in a folder. It may not work with older computers and laptops, but it works with all the newer ones!"

My comment to her was "This information can be very helpful. Can this also work on PCs or just MACs? I never knew you could do this on a MAC, but now that I know, I will pass it around."

Comment4kids #7

This week in my comment for kids I read an essay from Mrs. Goerend's class. My student was named Kelli. She wrote a persuasive essay about how kids should not have homework on the weekends. When we have a break from school, we actually need a break. If the teachers are given us homework during the weekend, it makes us seem like we are still in school. Kelli said that if you give us homework on Saturday and Sunday, you might as well keep us in school all week. She mentioned why we shouldn't have homework on Saturday and Sunday; she said that homework causes stress and takes away from time with our friends. She said that people might think that there is time after school to do homework, but many kids have athletics. She also mentioned that some teachers give too much homework.

My comment was "You brought up some very persuasive ideas. The main ideas were supported by facts. I agree with you on the ideas of homework being stressful. I really do not like homework on the weekends."

Comment4kids #6

This week on Comment4kids, I went to Mrs. Yollis' classroom blog. They had a lady named Mollie Hogan, who was from Nature of Wildworks. She came to their school and brought animals to show the students. While she was there, she told facts about each one of the animals. The first animal was the Macaw from South America. The beak on the Macaw is very strong; it can break a broomstick in half with one bite. The second animal was the Kestrel, which is a small falcon. The third animal was the barn owl. The barn owl has a heart shaped face and weights less than a pound. It is called the silent ghost, because this bird hunts at night. The next was Harris Hawk. These hawks are known to stack on top of each other on cacti. Then she brought out two brother ferrets. The kids said they were cute, but they had a malodorous scent. Then she brought an opossum. She said opossums will play dead and give off an odor when frightened. Another stinky animal was the skunk. The skunk got her scent gland removed, so she wouldn't spray. The last animal was the gray fox. The gray fox likes to hide in trees, and it was smaller than a little dog. They asked people to comment and tell them which animal they liked the best.

My comment was
"Hi Mrs Yollis' class,

I'm Brittany South from South Alabama. I am in the EDM310 class. I was assigned to come and read you all's blog. I really enjoyed the video of the animals. I liked many of the animals, but some I never heard of before like the Harris Hawk and the Kestrel.

I will have to say the gray fox was my favorite because it was so cute."

ALEX and ACCESS

ALEX



What is ALEX? That is the same thing I was asking at first. ALEX stand for Alabama Learning Exchange. ALEX is a communal database of lesson plans created and posted by teachers. The database contains traditional subject areas as well as 21st century areas that include technology education, and information literacy. ALEX,a project of the Alabama Department of Education, is designed to index and share a lot of different types of educational materials and information through a one-stop resource for educators, parents, and students. The resources (lesson plans, web links, and interactive activities) are found and connected to the Alabama Courses of Study by National Board Certified Teachers. ALEX is a work in progress. It will continually improve and expand based upon the input from educators around the state.Want to see the website?

On the ALEX website there is a lot to offer. There is a link to course of study, web links, lesson plans, personal workplace, professional learning, Podcast treasury, and helpful links like Help and Search. The courses that are under the link of Course of study are English Language Arts, Mathematics, Art, Career Tech, Driver Safety, Health, Science, Social Studies, Languages other than English, Physical Education, and Other Courses of study. If you want a specific course and grade level you can also search it, but if you just click the subject you want, it will open that subject up and give you the specific grade levels. Then under the web link box, it went to a page that had links to websites good for teachers, then another one for administrators, and then the last link was for websites for students. You can also click a link to recommend a website. Under the lesson plan link, it brings you to a page with a choice to make your own by logging in, find one already done by ALEX, or find one by subject matter. The link on professional learning brings you to a page of Alabama Department of Education Program Websites that will help you in different topics. Then the podcast treasury link has podcast you can click on and listen too.

Now what do I think of ALEX? I think ALEX is a wonderful website that is very resourceful to teachers, administrators, and students. This site has all the resources you need to help you begin your career. It is like a stepping stone for you career. If you are just beginning to start your career, it has lesson plans for you to beginning working on yours. It will guide you, and be like a crutch for you to lean on. I really truly like the idea of the site.



ACCESS



ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. ACCESS is a website that helps students and teachers connect. The goal of ACCESS is "to create equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students with a distant learning plan." The vision of ACCESS was "the State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning." This site has a link on courses that goes to a page full of helpful sites and resources. They have a link for Alabama High School Graduation Exams, Advanced Placement,Course Catalogs, Course Offerings, Exam Exemption Form, FAQ's, Resources, Test Prep, and Textbooks at a Glance, which are all under the link for courses. They also have links for Educators, Students, Resources, and Technical Support. If you click on one of those links, it will take you to a page with more resources. Want to see the website?"

I think that this site is very handy for both students and teachers to stay connected. This website has links to very good sites. I was really surprise to see what you could access through this site. They had links for Grad exams and other test preps. They had a link for technical support that helps you with all the links to pages that will help from picking the right software to downloading the right downloads.

Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dream



This video was truly amazing. It was completely inspirational. He mentioned how he had reached his childhood dream, and he gave small tips for you to learn while hearing the story. He mentioned he had reached his dreams and now he is helping to enable the dreams of others. He said to enable dreams of others, become a professor. Well, this may be true but I feel that there are other jobs that can enable dreams, too.

He mentioned many skills that are useful in teaching, one being fundamentals. Fundamentals are useful for teaching; you must get the fundamentals or the fancy stuff won't work. Another tip was corrections; when somebody is doing wrong and nobody is correcting them, that means that they were given up on. Critics are good. A good quote was "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." The next skill is learning. Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly (or by "head fake". For example, do we really want our kids to learn football, or do we want them to learn teamwork, sportsmanship, and perseverance. That is the head fake - the skills learned behind the scene. Another skill is leadership; you don't have to be smart but you have to know how to lead. Then the concept of the brick wall, when you are stopped by something you keep trying if you really want something. Another skill mentioned was "don't get discouraged when somebody doesn't give you what you want." You should just give them some time, and they might surprise you or impress you and change their mind. The last skill is watch the way you say things. Instead of shutting something down and say that "I don't know"; you can say "I don't have enough information, let's hear more."

Then we have the question of how do we enable the dreams of others? This video showed a good point about how students can do better then you think. For example, when he taught that class for the first year, and the students blew him away with their projects. He didn't know what to do, so he went to his mentor and asked "what am I supposed to do, they are past what I have planned to teach?" You go into the class and tell the students "that was good, but I know you all can do better". He also mentioned that he should not just set the bar anywhere, because that can limit the child's ability. The bar can always go higher. Using videos and technology to teach people is very useful. You need to make people self-reflecting; make them push themselves.

These are lessons that show what helps you achieve these dreams. The first lesson is the role of parents, mentors, and students. They push you to achieve. The second lesson was that you must tell your students to have fun. The third lesson was to never lose the child-like wonder. The fourth lesson that you must help others. The fifth lesson was that loyalty is a two-way street. The sixth lesson was to never give up. The seventh lesson was how do we get people to help you. The ways to get people to help you are: you can't get there alone, tell the truth, be earnest, apologize when you screw up, focus on others and not yourself. The eighth lesson was to show gratitude. The ninth lesson was don't complain, just work harder. The tenth lesson was to be good at something; it just makes you valuable. The eleventh lesson was to find the best in everybody; no matter how long you have to wait for them to show it. The twelfth lesson was to be prepared: "luck" is where preparation meets opportunity.

This man has really shown me a lot of valuable information. I am sad that he is not around today. He was one amazing speaker. I now want to strive for my dreams more now, and I want to enable others to work for their dreams as well. If everybody tries, they will be able to accomplish anything. That is one thing I do not let my dancers say is can't, because you can do anything you put your mind to.

Comment4kids #5

This week, I had a student named Ruben. His post was about cats. He said that a cat is weird. Cats scratch a lot. They spread fur everywhere. They even jump on tables and stuff.

My comment to this was "I really enjoyed your post. I have never had a cat, but I have friends with cats, and they have scratched me before. I think cats are cute, but I do think they leave fur everywhere. You are right; cats are big jumpers. I have seen cats jump from one couch to another couch, then back to the other couch. I really enjoyed how you wrote this post."