Farewell For Now

Hey fellow classmates and Dr. Strange,

I am saying goodbye for now. I have had a very informative semester and enjoyed the laughs that we had with the projects and videos. I hope to hear from some of y'all again.

Love,
Brittany

The Final Post For Now

1.What I learned in EDM 310 ...

Blogging - An application that is very useful. You can sit and spread around your thoughts and ideas. You can share videos and instructions on how to do things. I thought back to when I was learning how to blog, and I thought I would hate it, but then when I started doing it actually wasn't that bad. I think blogging is a good way to share kid's thoughts as well. They can use it to help with their writing skills, because you can have people coming by to give them comments to improve. An application where I saw how blogging could be used was in Comment4Kids; some of those blogs were great. I also got some helpful information when I did Comment4Teachers. Comments are as useful as blogging. I really want to implement blogging in my class.

Skype - Another application that is fun while helpful. Skype is a way to talk to people all over the place. Skype has the ability to talk across the world. I noticed in this class that other teachers would use Skype to communicate across the world to another class, and the two classes would interact. I thought that was truly amazing. This application did some of the same things my yahoo and AOL instant messengers did, but this one was ten times better with the connection and video. I will love to be able to implement this in my class; not only to communicate around the world to other classes and teachers, but I could also use it to talk to parents of students in my class, students themselves for questions, and fellow teachers in my area.

Google Applications - Google is a hero in my book. Google has the same ability as the Microsoft products, but Google applications are free! Google has presentations, which is like Powerpoint in Microsoft Office. We used the presentation app. a couple of times in class to do projects, and it was fun to do. I think it will be useful, because not only are you saving memory on your computer, but also you can access the document from any computer anywhere. That means no more "I left my jump drive at home" or "It's on my computer at home," because you can access it from school on a different computer. The other apps are the forum app. that allows you to make surveys, and then it records the responses on a spreadsheet. There is Google documents which is like Microsoft Word and you can type papers or notes. There is also Google spreadsheet, which you can put information. I will be using this application in my class.

PLN -My Personal Learning Network has grown from when I posted about it earlier in the semester. I have added more teachers and students that are becoming teachers. I now have found some every useful information. The information never ceases. You just have to go look and you can find many new things everyday. At first I was not sure of it, but I have slowly grown to like it a little more. I still do not have my PLN at its best but it is a work-in-progress, and I have a good start.

Podcast - Are another application that can be helpful in the class. Kids might not be able to write everything, but they can talk. Kids can use podcasts to communicate and teach other students. I used a podcast to compare different phones, but the possibilities are endless on projects and other opportunities. I want to use this in my class.

I have really noticed that sometimes in this class I was overwhelmed, but I have noticed that I have learned a lot, and I am proud of myself for doing it. I have learned about some wonderful programs and useful information. I am glad I took this class in the long run. I now need to apply what I learn into my classroom.

2. I would have loved to learn how to use a smartboard, but I did learn a whole lot, and I was thrown a lot of information. I don't think there was anytime to really go over any more things. We learned a lot in a very short time. I thought it was overwhelming, but I appreciate it now.

3. I don't have anything that I know of that i would want to forget. I think everything we did was very useful. Some of them more useful then others, but everything had importance. I believe that I have learned a lot and I believe that I can still learn more. Everything has a value somewhere and we can use it and try to find its value or never know what its true value is because we don't try to use it.

4. I have to say there were a few assignments that excited me and I enjoyed doing them. I have to say I enjoyed the Comment4Kids. I liked going and seeing what they were thinking or talking about. I think also that comments will help them in the long run. They can improve on there writing by corrections and critiques. I do say that the blog was a fun thing to do. I do want to see if I can keep up with my professional blog and maybe have a class come and look at my blog to read how my first year of teaching was. I think that my blog will also show all the project that I accomplished through the year.

5. This class was challenging. There was a lot of things you had to learn then turn around in apply in a short amount of time. There was always a post or project needing to be done, but it turned out in the long run. The hardest application was Google Earth. It was hard to get to work and keep it working. Plus the steps to get it to work was also hard to accomplish.

6. This class was never boring, because you always could be doing something.

7.I say organizing the instructions for each project with he project would help. I also think that if we could be able to tell if we are on the right track. If we are actually doing the projects like you want. I did the projects, but I am not sure if they were done like you wanted and if I did them right and got the grade. So if we could get the grade from the assignments that would help.

8. I think I am more Technologically literate then I was at the beginning of this class, but I still think I need to learn more to say I am great. I say I am about average.

9.Hopefully I can learn from my PLN and keeping messing around and experimenting with he resources you have given me. I think it will take playing and experimenting to learn more. I am a teacher so I am suppose to continue to learn.

PLN 2

My Personal Learning Network has grown from when I posted about it earlier in the semester. I have added more teachers and students that are in my classes who are planning to become teachers. I have added my Comment4Teachers teachers that I followed. I have also added some of the kids I posted comments on. On my PLN, I now have found some every useful information. The information never ceases. You just have to look, and you can find many new things everyday. At first, I was not sure of it, but I have slowly grown to like it a little more. I still do not have my PLN at its best, but it is a work-in-progress, and I have a good start.

The Interview with Josh

I did an an interview with Chelsie and Josh. Chelsie and I talk to Josh who is a junior at the University of South Alabama. He has worked with technology almost his whole life, so we asked him a few questions on how we could use technology in the classroom. He told us about programs we could use that are affordable to use and easy to use. One was Google docs. He also mentioned Blogger and other programs.

This is a link to the interview.

What is my sentence and What do I bring for Tomorrow?

The 7th Grade Science Student's PLE



My PLE was nothing like this girl's. Her PLE was a lot more developed and organized. I really think that she did a wonderful job. I believe that she used her ability to research to get her where she is now. She shows that she is a person who knows how to use technology and uses it for good. When she wanted the answer, she looked it up and found it. She was Dr. Strange's Motto (I DON'T KNOW. LETS FIND OUT!)wrapped up. I am proud to see that there are students who go and search for the answer. I want to say "GOOD JOB". I also say she is the same as me, trying to find information and share it with others. I think the PLE will be a lot of help to me, and I do need to establish it better.

The 2 Questions That Can Make Your Life Better.

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

The two questions were "What is your sentence?" and "Was I better today than yesterday?" These two questions just make you think on how you are performing, and what you need to do better. The "What is your sentence?" question tries to see if you could sum yourself up in one sentence. I do not know what my sentence would be, and that is going to take me a while to think about. I believe that it will be something to ponder for quite a while before giving only one answer. The other question, "Was I better today than yesterday?" makes you strive to better yourself everyday. You never want to turn out worse; you always want to improve yourself. I really need to sit and think of these questions throughout my life, and especially while I am teaching.

Google Earth Project

I did a tour of France, specifically Paris and Versailles for my project. I went to major landmarks starting here in Mobile at the University of South Alabama, then went to Mobile, then spread out to the United States of America. I then flew to France and to Paris. The first stop was the Eiffel Tower, then Notre Dame Cathedral, then the Louvre Museum,and the Arc de Triomphe. Next I went to the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur Cathedral. I then went over to Versailles to the Palace and the Gardens. I then wrapped it back up by going to the United States of America, then Mobile, and back to the University of South Alabama.



Here is the link in case the actual tour doesn't load.

Project 14

On our Project 14, we did a funny video on EDM 310 programs. We discussed Twitter, Skype, Blogger, Youtube, and Picasa. This was our view of the programs.

Here is a link to our video.

What Comes to Mind?

This week, the assignment is to pick any topic that stems from EDM310. I thought, "What is the first thing that comes into my mind?" about this class. The first thing that I thought of was "Technology".

This class has shown me that we need to add technology to our class curriculum. I agree that technology will be a great resource in the classroom. I like the ideas of blogging and using skype. The only thing that I am slightly worried about is how fast technology is advancing. I am not sure that the stuff I am learning right now will be outdated when I graduate. I know the big thing is to keep learning. I agree we need to constantly be learning. That is just a job that a teacher takes when choosing education as a major. I just want to know how other teachers feel about all of the changing, and does the thought of technology changing so fast worry you at all? I do know that my students will be my teacher sometimes. They will have to show me things that I don't know, but I am prepared for that. I want to be one of the teachers who is able to incorporate technology into the classroom, and hopefully I will be in a school that will do the same.

Comment4kids #10

This week on Comment4kids I went to Room 16's blog. I was assigned to Huelo-Ata's post.He had an animation on how the Maori and European people arrived in New Zealand. He also showed how they argued on who would leave the land. The 2 groups wound up signing a treaty, because it was going to help them live in the land together, Huelo-Ata stated.

My comment was "I thought your video was very good. I think you did good on the animation, but like the other Brittany said it was hard to read. I am very impressed that you made this animation. Good Job!"

My Survey

This is my survey I did Click Here.

My survey was about physical fitness. I had 20 questions and 65 responses.

My first question was "Do you exercise?". The responses came back with 57 people saying Yes, and 8 saying No. My next question was "How many days a week do you exercise?". The responses on this question was 6 said NONE, 31 said 1 TO 2, 22 said 3 said 3 TO 4, and 6 said 5 OR MORE. The third question asked was "How long do you exercise per day?". The response was 6 that said NONE, 14 that said 0 to 30 minutes, 21 said 31 to 45 minutes, 17 said 46 to 60 minutes, 7 said 1 to 2 hours, and 0 said 2 hours or more. The next question was "What is your favorite type of exercise?". The responses were that 10 said weight-lifting, 10 said step, zumba, kickboxing, 10 said yoga/pilates, 3 said cycling, 20 said running/jogging, and 12 said other. The next question was "When weight-lifting, which do you prefer?". The responses were 35 for free weights and 30 for weight machines. The following question was "Do you bring a partner when weight-lifting?". 27 said Yes and 38 said No. The next question was "What do you drink when exercising?", the responses were 0 said carbonated drinks, 61 said water, 4 said sport drinks, and 0 said fruit juice. "What time of the day do you prefer to exercise?", 11 said morning, 21 said afternoon, and 27 said evening. "Where do you exercise the most?", 10 said school, 28 said gym, and 27 said outside. "Why do you exercise?", 14 said health, 7 said athletics, and 14 said other things, such as "I enjoy it" and "Stress Relief". "Which do you prefer to run on?", 7 said track, 27 said treadmill, and 31 said outside. "Do you use the pool to exercise?", 26 said Yes and 39 said No. "When exercising, when do you eat?", 30 said before, 0 said during, and 35 said after. "What do you eat?", 27 said fruit, 13 said granola bars, 4 said health bars, 1 said nothing, and 20 said other like oatmeal,some type of carbohydrates. "Do you warm up before exercise?", 51 said Yes and 14 said No. The next question was "What do you wear when exercising?"; there was a wide variety of answers. "Have you been injured while exercising?"; 20 said Yes and 45 said No. "What did you injure?"; 42 said N/A, which is probably the No answers above, 1 said arms/hands, 4 said back, 12 said legs/feet, and 6 said "other" (such as knee). "What do you do while exercising?"; 11 said nothing, 1 said read a book, 0 said read a magazine, 6 said watch tv, 40 said listen to music, and 6 said other, (like talk to my friends and focus on meditation). "Have you noticed any changes in your health by exercising?"; 53 said Yes, 4 said No, and 6 said N/A.

Inspirational Kids and Zax

The Zax
The first video, The Zax, was very cute. I can see how you can compare a teacher who doesn't want to continue to learn to a ZAX. A teacher must continue to learn about education and technology. Otherwise, the teacher will be stuck, and the world will build around them. I really enjoyed watching the video, because it made me fly back to my childhood. I agree that we do not need to be stubborn. We need to open our ears to listening to and accepting other people's ideas. That is how we learn.




Video PS 22
The video of PS 22 was amazing. I do believe students can be great examples to other students around the world and even to teachers. These videos and blogs show you how students can learn through showing their work to the world. I think that students should post their work, not to just get their work out there , but also to get feedback on their work so that they can grow as well. I think that students are always dreaming, imagining, and inventing. They are what is going to lead us in the future, so we need to help them grow as well. I was really inspired by some of these videos and blogs. I think students can learn from other student's work.

These are 5 examples of students inspiring others with their work.

This example was brought to me in my "Freshman Seminar" class. This video really touched me and really made me think of what an impact educators can make on students.
Ten Year old Speaker


Mrs. Cassidy's Blog

This is Mrs. Cassidy's blog; this blog is used to show kids how to read and write. This is a great way to use technology as a learning tool.

The Endless Ocean Blog

Endless Ocean is also another blog that has shown what students can do. This blog has an example of videos that students have made.

Dear Kaia

Kaia's Blog This girl is going to inspire kids to do the same project she did. She will be getting kids outdoors more by following her lead.

Blogs In Education
This video shows why blogs are important.

How to Do a Google Form (Survey)?

I chose to do my "How to" presentation about Google Form. I wanted to show other teachers how to make a survey by using Google Form. They may use these surveys to get information about their classes confidentially, so students will be more comfortable to share their information and ideas. I enjoyed making my own survey and receiving the data. I thought I should share this experience with others.

Comment4Teachers

My teacher for Comment4Teachers is Matthew Needleman

My first Comment4Teachers
March 23, 2010

In this post, Mr. Needleman wrote about how to improve comprehension scores. These are his tips:

Test Taking Strategies
1. Review the Assignment.
This task should not be done in one sitting. Also, the student should be able to see what their mistakes were.

2. Teach students to read questions first.
It is hard to keep all the text in one's head while trying to answer the questions about it. It is often easier to read the questions first, and then read to find an answer.

3. Teach students to eliminate "silly" or obviously wrong answers.
Multiple choice tests will include two answer choices that are totally wrong; sometimes even ridiculous. The sooner students learn to read the answers, the better they'll do.

4. Teach a QAR (Question-Answer Relationship) Strategy.
Some answers are “right there” whereas other answers require the reader to “think and search” or use only their own head.

Real World Comprehension

1.Explicitly Teach Reading Strategies.
Many teachers use the language of the reading strategies (predicting, making connections, summarizing, etc.) but how many students can explain what each of the strategies are, or why you would use a particular strategy? Recommit to teaching the strategies, not just as incidental to reading but as the objective of lessons.

2. Promote Student Discussion
Through handing-off (student-led discussions) or some other means, allow students to discuss literature on their own terms with the teacher acting as the facilitator.

3. Allow Practice with “Real” Books
Your basal reader is not enough. Students will be bored with reading and not develop their strategy use unless they have opportunities to read additional high interest literature in addition to anthology stories. Whole class readings, small group literature circles, or independent reading workshop, can give students that practice.

My comment to his post was "I agree that scores on reading comprehension scores are down. I am not a teacher yet, but I will be soon, and I want to use some of your ideas to help my students. I believe that having interaction with students will help. I also think that letting them read something that they want to read helps them to comprehend it better. I have always disliked being told what to read, and I didn’t always enjoy all the books as much as I would have if I got to choose my own book. I thank you for your input and will hopefully be able to help my students when I get to the point of teaching."

My Second Commet4Teachers
April 13,2010

What to Do When Children Cry?



He started to make him think about a serious topic about students crying at school and what to do about it.

An Anecdote
Samantha, a first grader, was moved into my classroom after the first month of school because I have a reputation for being calm and patient, and she had already interrupted someone else’s class who wasn’t as calm or patient. Samantha was far behind in all subjects because her attendance was poor, and when she did come to school she often cried for the first hour of class, causing a disruption to all of the students.

What Not to Do
Do not tell a student to stop crying. Do not tell a student not to be scared, sad, mad, happy, etc. Feelings are not right or wrong. However, a child is feeling, that’s how they’re feeling and telling them not to feel that way can really mess a kid up.
Also don’t tell them anything like big boys don’t cry, big girls don’t cry, second graders don’t cry. This can cause gender confusion and create the impression that adults don’t show emotions which isn’t true.
Do not attempt to change emotions, change behavior.

Recognize the Payoff
This is the same for any behavior modification. What benefit is a student getting from exhibiting a particular behavior?
In Samantha’s case, when she cried, her father would take her home to sit on the couch and watch TV with him. Samantha wanted attention and crying provided that for her. There can be different reasons why a student cries…feeling sadness, helplessness, anger, being overwhelmed, etc. but notice what the payoff is for the student. If they cry because math is hard, do they get to avoid math? When they cry on the yard, do they get to see the nurse who gives them lollipops? Do they just like ice packs (I see this a lot)?

Sympathize with the Cryer
You want to say something like, “I understand you’re feeling ___________ I’m sorry you feel _____________.”
Often sitting with the student for a minute or making sure they have a buddy to sit with will stop the crying after you’ve acknowledged their feelings.
In Samantha’s case, she could go on for hours, but rather than dealing with the crying, I dealt with the feelings. ”I understand you want to be home with your dad. I’m sorry. But it’s important that you be here in school to learn and that you come in class quietly so that other students can learn as well. Your dad will be here again at the end of the day. Come and sit with Maria, she’ll be your special friend today.”

Remove the Payoff
Everyone needs occasional babying and that’s fine. However, if a student really likes the babying they get when they cry, they might cry a lot more often.
Samantha wanted to go home. We had to stop her dad from pulling her out of school just because she cried. I had to avoid sending her to the office just because her crying made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Samantha learned that she couldn’t get out of school by crying.
Next, Samantha was still getting attention from her classmates and me from her crying even when she stayed in my class.
I asked the rest of the students to start ignoring her crying. ”When she comes in (and she always came in late) we’ll say good morning, Samantha, and then ignore her crying. When she’s ready to be a part of the class, then we’ll talk to her.”
When Samantha came in we said good morning. I would acknowledge how she felt but I would not let her join the classroom until she was done crying. She stood in the back of the room or just outside the door where I could see her. She couldn’t cry forever. In time, she became a productive member of the classroom and her attendance improved.
On days that she avoided crying, I gave her positive encouragement.

His question was "How do you deal with crying in the classroom?"

My comment for him was "Hi, Mr. Needleman,I really enjoyed your post. I have babysat quite a few times. One family that I help often usually give the girl what she wants when she cries. Then when I go over to babysit her, she starts to cry when I don't give her something, and I just ignore her. I saw in one of your tips that you said, "don't tell them that big girls don't cry". Well, I am bad about doing that, and I am glad that you showed me that it could be mistaken by children as adults aren't supposed to have emotions. I really enjoyed reading some of your tips, and not only will I try to use these tips in the classroom, but they will also help me when I babysit. Thanks.

Comment4kids #9

This week on Comment4kids, I am commenting on a student from FAMOUS ROOM 10(Fourth graders. The students name is Calvin. He was suppose to create an animation of him in school, home, and place of interest. His animation was about his house and how big it was, and then school. Then he showed me his place of interest, which looked like a boxing ring. It had RAW on the outside of it. If you want to see Calvin's video click here.

My comment was "I think you did a wonderful job. I love the animation, but I had a hard time hearing you. I am very proud of you to have the ability to do that at your age."

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."

Comment4Teachers

The first comment4Teachers
Feb. 28, 2010


In John Spencer's post, he commented on Twitter. His thoughts on Twitter ranged so much so that he just put five of them on the post. The first thought was that we don't know who is actually looking at our tweets. The second thought was that people do share some useful information on Twitter. The third thought was that there is so many people on Twitter that it sometimes feels like chaos in a crowded room. The fourth thought was you can never predict what will go viral. The fifth thought was that Twitter is much more collective in nature than Facebook.

My comment was "Hey I am a student in Edm310 class at the University of South Alabama. I was assigned your blog to leave comments for the next three weeks. I agree with you on your thoughts of Twitter. I had to get Twitter, and I am still learning how to use it. I wish I could tell if people are actually looking at my post, but I guess I will never know. I do believe that sometimes you can get good information, but I have a hard time reading Twitter long enough to find this information."

The second comment4teachers
March 2



In his second post, he mentioned that he brought up the question "What is one item of technology that the world would be better off without?" Some students had a hard time answering the question. One boy mentioned "nuclear power." He explained by saying, "We found something so small, we can't even see it and then we use it to destroy people in seconds." Then another kid piped in and said "that it powers our city." Another student said "I think television is the worst, because it makes people lazy and unable to think." Then another response came in and was "I think the microwave is the worst. No one cooks anymore. Everything we eat is fast, but it sucks. Nothing tastes right." One student says, "The world would be best without cell phones. No one talks anymore. Go to a bus stop. Who is talking? No one. They are all texting instead. We're becoming cyborgs." Then another response, "Cell phones connect and cars divide. It's why computers are better than TV's." The students agreed with the connecting and dividing of items. They even thought of some more examples. Then Mr. Spencer stated "I know this might shock you, but I don't own a cell phone because I think it's a trap. I think it's a web that people think will connect them and then people build their own cocoon of isolation. I think that's a trick of technology. It sometimes promises to connect you and really it is dividing you. It's why I only watch one or two TV shows a week. I need to connect with the shared pop culture, but I know that too much of it will leave me isolated and I'll miss my family." A student responds, "What if it's both? What if all technology divides and connects? Take writing. When you write on paper, you aren't really talking to anyone. You can end up alone. Maybe you need some alone time, maybe you don't. Maybe you need to send a letter to someone, and it becomes something that connects you. Maybe you write a book, and people share thoughts through long chapters. Or a car. We can say it divides us, but I would never see my Abuelita if we didn't have a car."

My comment was "This post really made me think. I really don't know what type of technology we would be better without. I am going to have to think on that. I agree on some of the topics that the kids brought up. I am a fitness instructor, and I believe people should get out more instead of chilling behind a computer or TV. I do see that things can both divide me and connect me. We now need to think which one is being done more-are we connecting more with that technology or dividing more; it all depends on the person and family. In some families, the TV might connect because they all come together to watch the show, and in other families it divides because everybody goes to a different TV to watch the show that they want to watch.

The third Comment4teachers
March 14

The third post I read and commented was "on a few conversations from my son"

Joel says, "I want my compass to talk."
"It's impossible."
"But you said it tells you where to go, daddy."
"What I meant is that you can read it."
"But I need it to talk to me in case I'm lost in the forest."
"Joel, if you're ever in the forest, you know who will be with you?"
Micah, from across the hall, "God!"
"That too. But I'll be with you."
* * *
"Are you putting all the darts on the glass door?"
"That's impossible to put all the darts."
"I'm sorry. Most of the darts."
"Yeah, you were exaggerating. I couldn't put all of the darts, there's like a hundred billion of them."
* * *
Micah is playing with the dinosaurs:
Kid Dinosaur says, "Show me how to jump off the couch."
Daddy Dinosaur answers,"How about you try on your own and if you still need my help, I'll help you."
Kid Dinosaur jumps and says, "I didn't need your help, but thanks for watching."

My comment to this was "This is Brittany from University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading this blog. I could see kids actually saying that. I wish I had items that talk to me as well, but I know it can't happen. One thing I would love to be able to talk to would be my boyfriend's dog. He is a hyperactive dog, and I would like to see what he was thinking. Then the last sample of the dinosaurs sounds like me. "Please show me how to do something, and then when I do I thank them for watching."

PLN

My Personal Learning Network



My personal learning network is getting established. I am still trying to find people to add. I do believe once I get my basic building blocks set, my wall will build faster. My network consists of blogs I follow, to the instructors of EDM 310, and classmates on Twitter. The good things about classmates are that they are trying to become a teacher like me, so they are also finding their network as well, and they can share who they find with other classmates. I share my things with them, and they share things with me. I think by the end of this semester, I will have a huge connection to all the teachers and people that I need to help guide me through my career.

Richard Miller, Wendy Drexler, and Michael Wesch

Richard Miller: This is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2





In part 1, the video was a little boring. They could have made it more interesting by adding the effects they were talking about. In this video, he discussed how nowadays people do not go to the library to get research. People are looking up research on the computer and not taking one step into the library. Actually, if you go around campus here and ask where the library is, they would have no idea. Then he talked about how kids don't use word processors anymore because they are doing more for documents. Students are using audio, images, and video to work on documents instead of just plain text. You also can collaborate while sitting at home with chats and video chats.

Part 2 mentioned that we can follow data that is constantly changing before our eyes and the information is updated instantly. You now can use itunesU to give students information for a class. Ideas don't just belong to me, but they belong to the culture as well. We share our ideas by using blogs and youtube to share information. He mentioned a video was put up on youtube, and the number of views just skyrocket. People are composing with the web itself, instead of only word documents. The idea of figuring out the emotion of the world through blogging is crazy and an entertaining idea. He mentioned that we don't have the ability to teach what was explained about composing with the web because we don't have the technology in the schools.

I say the same thing; I do not believe that I will be able to teach what was explained because we don't have the technology we need to teach the concept. I believe that as technology grows, we will get the supplies we need to show it to our students. I still don't know if I am at the level to teach something that high tech in technology. I still think of myself as a beginner.

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler


A network student uses the information he finds to help others by sharing his information with RSS feeds. He uses delicious to organize the information. He also uses blogs to read what other kids are writing about. He can talk to experts over a chat or even a video chat on Skype. Building a network and finding information is important, but one may not know how to do this unless instructed by a teacher.

Teachers help by showing students how to build the network, take advantages of learning opportunities. A teacher also gives the students guidance when a student is stuck, shows the student how to communicate properly, and ask respectfully for help from experts. The teacher shows the student how to differentiate from the good material and propaganda, and how to vet a resource. Students can learn how to turn a web search into a scavenger hunt and get excited when he finds the information. Finally a teacher can help a student by showing one how to use the resources they have in the future.

The question was "am I ready?" Well, I am not ready to teach this right now, because I am still learning myself, and until I have everything down and comprehend it myself, I don't feel right teaching it. I hope by the end of this semester, I will have the basic knowledge down. I am learning about all of those concepts and building my own network now.

Toward A New Future of Whatever - Michael Wesch



In Mr. Wesch's video he mentioned some interesting facts. He mentioned the term Media Ecology. Media is not just a tool and not just communication, but media mediates our conversations. A good quote was "We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us" by Marshal McLuhan. The history brought up in the video was interesting. One of the things he mentioned was he said that he was from the MTV generation,who were known to have short attention spans and were materialistic, narcissistic, and not easily impressed. The history of the word "Whatever" was cool. In the pre-1960s, "whatever" meant "that's what I meant." In the late 60s "whatever" meant "I don't care." The 1990s generation, the MTV generation, it meant indifference; "Meh." Then in the late 90s, the term "whatever" was said by people who thought high of themselves. This generation was known as the generation of "ME". The stats of Youtube was surprising they were saying that 1,000,000+ videos are uploaded on the internet everyday so Media is changing. I really enjoyed the hand project.

I really do believe that we are living in a generation of "ME". We have the people who think they are the next idol or the people who think the universe revolve around them. I see people that think that they are supposed to be the center of attention all of the time. I do think that we can send a message through videos now, and the hand project was very touching. I believe that generations change. People should now care and change what needs to be changed to make the world a better place.

Comment4kids #4

The blog that I commented on for this week was from Mrs. Kolbert's class. I had a post from Ryan. His topic was about why all students should be given a laptop in school. He went into description on how a laptop would benefit all students. His first main point on why students should have laptops was so they could play learning games on the computer, and they would learn things and also give the teacher a break from teaching. His second point was they could learn about technology with having a laptop. They could learn how to use by both reading the instruction manual that comes with the computer and just experimenting with the computer. The third point was blogging. Students could blog and learn things through blogging if everybody had a laptop. What I liked the most about this post was his last sentence "Having a laptop computer at school will make me as happy as a pig in a mud puddle!" and this was the picture next to it.



My comment to this post was "I really enjoyed reading your post. It had some very good information, and you did a good job on persuading me on the idea that every student should have a laptop. I agree with you on every student should have a laptop, because education can be brought to higher levels.One of your main points was blogging. I do believe that blogging is a good idea for students, because it helps students improve on their writing skills. Thank so much for your information. You did a wonderful job."

What do you get with Alice, iTunes, and Ipods?

Dr. Alice Christie's Research Publications and Resources

Using Technology to Enhance Literacy in Elementary School Children is the link I chose to blog about. I am going to be an elementary school teacher, so I decided to look at this topic. I learned that you can use the internet to help students with their writing and communication abilities. She did a study on kids to see how they improved with their writing. She used second through fifth graders in the study. The average age was nine years, one month. She let them use internet browsers and emails to communicate with each other. I think this idea of letting kids email and browse to communicate is a wonderful idea. Letting kids blog is also a good way to improve writing. They will see what they are doing wrong, revise it, and type it again, and this improves their writing skills.

The browsing of the internet is helpful because we are starting to show kids how to research information early. They will be able to learn these resourceful skills early, and later it will just come naturally. She gave proof on this website of the kids improving their learning skills on web browsing.

Itunes Univerisity (iTunesU)

If you need information on how to use iTunesU: click here

ItunesU is a very helpful application on itunes. It will be helpful to both students and teachers. The way it helps students is that they could look up their lesson and other instructional information on their topics. If a student is sick a professor could put the lesson on the itunes program, and the student could listen to it and not get behind. It is also easy to download on an ipod so a student can take the lesson everywhere.

ItunesU is also helpful for teachers because they can continue to learn after leaving college. They can listen and download podcast to continue to research various topics. Teachers can use it to continue to further their educational purposes by keeping up to date on materials. They can also use it to supply students with lectures, so the student will not get behind when sick.

Ipods

Need help on using ipods for instuction? Click here

Ipods are more than a device for music and enjoyment. These days teachers are using ipods for instruction in the classroom. At Duke University, they supplied 1,650 ipods to students as an experiment and asked them to use them inside and outside of the classroom and these were some of the ways the ipods were used. They used the ipods to record lectures or information about projects. The students also used them to get a better comprehension on foreign language, because they could constantly listen, and hearing a language makes it easier to retain the information for later.

The ipod can be used for personal use as well. Students were using their ipods to put dates of major events for academic and personal events in a calendar application on the ipod. The students could put emergency numbers in their contact list; in case of emergency the phone numbers would be there. Students used it for an alarm to wake up in the morning. Ipods were also used as an external hard drive to back up computer files or to transfer files from one computer to another.

Click here to learn more about the Duke Ipod Experiment

Comment4kids #3

http://year4divers.blogspot.com/

This week I commented on a class where one of the students made a video on a walrus. They were talking on how males have bigger tusks than females. The walrus they found on their boat in the video was 4 meters long. My comment to them was "I found out something that I did not know, Thank you. I found out that males have longer tusks than the female. I told them that the walrus was cute."

Wikipedia and What Did I Learn?

Wikipedia



When I think back on my past years in school, I do not remember any of my teachers accepting any information from the source of Wikipedia. I was always told that it was unreliable, but I never knew why it was not reliable. I now know why; people can go on to Wikipedia and edit stuff they do not want on their article, and add stuff to make them sound better. As I watched and read, I could not believe the people who have already edited their article so they would not look bad. My point is, do the right thing, and you will not have to change or edit stuff about you. I think that what Virgil Griffith did with his idea of creating a program that could track the people changing is the article is great. The only thing is Virgil said is that you could use a personal computer to change it, and it will not be linked to your company or you. I say they don't have something to track personal computers now, but technology is changing.

I do think that people will think twice on editing things now just in case there is a way to track you even on a personal computer. I think this will help Wikipedia out. I believe once people start catching on that you will be seen changing items; they will stop doing it and Wikipedia will become more reliable. Virgil started a tradition, and I think people will catch on to it and other people will start making programs to track everywhere.

Now for the question of will I trust it. I will look at it, maybe to get an idea, but I don't think I will be able to trust it to the extent of using only that for a source. I would rather not be caught sourcing false information and have my grade or fellow students let down. Until Wikipedia has full control on who and what can change the information; I will just use it to start the research and find items linked to it that are more reliable.

What I've Learned This Year

His first point that he made about the crowd, I agree with completely. I believe that you should let the student drive the car on the road to success, which means that you should not center the lesson plans around you and the content. The students are a big point in your job, and they are comprehending the material.

The second point he made was to be flexible. I have been thinking to myself as I go through my classes on how I am going to teach. I was afraid that I would make mistakes, but what he said was that if you make a mistake, just turn around, fix it, and keep going - don't worry about it. So just "brush it off and try again". The comment about continuing with a smile hit home. I was at a dance competition when I fell during a dance. I got right back up and kept smiling and continued to dance. When we heard the tape review from the judges, they did not even notice me falling because I did not show it in my face because I kept smiling.

The point about communication I also agree with. You need to make a good connection with fellow teachers and your students. It makes both your job and life better. It is hard to face the world by yourself.

There was also a point about being reasonable. I did not think about that. I understand that we do not need to set the bar too high for success. It only hurts students when they do not reach it.

Do not give up on technology. I figured that out this year; things keep changing, and we need to keep up. We cannot let our students pass us, or we will let them down. We just have to keep trying, and we have to continue learning.