My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

I hope everyone had a great semester, and enjoyed this class as I have. I know every one is looking for to the end of the semester. I know I need a month without school! I hope everyone has a great break, and I wish everyone Good Luck in their future!

Blogs

I read Taylor Irwin's blogs. I enjoyed her blog, because she seemed to have a good sense of humor. She was good at typing things how she wanted them to be read. I did not read one thing and think she meant it in another.

I really enjoyed doing blogs this semester. It is a great thing to use, because all of the work is online. I will not lose the work, and it can be viewed by other people while interviewing for jobs. I like how I can express myself freely. In blogs a person can say exactly what she wants and not have to worry about being intterupted. If anyone else is like me, I can be on a roll about a subject, and then gett intterupted. I will then forget everything I was going to say about the topic.

Another good things about blogs, it is a great way to interact with other people. People can look at the page and respong if needed. Google also gives you the option of posting your personal email to your blog. This way if a person wants to discuss something personal with the writer, everyone else dose not have to have access to read the material. It is also a great way for teachers to put out information about classroom activities and assignments. If a students misses a day from school, which we all know happens occasionaly, he/she can go on the blog and get the work to make up. It can also be a great source of communication between teachers and parents. Every is so busy now. Everyone seems to miss calls way to often. This way teachers can let parents know everything that is going on in the classroom at the convience of the parents.

One disadvatage of blogs is the fact that anyone can view it. It is a dangerous world now, and a person can not go back and see who all has looked at the blog. If blogs could be private and viewable by select people, it would be much better. Also, some students whom are not computer literate may have a hard time using blogs and may feel left out of the process. Also, some students are not good at putting their words down in writiting (or in this case typing). My personal experience has been benificial, and I plan to use blogs in my career.

Teacher Contact

For my teacher contact, I went to a chatboard at I was able to discuss technology with quite a few teachers from different areas. One teacher I chatted with stated they did not even have computer use at their school. As I began discussing with the other teachers many of them did not use much technology anyway.
One teacher from California, said her main use of technology was videostreaming. SHe would use them to play 1-3 minute clips before beginning a discussion. When asked about blogs, she stated she taught kindagarten. She felt like blogging would leave her students unprotected. I am not judging anyone, but she seemed as the type who did not like technology. She was describing one program she was taught about, and stated she could do the same thing with wooden blocks.
Another teacher I discussed with seemed more technology advanced. She was located in Canada. She used blogs in her classroom, and the students loved the experience. She also mentioned something about United Streaming which I did not know anything about, but it is a line a videos to improve test scores and students achievement.
Another teacher from texas, said blogs were blocked from their school.

Access Lab

I went to Mary G. Montgomery on my visit to the Access Lab. There we met Mr. Rose, and he showed us around the lab. I was quite suprised, because I had not known what to expect. It was a very nice lab, and very well equipped. Each of the students had their own laptop for taking IVC courses. The classroom also had a smartboard. Mr. Rose stated that the students had adjusted well to the courses. One student came up and spoke about some of the disadvantages of the courses. He stated one bad thing was the teacher was not right around the corner to answer questions.
Mr. Rose told us the student adjusted well to the video cameras in the class. He laughed as he told us about the beginning of the use. He said the students would giggle and wave at the cameras, but he said now the students do not pay attention to the cameras. He talked about his hopes for the programs. He hopes to have more labs and IVC courses given at MGM. He described the advatage of the lab, such as students were given the oppurtunity to take classes not offered at the school. Mr.Rose also informed us, they were trying to make it mandatory for all advanced students to have to take at least 1 IVC course. He was a very helpful and enthusiastic person, and I enjoyed my visit.

Listening to Podcast

At first, I would like to start off by saying I think every group did an excellent job for their first experienc with creating a podcast. The first podcast I listened to was "YouTube as an Educational Tool" by Chris Borchardt, DelanaBemis, and Heather Rodgers. In my personal opinion, the speakers did not seem interested in the topic they were discussing. They also had several pauses in their conversation. I think it could be improved by having notecards or deciding the order of speakers beforehand. I also think they could have talked about more specific uses of YouTube in the classes. They spoke about using videos in classes.I think adding more specific examples, such as a planet video for science, could have gave more detail to the conversation.
The next podcast I watched was "Technology used at South" by Jennifer Harris, Alison Hawes, and Amelia Perkins. This group did give many ideas about the technology at South, but I think the conversation turned more to the professors. On the subject of online classes, one speaker spoke about the professor of an online course. The way the classes were set up and the content of classes was not brought up. The way the professor interacted with the students was the main topic of that subject. ALso, on the Folieoteck the speakers trailed back to the professors. They did not describe the way folieoteck works. Instead they spoke about teachers helping with Folieoteck.
The third podcast was "Facebook as an Educational tool" by Theola Harris and Larrica Smith. I think the speakers should have concentrated more on ways to use facebook as a teacher and in the classroom. It seemed as if they focused on profiles and uploading pictures. The lsat one I listened to was "Experiences with Blogs". This group did a good job. I think they may could have switched the speakers up a little more. It seemed to me as if one person spoke for a majority of time.

Coming to an End

I have learned many things during my time in the EDM310 class. My favorite things I have learned about is the free educational videos on ITUNES. I was normally an ITUNES user. I had previously believed a person had to purchase every item on ITUNES. I thought it was mainly movies and music. I was not aware of the free videos and podcast. As I have been working on my blog and with ITUNES, I have found many educational videos I would love to show to my future students. I
I also learned about blogging. I had heard of blogging before this semester, but never looked at or participated in one. I have learned a great deal about conducting a blog. I have learned that it can be a great way for teachers to keep parents informed about classroom assignments and activities.
I learned a great deal about podcast. It was very educational to be able to participate in a podcast. It was also a great oppurtunity to be able to discover educational podcast.
I also learned a great deal about google. The only use I had out of google previously was as a search engine. I thought the documents sections was an excellent resource to have as a student and future-teacher. I do not have Microsoft Word on my personal computer, so previously I would have to use the schools computers to type my work. I love the idea of the free resource of documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.

Mathematics with Technology

The podcasts given by Judy Chandler about using technology with mathematics was very useful. She discussed the importance of integrating technology with math. It talks about students need to learn math, not just memorize formulas. Judy stated that teachers can use the technology to apply these concepts and give students visual aids in math. She also discussed these will allow more students to grasp the concept of this particular content area.
This podcast will be useful in presuading reluctant teacher to begin using technology. It will also allow teacher to go to the website Judy Chandler gave to get ideas on how to use technology with course content. It will allow teachers who are not sure how to use it, the oppurtunity to recieve ideas.
I also think this podcast and other podcast related will open up teachers eyes. We have to use technology to allow our students to get the most out of their education. These podcast give teachers the oppurtunity to learn about technology in order to keep up with times.

"Growth" vs. "Fixed"

Stanford University did a study on "growth" Mindsets and "Fixed" mindsets. They took students and divided them in hald. One of the halfs went to a "Fixed" workshop, and the other went to a "growth" workshops. In the "Fixed" workshops, the students recieved study skills. In the "growth" workshop, the students recieved study skills and the idea of a proper mindset. The study showed the students that went to the growth workshop begin to pick their grades up and want to learn more. The fixed workshop participants remained the same.
The video stated that the teachers could tell which students participated in the growth workshop. The idea of a fixed mindset is based on the student. The student will have a basic intelligence, and worry about how he will look. This means worry about wether or not he will appear smart. The speaker also stated that the brain is a musscel, we have to work it for it to grow. This applies to all aspects of life, not just education.Everyone should admitt their mistake and learn from them.

The teachers have to have a growth mindset. If not, the students will learn only basic stuff. The students will pick up the habits of the teacher. Only doing what is nescessary, and not looking for a challenge. Teachers should continue learning throughout their lives. Everything is changing in our world, and we can not stop keeping up with the times. This video taught me to have a better outlook on education, and not worry about what others will think.

Educational Videos

I watched two videos for the grade level K-5. The fist I watched was " Why Doesn't the Moon Fall". It explained to students idea of the moon orbiting. It stated the moon does fall, but its falls in an orbit around the Earth. It also went into detail about the Earth and other planets fall into rotation around the sun.
The second video I viewed was " What is a Planet". In this video they talked about the defenition of a planet. The stated that in the 1800's, they had many more objects classified as planets than we do today. They discussed UB 313, which use to be classified as a planet, but then downgraded to an asteriod. They said the definition for a planet was it's body orbits a start, it has cleared it's neighborhood, and it has enough mass to create gravity. Although this is a defintion, there is still great debate on what should be called a planet and what should not be called one.
These videos are great to use in the classroom. They can go right along with course content in science. A teacher can use them in the discussion of space. I also glanced over a few other of the videos. They discussed precepitation and clouds and coral reefs. These videos can be used in science also. They can give the students another opputunity to learn besides using their textbooks.

Edible Garden and Night in Global Village

These two videocasts open my eyes to many things. The Edible Garden was a video about a garden that was started as a way to make school lunches better. It evolved into a great learning oppurtunity. The garden allowed the students to cover content material such as Math and Science. It covered Math by measuring the items grown in the garden to make food. The teacher used examples such as cups and teaspoons. The garden integrated Science by photosythesis and bacterica sucjects. It allowed students to get a hands on experience.

The Night in a Global Village was a video about students and teachers putting themselves in the shoes of those less fortunate than themselves. They set up different villages and assigned students to each village. There were different villages and a refugee camp. Each village had one item the others did not, and the students has to negotiate in order to recieve some of that item, such as water. During the stay, the participants learned information about sanitation. The students were able to act out as if they were really in the situation of hunger and poverty.

An educator can take both of these videos and use them in his/her classroom. In the Edible Garden, the teacher could use this example to bring other things into classroom content. It allows the students to get a different approach to learning. Even if the teacher was not allowed to plant a garden, he/she could bring baking items into the classroom and have the students measure things out. To integrate science, the teacher could bring plants and other things to help students relate to the subject.

Every American student should watch the Night in a Global Village. I think it could be a real eye opener to how lucky some students are. A teacher could play the video in the classroom. Then assign a day for students to bring lunches. The teacher could set up different areas around the class and label them as different villages. Then the students could be divided, and sent to different "villages". This will help get the students to work together to get the items they need.

Podcasting

I would like to start out by saying I am rather suprised by podcasting. Before taking EDM 310, I had heard in podcasts, but I had never really been interested. I was suprised at how informative and interesting podcasts can be. I think they are excellent resources for teachers to use. It is especially helpful for teachers looking to start the process of using technology in the classroom. Podcasts are great for teachers who are running short on time, which are most of the educators in our nation. If a teacher wants to learn information about a topic, they can download the podcast to an ipod or cd. In my personal opinion, it is a great breakthrough in technology.

The most interesting of the assigned podcast I listened to was the Smartboard Lessons. This was created by Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger brodcasting from Canada. I liked the interaction between the two of them. It seemed to keep me interested. It is easier to listen to the multiple-speaker podcast then the single-speaker podcast. This podcast gave teachers ideas on effective ways to use the smartboard in the classroom. They explained the teachers should keep the material interesting. Especially if he/she uses the smartboard often. They mentioned using different backgrounds, timers, and bright colors to fraw the students attention to the smartboard.

When speaking on the same subject, they told educators to let the students come up and give their ideas about the lesson on the smartboard. This is an excellent idea, because it is reaching another aspect of the learning process. It is engaging students and allowing them to give their point of view. Ben and Joan told teachers to engage in video conferences. This lets students see other people's ideas about the subject they are convering.

It was hard for the KidCast speaker, Ben Schmit, to keep my attention. I did not like him being the only speaker. Not necessarily because he was the only speaker, but he was simply not entertaining to listen to. He used his podcast on informing teacher on how to use podcast and gave tips to use when recording and making podcasts. Then, I listened to This Week in Photography. These speakers are very entertaining. The portion I listened to they were talking about Cameras.

All and all, most of these podcasts were intructing teachers on how to use the technology. This is very useful, because many of the current teachers do not know about all of the recent technology. It will help the educators engage in a new world of learning.

"The Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but he was determined not to let it slow him down. He lived by his own saying which is, "You can't help the cards you are dealt, but how you play the hand." He was invtied to Carnigie Melonie to deliver a speech. This was going to be his last lecture before his death, and he was determined to make it the best. When he arrived to give the speech, the auditorium was packed, and millions tuned in on video. He was successful in making it a great speech, and he has left behind a legacy. Not only was his speech an amazing one, but he wrote a book titled "The Last Lecture" which has become a best seller.

He had named his speech "How to Achieve your Childhood Dreams", and he told the audience a few of his childhood dreams. He wanted to be Captain Kirk, to play pro-football, be a disney imagineer, to win a big stuffed animal, and a few more. Although he did not fully achieve some of his dreams, he does touch base with most of them. Of course, Randy could not BE Captain Kirk, but he was allowed to meet him. Actually, Captain Kirk came to Randy for the meeting. He did mentioned that he came to a few "Brick Walls" along the way to conquering his dreams, but he never stop him from finding another way to achieve them. Randy Pausch stated that brick walls aren't there to stop someone from acheiving something. They are there to show dedication and how bad something is wanted.

Randy Pausch talked about his schooling and teaching years. He told about his experience with his students and coulleges. He told a story about one of the classes he taught was giving an assignment. When they submitted the assignment, he was blown away by the creativy and originality of his students. During the next class meeting, instead of boasting on his students he did what he called "Raising the Bar". He told his students that he was impressed, but he believed they could do better on the assignment. He talked about never giving up on people and believing in the students. I agree with this. If the educators do not believe in the students, who will? I talked about one thing he liked to do during teaching which is called a " head fake". He believed the best way to educate students was to teach them material without knowing they are learning the content.

He discussed some exkperiences with his coulleges and bosses. He gave advice that he learned through working with them. He told his aduience to listen to critisim. He said it is the best way to improve your work. When given a task, Randy said do not complain just work harder. He also talked about everyone needs to be good at something. It is very awarding to be able to offer something to the table and have something that seperates you from everyone else.

Randy Pausch's idea that touched me the most was to focus on others and not yourself. Once he stated that I began to think back through his entire lecture. I realized that even though this was his last lecture, he focused mostly on others. Even though he was stating how they helped him along his journey through life. During the lecture, he brought out a birthday cake and had the audience sing his wife happy birthday. The greatest thing about the lecture was his head fakes. Even though he mentioned head fakes earlier, I did not think he was actually doing not one, but two, head fakes during his lecture. The first was the title of the lecture. The lecture was not trully about how to achieve your childhood dreams, but how to live your life. The second head fake was the lecture was not for the audience. It was for his children. He wanted to leave something to help them through life. I think when his children are older, he will teach them and touch their hearts in many way through this lecture. I know he has already does this with so many others, including myself.

Ipods in Education

IPods are being used as more than a music device. Educators are bringing the devices into the classroom to help instruc students on course material. People ate Duke University developed a new program using IPods. The students and instructors have recieved great use out of the technology. Instructors have been using the ipods to show pictures of science nature, use online collaboration tools, and present digital audio and video. The students have taken advatage of the devices by recording lectures and interviews, capturing images, and storing documents.
click here

Duke University is not the only school taking advatage of the new technology. Many other school have been using the ipod in various ways. Some schools are using ipods in content areas such as art and literature. Teachers can show vidoe and multimedia lessons dealing with these areas. In grade school the ipod can help boost literacy skills by using the program Playback. In History, the ipod is being used to listen to biographies, watch videos responding to conflict of historiographical interpretation, and show images of maps. In Ethics, it is being used by listening to Philosophies using podcast, listening to discussions, and speeches. There are many more ways a teacher can use an ipod, and it is a great way to intergrate new technology into the classroom.

My Presentation

Dr. Christie

As I was reviewing Dr. Christie's website I found many things that would be useful as a future educator. I her section on podcast would be very helpful. It has a section talking about K-12 podcasts to be used in the schools. This section has links to various podcasts that teacher can present to students. This section tells how to create a podcast and use a podcast.

One idea of using podcast, I thought would be intresting, was allowing students to say scripts on podcasts. This would be a great way to spice up plays in the classroom. Podcast will make learning more interesting to the students.

Wikipedia

I believe Wikipedia could be a reliable source if people would not delete negative things said. I think the reader should be able to read both the positive and negative statements of the article. Then, the reader can make his/her own personal judgment. I do not believe that Wikipedia will ever be 100% accurate since people are allowed to edit the information posted. I do believe the Wikipedia Scanner will make the online encyclopedia more reliable. It will make people hesitant on changing information considering the change could be re-tracked back to the editor.

Fischbowl, 2nd post. A Formula for Success?

To sum this post up, I would say the writer is asking if educators or teaching math correctly. The way students should be learning not if they are doing it wrong. As a current student and future educator, I agree. Most students learn formulas and methods of solving equations, but never have to use the methods.I,myself,have taken Maths such as Calcuis and Trigonometry. I enjoy math. It has always been one of my favorite subjects, but to be honest I do not remeber alot of the formulas and methods I learned, or should I say memorized for the claass.
I agree with the blogger in that we should teach students math that applies to everyday life. In my opinion, it does go deeper than adding, subtracting, and dividing. We should continue to teach our the same methods, but also teach them how to use it at their jobs, home, and everyday life. My Trig teacher told my class that we would never use Trigonometry, except for his class. Not trying to give the teacher a bad reputation, because he was an excellent teacher. The statement that he made gave me little inspiration to learn the material.This is why Ibelieve we should teach the students the concepts, and show them how to use it.

Technologically Illiterate

This post could be a very touchy subject. I believe it is based on the person's age experience on how they take this post. Older, technologically illiterate teachers would not agree with the post, but I believe most younger people going into education agree. In my experience, during my school years I typed more papers than wrote them. Our world is becoming more technologically advanced, so I believe it is important for teachers to follow.
People use emails now instead of writing letters. People do spreadsheets instead of adding problems. The computer can be used for every subject area in school. Teachers should take advantage of this. The students knowing more about computers than their teacher is just unaceptable. For teachers who are not wanting to learn about technology, it is a poor concept. Teachers should be motivated for lifetime learning even if it is technology. This is the new way to learn.

International Schools

One international school blog I located is Tashkent International School. This blog has information about the school such as the mission statement, how many students are enrolled, the views on technology for the school, teaching at Tashkent, and about the city of Tashkent. It also has post that talk about tips for interview and other international schools. I believe this is a blog for people looking to attend international schools.


To go to this website
click here

The second school I located is the International School of Athens. This blog is also based on information about the school. It describes the curriculum. It tells of the importance of acknowledging diversity. The blog describes the importance of the schools students. It also discusses the students after they leave the school. It also has link people can follow to classifides, health and emergency locations, and news.
To follow up on this website
click here

DId you Know

This video surprised me in quite a few ways. It shocked me to realize the United States of America has less college graduates than India and China. I believe America is allowing our people to become less educated, and our people are becoming lazier. Our nation has to step things up a couple of notches, or we will no longer be considered a leading nation. Our country is considered to be a free nation, but many people have placed freedom with laziness.
Other things in the video did not surprise me. People are spending too much time on the computers and cutting important things out of our lives. People communicate easier in the internet than they do in person. I think this is destroying our nation's social skills. Americans bounce from job to job. There is no real job security in America. Companies are always looking for other people that will accept lower wages. I believe this is one of the reasons our economy is dropping. This video made me think about some things, because I am a Myspace user. I realize I will spend time glancing at other people's Myspace pages while I should be trying to further educate myself. We have to be careful of the things we do now, because we should not short future generations from real experiences by replacing them with computers.

Classroom Blogs

One blog that I located was for Third Grade Bauer Elementary by Mrs.Myrmel. She has recently created a new blog about for her classroom. She uses the blog to get in touch with the parents and students. She post a welcome letter to the students, and a homework assignment for the parents. The blog had the supply list for the school year posted on the site. It also has a second page that tells about Mrs.Myrmel and her experience as a teacher. On this page it gives students and parents the oppurtunity to communicate with the teacher. Here is the link to redirect to her blog:
http://jmyrmel.edublogs.org/


The Next blog I located was one for Mountain Heights School. This blog was used mainly for students to experience blogging. It listed certain topics for the students to blog about. It would ask a question and allow the students to answer. I could not view the individual blog, because a password was required. It seemed like the students took advantage of the chance to blog. It was a lot of participation among the students. The link to this blog is http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1339&new_display_count=1000

ACCESS

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS) program is that offers students, whom schools do not offer advance placement, the chance to receive advance placement course work through distance learning. The student taking the courses will learn via video conference. It allows the students to receive the same course materials that other students in advance placement classrooms are receiving. It is a website that allows teachers to develop professionally in a classroom and as an E- Teacher.
It has many resources a teacher can review to become a better educator. A teacher does not have to be an E-teacher to receive resources on course content. ACCESS has different link that can be followed to learn information about different categories. It has a multi-language dictionary that allows teachers to convert words from different languages to English. An example would be from Spanish to English. This would be very useful if a teacher had an English Language Learner in his/her classroom. It has resources that give ideas for classroom projects in different areas of content. It also has link for a teacher to receive useful information about how to deal with a crisis in the classroom. It will be a useful resource for teacher to gather ideas to promote a higher level of learning for the students.

Alabama Learning Exchange

The Alabama Learning Exchange, ALEX, is a program that many teachers should take advantage in. It has many different sections for the reader to explore. Some of the sections are different courses of study, web links, lesson plans, personal workspace, professional learning, and distance learning. If the reader wants to look at a certain grade level within a course of study, it is available on this site.
ALEX has examples of lesson plans for each grade level and subject. ALEX's workspace allows teachers to create their own lesson plans online. The professional learning section is a great way to receive information on English Language Learners, Special Education, and tips and tricks to try out.
ALEX is a great opportunity for beginning and experienced educators. In education, it is always important to look for different ways to teach information. This program allows teachers to look for new ways to do that.

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A Picture

Hello! I am Jenny Moseley

Hello Everyone! I would like to welcome you to my blog. My name is Jenny Moseley. I am 21 years old. I am from a small town called, Jackson, Alabama. Many people do not know where it is located, but it is only an hour north of Mobile. I am attending the University of South Alabama to receive my degree in Elementary Education. My current status is Junior. I have been a student at The University of South Alabama for two years. Prior to attending this university, I was enrolled at a junior college. I have enjoyed being at South, and look forward to receiving my degree from this school.
I come from a large family. The first, most important, thing in m life is my son. His name is John Colby. He turned one on the 28th of June. He keeps my hands full, but I love every minute of it. It amazes me how much a child can do at such a young age. He is beginning to talk, and his first word was mama. This made me very happy! I am the youngest of five children. I have two brothers and two sisters. I also have three nephews and five nieces, so things get a little loud at family events. We are a very close family, but I would not have it any other way. I look up to my mother is so many ways. She has helped my tremendously. I work part time while being a full time student, so she helps me handle John Colby. My father passed away in 2005 with lung cancer. He was an amazing person. My family would not have made it through that tough time if it was not for her. This is just a little information about me. I hope you enjoyed this post, and I look forward to learning information about each of you.