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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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.