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Blog post 15

My Reflection of EDM310

Final Project 16

Yasmine's Wordle

I was also able to comment on Yasmine's wordle in replacement of blog post 14! It's very inspiring to see a student blogging and so passionate about her peer's responses! She has a great opportunity to express her thoughts and share them with not only her classmates and teachers but the world! I hope that she is very encouraged by EDM310! I saw a comment that Mr. Chamberlain posted on her page and he simply said that she was experiencing both the joys and pains of sharing thoughts. That is such a true statement because when we share our thoughts we aren't guaranteed that people agree with our idea or are even attracted to what we think; but it doesn't negate our liberty. Yasmine's blog was very nice and I think that she definitely has a lot of potential and will be able to apply all that she is learning!!

C4K 8-11

11- We were also able to comment on student's blog pages from Mrs. Haugen's 6th grade class. I got to read a summary about a book Gracie has been reading called Canterwood Crest: Take the Reigns. She was very detailed in her description and I enjoyed reading her summary! She did a great job of explaining the plot of the story and giving the overall point of it in a very clear way.

10-I was able to watch a video posted by room 7 in the Little Voices, Little Scholars! The video was phenomenal and was played in a cinema in New Zealand. The video was made especially for the Manaiakalani film festival. The screen effects that they used were very creative and the ideas were very captivating. The kids definitely have big potential and it's very challenging to see kids create such a phenomenal video.

9-I also got to comment Ben's blog post and he created a very cool kerpoof  picture to help him remember all the planets.
His acronym for memorizing the planet's was
My
very
evil
mongoose
sprayed
Uncle
Nut.
This is his Kerpoof project:


The Kerpoof was very cool and creative and I think it is probably a very helpful visual in remembering the planet order!

8-I was also able to read Ali's blog! She is a high school student and her blog was very thought provoking. She began her blog with a very challenging thought by William Feather who said, "Next to a sincere compliment, I think I like a well-deserved and honest rebuke." She was a very inspirational student because she displayed the desire to actually learn and not just "get through" school with a grade. Her post was discussing constructive criticism and how it helped her see where she made mistakes but also strive to be better. 

C4T #4

This was by far my most favorite assigned teacher's blog to read and comment on! The blog written by Jenna Bently was challenging, thought-provoking, inspirational, and eloquently put. In her post, Jenna asked the following question: “If we had people as radical as the Founding Fathers of America in today’s day in age, and they wrote a  new declaration of Independence that would withstand another 200 years, could you even imagine what that would be like?”  Asking such a question begs the reader to stop and examine life as it is and life as it was in the past. Her blog was entitled United as One. To some up her post she was discussing how nation wide catastrophes often unite people because in those situations each person looks out for the interests of each other rather than simply promoting their own individualistic goals. In doing this unity occurs within a nation. When a nation works together it progresses, and when they work against each other it is counter productive.  Her perspective was very interesting and definitely provoked me to think. I enjoyed it because it was not just talking about technology but discussing the world we live in and how we can make a difference by joining together by really being one nation. She discussed radical people like the founding fathers who made a great difference in our nation and how those with the most heart and most will come out on top. She didn't leave just discussing radicals of the past but she called for radicals of today who were willing to take a stand when she left us with this:  Now we just have to find the radicals who will fight for a new day.

I really enjoyed it and all of the comments of the students who read it and were as challenged by the post as well. I will definitely follow the blog! 

PLN Final Report

This is my final Personal Learning Network or Symbaloo . I added several more tiles and actually found many more assets on Symbaloo that has been very helpful. In the beginning  I had no idea that you could create your own tile but as I learned more about the system I realized you could so I was able to at U.S.A. to my webmix and also make an EDM310 tile. Just adding these two to my network has been very helpful because I have all my essential links grouped together. I was also able to add the apple tile and a few sports tiles for my favorite teams. Besides those additional tiles I have all the same as the last time I posted. I tried to keep it divided as best as possible between educational on the top left, social on the top right, sports on bottom left and then travel/news/business on the bottom right. The symbaloo is such a great network to work from, everything I need is in one spot. It makes everything more accessible, convenient, and definitely more organized. 

Additional Assignment #5

Tom Johnson takes a very clever approach in writing blogs. As Dr. Strange stated it requires more than skimming but it's mandatory that you turn your brain on in reading his posts. I read the blog Just Teach Them to Solve for X.  The writing itself was encouraging students, teachers, and people all together to really embrace metaphorical writing techniques. In this blog he made several good points but a few really grabbed my attention. He stated, The genius of paper is how we can use it to construct knowledge rather simply copy processes. This is very true because writing (or blogging) gives us the freedom to invent our own ideas and share it rather than just becoming a carbon copy. He makes another statement that explains why people would often settle with copying a process instead of using creativity through different ways of writing. He said, "Look, it's just that metaphors are dangerous.  There's too much room for confusion." "That's exactly why we need them.  Life is dangerous.  Learning is dangerous.  A bad metaphor can launch a war.  I want my students to know this.  I want them to see that language shapes our perceptions of reality."
A lot of times people are so afraid of embracing something unknown or that could possibly be messy because it requires both effort and thinking. The idea that it is messy invites one to a world of creativity. It lures away from the rigid structure of burping back knowledge and really invites someone to explore interpretations. 
I agree that this is the language that shapes our perception of reality and that it is the bridge from abstraction and concrete. We need both, so how do we incorporate? By thinking ourselves and making our students THINK. So why not just solve for X, why not use such a formula in writing? Because individuals need to see beyond the horizons of the extremely structured learning they have adapted too and embrace new and creative ideas.


It is so easy to become adapted to one way of thinking and apply that to all subjects and all situations. Did you catch that? It's easy! Thinking outside the box and perceiving things in a new ways demands that as a reader we are actually present in the moment to contemplate the possible meanings of a post. Even though I misinterpreted Don't Take the Pencils Home for the original assignment, I now understand his keen use of metaphorical writing to discuss the issues with computers and technology in low income areas. I really was wondering what the big deal was with pencils in low income areas but now I understand completely. He is right that technology is a lot of times perceived as a toy rather than an object that will greatly enhance the learning experience. Not only that but teachers fear that students will not be held accountable, which in my opinion is good and bad. Students need to learn to be self motivated with the help of a teacher. Technology and self motivated classrooms, such as EDM310 exhibits the responsibility a student must have by being self taught, but also the creativity and ability to explore that it gives. So in this post he raises many relevant questions and points that are taking place in the school system today. It just requires reading beyond the words and actually paying attention. Now, I really enjoy the posts! 

Blog Post #13

Alex stands for Alabama Learning Exchange Program. This is a very resourceful website created by the Alabama Department of Education. It's not limited to educators alone but has many great sources for students and parents as well. Because I am majoring in Secondary Education Language Arts, I first explored the courses of study option then viewed the language arts tab. Whether a student in English, a parent helping their child, or an English teacher, this feature offered grammar and literature tips from all grades. So ALEX is very helpful for all grade levels and provides practical help for all the basic school subjects. The podcast treasury was extremely fascinating.  Each subject had so many podcasts relating to the topic. This asset is very helpful for students and encourages hands-on learning and comprehension as well as allowing them to experience creativity and technology. The website also had a lesson's plan tab that I was able to explore. Again you could choose a variety of subjects and the grade level that you would be teaching.

I found this website very helpful, just as a student. It practically has unlimited resources. In the future this is a website that I will incorporate into my PLN and also refer to often as a teacher. It's great that the Alabama Department of Education offers valuable and relevant information to all involved in the school system. No matter what grade level or what subject you teach, ALEX will be very beneficial in gaining knowledge and pursuing goals. When I student teach this will definitely be something I use to serve as a spring board for lessons plans and ideas. I can't wait to apply what I have discovered here.

Project 15

Progress on Final Project

I will be working with Lawanna Hinton for my final project. As of right now we are trying to juggle the challenges that come along with doing both  project 15 and the final project. For the final project we are aiming towards doing a short film, either Drexler style or using iMovie to discuss education and how it's change and the overall benefits of technology in the classroom along with being a networked student. In this we may incorporate examples such as a timeline to help and possibly preview videos we have seen in the class. Through this we hope to display the importance and effectiveness of technology in the classroom. So these are the things we have been brainstorming and trying to gather, so we will continue!

Blog Post 12

This assignment required a lot of thinking! After putting some thought into what Dr. Strange was asking I came to this conclusion that an appropriate assignment would have been something like this:

Assignment
Blogging is the bulk of the EDM310 course. As an educator, will you incorporate blogging into your classroom? Why or why not? If you choose to, then what role will it play in your curriculum? How often do you see your students blogging? Give a detailed explanation of how it will be used in your classroom with the subject or grade level you wish you teach.

My response:

Being in EDM310 has redefined my idea of blogging. I had a blogger account and used it for social blogging prior to this class but now I see it's significance for educational purposes. I can honestly say today that I can't see my classroom without it. My major is Secondary Education Language Arts so I can teach English to high school students. I would love to be able to go to other countries and teach English, so no matter what route blogging will still be a very important role. If I were to teach high school grammar and literature to students blogging would be very key in the class room. In a literature course students would blog a summary of what they learned from the story they read. This would count as a participation grade or so I am thinking. Sharing a summary through blogging would be very beneficial for several reasons. One being the students could see one another's thoughts on what they read and also comment on each other's thoughts. They would be in essence building a network by sharing ideas and gleaning from one another. Blogging would also be beneficial in grammar because students could do certain blog assignments pertaining to the part of speech they are learning or post progress on papers they are in the process writing. Final drafts could be posted on their blog page and could easily be edited and as a teacher I could read the ones posted and encourage them in their process. If I were to teach overseas, things would be similar because blogging would be a very beneficial part of the curriculum. The students would be learning English so they could do daily assignments as a journal entry. This would help them apply the English they are learning in a fun, creative, and challenging way. It would be compelling because they could write about what they want with the exception of some specific assignments. Because of this, the students will want to use the English they are learning and they will also be able to read other blogs which will help understand English more efficiently. So blogging is very important and will not play a minor role but will be something that I would love to have as a fundamental in my classroom to complement the subject I teach.

EDM310 Class Survey-Project #6

View complete results!

Project 14

Teach Someone Video

Adding Alt and Title Modifiers to an image

Free online screen recorder

C4K 3-7

Alba Dinocorn  was my 7th student's blog to comment on and was a little new to blogging. Alba posted a picture of the USS Alabama to her blog. She mentioned the details in the pictures such as the lines and shadows. It was great to see a student capture some Alabama history and take that much interest in it to post it on their blog! It was a great picture and nice addition to a blog!

YenniferL was my 6th student's blog to comment on and I was able to view a very interesting riddle and actually try to solve it!! Wow, it was very tricky! The  riddle was  the following:

I am furry.

I can be black, white, or brown.

I can be hard to find.

I like to eat fish.

I live in a house.

Who am I?

I guessed that she was referring to a cat, unfortunately she never answered!  I guess it's up for interpretation to the avid blog reader! 

The 5th student's blog that I was able to comment on was Ashlyn M. She is a 6th grader in Mrs. Quamm's class in Iowa. Her blog brought back so many memories. She discussed her homecoming game and dance! She seemed to have a lot of school spirit as she discussed the football team and she also sounded like she had a lot of fun at the dance. It's great for student's to share what they like because I believe that connects the  teacher to the student in a personal way! 

I was also able to comment on Finn's blog who is from New Zealand! This was so amazing to be able to connect to a student in another country. It's amazing the path's that blogging opens up. Finn was discussing a Fete, which I had to look up in the dictionary. It is a festival, and they had one as a school to raise money for a new playground. Through hard work and great effort on behalf of the students and the faculty, Finn explained that they were able to raise enough money to build a new play ground. He was very excited about the new play area.

For the C4K3, I could not reopen the link. What I do remember was that the student was from another country and wrote very descriptively about a devastation that had recently occurred within the country.

C4T #3

Creating Life Long Learners  

I was also assigned to read and comment on Mathew Needleman's latest post on his blog, Creating Life-Long Learners, which is a very catchy blog title. In his post, 3 Ways to Download Movies from YouTube, he gives some simple and very helpful tips for the process. The first tip he had was the "Low Tech" way, which I personally liked. Not only did he say that, but then he went on to say "If you are not comfortable with technology then this one is for you" so right away I knew that would be for me, especially after doing the podcast. The other two tips for downloading movies from YouTube were through using zamzar and also through certain plug-ins. The way you choose which way to go would be based on how many movies you plan to upload. According to Mathew, if you only want to download one or two movies then zamzar was for you, if not then browser plugin's would definitely be the way to go. For instance if you want to download many movies, then you should download helper for firefox or even download YouTube for Safari. He does make a good point to keep in mind that these are good, but they will only work in a place where YouTube isn't blocked.

After doing my podcast on iMovie and uploading it to YouTube along with watching other videos, I realize how important videos are in a classroom, and YouTube provides access to watch and show videos. This is not just beneficial as a "bored student" but for a teacher to use in the classroom. I enjoyed reading these tips and hope I can apply what I have learned in the teaching field, as well as being a networked student.

Blog Post 11

Little Kids... Big Potential

This class really lives of to the title of this video Little Kids...Big Potential. When I was in elementary school we would write in journals everyday and maybe visit the computer lab once a week (if we were lucky!) to play Oregon trail, which was on a floppy disc. These kids were able to BLOG  their thoughts everyday and to do that at such a young age is extremely vital in sparking creativity. These students had the opportunity to use blogger, skype, wiki,  build networking communities, and make videos. The most amazing thing was that they absolutely enjoyed having technology in classrooms.

Before watching this video I questioned how effective technology was on the elementary level and these kids proved it to be very effective. My first thoughts of kids and computers is well... messy! That is definitely stereotypical and not the case.  The atmosphere in this classroom allows for tons of interaction of peers and evokes a sense of creativity in the kids. A great foundation is being instilled in them by introducing them to technology of all sorts at such a young age. They truly live up to big potential!

EDM 310 Skype Discussion with Mrs. Cassidy

Mrs. Cassidy has a great view of technology within the classroom. It is technologically centered which greatly benefits the students. It opens up so many opportunities for the students to learn, grow, and reach their individual potential.
I thought it was great how the students used technology in the form of a journal by the blog spot. Blogging on subjects seem to be very effective and is something that I would like to incorporate into my classroom. It's wonderful for people to summarize their thoughts and then post it for others to see it and comment on it. That way what they learn is not limited to the teachers view alone but is available to an entire network. Creating a network, in my opinion greatly enhances learning. That is one thing I will most definitely incorporate into my classroom instructions. Mrs. Cassidy does a great job of using Blogger.

Additional Assignment #3

Changing Education Paradigms

Sir Ken Robinson's presentations are astounding. I really enjoyed the RSA Animate version. It definitely brings to life the points he is trying to make. 
One of the most important things that Sir Ken Robinson discussed was the "ADHD epidemic." I strongly agree with what he stated and I have also heard other experts mention similar ideas in regards to ADHD. Kids are surrounded by fast pace technology, computers, televisions, and many more things, so of course when they are stuck in a classroom, it will become somewhat "boring" to them. Rather than educators adapting to the more fast pace technological advances, they have settled for sending kids to the doctor to be diagnosed with a disorder. It's easy to give a kid medicine rather than really letting the needs of the students be the motivation for how you teach, but we aren't in it for what's easy. 


I agree for the most part with everything he says. He seems to be very on target with his research and bases a lot on what he has personally experienced.  Although I do agree with most and do believe that education needs to be re-defined I don't believe education is a bad thing. At times in the video it seems that education is used in a derogatory manner. For example when discussing divergent thinking and the measuring of longitudinal study, he shows that as one gets older their divergent thinking decreases. He says "education happens." Education in and of itself isn't a bad thing. I think at the core it is good but it needs to be redefined and transformed so that it will become relevant to today's students. This will definitely prevent the ADHD plague and mentality but will definitely cause action among teachers, faculty, peers, and parents. 


As far as the College of Education, I heard from a EPY professor here about why so many students are diagnosed with ADHD and it is exactly like what Sir Ken Robinson said.  In our society, going from the social norms into a classroom is like getting a sprinter who has been running all day to sit on a bank a fish, he would be bored and going absolutely crazy inside. As far as the similarities in disagreements from what I have been taught here, I don't know if there are any yet. I would love to show some professors this video and see what they agree or disagree with. 


What can I do?
Wow! I hope to make my classroom interactive and hands-on. Money will always be  a hindering factor in education but we must be able to work with what we are given. I hope to let the needs of my student's be the motivation for what and how I teach. I hope to incorporate hands-on activities so the students will stay engaged. It is my goal to not even give the students a chance to get bored, not by overloading them with homework, but by giving them the keys to tap into their creativity and letting that facet inspire their learning habits. I can always control the atmosphere in my classroom and that's powerful. 
Hopefully this will eliminate what Sir Ken Robinson talks about as far as the monotonous education goes, and actually allow students freedom to be creative as well as eliminate this ADHD idea. 


I like this presentation a lot. It definitely gives you a new way to see what Sir Ken Robinson is saying. It makes you feel more engaged honestly rather than just looking into someone's face and it was definitely creative which matched the theme of what he was talking about. I would love to learn to make one of these videos. 
If I were to make a video I would probably be the idea generator and the author, maybe even the artist.. but not that good! 

Skype Project #12

Capture your screen in seconds

This is my friend Ahlam (Loma). She is from Saudi Arabia and is studying ESL here. This is an interview explaining a little about her personally along with the differences in cultures, education and technology.

Project #13-Smartboard

This was my first time using a smart board in the classroom. I was able to use some of the different features, but I didn't really get to explore all of what it has to offer. I hope that when I student teach that the classroom I am in has a smart board so that I can get a better feel for it and decide how effective it is in an actual classroom. It was very interesting to me considering it was my first time but from just my experience today I don't see how impacting it will be as far as interacting with students, but that could be different after using it daily. I look forward to using it more in the future.