Final Reflection

On the first day of class I thought this is just going to be another typical computer class. Then I looked at the class manual.I had no idea what most of the things listed on the manual were.Not only did it look strange to me, it looked like it was so much work. I look back now and Dr. Strange was correct when he said we needed about fifteen hours a week for this class alone.Yes, this class took a lot of my time, but it was well worth it.

I remember creating my first Wordle. It seemed fun and pretty simple. Then it came to the part to embed it into our blog. I followed the directions and it didn't seem to hard. I found out that paint tool on Windows Vista does not work and will freeze up your computer. I never knew this because I never used it before on my laptop. I had to get my assignment done, so I googled the problem. Yes, I found out that the paint tool was not compatible with Vista. I read a post that some users had downloaded Paint.NET on their computer to replace the paint tool. So I took the chance and downloaded Paint.NET and it worked just fine. I was able to take a screen capture of my Wordle and continue using Paint.NET.

My next difficulty was getting comfortable in front of the webcam. I never really put my webcam to use. I was actually horrified when I saw that we would have to do video recordings. Well maybe not horrified just a little nervous. I'm glad Dr. Strange assigned video recordings because otherwise I don't think I would do it on my own. I recorded myself reading Little Red Riding Hood. It wasn't so bad, but I did feel a little foolish at first. I'm sure I will get better with more practice. I did learn one thing from the experience, my daughter loves to video record herself, so I am sure that other children do too.

One of my favorite things in this class was watching the interesting videos that Dr. Strange assigned. Everything that I watched in class really made me think.My favorite video was Randy Pausch's Last Speech:Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.At first I saw that the movie was over a hour long and I was just thinking I hope this isn't boring because I usually don't like listening to speeches. Then when Dr. Pausch was closing the speech I was left wanting more. I learned, I laughed, I wanted to cry, and I was inspired. I learned to give your best at everything. Don't give up just because things start to get tough. It is okay to have fun and learn at the same time. I also learned from Pausch that if you are doing something wrong and someone correct or criticizes you, they care and don't take it the wrong way. It is sad that Randy Pausch passed away, but he looked like he lived his life to the fullest until the end.

Prior to this class I have never had my own blog page. I knew what blogging was, but I wasn't real familiar with it and didn't know how it would be useful to me. Well after blogging for a few weeks it started to become fun. I like reading other people's thoughts and commenting. Blogging is a great way to share thoughts and ideas. It's kind of neat being able to interact with people in places other than your hometown. I am now leaving the class with a desire to start another blog page of my own about my experiences as an education student. Hopefully, I will get a chance to blog with my future students when I do begin to teach.

Also, prior to this class I never really knew how technology could be used in the classroom. Thanks to many of the schools that we followed for Comments4Kids and Comments4Teachers, we were able to see how may teachers use technology in their classrooms. We saw children blogging, making podcasts, using videoconferencing in the classroom, and so much more. To see students know more about using technology than I do really made me open up my eyes. If I am going to prepare students for the future, I need to keep up with the times. Unfortunately, I wasn't exposed to technology in my earlier years in school, but I am not going to let that hold me back. Like I said if a kid can learn it so can I.

My only complaint with EDM 310 is that I took it in the summer. I really felt pressed for time on completing the assignments. I feel that if I had more time the quality of some of my assignments would have been better. For the first time in a while, I am leaving a class feeling satisfied that I got my money's worth. I am not only leaving this class with more knowledge about technology, but I am leaving this class a different person. I have a very different outlook on education now. I just hope and pray that I will be able to teach in a school that promotes and supports technology in the classroom.

Final Project

Comments4Kids

I was amazed by this video Just Pray. Who would have ever known that middle school children made this video. It is very well done. This video really touches your heart. I think this was a great way for the students to get a full understanding of the impact of the oil spill had on the environment and people that are so close to home.

The students at Alba Middle school were very lucky to have someone like Sheila Hagler in their school. I was really starting to wonder how teachers in our area were using technology in the classroom. I haven't been in Mobile that long and unfortunately my daughter hasn't had much experience with teachers using technology in her school. They had just started getting SmartBoards in her school but, most teachers haven't been trained properly yet. I guess it will take some time.

The kids looked like they had fun while they were learning something new. It's great to see children working so well together.

Post #13

Comments4Classmates

Here are my comments to the following classmates' blogs:

Stephen Atkins: What I’ve Learned This Year

The FabLab was new to me also. It's great to see children at that age learning and having fun at the same time.

Mr. McClung's blog was quite different this time around.Change is good. It's good to see that he took a negative experience and turned it around as a learning experience. I just love the fact that he didn't lose focus on what is most important and that is the students.

Crystal Rutherford: First Graders in Ms.Cassidy’s Class

I agree that as teachers we need to change with the world.We can never get comfortable and only stick to one way of teaching. Ms. Cassidy is doing a great job with her first graders.

I also want to use blogging and video in the classroom. I just hope I work at a school that is supportive of using technology in the classroom.

Katie Watson: My PLN

I also used symbaloo for my PLN. I found it real easy to use. I like the fact that you can just click on the icons to go to your destination. I also used delicious.com to bookmark pages and I added a delicious.com icon to my symbaloo.I find it funny that at the beginning of class I had no idea what a PLN was and had no idea what to do. Now that I have the hang of it I am constantly adding on to mine.

Survey Results

I found some pretty interesting results from our class. 63% of the class drinks, but the good side to that is that everyone answered they only drink occasionally. My fellow classmates live a pretty active lifestyle. 84% answered that they exercise on a regular basis and out of the 84%, 42% exercise three to four times a week. Only 21% of our class smokes. 100% of the class believe that eating healthy is essential to good health. 74% think that it costs more to eat healthy. I predicted that most people think it costs more to eat healthy.

PLN

I can't say that my PLN is complete, but for class purposes it is completed. My PLN will continue to grow and change as time goes by. I started using Delicious.com to compile some of my most visited web pages. I have sites such as Teacher Tube, FunBrain.com, and other sites that will give me ideas about teaching. I started using Twitter. I actually just typed in education in the search bar and I came up with some good contacts. I haven't really tweeted much, but the tweets of the people I have been following have been quite helpful. They have redirected me to their own blog pages. I joined a Ning group for elementary teachers. I haven't been to active with that yet. Thanks to our assignment of watching the video on the student's PLE, I started using Symbaloo. I have it separated by Rss Feeds, news, education sites by subject, blog sites, and personal use. I like how Symbaloo is set up by icons, I can just click on wherever I want to go. I also can add buttons anytime also. Last but not least, I will be keeping up with many of the blog pages that we have been assigned to this semester. I definitely will be following Mr. McClung and keeping up with some of the schools to see what the rest of the world is doing in education. Like I said earlier my PLN is only complete for assignment purposes, this will be something I will continue. I am glad we were assigned to create a PLN. I know now I can't just learn everything from a book.

Post# 12

What I Learned This Year

I think Mr. McClung's gives some very good advice. I love his honesty.The last post he discussed his first year of teaching and how he adjusted. This year Mr. McClung had more challenges. He didn't fluff his blog saying how wonderful the school year was. He was honest that there were issues with administration. Even though he went through many changes with this school year, he didn't forget about his students. He doesn't lose sight that the students are the main focus. I believe that Mr. McClung truly cares about his students and their education.

Imagine. Design. Create. Construct. (RB)
FabLab ModelMaker: Creating Unique Shapes & Custom Shapes
FabLab ModelMaker: Resizing 3D Shapes & Shape Nets
M-Cubed:ISTE Presentation Video

When I watched the assigned video, I was wondering what are these kids doing. This digital fabrication is all new to me. The kids seem to be having fun while doing something constructive. They are learning about geometry, problem solving, construction, deconstruction, and design. Since this is new to me I don't have too many ideas on how to use this in the classroom. I know that students learn about different geometric shapes in elementary school, so I guess this would be a good tool to learn about the different shapes. They actually would get hands on experience rather than looking at a flat object on a piece of paper.

It just wonderful what children are capable of. They never cease to amaze me.

Comments 4 Kids 4

I was assigned to watch the video above for my Comments for Kids assignment. I think it is great how these students are learning about science in a fun way. I remember just memorizing each section of the periodic table. We didn't really have any fun assignments except for lab time. I like how the students showed the elements and where they are found. This is a great way to show that science is a part of our everyday life. Students have a tendency to complain and say "why do I have to learn this I'll never use this stuff." Learning subjects in a more practical way makes learning more interesting and fun.

Interview Movie Project

Post #11

I found the discussion with Ms. Cassidy was very helpful.Her class video was a good overview of how technology is used in her classroom. I think it is great that the students are learning to blog at such a young age. Also, I like how Ms. Cassidy informs her students how to use the internet in a safe and wise way.

When I start teaching, I would love for the class to blog. Actually, when I was in elementary school we didn't have computers, but we wrote in our journals and illustrated them. We didn't get to really show to many people our journals. With the blog the students can share their experiences at school with a larger audience. I think having a class web page is useful tool also. I would be able to post what we are doing in the classroom daily, post assignments, and also have links to educational pages that may be useful to the students. I also think it would be fun to share class videos with other classes of the same grade level. It's always fun to interact with other students from other places.

Many of the questions asked in Ms. Cassidy's interview with the EDM310 were very helpful. She is a good example of a teacher that believes in continuous learning and trying new things.I agree with Ms. Cassidy that we shouldn't be teaching students the same way students were taught twenty years ago. The world is not the same.I sometimes feel that I am a little behind when it comes to technology. Ms. Cassidy didn't claim to be some computer expert, but that she learned as time went along. I am glad she was honest that not all administrators are pro technology. I am willing to use technology in the classroom, but it really makes me wonder what I will be allowed and not allowed to do in the classroom.

It's funny how the use of Twitter was brought up in the interview. I just started using it, and I also feel foolish tweeting. I'll get the hang of it eventually.

Smart Board Presentation

Post #10

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

Was I better today than yesterday? That is a good question and I think I am. I believe that we need to always improve ourselves in life. It doesn't have to always be some drastic change that is noticeable to everyone. It can be something as little as saying hello to people you normally don't speak to or something as small as just drinking one more glass of water a day and drinking one less soda. Also, life is a learning experience. We aren't born knowing everything but, we are equipped to learn. I believe that we can learn something new almost every day of our lives.

Now let me think of one sentence to describe my life. Here it is:

I want to live a purposeful life where I can make a positive impact on others.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

All I can say is that I was put to shame by a seventh grader. Thank God for Dr. Strange's class for opening up my eyes to the world of technology! My PLN is not quite as organized as this. This video has given me more motivation to organize my PLN better. I never thought to use Symbaloo. When I am done with this post I will be going to that site.

I was really impressed. I think it is great how the science class is conducted to give the students more responsibility and freedom. It is wonderful how this student is learning to research independently and showing her work to others in the science community. She is very lucky to be in a class like this. I can remember being bored to death in my seventh grade science class. I probably would have been more interested in science at a younger age if I had a class like this.

Post #9

An Open Letter to Educators

I actually agree with Morgan Bayda's view of university education. I can't necessarily say I have been cheated, but I can say there was some wasted time in lecture. I actually learned but, things could have been better. It is so true that in some classes that there is no initiative to even speak up and talk. Some professors lecture the whole time and will only ask questions at the beginning of class or at the end.

Our education system needs to keep up with the times. The children today aren't the same children of yesterday. We don't live in the times of the one room school house anymore.

ALEX- Alabama Learning Exchange

ALEX is a web page that is a collaboration of resources that can be used by educators. There are resources to use in the classroom. They are divided by subjects and grade level. These lessons link to other websites such as PBS, The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, and many other sites that can be of educational value in the classroom.

You can look at lesson plans. These lesson plans can be found by searching the teacher, school name, subject, or many other search factors. There is also workspace for you to create your own lesson plans. Not only are there resources to use with students but, there are educational resources for the teachers to us. There are tutorials and online lessons in how to use certain tools of technology in the classroom. Also, ALEX has a blog page to see how others are using ALEX and to keep up with what is new.

I think ALEX especially good for teachers that are not to familiar with using technology in the classroom. It's a good all in one site and a good starting point until they feel more comfortable in creating their own tools and pages. I actually will use some of the tutorials that are on ALEX to brush up on some of my skills.

Comments4Kids3

Mr. McClung's World: Topographic Map Lab

I had a chance to read Mr. McClung's class blog for May 18th. It wasn't anything exciting but, it did show a typical day in Mr. McClung's classroom. This event happened to be a lab where the students were using topographic maps. I did think it was a great idea that the students were using maps of the local area. I wish I had more to comment on, but that is okay. I still think it was good exposure.