Blog Post #10

John T. Spencer wrote the above comic. At first I was slightly confused, but then I read some of the comments and it made it a little more clear. I believe he is mocking the PC/Mac commercials. The "Papermate" is supposed to the be the PC that's more affordable but might not be the best computer in the long run and the "Ticonderoga" is supposed to be the Mac that's slightly more expensive but is probably the better choice in computers. Even though the Mac is the better computer it does come with a hefty price. I found it pretty amusing, once I got the actual joke.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games was also written by Mr. Spencer. I believe he was trying to show that we aren't teaching to teach anymore. We are teaching so kids pass their state given tests. Memorize the material and as Dr. Strange says "burp it back up" on a test. I believe testing your skills are more important than acing a test. Such as my EDM310 class. We don't have a test every week or every two other weeks. We have to SHOW we know how to do things on a computer and show that we are learning. At first I didn't know how I was going to handle this class, but as the weeks pass, I really appreciate the work we are doing.

Spencer's Blog has tons of story posts like his previous one. I read Do You Remember Pencil Quests post and he talks about a scavenger hunt he used to do during school and the whole point was about how teachers changed the pace of learning. They got the students out of the classroom and got them to interact outside of the classroom. They took a big leap of faith doing these because at the time it was not "normal". BUT what fun is it to be normal? None. I really enjoy Mr. Spencer's blog and I followed him on Twitter!

Reading Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please? really was a precious post. Scott Mcleod wrote this "poem" or poem style post about the reasons why people don't want their children using computers in the classroom, or technology in general. He says things like they are just going to look at porn or hook up with pedophiles and yes, he probably is right, BUT using the computer/technology in a classroom isn't going to change that. Children are going to do what they want, no matter if they have the tools or not. Some way, some how they'll find it. I think technology in a classroom is a good idea. Period. Honestly, I think soon pencils, pens, and paper aren't even going to be in a classroom!

Book Trailer

Blog Post #9

Mr. Joe McClung has wrote a blog after his years of teaching. He writes a new post every year after the last day and discusses what he has learned from that year of teaching. I read His blog post from his Fourth year and his Third year.

In his third year post he tells us that he learned to remember and know who your boss is. He says that it is very important to remember the reason that we started teaching, and that was the children. He explains that his students are his primary focus and that's how every teacher should be. "Don't Touch the Keyboard". I think there is a very important message in the paragraphs below that header. When you are being trained to do something the best way to do it is to simply, just do it. He tells us that the studets WILL struggle and you should, as a teacher, have them work it out and not take over their problem for them. McClung says that it's okay to be an "outsider" in the teaching world. He is an outsider at his school and clearly does not care what his peer teachers care about him. He is close to his students and cares more about his relationships with the students and if they are enjoying class. He isn't afraid to do things differently and eat lunch with his students instead of in the teacher's lounge.



In his fourth year post McClung was a lot shorter than his other blogs. He gets straight to his two main points. His first one is "You Gotta Dance with Who You Came to the Dance With." He reiterates that you should not care about what your peer teachers believe or what they thinks about you. He says he got himself that far and he wasn't going to change because the teachers looked at him differently. The only people you should care about are your superiors and the kids that you are teaching.
His second point he made was "Challenge Yourself". This paragraph hit home with me. In my high-school most of my teachers my senior year were on their last year of teaching and became pretty comfortable with the material they were teaching. They didn't do anything but talk to us for about 30 minutes of the class, tell us to read independently, and we'd take quizzes on the material. They didn't make my senior year classes, such as government and economics, exciting so it was brutal to sit through. He tells us that we can't get comfortable with teaching the same subject over and over. He tells us to challenge ourselves. His goal is to ensure his students enjoy class and not resent school like he did as a child.

C4T #2

Dean Shareski: He is the Community Manager for Discovery Education Canada and is currently on leave from Prairie South School Division in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada. He specializes in the use of technology in the classroom and hold a Masters of Education in Communications and Technology through the University of Saskatchewan. He also is a sessional lecturer for the University of Regina. His blog site is http://ideasandthoughts.org And he has many many blog posts. The most recent one I read was on Feb 15 about Evernote. He tells us that the it is a sharing tool, but it has different tools than Google Docs. It has an audio feature where you can actually record your voice and send it to the student.
My Comment I thanked Dean for showing me this tool. I think this is a great thing to use. It is so much more personal than just reading an email or a comment. I think I could use Evernote daily as a teacher. I believe that it is a great tool to use.

Dean #2 He tells us "This entire series was sparked to remind myself that I see the world through my own lens and my enthusiasm for change is often narrow. As much as we talk about diversity, we tend to create and share repetitive images and stories that actually do the opposite of our intent. These posts serve more to challenge my own stories and perspectives. I’m guilty of all these notions from time to time and value when my own presumptions are challenged. That’s how I learn."
My commentI agreed with him on these things. I told him that he was inspiration and that I really appreciated his work. He is an inspiration and I'm glad I got to read his blog posts.

Blog Post #8

Richard Miller: Richard Miller tells us in his video how he believes that writing is done will be done in the future. In the beginning he tells us that the place where we write and compose our writings and papers used to be done with pen or pencil and paper. Now we do most everything, communicating, writing, editing, everything with our computers. Whether it be a lap top or a desktop, Miller believes this is how composing will evolve.
He tells us that the digital world is rapidly changing and growing, and that that is a good thing. It gets updated every second. Every second someone somewhere is putting something on the internet for personal, educational, or work related reasons. And lucky us, we get to access it. He tells us not only can you compose on the computer, but you also can add sound and visual components to your work. Once it's in an online library or any virtual place it can be accessed and sometimes people can leave their opinions about your work on your site or blog or whichever you are using.
He also tells us that people are using YouTube as a way of publishing. Some people like hearing what they're watching or reading and that component of video is very helpful. Soon, he believes, you will be able to use the web itself for composing. Not just the resources found on the internet, but the actual internet to compose. He tells us that students in the future won't be bringing things such as paper and pencils to class but instead their laptops. I'm very excited to be growing up when technology is growing everyday and I have the privilege to teach our future generations in this growing environment.

Carly's Blog Post: Carly's blog post was amazing. She is very thoughtful and intuitive. She is organized, which is clearly expressed in her blog. Her assignment was pretty creative and challenging. She's going to make a great teacher for our future generations. I enjoyed reading her blog and following her links. She is such an inspiration and I wish I could be as organized as she is.

Chipper Series & EDM310 for Dummies: In the Chipper Series Chipper is a lazy student who procrastinates and doesn't really care about her school work. She ends up dropping out of school and becoming a garbage lady after countless failed jobs. She has an awakening and decides to back to school and be a good student. She learned that in real life you can't procrastinate and never show up when you have to be somewhere. I think this video, even dramatic as it was, is a real perspective of doing your work. You eventually have to grow up and teach yourself how to do things and I believe EDM310 is doing a great job in teaching me that. I think I would like to do video like this. Showing what happens if you just dilly-dally around and do not take school seriously.
In EDM310 For Dummies The students need help and they have "EDM310 for Dummies" which I thought was pretty cute idea. I enjoyed watching this and giggled when I saw it. I think they could make some money if they really invented this ;)

Learn to Change, Change to Learn Change to Learn, Learn to Change is a very inspiring video. The teachers on here are very correct with their arguments. They tell us that children live in technology these days and it's banned at school. We are living in a social networking, technology communicating, growing community and I agree that we need to adapt to this. They said "technology isn't a choice, it is evolving everyday" and I couldn't agree more. Everywhere you look there is the next best iPhone or Samsung phone or a thinner and faster computer being made. These teachers arguments are all very clear and I think I've made myself very clear that I agree with them and I can't wait to see what technology has in store for my future students!

Scavenger Hunt We were given this assignment and told to do a scavenger hunt on Web 2.0's website.
1. The site I found called Edmodo. It is JUST like Facebook, but its for educational communities. You follow different topics such as Special Education, Social Studies, English etc etc. You can use this to communicate with your fellow teachers or students. I would use this to share things with my students because it is set up like Facebook, which I'm sure they will have heard about.
2. I haven't used many video tools besides iMovie. Animoto Education is a great site to use for videos. It's free and seems pretty easy to use. Being free helps many teachers who don't have a lot of school funds.
3. PollEverywhere.com is a great source for the classroom not only for the obvious reasons but it makes learning fun. You can use these to create quizzes and have the students poll on if they feel ready for the tests or not.

Project #8 - Podcast

Originally I was in "ball till we fall" but due to scheduling issues, I was told I had to this project alone. Sorry if it isn't as "jazzy" but I did the best I could do with no help.

Project #9

To start my PLN I looked at Symbaloo. The site is www.symbaloo.com I do believe this is going to benefit me in many ways but I am not quite sure how to use it 100%. I think the more I use and play with it, I will understand and the videos on the instruction manual were a big help. I think this will help me become more organized and help me in the long run.

Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch is a professor at Carnegie Mellon and is well known for his last speech. He is a inspirational teacher and speaker. He gave this speech before he lost his battle with cancer and I must say I sure did enjoy watching this speech. He is a hardworking and dedicated man. And I wish I could be half the person he is.
In his speech, "How to Achieve Your Childhood Dreams", he tells us how he achieved his childhood dreams. He tells us numerous things to keep in mind such as: have fun, help others, never loose your child like wonder, never give up, and "it is always fun to do the un-imaginable". The statement about it is always fun to do the un-imaginable, is very true. I have done the un-imaginable with a student and when I broke that brick wall, it was the best feeling in the world. I volunteered with a student who was told he would never be able to speak correctly and he would have a difficult time getting along with members in society because of his lack of communication. Being told this I took it as a challenge. Every time I would speak to this student I kept getting told he's not going to respond to you unless you know a little sign language. That defiantly didn't stop me from communicating verbally. I always spoke to him and asked how he was doing, daily, and he always told me "fine" in sign language. I would always verbally say "fine" and sign it. One day, just like any other, I asked how he was and he verbally said "Fine, Thank you". And though it wasn't much it was the best feeling to see the teachers come over to me and the student and see how happy that student got when he got praises.

He tells us that brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to prove how bad we want something, not to keep us from achieving our goals. I completely agree with his statement. With teaching and the process, especially if you have special cases, there could be many brick walls that we can run into. Maybe the student cannot read very well, or cannot write to his/her potential; Does that mean we stop teaching them because they cannot do these two things well? No. We push through this brick wall and show how much we believe in the student and get the task completed.

Randy says that there are some steps on "How to Get People to Help You". He says "You can't get there alone. You must tell the truth. Be earnest. Apologize when you are wrong or screw up and focus on others, not yourself." He is right about not being able to do it alone and telling the truth. I've never been scorned for telling someone the truth or admitting I screwed something up. If anything I was praised for being brave and showing that sign of maturity. I would stress this over and over to my students. Sort of like my teachers always stress "there is no such thing as a dumb question".

Lastly, he says to work hard, be prepared, find something you're good at and be great at it because it makes you valuable. He tells us to get a feedback loop and listen to it. My mom is my feedback loop. She reads and re-reads everything before she lets me send things out or post things. She makes sure to be a constructive critic and not just mean or rude. My mom and Randy have a common motto: Don't complain, just work harder. I have heard that numerous times through out my 20 years and I plan on teaching that motto to my students and my children as well. Randy Pausch didn't want to be remembered for his cancer or what he had to face going through that, he wanted to be remembered for how hard he worked, and how caring he was. He wasn't afraid to push boundaries and do what he had to do to get to his goals. In my opinion he was a brave, caring, and faithful man. He admitted when he was wrong, instead of blaming others and did what he had to do. If people were more like Randy this world would be a brilliant place.

Finding the Right Tool - Project #10

Finding the Right Tool: Working with the special education students you learn new things everyday, especially with technology. I did tons of research to find an app that you can use in the classroom. I found one an app called Autism Classroom App".It is intended to provide tons of easy to understand info that teachers, para-professionals, administrators, parents, babysitters, and family members quick access to ideas for meaningful lessons and activities for young kids with autism. It also has a behavior tab help users to critically think about current behavior interventions, while highlighting different ways and solutions for challenging behaviors for children and teens with autism.

Blog Post # 6

Wendy Drexler: A Networked Student
This video opened my eyes for sure. It truly amazes me how fast these students in the 21st century are learning new technology. I honestly believe that in a couple of years we will be completely online in the classrooms. I feel like that this could be good and also, much like everything, has it downfalls.
I think the pluses of a networked student would be that the student would learn and be prepared for college level classes such as the EDM310 class or the online classes that universities offer. I believe that the downfalls would be that people will just become anti-social. Afraid to ask questions, in person, or to even go to classes if they are taught online mainly. It looses the personal "student-teacher" relationship. My role models and the people who helped me though the tough times in my life, were in fact my high school teachers. So if you loose that face to face interaction, I believe a lot of relationships will be halted.
I believe in technology in the classroom, but I don't believe it should be a strictly online class. I'm 20 years old and probably could tell you my senior and junior and possibly sophomore year teachers, because we worked one on one and saw each other everyday. I think that relationship is important to students. I like online classes, but I am also 20 years old and in college. BUT! I would MUCH rather an actual sit down, listening to a teacher teach, type class.

Wendy's 7th Grader PLE
First of all, WOW. This 7th grader is more organized than majority of people in my COLLEGE classes. It's a very neat thing to be able to use. Her's is very organized and I'm sure that's going to help her in the long run. I like how she can go and talk to experts about different subjects and they help teach her new things! I'm pretty jealous of this girl. I'm a pretty organized person, I have 3 planners, but this would help me out a lot more also!

C4K FEBRUARY

February #1:

I read Michelle's blog. She is a 10th grader at Baldwin County High School. Her English teacher is Mrs. Miller. She has 3 posts on her blog and she only has one written post; the other two are picture posts. In her written post she talks about Tom Walker. She says he's a cheating man who was very selfish. Shes not very detailed about who this person is. I'm not sure if it's a book character or if its an author.
My Comment
I left Michelle a comment stating that I enjoyed reading her posts but I wasn't sure who Tom Walker was and maybe she should have put who he was in her post.

February #2

I read Precious' blog. She is a 4th grader in Ms. Muhammad's class at Robbin's Elementary School in Prichard. The post that I read was about how Precious wanted to be President of the US. She stated a few reasons why she wanted be president.
My comment:
I left a comment stating that she was brave and smart for wanting to be president. I asked her what she would do if she was President. What laws would she change? What laws would she keep? She seems pretty intent on being the first woman president.

February #3:

I had the pleasure of reading Paris' blog from Auckland. She is in the "4th year" there and she is loves Spongebob. Her favorite food is pizza and she is a spunky girl. She doesn't have much on her blog, but I believe she is just getting started.
My comment: I also love Spongebob and pizza. I told her to keep up the great work and to strive for excellence.