Comments4Kids #3

I commented on Jack G.'s blog post. Jack's blog post was for football fans and players. In his post he discussed different aspects of football. He explains how football is fun, but it is very challenging. Jack talks about how you have to work hard and do your best in the game. He explains what a play is. For those of you who are not familiar with football a play is where the running back goes and if he gets the ball or not. Jack finishes his blog by describing the different positions of football.

I thought Jack G. did a great job on his blog post. He went into great detail to describe the game of football. His respect for the sport shined through in his post. I commented to Jack that I loved his positive attitude. I also expressed at how great I thought it was that he talked about the challenges of the game and that you had to do your best. I told him that I admired that quality and to continue the great job he is doing! If you would like to read some of the student's blog posts you can find it at the following link Comments4Kids.

BLOGGING

I loved the video. I thought that it was very creative. I loved how the children got into the song. It looked like they were having a great time! This was a great example of using a blog to share students talents. I hope other students are encouraged by this video. This leads me to my assignment for this week. Why is it important for students to post their work on blogs? I have several reasons that I have learned about this semester to why it is important to post students work on blogs.

This semester was my first attempt at blogging. As the time has gone by and I have learned more about how it works, it has become very beneficial to me. The first reason that I think students should post their work on blogs is that it connects them with people like themselves. Since I am renewing my teaching certification by posting my work on my blog I am able to stay current/knowledgeable in my field of education. Through sharing my work with other educators I have gained some new information regarding teaching. Through my blog I have received great websites that can be used as teaching resources. An example of this would be my blog post on ALEX . After sharing what I learned about ALEX it is out there for all to see and use as a resource. By posting on my blogs I have learned to share my work, ask questions, locate instructions, and get resources. Through blogging I am able to stay current with events in the area of teaching. In my blog post I have also shared podcast on education topics. Again this is another example of using blog post to gain valuable information or resources.

Also by posting my work on my blog I am able to share what I think is important. I can share information, thoughts, or my achievements with others. I can express myself to others. A good example of this is with my Personal Learning Network. After I developed my PLN I shared it on my blog in hopes that anyone needing some information regarding teaching would find it helpful. Blogging is a wonderful way to share and receive information.

A third reason to post your work on blogs is to influence others. Another post I made was regarding Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture. I commented on his book in hopes to encourage others to live life to the fullest and to have fun while you are doing it. Life is so hectic now a days and I feel that any words on encouragement are inspiring. I felt that the purpose of Randy's book was for everyone to stop and relieve how precious life is. No matter your age, it is OK to dream. Dream and dream big! Live life to the fullest and make the most out of it. If sharing your thoughts on a blog post influences one person then it is well worth the effort. Another example of using my blog post to influence others would be my assignment for Comments 4kids. This is a great way to bring children's work to life. To encourage others to read their stories and respond. By sharing my work, hopefully I am able to encourage others to see the magic in our student's work. You can find some creative post at the following link http://woodtech.edublogs.org/. I hope you find them inspiring and are able to give them words of encouragement!

Comments4Kids #2

The blog post that I responded to was from a boy named Shawntae. In his blog he shared different things about himself. He likes to listen to hip hop and rap. His favorite color is green because it is the color of money and MSU. Shawntae wants to go to Michigan State University. There he wants to pursue a career in sports. One day he would like to be part of the NFL or NBA. Basketball is his favorite sport. On his blog he posted several pictures of the New Orleans Hornets basketball team.

Shawntea's favorite football team is the New Orleans Saints. Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets is his favorite basketball player. Shawntae's blog post was very colorful. He did a great job introducing himself. I told him that I was glad to see that he was interested in going to MSU and that I am sure he had a lot to offer that school. I shared with him to never give up on his dreams and to continue to work towards them. I also expressed my love for basketball and that I even coach my daughter's 3rd grade team. In closing I told Shawntae to keep up the good work he is doing! If you would like to read some of the children's blog post you can find it at the following link http://woodtech.edublogs.org/.

ACCESS

ACCESS is the acronym for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, & Students Statewide. This program was designed to allow students to access advance diploma courses that they may not otherwise have access to. ACCESS allows students to take advanced placement (AP) classes. The goal as stated in the ACCESS website " is to create equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students." There are several advantages to ACCESS. Some advantages are the instant expansion of course course offerings. Advanced diploma and advance level courses in areas such as foreign languages, electives, and high mathematics.

Every high school in the state of Alabama has an ACCESS lab. The program uses current technology to provide courses to students via the Internet and video conferencing. Students are offered supportive resources, such as interactive on-line chemistry labs. ACCESS opens up so many doors to students who would otherwise miss out. I am impressed with the website and all that Alabama has to offer to its students. I am glad to see that they care out the future of our students. ACCESS offers great learning opportunities for all!

ALEX

ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange. It is a project of the Alabama Department of Education. It is an online tool for teachers, parents, and students. It has a variety of free resources. You can find many different educational material such as lesson plans, web links, and interactive activities. All the material is connected to the Alabama Course of Study. The website is well organized and is easy to navigate through.

ALEX has a personal workspace for teachers. This allows teachers to store and submit lesson plans. There are also tons of web links categorized for teachers, administrators, and students. ALEX offers professional learning tools for educators, along with the latest news in education. I am glad to find out about ALEX. I think this is a valuable website that will help many new teachers. As a returning teacher, I am glad to have ALEX available to go to for guidance. Anyone interesting in ALEX can find more information about it at the following web link.http://alex.state.al.us/

DEAR KAIA

This weeks blog assignment is to read, listen, and watch several blog post regarding a little girl named Kaia. The first blog is tittled Dear Kaia: Voicethread and Video. In this blog post Mr. Chamberlain is doing is weekly blog on commentskids when something usual happened. Kaia's father contacted Mr. Chamberlain class about using a video/audio in their post since Kaia cannot read yet. Mr.Chamberlain's class Incorporated voice thread to their videos. Voice thread is new technology that lets you have a conversation around media. It allows you to upload PowerPoint files, picture file, movie files, and much more to voice thread programs. This is what Mr. C's class did. They used their thoughts and comments incorporated with pictures to share with Kaia. She is now able to see and hear Mr. C's class post. It is amazing how this tool can connect children of all ages. It is great to see where the future is headed. With tools like this the opportunities are endless.

Dear Kaia is the next blog I viewed. In this blog post Kaia and her father grab a camera to go exploring. He wants her to explore the world around her, to use her senses to see what she can find. She is given her own camera to capture what she sees. In the post there are a variety of pictures of Kaia exploring. Kaia's father down loads her pictures and incorporates voice thread into them. Kaia shares in her own words about the pictures she took. I thought this was a wonderful blog post. As a parent I felt it was very inspiring. I loved how her father let her express herself and then shared it for the world to see. She was very creative and I loved how she looks for the beauty in everything!

Singing Hearts was the last blog I viewed. In this blog twitter was used to connect a group of 8th graders in Missouri with a 3 year old girl in Qatar. In this blog Kaia's father was reading the book, The Last Child in the Woods. While reading this book her father started to ponder the time he and Kaia spent outside discovering nature. She wanted to explore her world even though it was a dry desert. The father discusses how beauty is in everything. Later they produced a photo essay of what she discovered. Kaia's father wanted everyone to know that learning extends outside the classroom walls. Kaia's blog became a documentation of her life and with the use of blogs she is now connecting with people around the world. All three blogs were very inspiring. I am glad to see that young children can share the use of technology. I believe that it is important to start children off early with the use of computers. I like the use of voice threading. I think it is new, fun, and exciting way to do reports. As an educator I agree with Kaia's father that learning does extend outside of the classroom walls and technology makes this possible. Kaia' story can be found at the following link http://is.gd/3WSsn. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did!

Comments4Kids Project 8

Comments4Kids

For this project I must participate in Comments4Kids by posting five comments on blog sites of kids throughout the world. My class was assigned to Mr. Goerend's classroom. I choose five different children, read their post blogs and then commented on their post. I really enjoyed this assignment. I t was exciting to see children using blogs in their classroom. I was amazed at how creative the children's blogs were. They really used their imagination in their writings.

The blog post that I read came from a boy named David. In his blog he shared information on holiday devoted only to playing football. This holiday was called International Football Day. It is celebrated on September 27. Five children started the 1st celebration just because of their love for the sport. School is out on this day and football games are played all over the country. The two teams left in the competition compete for the championship. Whoever wins the game receives money which is later donated to their own charity. I told David that I loved this post and that I was a football fan also, Roll Tide! I shared with him that I thought it was wonderful that they could have fun doing something, but at the same time help out a charity. He did a great job on this post.

Opps was the title of the next post I read. It was written by Zach. In this post Zach is at a party and accidentally spills his drink on another kid. The kid has pop all over him. That was when Zach and his friends got the idea for a new holiday. This holiday would be called International Act Like You have a Muscle Spasm! I thought this was a very interesting and fun post. Zach seemed to be having a great time when he wrote it. I shared with him how I loved his imagination. I told him to keep up the good work and to continue to have fun!

Alyssa is the author the post titled The Most Fishy Holiday of the Year. In her post she shares her experience visiting an aquarium. When she walked in she was overwhelmed by the odor. She actually could taste the smell of fish food. Fish, fish tanks, sea life, and people in blue outfits were everywhere. This is how Alyssa created her new holiday, The Most Fishy Holiday of the Year. Now it is celebrated with costumes and parades. I thought this was a great blog post. I expressed my love for the ocean and beach to Alyssa. I told her how I loved how she used her five senses to describe the experience. I encouraged her to continue the great work she is doing.

My First Plane Ride is the title of a post done by Grace. In this post Grace shares her story of her very first plane ride. She was going to San Diego, California. Grace was going with her family to visit her brother who was training to be a marine. She was looking forward to the trip, but she was a little nervous. She did not know what to expect. Her ears popped and her stomach got sick when the plane took off. The trip was long, but the ride was great. She is looking forward to her next plane ride. I told Grace of my first plane ride when I was 22 years old. I went from Alabama to Hawaii. I was scared and did not know what to expect. It ended up being a great experience also. I thanked Grace for sharing her story and encouraged her to continue the great job!

Olivia's blog post was the last that I read. In her blog she described the day she got her dog. It was December 19 when Olivia and her family were traveling to her Grandmother's house. When they arrived the puppy was waiting in a cardboard box. The puppy's name was Lucy and she was seven weeks old. This was a great beginning to the Christmas holiday for Olivia. I commented to Olivia that I just got a puppy a few months ago. His name is Marley and he is a Yellow Lab. I told her I enjoyed her blog post and that I thought it was very sweet.

I read more blog post then just these five children. I thought they were all great. I think it is wonderful that these children have this tool to help them be creative. They are did an excellent job using their imagination. I would encourage everyone to take the time to read and comment on some of these students work. They really do deserve the encouragement. The link to this website is http://www.mrgoerend.com/search/label/student%20writing.

My Personal Learning Network

My Personal Learning Network

Project six for my EDM 310 class is to develop a personal learning network. A personal learningnetwork would be defined as a collection of people whom you engage with and exchange information with. This is usually done online. I researched and contacted five individuals to part of my personal learning network. My topic of choice was technology within the classroom. I wanted to know how teachers used technology in their curriculum. I contacted these individuals and they shared great ways that they used technology in their lessons.

The first individual that I contacted was Sandy Scragg. She is a high school teacher in downtown Manhattan. She had some great ideas that she used with her high schools, but these ideas can be adaptive to different age groups. Ms. Scragg discussed with me that since she is a English teacher she has her students use google docs with google notebook. This was a fun and new way to use online note taking. Real world skills such as typing, listening, and classroom note taking can be fostered. Ms. Scragg's stated that when using these tools incorporated with lessons the knowledge is built from the students rather then just taking notes verbatim by the teacher. Ms. Scragg also discussed how she uses webcast in her classroom. She gave me some great websites to get you started on your own webcast and some for online note taking.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/05/28/7-apps-for-online-note-taking/

http://www.google.com/googlenotebook/tour1.html

http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2006/07/17/webcast-how-to

The next person on my personal learning network was Mrs. Tanya Travis. She is a fourth grade teacher in Dorchester County Public School in Maryland. Mrs. Travis gave me some fun and exciting activities I could use to incorporate technology. She has a class blog and she used it after they finished a unit on the water cycle. The students wrote about what it would be like to be a drop of water in the water cycle. The students used their blogs to share their stories. Mrs. Travis has incorporated voice thread into her students work. Each student is responding to a chapter book of their choice and respond to the book using technology. They use voice thread to share their work. The students love it and they are learning at the same time. I was excited about the ideas that Mrs. Travis shared me. It gave me some great ideas to share with my own class one day.

The third person on my personal learning network was Chris Gathers. He has been teaching Kindergarten for 30 years. The first thing he said was that children are never too young to be introduced to technology. He loves to use technology along side his curriculum. He begins each year by using Mouse practice. This teaches children to click and drag. Next he introduces his students to the program Kid Pix Studio Deluxe. This is a graphic art design program with several drawing and design tools. He uses this program to help his students master different skills. This program helps the students use their imaginations. Students use the tools: color, pencil, line, paint can and alphabet text along with their lessons. They learn to print and save their work. They also use the rubber stamps to make patterns. These skills are fun and help children gain confidence.

Ms. Linda Allen the fourth person in my personal learning network. She is a teacher also and she had some new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. Her school has the use of alphasmarts. For those of you who are not familiar with alphasmarts it is a portable word processing keyboard. Ms. Allen had this wonderful idea of using this device on a field trip. Her class took a field trip to a science museum and they took notes on what they discovered so they could write a report. The teacher can then download the information to her computer and check what they did. How cool is that? Ms. Allen it has been a great tool because it has built excitement in her students for writing.

The last person in my network is Larry Lueck. He is a fourth grade teacher in Kansas. He uses the promethium board on a daily basis with his students. The promethium board allows him to show his class how to build an electromagnet, do math problems, view crystals up close and many other things. He uses it to quiz students on a lesson he has taught to assess how they are doing. Mr. Lueck also has a class blog and has his students produce podcast. He said that his students love all the different use of technology in his classroom. They come to school eager to learn and he loves his job more!

In conclusion with my personal learning network assignment I have learned a lot of valuable information. I now see the importance and value of having a personal learning network. I am grateful for the five people in my PLN for sharing their time and ideas with me. I am eager to return to the classroom and start to integrate technology with my own students. I have learned that no matter what grade level you teach, technology in the classroom is a MUST! I am glad I have my personal learning network as I begin my journey back into the classroom, it will be a great resource tool for me.

New Medial Literacies Projects

My assignment is to research what I can find out about new media literacies projects. I had a hard time researching this topic, but I did find an article written by Alice Robinson. She is an assistant Professor of English at Arizona State. She wrote an article for the Journal of Media Literacy discussing the framework of new media literacies. In Ms. Robinson's article she discusses about how hard it is to teach students to be critical thinkers, reader, and writers. Then try to get them to also be active producers of media content. The goal is to bring critical thinking skills to bear on all media from music videos, web environments, to product placement in films, and to virtual displays in sports.

Media literacies projects seek to help educators develop professional techniques, ideas, and strategies for working with new media. Ms. Robinson shares her syllabus for her class and the involvement of media literacies. She wanted to give her students the opportunity to act as educators and design material for teaching new media literacy concepts. She wanted their work to represent the new ways of thinking about both interpreting and making media.

The article was very informative. I realize how important new media literacy is and that we all need to develop new media skills to function in a world of technology. It is our responsibility as teachers to guide our students with these tools that they will need to have for their future. The article that I read can be found at the following link http://alicerobison.org/2007/08/28/teaching-the-new-media-literacies/.

The New Media Literacies

My assignment is to watch the video The New Media Literacies and comment on what I think about it. First I need to explain what new media literacies is. It is a set of skills needed to deal with and function in current media environment. These skills are important because they help us not only be a consumer, but a producer of media. There are eleven skills necessary in this new world.

The skills are listed as followed.

1.Play: the capacity to experiment with one's surroundings as a form of problem-solving.

2.Performance:the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation & theory.

3.Simulation: the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real world processes.

4.Appropriation: the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content.

5.Multitasking: the ability to scan one's environment and shift focus as needed to salient details.

6.Distributed cognition: the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities.

7.Collective intelligence: the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal.

8.Judgement: the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources.

9.Transmedia navigation: the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities.

10.Networking: the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information.

11.Negotiation: the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.

I do believe that these are 21st century skills that will be needed to be effective artists, citizens, & workers. I personally posses the skills of play, appropriation, multitasking, collective intelligence, and networking. I am sure with a little more research, studying, and practicing that I can acquire the rest of the skills.

The Networked Student

My blog assignment this week is to watch and comment on the video The Networked Student. This video was produced by Wendy Drexler. I found the video to be very informative. It was a short video, but it made you think about the direction in which teaching is going. Am I prepared to be a teacher of a networked student? At this time I am not sure of the answer to that question. The video starts with a student taking an American psychology course. There is no textbook and the teacher never lectures. She is a student of connectivism. She believes that learning occurs as part of a social network with many connections. Technology is used to make these connections.

Connectivism makes students take control of their learning and personal learning network. Students are to connect with others. The student is to develop a personal network on the subject of the American psyche. He uses different tools to develop his network. Goggle scholar is one tool used. He then shares bookmarks about this finds and creates a blog. By using the blog the student is able to post comments about his topic and also read what others have to say. He is building a knowledge base. The student uses his mp3 player to subscribe to Itunes U. There he is able to gain access to audio/visual podcast of this topic. Next he develops a wikispace where he shares his knowledge about what he has learned.

During this whole process the student is developing his personal network. The teacher is there for guidance. The teacher's job is to help students extract relevant information and to guide them in their journey of learning. The teacher's goal is to help the students maintain their learning network so that they can use it in the future. I think that making students take some control of their own learning is great. Students need to know that staying networked through twitter, blogs, learning circles, or friends gives you a arrange of information, but it also can give you support. If you would like to watch this education video you can find it at http://is.gd/2cgBb. This is a great video for new teachers to watch.

This Is How We Dream

My assignment this week is to watch and interrupt the video, This Is How We Dream. I had a hard time listening to the video, the guys voice drove me crazy. I did not find the video very interesting, but I do understand that technology is the future and we need to be prepared to write with media. The old school way of learning, pencil to paper, is out the door. We need to know how to incorporate media tools into our learning. This is going to be extremely important for students to have the knowledge of media tools and apply them into their work.

In the video the Richard Miller discusses some of the incremental changes of media. Work space is now defined as the desktop. We can research any topic anywhere. Long gone are the days of pencil paper writing or even using libraries. Our society has advanced from pencil to paper to laptops. Mr. Miller discusses how he wrote an article regarding the Virgina Tech killings. He wrote this article without stepping foot into a library. He used the web and his on thoughts to research the topic. He discussed how this article can be found both in print and a web based document.

Mr. Miller discusses how we need to compose with text, images, and film. We need to collaborate different techniques into our work and use visual and audio sound into are documents. Richard Miller elaborates on a project he did about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He composed his information from research on the web and information around campus that he collected. His use of different media tools made his presentation more visible. I believe that Mr.Miller wants everyone to expand their ideas into society, we need to be producers of multimedia. It is a must that we know how to write with multimedia. I am personally still learning to write with multimedia. All this new technology is new to me, but as a teacher I am willing to continue to learn. I feel that students in todays society are going to have to be able to write with multimedia if they want to succeed in the future.

iPods in Instruction

My assignment for this weeks blog is to discuss the use of ipods in classroom instruction. I read the article on Duke University's use of ipods. I found it to be very interesting. I think it was a great idea the university had. Duke University gave all its first year students in 2004 a free ipod to use as part of class instruction. The students use of technology in the classroom with the ipods was a success. Again it goes back to the term head fake. Get the students involve in something that they might not necessary like, but do it in a matter that they will have fun and learn at the same time. Like incorporating the ipod into classroom instruction. Teachers can show that the ipod is used for more things than just listening to music.

I have to say that as I did this assignment I was a little unsure of the use of ipods in instruction. My 8 year old daughter has an ipod and I had no idea of the different things available for her use other than music. I learned that ipods can be used with students who struggle with reading. Stories can be downloaded to the ipod then the student can listen to the audio while they read. This will also help with reading fluency. Movie maker on ipods can be used to create your own tutorial. Students can listen to podcast of a variety of subjects and give reports on them. Older students can download study guides. Educational games are available to use to reinforce classroom materials. Ipods can be used with Hooked on Phonics programs. There are endless possibilities to use ipods in instruction with the classroom and at home. I found the following website to be very useful and plan to use some of their ideas with my own children's ipods.

100 ways to use your ipod to learn and studybetter

iTunes University

My assignment for this blog is define how iTunes Univerisity might be helpful to teachers or students. As I am new to all this technology I had to do some research myself about iTunes University. iTunes U is free educational content. It offers a chance to view or download information to devices. You have access to course lectures, lab demos, audio books, and a whole lot more. The information available to both teachers or students from iTunes Univeristy is remarkable.

This is a great tool to have and use for students or teachers. Teachers can use iTunes to download class lectures, give an introduction to a class, or even post class notes. Science teachers can use it for demos for labs. Teachers can also post podcast/video cast for their class. Students can view universities, class lectures, academics at a university, or even alumni information. There are a variety of categories students can explore in iTunes Univeristy. The one thing I learned about it is that it makes learning available on the go. If you are like myself and are not familiar with iTunes University watch the video at the following sitehttp://is.gd/2c3RH. I hope you find this video helpful.

Dr. Christie's Site

I found Dr. Christi's site to be very helpful. There was a large number of different resources available for educators. I found the website easy to explore. Her introduction was very welcoming. I like how she stated that we are all co-learners. Students and adults must be willing to learn together. I strongly agree with her. We as educators must be willing to continue to learn in every aspect of education. As I was exploring the site I came across Google Earth. I was not familiar with this so I had to view the introduction site. I was amazed at this wonderful tool.

This is a great tool to incorporate into your lessons. I took a visual tour of Google Earth and how it works. I love how it brings learning alive. It makes learning fun and enjoyable. As a teacher I would definitely use this in science, history, and even math. I watched a lesson where a teacher used Google Earth to measure 3 ships between Spain & Africa at the tip of Gibraltar. The students used the ruler tool in Google Earth to measure and compare the 3 ships. How neat is that to actually locate, see, and measure the ships. Math is now much more interesting and fun. I can only image the fun a class would have using Google Earth in a science or history lesson. You can learn about geographic content, weather, or different countries in a new exciting way.

I think this is a great example of using a "head fake" as Randy Pausch would say. How wonderful it is to have this tool available to use as teachers. Learning is no longer boring pen and pencil work. Educators can use Google Earth in a variety of ways to make difficult subjects come to life. Students will still learn, but in a different way. I think the key factor is that we are incorporating technology with learning.