Final Reflection

Blog Assignment #13

ALEX:
  I have used the webite ALEX before for several of my education classes. It was especially helpful when I was writing lesson plans for my Health Education class (HS 365). ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange, this site is full of information for teachers and students. There are lesson plans, links to websites, worksheets, and etc. 
  I used ALEX for some health lesson plans. It was really useful when I was doing one particular lesson on the MyPyramid, the food group chart. I found so many games that students can play , that I found by links from ALEX, and I found tons of lesson plans that were really neat and creative. I highly recommend using this site in the future. It was really helpful to me.

C4K #10 and #11

Sirche Ms. Millar’s class

He wrote about how his class learned the names of the planets in order. He came up with a sentence to remember them. It was so cute, and he had a picture to go along with it. “My very eager mom just served unusual nachos”, that was his sentence to remember the planets.

Yasmine

I commented on Yasmine’s post like last week sometime, but for some strange reason I did not post it onto my blog. Yasmine sounds like a very sweet girl and her blog was so cute. I was assigned to comment on her post about her favorite desserts. She had them listed from her favorite #1 down to #5. I told her what my favorite dessert was, CHEESECAKE!! I love it! 

Regan

Regan’s post was about a day he had a school with his friends. They had to go inside because of the weather and he and his friends got to go into the computer room and check emails and blog. Then he said his friend Levi started drawing on the chalkboard. He drew a girl. Regan was amazed by how real the girl looked. I told him that I was glad he had a fun day at school, and then I encouraged him to maybe take an art class at school or outside of school, since he was so interested in Levi’s work. I also told him that maybe he should explore his-self, and try to find what his talents and interests are.

Project #16

Project 15

C4K #8 & 9

#8: I was assigned to the blog Wellington 4.0, this is a school in England. I was not assigned to a particular student it was a post for the entire class. It was titled " Spelling Strategies".

This was a post about different spelling strategies that the teachers came up with to help the students learn their spelling words. Some of the ways were to write on windows, float letters in water, and using rainbow colors. I think these are great ideas and unique ways to learn spelling words. I think this is something that I should remember and use in my future classroom.

#9: I was assigned to Logan, a student in Canada. Logan's post was very touching to me. He wrote about how his country should have a Remembrance Day for their soldiers. He talked about how they make sacrifices for their country and don't seem to be appreciated for what they do. He also said we need to remember those who have died when in service. I was really impressed by his post and was pleased to see that someone who is his age cared so much about these soldiers.

 

Watch this video "The iPad and Education", and write your response in your blog post.



   I thought that this was a very interesting video for future teachers to watch. It shows the useful tools that iPad has for students. The games looked really interesting and they were about math and all kinds of subjects. He also mentioned how it would be easier to bring the iPad to school, instead of kids toting around those big and heavy book bags. I think this would be a good assignment for next semesters class to respond to.

Project # 6 Google Docs Form/Questionare

 University of South Alabama's Parking Situation
  My survey was about the terrible parking at South Alabama. I chose this topic because I have many personal experiences with the issue of parking at South Alabama. I also chose this because I have heard a lot of other students complain about the parking. My survey turned out pretty well and I appreciate all the people who filled out my survey and answered the questions. 

Click here to view the results

  My overall results were that people do have serious problems with parking at South. The question that bothered me the most was the one I asked if you answered yes to the question about having to park in another zone besides the one you are assigned to due to parking, the ones that said yes had about 71% of them received tickets. This tells me that we need to do something about this problem , people should not be getting tickets when the only reason they are parked in the wrong spot is because there is no other spaces open. In the results you can see what suggestions people gave for ideas for changing parking at South Alabama.  One good idea that I liked was to not have zones at all. That could work. 
 Well I think this survey turned out really well and my results were pretty much what I thought they would be. This is an issue that needs to be resolved, and maybe these results can be helpful to making changes in South Alabama.

Blog Assignment #11

 

Ms. Cassidy's Classroom:
  I really enjoyed watching both videos about Ms. Cassidy's classroom. The students in her class seem to be know how to use computers very well. Her class seemed to love school and knew what they were learning. It just looked like a fun classroom. I really liked how Ms. Cassidy used Skype in her classroom. I remember in the video they were talking to a Geologist, she was telling them about rocks. It is so amazing that kids in a classroom can talk to actual experts about what they are learning. I am sure this is a fun way to learn and they might actually learn better that way by interacting with the experts. That is one aspect of Ms. Cassidy's class that I would like to have when I have my own classroom. I would love to have my class to be able to ask experts questions in class. Another thing that I liked about her classroom was that the kids had their own blogs where they could get comments from the teacher, their family, and students like us. They seemed to be very proud of their blog posts and really liked getting comments. They said this helped them to learn how to write better. I'm sure they did learn how to write better. Overall I loved this classroom and would love to have a class environment like Ms. Cassidy has.

Additional Assignment # 3

Changing Educational Paradigms: 
  I think the most important thing that Mr. Ken Robinson said was that we need to change the idea that there is just one answer for everything and that we need to teach not just linear or horizontal, we need to teach that there is multiple answers to everything. I also thought what he said about ADHD was important, we are giving kids medicine to make them dry out and calm down , but then they don't really learn , they are distracted because of video games, television, and iphones, who wouldn't be. To many people are giving kids who might not have ADHD medicine. I didn't really disagree with anything Mr. Robinson said I thought it was a very good presentation. This class EDM 310 is teaching us a lot of the things he said in the video, to learn in different ways and have multiple answers. Some of the other classes aren't like that but I think they are trying to change. As a teacher I can deal with these issues by being a more creative teacher. Try not to give the same old same old, have different types of activities to learn something instead of a lecture every day. I could have more hands-on learning . I thought this was a very good presentation and I really liked the animation. It was creative and kept my interest threw the whole presentation. If I did a presentation like this maybe I would be best at doing the narrating, I would love to be the artist but I cannot draw. If not the narrator I would be interested in being the designer. 

Blog Assignment # 10

The first post was interesting. I really liked the video by Mr. Brown. I understood what he was saying. He dropped out of school because his schooling was interfering with his education. That is so true today in Universities. We copy power points and memorize facts instead of truly learning and applying something to our lives. Professors don't get to know their students and don't allow lots of discussion on topics because the classes are so large. Students are not truly learning information they are just memorizing for a test.
I also agree with what Mr. Brown said about information is beginning to be worth less money. This is so because of the internet, it allows people who are not even high in society access information for free. Where as going to a university used to be the only way that you could get information, you had to pay for it.
This is another example of how more classes should be like EDM 310 and have more ways to communicate about information. We are able to interact with each other outside of class and pass information along and we are truly learning information for ourselves and being able to apply it.

Two questions that could change your life:
I thought this was a really good video, I liked the animation of it. I think those two questions are important to every one's lives. What is your sentence?, and Was I better today than yesterday. I want to strive to become better each day than the day before and be striving to make my sentence truly represent who I am. The sentence I hope I have is: "She was a positive influence on each of her students' lives and help guide them in the right direction in life and school."

skpe interview

Blog Assignment #9

What I've Learned This Year:

  This was a post written by Mr. McClung that is about his first year of teaching. He is giving advice to future teachers but it can also be good advice for current teachers. Mr. McClung wrote about how he was thinking all throughout college about himself, what he could do to keep himself up to standard and what his superiors were expecting of him. When he began teaching in his first year he realized that he needed to be student focused, not focused on himself. He needed to be sure that the students were comprehending his lessons and were learning. Mr. McClung also said that he learned not to get upset so much over lessons or activities that didn't go the way he planned, there is always room for improvements in every lesson. Another important lesson he learned was to listen to his students and try to learn more about their personal lives, this helps to build respect for each other. The students and teacher respect each other.

My Family Timeline

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/84348

Blog Assignment #7

This Is How We Dream:
  I thought what I saw on the video was interesting, but I was also confused during the video. I am confused about how students can do this in humanities, I understand what he was saying but I don't understand how this can be done for papers.
  I thought his presentation was entertaining and was well organized. I liked the idea of having a totally green building that is not based on the automobile, with parking lots taking up most of the space.
  I think from what I did understand on the video, was that he is trying to make humanities more interesting and less paper and pencils, more multi-media and digital work.

Student Films
  I liked both videos I thought the EDM 310 for Dummies was funny. The message I got was to not procrastinate and spend time , like 9hrs in Edm, and you will not be behind in work you can stay on schedule. 

Smartboards
Both of the videos that disagreed with using smartboards in the classroom, I agreed with. I don't think that smartboards in every classroom is improving learning, it just looks a little cooler than ordinary projectors. Schools should be spending money on things that are more beneficial to the classroom learning environment.
http://smartboards.typepad.com/smartboard/page/3/ ,  this link is to a blog site about teachers who love smart boards. This particular post says that their are many good lesson plans that use the smart board that is effective in the classroom.

Additional Assignment #2

How Kids Teach Themselves:
  I thought that this was a very good speaker and that his research was very interesting. I think that if learners are motivated that yes, they can teach themselves. I think it was proven in the speaker's research. If the learners are children, I think it might be somewhat easier for them to teach themselves, and I think they can do it, like all the different children did in the video. I think the conditions that are necessary for kids to teach themselves, is motivation and the opportunity to learn, and proper encouragement are key. It seemed to me that the computers were a faster and easier way for kids to teach themselves, it allows them to learn from teachers across the world. If kids are motivated and encouraged about learning they will have a desire to learn. From the speaker's research and video clips, I got that if he asked the kids a question,that they had no clue what the answer was, they searched on the internet found it , then he asked a harder question , but the kids already knew from the previous question on how to find it so it became easier to find the answers. You can motivate someone to learn by being a "grandma" like the speaker said, watch the kids and encourage them and tell them they are doing a great job, also if you capture their interest that will motivate them. I am motivated to learn by encouragement and interest, if I am really interested in something, I will try harder to learn about it. I think if someone is not motivated to learn they can still learn, but maybe not as well as someone who is motivated. Well for this class I have taught myself a lot about computers and the internet, and it has helped me out a great deal, I have learned so much that I was clueless about.  I think the role of a teacher in a child's learning is to motivate and spark an interest in the child to want to know more. I think the speaker's idea of the teach themselves groups is a great idea, it seemed to me like that worked really well, children learn better in groups.

C4T #2

I was assigned to comment on The Fischbowl blog. Mr. Fisch is an algebra teacher. The first post I commented on was about a baseball player cheating and getting away with it. Mr. Fisch said if students see that a baseball player can get away with cheating , because it's part of the game and it is important , than they can cheat on tests because they are important. So the newspaper should not have put that article in the paper and the baseball player needs to recognize that he did cheat.
 The second post I commented on was about parent/teacher conferences. Mr. Fisch says that at his school they have 2 meeting in the fall and 1 in the spring. The teachers are all in the gym and they have 5-7 minutes with each parent. He says that that is not fair because different students have different problems and some meetings may need to last longer than others. He suggests that students should also be present and lead the conference. He decided to send home a letter with students that they could talk over with their parents about what they should be thinking about before the conference, and encouraging students to come to the meeting. I agree that students should be present in meeting that are about them especially. Why have a conference about your child's school and not have the child there?, that makes no sense. I also think Mr. Fisch paper he sent home telling students what they need to be thinking about was also a good idea.

Blog Assignment #7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

  I thought that this video was very good and entertaining. Mr. Pausch was a good speaker and kept my attention the entire time. For someone who is so ill you could not tell by his speech and actions. 
   I thought that it was neat that Mr. Pausch was basically able to reach all of his childhood dreams. We need to encourage students to reach their dreams and goals. I thought it was very cool that he got to be a part of making the Aladdin Carpet Virtual ride. I also liked how he talked about his football coach told him that he shouldn't worry about him always riding on him , that you should worry if you were messing up and he didn't ride on you, because that meant that they gave up on you. This means that as educators we should keep on telling our students when they are wrong, otherwise we are giving up on them.
  This man is very inspiring to everyone and especially teachers. He gives great stories on why we shouldn't discourage student's dreams. He was able to get his dreams fulfilled and if he could do it then anyone can. He is an inspiration to me because with his death sentence he got with the tumors , he just didn't go lie in bed until he died he was giving lectures and telling everyone not to pity him, we should try to be like that.

C4K #1

  I was assigned to Keith Tweedy an 8th grader at Noel Elementary School. I really enjoyed reading Keith's posts.
  The first comment that I left for Keith was about his "About Me" post. The About Me assignment was to right about yourself and what problems you have had with Math in the past and what the teacher could do now to make it better. Keith told about how he had 3 siblings and a mom and dad. He really didn't right much about himself. He did write that he liked Social Studies and Science, and that he has always not liked Math. I told him that I really liked Social Studies too and I asked what his favorite type of history was, like mine is Western Civilization. I also told him that science was not my favorite subject, but that my fiance loves Science and is going to school to be a doctor. I also commented on that I struggled with Math in school but when I got to my junior and senior year I did more of my homework and tried harder to study more and got better grades in Math, I told him that he should work really hard in school so he can get into college. I only wished that Keith would have wrote more about himself, like what he enjoys to do, what his hobbies are and stuff like that. 
 The second comment I left was on the " Student Manefesto". Keith's Manefesto mainly consisted of trying to do better in school so he could go to college. I told him that his goals were very good and that is was important to do your best in school so you could have a college education. I told him that from my own personal experience I wished I would have done all of my homework and assignments in school because those points add up and eventually effect your grade in either a good or bad way. If I would have done better in school I might have gotten more scholarships to pay for college.
 The last comment I left Keith was on the Mineral Assignment. I think the assignment was to pretend like you were a mineral and talk about the changes they go through in a story. Keith had a interesting story about being gold. He said he first formed in the bottom of a volcano, got picked up by someone, which led to a bathroom, then somehow he ended up being back to a mineral. I said that his story was interesting, but the bathroom part was kind of gross. I noticed that he had some grammar issues but overall it was a good story about gold.
 

Blog Assignment # 6

The Networked Student: by Wendy Drexler
   I thought this video was very good and gave an insight into what the future of teaching is going to be. The 21st century student is a networked student. They spend a limited amount of time in the classroom and an unlimited time on the web, according to the video. Students are rarely lectured and have more assignments and work on the computer. 
  This seems to be very true already. Almost all of my classes have more work, readings, and assignments online than in the actual classroom. Especially this class, EDM 310. All of our work is online and is basically what this video was describing. We have Dr. Strange who is the professor of the class that is guiding us on how to network with others and be able to be connected across the world. We learn how to teach ourselves and how to communicate with others about what we have learned. I also liked how the student can ask a scientist a question like for example the example given in the video about American Psychology, he asked them a question and then he could get the scientist to skype the class and let them talk about what they do and give their opinions. That would be really neat to have in the classroom.
  I really think that having a networked student will be very good, sometimes it is challenging to do some of these things online but in the end I learn a lot more by doing it. I have learned so much about technology and how I can do something other than lectures and powerpoints in the classroom. Having your class be full of networks students , makes the classroom much more entertaining and students learn more. 

A 7th grader's personal learning environment (or PLE)
I thought this video was very interesting. I have not seen something like that before, I don't know if I was supposed to already see it? I liked how she could have all of her class related links on the bottom and her own favorites on the top of the page. I also liked how she said for her science class she could watch videos and read about what their lesson would be on that day. She also said that the class was mainly about animals and she could do research on an animal and send that information to the rest of her class on the blog. It's just another more entertaining way for students to research and learn.

The Machine Is Changing Us: Michael Wesch
  Mr. Wesch made a very good presentation, it kept my attention the entire time. His use of video clips was entertaining. It sounds to me like his class would be a lot of fun, and very interesting. He said he had a group of his students do research about the YouTube phenomenon. I remember how one of his students said that by making videos on YouTube to talk to people it makes it an easier conversation and that you do not have the uncomfortable staring and glaring like in person. I don't have a lot of personal experience with what Mr. Wesch was talking about because I am just now getting into all of that stuff because of EDM. I am really enjoying it though. I think his idea of getting people to stop caring about only themselves and start caring about doing whatever they can for an issue is great. By having the technology to spread messages across the world, we can create change and create awareness about issues in this world to everyone that has access to it.   

Blog Assignment #5

I watched all the videos on pod- casting. All of them were helpful to me, in trying to understand what exactly a podcast was. The Eagle Nest Radio & Class Blog was very good, it gave me some ideas about when I have my own classroom, about how my class could get in groups and do pod-casts for projects. I also liked the Practical Principals podcasts. My group , August, decided to do a audio pod-casts, which is what the Practical Principals was. These did help me and my group learn more about pod-casting.

Additional Assignment #1

 

The educational implications that I believe Google Squared provides, is that you can type in anything in another column and find that information. That is very useful in education, especially on research projects. The educational implications of WolframAlpha  or that when you type in country populations for example it gives you a map and what the highest population and the lowest population is. Also when you type in colors it will give a picture of the swatches of the color and what other colors are mixed in to form it. It is just very detailed and also good for research. I did not know about Google Squared or WolframAlpha before doing this assignment. Dr. Strange your comments did change everything that I commented on , on the Did You Know video. I totally thought that we were soo far behind, when really it all depends on the actual population. This information will help me out so much later on for other videos I watch or comments I read. Really now I realize America probably isn’t that far behind, we are only a quarter of the population of India and China, now wonder their statistics were much higher, there is so much more people there. I have definitely learned to do more research on statistics on sites such as Google Squared and WolframAlpha, so I can better understand what the results are actually saying.

Pitcairn Islands map by Whitney Bosarge:

Blog Assignment # 4

 

Don’t Teach Your Kid’s This Stuff, Please?

                I liked how Mr. Mcleod wrote this blog. It was in a sarcastic manner. At first when I was reading it I was thinking oh my gosh, this man is crazy! But as I continued to the end I saw that he was just being sarcastic. He really knows how to get someone’s attention. I agreed with what he said. Students need technology to succeed in today’s world.  By having more outlets and resources for learning students tend to learn more. They can have hands-on experience learning things. But, I do think that there needs to be some limitations to what students can be allowed to do on the internet, simply because there are some dangers on the internet.  A lot of parent’s are letting their kids have computers and giving them no restrictions and kids are meeting people on the internet and are in danger. Dr. Mcleod is an Associate Professor in Educational Administration program. He is the director of UCEA, this is the only center in the nation solely dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators.

The iSchool Initiative

             Wow! For a high school senior, this video was well done. I was surprised at how good it was. This is a good idea. I think it would be a great thing to help the ecosystem and our carbon footprints. Having this technology to hold in the palm of our hands would be amazing. No more paper, books, and pencils would be a relief. Having information at one click of a button in the ischool apps. I really liked how he showed the apps that the iphone already has was neat,  I personally don’t own an iphone  so I did not know what all it has to offer in the apps.

      Though I thought this video gave a good idea for the future of education, I also had a few disagreements. I worry that if we did have ischool, would there even really be a need for teachers, everything could be done at home by themselves.  The students would lack some social contact. Being in a school environment enables kids to development social skills that will help them for the rest of their lives.  Even though this is an amazing concept, ischool could also have some negative effects.

Lost Generation

                This video was very interesting to me. People are saying that in the future people will be more lazy and uncaring, everything will be worse. The more and more people say these things the more people except as a fact and go along with it. We need to stop excepting this and make changes in our society. We need to be environmentally conscience and stop destroying our Earth. We need to learn how to stay in our relationships with loved ones, stop the increasing divorce rate. I really liked how this video was put together, how the sentences that were so negative could be read bottom up and become positive sentences. I struggle to understand how they though to do that , it was really cool.

Eric Whitaker’s Virtual Choir

                All I can think to say is WOW!! That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! I was in band in high school and we played some of Eric Whitaker’s pieces. His music was always interesting.  I have never seen anything like this; I think it’s extraordinary that the internet could be used like this. I think this is a great thing to do, all these people from around the world can sing together and make such beautiful music.

Blog Assignment #3

A vision of Students Today: Michael Wesch
  This video totally caputures my personal college experience. So many ofmy classes require me to buy over-priced textbooks and then we would open them maybe 3 times the whole semester. Some classes even said the book was required for us to buy but to not bring it to class!
   I do spend a lot of time on the internet and I thik online learning someitimes is more beneficial . The multiple choice tests are not helping me to learn. I might add to the movie abouthow much paper is wasted when it is much simpler to use computers and laptops, it saves trees.

It's not about Technology  by Kelly Hines
   Basically what I got from this post is that Kelly is saying that we do not need to just give the latest technology to all classroom teachers. We need to have teachers that already know how to use the products, such as the smart board, in the right manner. Not teachers who are going to use it like a game and word processor.
  Teachers need to also be learning, learning about what is the latest in technology. It's not about having the technology, you can teach students what is important that they need to know without technology. We just need teachers who try to learn new things for themselves and stay ahead of the game.
Karl Fisch: Is it okay to be a technologically illeterate teacher
  No!!! It is not okay to be technologically illeterate according to Fisch.  He states that being technologically illeterate today, is like 30 yrs ago, not knowing how to read and write.  That would be a horrible teacher. Fisch says that teachers that do not know anything about what is new in technology and are not up to date should be questioned about their capabilities on being a good educator.
  Fisch also said that the schools and staff that hire such teachers should be questioned about their liscenses and credibility as educators.  In order to be a good and effective teacher today, a teacher must be technologically literate.
Gary Hayes: Social Media Count
  I thought this was amazing . This thing can detect all of that information. Every second something is changing on the count. This could be useful to me as a teacher because it brings to life the facts about teachers needing to be technologically literate. Things are changing fast and more and more people are joining in on new things and teachers should be aware of what is out there and investigate these things, try to learn them for themselves. In the long run this will help them become a better educator for their students.

C4T #1

My C4T assignment was "The Tempered Radical", the author's name is Bill Ferriter. On the first blog post I commented on , Bill was talking about how digital tools help in politics. There was a video that you could watch talking about this. Bill said that by having digital tools , like the computer, social networks, webcams, email, im, and etc all of us United States citizens can communicate together in a much faster way. People can actually talk to one another about things such as politics. You can get the message out much quicker about your views on a certain politician , and then other people can see that and respond in their own ways. I commented that I totally agree that digital tools is necessary. Yes they can be used for political reasons but they are also necessary for the classroom. Children can communicate with other children their age all across the world, and get to see how they are taught and what their point of views are.
The second post I commented on was about Teacher leaders, which is what Bill is a part of, and how they are not given opportunities in their schools to lead and do what they were trained to do. He actually did a survey , I believe he said on about 140 teachers asking if they felt like their schools gave them the opputunity to lead, and if they felt like their administrators cared about the teacher leaders. About 50% said no to both. He also had comments from several teacher leaders, giving their points of view on the matter. Most of them said they felt unappreciated for the time they put in to be a leader,and that they were not being properly compensated. I commented saying that I agree that they should be given the opportunity to lead, especially when they put in the extra time to be called one. The principals should recognize their accomplishments and they should at least be praised for it, and should be properly compensated for their hard work and dedication to the schools.

Project #5 Google Presentation

Blog Assignment #2

Did You Know 3.0 
   This video was very interesting. No, I did not know any of those facts. All of those statistics and numbers I had no idea! Especially the one about how China is soon to be the country with the most people speaking English. That is amazing! I really did not know how quickly computer technology is progressing. 

   I think this video is trying to tell us that we need to know what's going on in the world. America needs to step up in the technology world, we are behind. I believe it was in this video that it said the Bermuda was the country whom used the Internet the most, and America was I think #19! I had no idea that we were far behind in progression of technology. This video showed me how I need to start paying attention to what's out there for me in technology and how I need to catch up with the world.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

  The Mr. Winkle video was very different. Mr. Winkle has woken up to a whole new world. He had been asleep for 100 years. Of course there has been many changes in 100 years. Mr. Winkle felt very uncomfortable because he found when he awakened that there was many things making noises and things were different.  He went to different places when he woke up, he went to a office where he saw web cam, laptops, and etc. then he went to the hospital where machines are life to people, then he went to a school. The school had not changed at all , Mr. Winkle felt comfortable and wanted to stay there.

   This video was giving the message that schools are behind in the technology world. By having access to computers in schools, kids have a way to learn differently and in a more entertaining way.  Most of the jobs in today's world require computer skills. Having more technology in schools is way for kids to have extra was of learning and they could possibly learn better than by just sitting in a classroom listening to lectures all day.

The Importance of Creativity

  This video was long but worth watching. The speaker was entertaining , he made a few jokes. He talked about how today , schools are taking creativity away from students. Subjects such as Math, Science, History, and English are being put on a pedal stool because of a stigmatic view  placed on them. On the other hand subjects like dance, and theater are not taught.

  Like the speaker said some kids are given the diagnosis that they have ADHD, when it could be that the kids just are meant to be dancers. Schools are teaching kids to be afraid of making mistakes, so their creativity is stifled because they are afraid of being wrong. We learn from making mistakes and being creative. We need more creativity in schools and more technology incorporated in the classroom.

Having Your Student's Digital Smarts

  I really liked this video. The teacher was very creative in her classroom. She used the computer to teach her class. Her students learned to teach themselves about the computer and how to teach their classmates. This teacher was one of the first to do this. The students had blogs to talk to other children in the world and interact with them by posting videos and using web cams. They also had an interesting program with some kind of The Sims game where they learned how to do different things.

  I really thought it was amazing how this rural school in Georgia has such an advanced classroom. It reminded me of this class EDM 310. This class sounded similar but was for high school students. I also remember how the teacher said that most educators believe that they have to know everything for their class before teaching it, she said that wasn't true, that most of the things in her class she had no idea how to do, but she had to learn by doing. She even said how the day they were videoing the students taught her how to do something she had no idea how to do. I think it is a great idea to have classes like this one across the world. Students will learn so much more and can be better prepared for life after school.

   

Blog Assignment 1

  My name is Whitney. I am a junior at the University of South Alabama, I am majoring in elementary education. I decided to come to South because my mother went here and so it interested me. I was born in Mobile, and have always lived here with my family. I live with my parents still and my little sister just moved to Spring Hill college's campus, she is a freshman. I decided to become a teacher when I was in high school. I always got along with children better than anyone else and I loved to be around them, and still do. After I graduated in '08, I started working at a daycare, that was the best job in the world. I worked mainly with 3yr olds all day long. Even though it was rough I loved the challenge and the passion I gained from working there. I don't really know what I do best, but I do enjoy spending time with my fiance Thomas Peters. We are getting married in hopefully soon, we planned on getting married in 2012 but he might be changing schools and graduating earlier so we might be married even earlier than expected. Thomas also attends Spring Hill College. We have been together for about 3 1/2 yrs! My other interests would be doing things like shopping, and going to the movies.