Final Reflection

PLN

My PLN is growing more and more every time I log into it. I use Symbaloo. This is a great tool and I recommend it for anybody. I love it. I have many tools that I use, ranging from Facebook to CNN. This is so helpful to me for school and I know it will be when I become a teacher. It helps organize all the internet tools I need into one convenient location. 

Blog Post # 14

I really enjoyed Jose Picardo's " Top Ten Tips for Using Technology in the Classroom". They were in this order: 1. streaming videos 2. music 3. teleconference 4. creating your own exercises 5. interactive whiteboard 6. podcast 7. creation of blogs and wikis 8. social networks 9. internet tools 10. pupil's gadgets.  I am familiar with most of these techniques because of EDM 310. We have used podcast, through our podcast group project where we summarized a book. I used teleconferencing when I completed a Skype interview with Mrs. Byrd, and I often use skype outside of class. When at home I use social networking to keep up with my family and friends, I also think social networking is great for teachers to use. I use the internet tools, for instance I am using Google Docs for the majority of my classes to collaborate with  my groups. I also blog regularly for this class. The one tool I want to be able to use more for the classroom is the students gadgets. I think this will entertain the students more and get them interested in school more. I also look forward to using the interactive whiteboard more when I become a teacher, I only wish my teachers would have had them when I was in elementary school.

Final Project

C4T Summary

For my last C4T I was assigned the blog, " Ideas and Thoughts", by Dean Shareski. This is a great blog and I am glad I had the opportunity to visit it.  The first post I commented on was titled " Does it Poo?". I know your probably thinking gross, but actually this is pretty cool. It is a video of his daughter doing a school project. Her project was for an elementary science course. She combines science with music to present her project. She creates a song writing template for her science kids. I love how she combines science, music, and language arts. The second post I commented on was titled " The Power of Your Voice". This post was about picking someone who you have recently been connecting with online, and trying to remember the first time you met them. Dean approaches this by podcast.  he explains that podcast had only been around since 2004. He goes on to share some of the people he has met through podcasting . This challenged me to go through my Facebook friends and try to place everyone of them. You will be surprised how many people you have no idea how they are on your friends list. Some I have known my whole life and in between, others I could not remember ever meeting. I challenge you to do the same, you will be very intrigued as I was.

Smart Board Group Project Part 2

Video

Smart Board Group Project Part 1

Video

Progress Report

I am in a group with Katie Carlee, and Jeffrey Dorsey. We plan to meet again this week.

C4K # 10

Today we are asked to look at Mrs. Yolis' classroom blog. We were asked to look at all her links,  explore and understand how she uses her blog, how she involves students and parents and so on. This is a great blog to view. Mrs. Yolis has many creative and educational aspects in her blog. To begin with, Mrs. Yolis is in her twenty fifth year of teaching, and she currently teaches the third grade. She has a very neat and interesting biography of herself. This is the link http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/p/meet-mrs-yollis.html. In it she mentions that she loves to travel in her spare time. Recently she has been to, Hawaii, Oregon, Alaska, Washington, Montana, and many other places. I love to travel also! In the biography you also learn that she taught English in Spain for three summers. I thought that was very cool. When you are done reading her biography, you can click on the link,   http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/p/meet-bloggers.html to meet the bloggers. This part of her blog shows the class of eleven girls and eleven boys. It also shares the favorite sports, and some hobbies of the class. There is a great picture of the class also. Another link she has is http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/p/learn-about-california.html. This link shares some interesting facts about California, where she teaches.  On Mrs. Yolis' ClustrMap, she has 75, 699 visitors from around the world sine January of 2010. To compare the EDM 310 class blog has 51,308 visitors from around the world since January of 2010. This is a very close comparison! Mrs. Yolis' class blog is also the first runner up of the 2010 EDUBLOG Awards, for Best Class Blog, the winner of the 2010 Life Time Achievement Award, and the First Runner Up to the Best Class Blog! This is a great blog for any teacher or student to view. I enjoyed it very much.

Blog assignment # 12

Today we are given the assignment to make a blog post assignment like  Dr. Strange would create for his students. As I have sat here and thought about what I could do, I am reminded of all the past post and projects we have done. I would say they have all been beneficial for me, but to say the least I have been challenged. One of the biggest issues for me is my organizational skills. We all know as college students, we lose track of time, instructions, and thoughts quite often. So I started browsing the internet for ways to better organize my stuff. I came across this website called, " Remember The Milk". It is a really neat organization tool that is free to use. It allows you to make assignments, rate the priority, and categorize the assignment. The Sight also allows you to share with contacts, access from your phone, collaborate,and manage task from anywhere! I believe this will be very beneficial to you as it is to me too. I hope you like it.


Instructions
  1.Go to: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
2. Create a profile and browse around to get use to the site.
3.  Add some assignments from classes or even a grocery list if you like ( this is to help you organize your life!).
4. Use often!

Project # 14

Blog assignment # 11

Little Kid's ...Big Potential

This video shows how first graders use technology in the classroom. They use blogs, wikis, web pages and videos to learn. This is amazing to see. I especially loved the part about Alabama! The teachers name is Ms. Cassidy, and  she uses these technology resources to teach her class. In the first video he students were using blogs to post things such as Christmas pictures, as you watch the video you can see the progress one student makes in spelling because of her blog! I also really enjoyed the Skype interview. I will definitely use technology in my classroom. My favorite is the class blogs. Blogs are a great way for students to learn and share. Students learn important communication skills while using blogs. They do this by commenting and reading other educational post. I have also learned this in EDM! Blogs are also great for parents as well. Parents can keep up with their child's work and progress. As we learned in the video, blogs are great for learning writing techniques and spelling improvement. The biggest problem that would might occur is internet safety. This is easily fixed by being very careful not to give out personal information and teaching the class some important rules and guidelines. I can't wait to start teaching and using technology in my classroom.

Blog assignment # 10

Do You Teach Or Educate? 

This was a very good video for anyone who is involved in education in anyway. I really enjoyed it. I became an education major simply because I love children. I can not wait to become a teacher and to be with children all day. Some people think I'm crazy to want to be with kids all day long, but I can't help it. Another reason I am an education major is that I love to teach and inspire others, especially children.  I intend to educate and not just teach by being a positive role model for my students. I want to learn all the new technology and lessons just like they should.


Don't Let Them Take The Pencils Home

This is a really interesting and cool post. It is an argument between a teacher and an administrator about pencils. The administrator does not want the students to take home pencils because of a recent article.  The article suggest that students who bring home pencils have lower test scores. The teacher then suggest that maybe the article did not count for his class. The administrator then ask how the teacher plans to "fix" the pencil problem. He says he has met with the parents and students and taught them ways a pencil could be used for learning. Th administrator ask how can you keep up with what they do at home? If they play games like "Hang Man"? The teacher says he will keep the students interested with projects and maybe if they are playing hang man that they are learning something!

Blog post # 9

I really enjoyed reading this reflection, it goes over what this particular teacher has learned and experienced in the last school year. This teachers name is Mr. Joe McClung, and this is the 2010-2011 school year.  It brought up many helpful tips and points. The first point the teacher brings up is "Know who your boss is". It say that don't try to please the adults and other individuals all the time. When teachers do this they get to much involved with what other people think of them. When that happens the students are left out and forgotten. The students should be the first priority in the teachers life at school.  Students should always be the primary focus, this is why we become teachers. The second point he made is that " Don;t expect others to be as excited about change as you are". In this part the teacher basically goes over what happens at the professional development sessions he goes too. He says that he is the optimistic geek who enjoys the idea, but that he never understands the people who don't. I think that all teachers need to get interested and more involved in new learning techniques and such. If we as teachers aren't excited about teaching new technology and ideas why should our students be? The third point he brings up is "Don't be afraid to be an outsider". This is so true. He talks about not being afraid to be different form the other teachers you work with because you want to fit in. Focus on the students and focus on learning with them. " Don't touch the keyboard", is very simple but very true. If a student is having difficulties learning, do not show them by taking over and doing the work for them. They will never learn this way. You as the teacher have to let the student learn some things on their own, it is better to do it this way because the student learns better. The last part he says " Don't get comfortable". As a teacher don't become same. Be an ever changing person by learning new ways to teach and new ideas for students. I really enjoyed reading this reflection and learning from it.

Blog assignment # 8

Dr. Miller


These are some amazing videos! Dr. Miller does an excellent job of explaining and teaching It is amazing to me how much technology we use today. It also is crazy how fast technology changes. Just to think when I started high school a few years ago we only had chalk boards. By the time I was a senior we used SMART Boards everyday! I agree with him that there needs to be a curriculum invented on how to use technology. I would have no idea on how to do some things such as the program he used to create the 3D plans of the building. If teachers could learn new technology and be able to teach it,  just imagine what students could do with it! There are so many cool ways teachers could use technology in the classroom. Teachers can use peer learning by letting groups make videos on a subject and presenting it. Instead of using a poster board like I had to do, students could make presentations on the web and contact professionals threw blogging for science or any kind of projects! I think technology is a great way for students to learn and be creative.






Blog Post 12 By Carly Pugh


This was a really great post. She took an assignment and turned it into much more. I never even knew that you could make your own play list on You Tube. The videos she chose were all inspiring to watch. I hope when it comes time for me to do this assignment I can be as creative as she was. She will be a great teacher! I think she accomplished the hopes of Dr. Miller for writing with  multi -media. She used videos to express her teaching philosophy and techniques. Great post to read and great videos to watch!



Chipper Series and EDM For Dummies

Both these videos were fun to watch. It was cool to see other EDM students talking about the class. I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one who has mental break downs every week over this class. I'm glad to see I am not alone. It has gotten a lot better for me since I started doing my work all week, not just on Sundays! If I could choose a way to do a video, I would make one like the popular TV show " I Survived". This is a show were people have gone through some very horrific things and almost died. A person gives an interview, or account of all the events that happened that they almost died from.  Not that I've almost died or even close to it, honestly it just sounds like a good title for a video about this class.  I think the message of these videos is that it may seem hard at first, but if you do your work you will make it!

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

Another great video! It blows my mind that coal mining was ranked higher than education! The video talks about how students now learn more outside the classroom than in school. If you think about it some technology is banned from school but those same things that are banned are the most powerful learning tools. Such as cell phones and laptops. One of the people in the video made the comment that" Technology really isn't a choice". This is a powerful statement to me, because it is true. If teachers aren't going to prepare the students for the future, which is technology, who is? Why would we as teachers not want to instill in our students the information and skills  to make it the world , isn't that why people become teachers?

Blog assignment # 7

C4T Summary


This week the blog I was given to comment on was titled " 2 cents Worth" by David Warlick. This is a very cool blog to visit and read. The first post I read and commented on was called "A Video Game Idea". In the post David Warlick has free time with his daughter while she is in the hospital. After reading some blog post by Scott McLeod, and watching his daughter playing a video game he comes up with a new idea. His idea is to create a video game similar to the one his daughter was playing. The one his daughter was playing consisted of creating a restaurant and running it. His idea is to create a school and run it. I thought this was a very cool and unique idea. Think about it, a fun and new way for educators to learn more about how to be a professional. It could also have positive influences on children. The second post I commented on was titled " Steve Jobs- A Great Idea".  This post is very sad and also encouraging. David Warlick states what a great innovator and intelligent man Steve Jobs was. Steve Jobs for those who do not know, was a co-founder of Apple. In the post David also added a quote from President Obama; "   Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. " David says if Obama truly believes what he said about Steve Jobs, he could be the right person to get teachers to say " that's a great idea"  instead of "that's the right answer".


Project # 10 PLN

For my PLN I chose to use Symbaloo. I really like this tool! It is very helpful. I like it because it is all my tools in one. For example I can access my Twitter, Facebook, Google Account, and much more. This is what my PLN consist of so far. Most of my people to help me are on my Twitter.



Randy Pausch's Last Lecture 

This is really an inspiring video. Watching this I did not even realize that an hour had passed by. I recommend this to everybody. This was the last lecture of Randy Pausch. He starts the lecture by exposing the "elephant" in the room. This elephant is that he has cancer and doctors have given him months to live. He goes over his childhood dreams, which he achieved. One childhood dream was to play in the NFL. He never got to play in the NFL, but learned life lessons from football. One lesson he shares is the concept of "head fake learning", or indirect learning. For example football, you learn how to play the sport, but you also learn teamwork, endurance, and integrity. Teacher's could use this technique to teach students. For example the lesson can be on money, and the students could play a game of monopoly, which is fun. The students think they are just having fun playing a board game without knowing they are learning about money. Another part of the lecture he says just have fun. He makes the point of how he is dying and is having fun. Teachers are role-models for every student. If the teacher isn't having fun teaching, why should the student have fun learning? Also help other people whenever you can. Randy says always put people first! Teachers should also show students gratitude, this will encourage students. Some other great advice he gives is, "don't complain just work harder", "be patience, no one is pure evil", "tell the truth, integrity" and "brick walls are there for a reason, they let us prove how badly we want things!"

Project # 11

Blog assignment # 6

The Networked Student

I really liked watching this movie by Wendy Drexler today.  It is very informational about technology students can use. It gave an example of a student studying a subject and how he used technology to learn. The student used many programs and ways to get information on the subject. My favorite way he used technology was the mp3 player. The student not only has his favorite music on his mp3 device, but also had podcast and audio on the subject he was studying. In the movie the question "Why does a networked student even need a teacher?" was asked. The networked student needs a teacher to teach him or her to be a learning architect, a change agent, a modeler, a connected learning incubator,and a network sherba. This in short means, a networked student needs a teacher to teach how to use technology and all the available resources that can be used to learn.  I feel like I will be some what prepared to teach a networked student, but I am definitely ready to learn with my students!

A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment

This was a really neat video. The video showed the everyday science class for this particular seventh grade student. This student used a computer and the internet to learn instead of a text book. She used many blogs and sites to learn and create assignments. My favorite part of her PLE was how it was custom for her. Compared to my PLN, the two are very similar to me. Like my PLN this student has people and tools to help her. Also like me, the tools are always changing so she will have to be a life long learner!

Podcast

Project # 9 Time Toast

Project # 9

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/186017

Blog Assignment # 5

Dr. Scott McLeod

In this post Dr. McLeod gave many reasons why children should not use the internet. The reasons he gave where sound and very true. For example he made the points of sexting and online predators. This is very dangerous to children and can be life threatening. He is very anti internet in the post. Which he makes very good points but I think some internet is needed. In my comment on his blog I gave the example of my grandfather's generation being very smart and not ever using the internet. But that generation did not depend on computers like we do today, to communicate and to do various jobs. I think some internet is needed, but it should be monitored. Before the post I did not know who Scott McLeod was. After researching I have learned he is one of the nation's leading expert on the technological k-12 issues. He is also is a professor at the University of Kentucky.

Travis Allen

 In these two videos Travis Allen changed my opinion on how students can learn in a classroom. He makes the point of how much it cost a student to learn in a public school. It cost as much as six hundred dollars. It cost this much because of the books, calculators, pencils and other supplies. He wants our classes to be taught with touch screen devices in a program called ischool. This device has text books, library books, calculators, notes, and maps on it. It also has many other useful tools on it. With this ischool, the school systems could save so much money. Students would also get the technology they need to survive in today's society. I also like the point of saving natural resources  by not using  paper and other classroom items. The students can also email, save lectures, and search educational websites. I used to think that we should not use technology as much, but now I see many advantages to it!


Jennifer Chamber

This was an amazing way to use the internet. 185 people who have never met did this! I couldn't believe it. I even made my fiance watch! Just think what used to take hours upon hours of practicing to do was accomplished by 185 people never meeting, but making a video and sharing it into one huge choir!


Teaching in the 21st Century

This video brings up many good questions for teachers. Questions like, " what do I do when my connecting flight is canceled", or " should I buy or rent", how can you as a teacher teach your students how to answer these two questions. Well the video gives one way with many options, the internet. A student could use Google to answer both of these questions.  This what Roberts thinks it means to teach in the 21 century. Using technology as problem solving skills, and to get information. He makes the point of the difference of entertainment and engagement. Theses devices such as the computer and cell phone are not just for pure entertainment anymore. The difference is engagement is a long term learning experience, entertainment is short lived. As a 21st century teacher, I need to use technology in my classroom, it will be very vital to my students' success.

Blog assignment # 4

Eagle Nest Radio & Class Blog


I really enjoyed this podcast and class blog! I watched or listened the podcast on sharks. The students made the podcast about sharks with some "fin-tastic" facts. The students used one main narrator and a few other students to do different parts of the show. For example the "poetry paradise" where a student shares a poem he or she likes. Something in their podcast I can use in mine is the way they broke the show into segments. Such as "poetry paradise", "did you know", and the " vocabulary vault". This is a cool way to make a podcast  interesting, yet educational.

Practical Principle

 I did not know all of the facts about pod casting, before  this video . Podcast is so influential to students because of how familiar students are with podcast. It is an very effective way to interact with students outside of the classroom. For example, if a student is sick or has to miss school for an extended amount of time.Podcast also generate lots of creativity, because student can express themselves. Also students learn valuable technology skills. Pod casts also allow parents too be apart of , and see what their children are learning. I as a teacher, can use podcast to incorporate technology and reach my students anywhere.

100 Ways To Use Your Ipod To Learn and Study Better

This site is great! I learned so much from it. Basically it is a list of a hundred ways to better your study and learning habits by using your ipod.  I learned you can use your ipod to use Spark Notes, (which is very helpful to a college student) and to use study guides. You can also use the ipod for cram sessions and too study for the SAT. This is very helpful for all students. I can use these helpful tips in my podcast by listening to other podcast for ideas and to learn how to do new things with podcast.

Project # 6 My sentence

C4T Assignment Summary

 My Summary

For my first C4T assignment in EDM310, I was assigned the blog, Dianne's Digital Discoveries. This blog was very interesting to read and to comment on. The first post I commented on was titled "911 Rise: Reconnect & Remember - Discovery Education ". It is about the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The goal of the post was to educate and teach today's students about the events that took place on that day. The link was to show student's the American's most impacted of that day. I commented by saying what I was doing that day and where I was. The second post I commented on was titled " What's you learning style? Edutopia " . This post was about learning styles of people. It contained a quiz that let you see what style of learning you had. I took the quiz and I found out That I had a naturalistic learning style. It made me realize that everybody has a unique learning style. It would really be nice if teachers would test students to see every learning style in the class, and change the curriculum to meet the class.

Blog post # 2

Did you know?  By, Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod 

This is a video is very informing. It was very interesting to see all of the facts about the internet and the countries mentioned. I did not know how much our world depends on and uses technology as much as it does. For example the radio is no longer the only way to reach a mass audience. We now have the internet with social networking sites.The video said that one in eight couples get married after meeting on a social networking site.I did know the facts about the jobs either. That one in four people have had the same job for less than a year. One in two people have had the same job for less than five years. It is amazing to me how much technology changes so fast.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

This video was about Mr. Winkle who wakes up and realizes all the things that have changed while he had been asleep. He sees all the new technology. Technology such as computers, printers. Being overwhelmed by this he decides to go to a hospital and he then sees all the machines hospitals have to keep people alive.He goes to the school and notices it does not have the technology there and he feels comfortable.In summary Mr. Winkle did not like the advance technology of the offices and hospital, but he enjoyed the school which had no technology, the same as when he was in school.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson says that education kills creativity. Sometimes being wrong is also being creative, with kids.When kids become adults they lose their creativity because they are frightened of being wrong.The education system of today is working people out of creativity. All children are born as artist the hard part is staying one as an adult.He says that the whole outcome of the public education system is to create university professors.The education system is the way it is because of the time frame of which it was established. At that time it was hard to get a job in the arts, such as an artist or musician. Today on the other the whole world is in a revolution of art.

Cecelia Gault (Young Student in Finland) Interviews Sir Ken Robinson

I respond by saying I agree the curriculum should be changed to add more art, science and technology. Also that the community and schools need a stronger connection together. The three myths of education are that not everybody is creative, that you can only be creative about certain things, and you can not be taught to be creative. Which none of these are true. Everybody is creative and everything can be creative. I could help my future students by incorporating new technologies, and news arts to my classroom for my students.


Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

When you as a teacher only have paper and ideas of who will succeed as students is when your students aren't learning as much as they can. Vicki Davis harnesses as much technology she can to teach her students. Her curriculum includes, twitter, Wikipedia , Google, and much more. Her students learn in a motivated setting . Some teachers think that they need to know everything about a program to teach it, but this is not true. A teacher can learn with the students. When I become a teacher I can learn to use all these new programs to connect my class with the world like Vickie did.

All about Courtney

Blog assignment # 1

 About Me

My name is Courtney Williams, I am nineteen years old, and I am from Citronelle, Alabama. I graduated from Citronelle High School in 2010. For my first year of college i attended Faulkner State Community College on a tennis scholarship. Currently I am a student at South Alabama. I have a wonderful family,  twin brother,  older sister, the best mom and dad, and two beautiful nieces. I still live at my parents house but that will change this summer because I am getting married! My fiance's name is Dane Turner and he is a senior here at South. I love to hunt, fish, swim, church, school, and Alabama football! I am going to school to become an elementary school teacher. Children are my passion, I love Kids. Mostly elementary, middle and high schooler's seem to know everything already. I am very excited about finishing school and starting my life!

Randy Puasch on Time Management

One of the things I learned from the video is the time and money are very equatable.  Most people do not realize this, which I did not either. As a student I should set myself some goals to get more things done on time. Also to not focus on doing things right, but doing the right things.One of the worst thing I can do is fail to plan out all of my time. To make things simpler I can my "to do list" in simple smaller steps. I have not previously know anything about Randy Pausch, but after reading about him I have learned that he was a professor at computer sciences. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and became an important advocate for cancer. Before he died he did a famous "Last Lecture" that later became a best selling book.  I hope I can stick with my new time management skills for the rest of the semester. 

Time Management Exercises and Time Management Lessons

 The Penn State page was very helpful to me because it made me realize that no matter which excuse I use I still need to manage my time more sufficiently. For example a planner would be beneficial to me because my priorities will become more clearer. So the most important things will be first on my list. I should also make small goals for myself on the list. On my list I should be specific and reasonable. I should also avoid wasting my time by not sticking to my list. This was very helpful to me not just with school, but with life in general. 

practice post

heyy