Summary of Project 15

For project 15 my group mainly used google docs. It was actually easy to communicate this way. The only problem that I was having was that I would be at work and not able to write back on my computer of phone. In the end the project turned out great without the use of meeting with my group.

Final Reflection

Project 16

Final Report on PLN

My PLN has actually turned out to be very helpful. It has everything stored so it is much easier to go back and access links that I need.  It still consists of the major things that I use for this class and in my daily life. I plan to add more things as time goes on. This is something that I would recommend to anyone who needs to keep up with important sites.

C4T 4

My teacher for C4T for the last two weeks was Scott Jelias. Scott actually had very interesting blog post that I felt like I could relate to. The first blog post that I commented on was “Convening a Professional Study Group”. In this post Scott was explaining the problem with test scores in the schools and the way schools go about trying to fix this problem. He explained that most teachers go into panic mode trying to do anything to change the test scores of their students. Removing them from enjoyable classes and forcing them to work in those that they do not like, is not a good idea in Scott’s opinion. Instead Scott and his school is coming up with a professional study group. In this group they come together over months to try and figure what needs to be done to change these test scores. I commented telling Scott that I firmly agreed with the way that he proposed a plan to his employees. He presented the school with the issue and they developed a plan from that point. In the next blog post “PhocuseD 3: I’m doing this, why?” Scott talked about getting his Phd. He explained how getting your Phd is not an easy process. It comes with many task and thinking about why the person is doing this. He talked about how he thought about quitting many times. He states that while getting you Phd to stay focus and you may need to take a break to rejuvenate yourself. I commented telling Scott that his post was inspirational to me. Although the post was directed towards getting a Phd, I’m experiencing these problems now. I have thought about quitting many times, but I have found the strength to push forward. I thanked Scott for his message in that blog post.

Blog Assignment 13

For this assignment Dr. Strange wanted us to participate in an “E-Media fast”. We were not allowed to use in electronic or communications device for 24 hours. In the beginning I figured this would be easy because I rarely use any electronic devices. When I realized that cell phones were cut out I quickly change my thought process about this assignment. The one thing that did not bother me at all was the use of my television. I honestly don’t turn my TV on but maybe once a month, if that at all! The use of my computer was another one that really did not bother me. I only use my computer if I need to type a paper. The way cell phones are made these days the use of an actual computer is becoming very slim. Then the hard part came into play. I use my cell phone for everything. I use my phone for email, facebook, twitter, calling, texting, and web searching. We were told we could not use any of these devices. I felt like I was not in touch with the world for those first couple of hours.  I engaged in simple conversation with my roommates and sleeping to pass the time by. I was actually excited to go to work this day! In the end I realized how much I strongly depended on my cell phone for all my electronic needs. In the future my students will also strongly depend on technology for all of their needs. Teachers must keep up with this use of technology to keep their students attention. Students will enter the classroom expecting to use technology because this is what they are becoming accustomed to. 

SmartBoard Presentation #15

Curiosity gave life to creativity

Curiosity and creativity are things that our students should be able to express in the classroom every day. In my opinion schools in the United States easily take this away from our students. They don’t allow our students to express their personality. Our schools set certain rules and make sure the students follow these rules.  They teach our students in the states the way that they believe things are supposed to be, never allowing them to do what they want. 

As teachers we can change this and develop a curriculum that allows our students to express themselves. When we assign assignment we don’t have to put such strict rules on them. Instead of ruling students we can let them have freedom with their work. We have to learn to think outside of our beliefs, and consider what our students might believe. We can encourage our students to be different.  Allowing students to be different can be fun and educational at the same time.

 Teachers can be more creative by coming up with creative activities for the students to do in the classroom. We need to think outside the box with the rules in the classroom. Allowing students to sometimes make decisions and take over can help them become creative also. If we listen to our students, they can help us become more creative teachers. Students have great ideas and imagination, allowing them to express this is the problem we are running into. 

Progress Report for Final Project

For the final project I am working with my group the nameless. We have been using google docs to communicate so far. We will be working more on our project this week.

Summary of SmartBoard Project

For my Smartboard project I actually worked on it by myself. I had the help of one of my friends to record my presentation. For the next project I'm working with my previous group. Im not sure what our plans are but I'm sure we will be discovering that this week.

C4K April Summary

For the month of April I was assigned to three different students. The first student I was able to comment on his blog twice. The first blog post that he wrote that I read was about an avatar that he had created. He left a website for his readers to visit. He also explained how he had fun making his avatar. I commented back telling him that his avatar that he created was creative. I actually visited the website and attempted to make my own. I also told him to keep up the good work. The next blog post that he posted was a picture of a cottage. I’m not sure where he actually found the picture but it was very interesting. I clicked on the link and it explained that the picture was actually many pictures formed into one. The picture looked so realistic. I commented telling him that I could use this in the classroom for a fun activity for my students to play with.

The next week I was assigned to an alternate student because my student stopped blogging. My next student was Jshuana T. The most recent blog that this student blogged was a picture of multiple flowers, titled flower pop out. The student listed eight things of how this picture made them feel. I commented telling the student that I enjoyed reading the blog post. I agreed with many of the feeling that they were having towards the picture. The last student that I was assigned to was Faauiga. She is from New Zealand. Her blog post was a video of her telling us about herself. She told her favorite colors, her birthday, about her brothers and sisters, and many other things. I commented telling Faauiga that I enjoyed watching her video. I asked her how old her brothers and sisters were. In the end I encouraged her to keep up the good work.

Blog Assignment 12

For blog post assignment 12 Dr. Strange gave us the chance to choose a blog assignment that we would choose to use in our own area of education. I had to think long and hard about what assignment I could make to relate to elementary education.  I decided that since this blog post was towards the end of all of our assignments that this post should reflect our previous work.

This blog post assignment is for you to reflect on all of your previous readings and videos and decide what you believe are the most important factors to becoming a great elementary teacher. Answering the question of how you will directly incorporate technology into the teaching of elementary students. List one video or blog reading that had the most impact you after taking this class.

The most important factors to me in becoming a great elementary teacher include caring, understanding, listening, and being helpful. I have learned that teachers don’t have enough time to give all students one-on-one time, but I do believe as teachers we should go beyond the basic requirements to teach or students. I plan to dig deep and make sure my students have an understanding of everything that I’m trying to teach them.   The video “Do you teach or do you educate” was a very awaking video to me. I want to be an educator, and this video made me realize this. Being just a simple teacher is not as powerful as becoming an educator in someone’s life. An educator included all of the factors that I planned on using when I became a part of the classroom. My plan to incorporate technology in the classroom greatly includes using the smart board. My first actual time using the smart board was in the class. I learned that it can be used so many ways to teach students. For elementary students, I think it is very important to keep them involved and I believe the smart board does a great job at this. I have witnessed students doing math problems on the smart board in a first grade classroom. I thought this was a great thing that the students were able to become technically involved with the teachers. I also came across a site that can be used to keep the parents, students, and teacher all connected over the internet outside the classroom. I believe I will take this and also apply this to my classroom.

Blog Assignment 11

Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher who in my opinion is taking technology in the classroom to an upper level. In her classroom she uses technology to ensure that her students are learning and not using it for simple entertainment. Her students are using blogs, Skype, and Nintendo DS all for education purposes. I was very shocked to see that these young students grasped these concepts and were using them effectively in the classroom. Her students even explained how to comment on blogs in her First graders in Ms. Cassidy's class video.In her Skype interview, Ms. Cassidy explained that she is teaching her students this by choice. She was not forced to use technology in the classroom at this level. I find it outstanding that she takes this upon herself to teach her students in this manner. Upon going into the teaching field, I would take all of these techniques and use them in my classroom. Her approach was very positive and her students are benefiting from the use of technology. I believe as long as the students are learning and it is in a positive way, we should continue the path we are o using. I believe her approach would highly benefit students in the future. I am skeptical about the very young age that she is teaching these students to use Skype and blogging. Teaching them this at a young age can be either negative or positive. I do believe you have to watch these students to ensure that nothing negative is being done with the use of these tools. The positive outcome is that with them learning these tools at this age they have time to learn many more technology tools that others may not have time to learn.

Blog Assignment 10

Do you teach or Do you educate?

After watching the video Do you teach or do you educate, I strongly understood the difference between the two. In my opinion an educator is way more powerful and helpful. Our students do not need someone to only show them how to do things, but someone to actually educate them and be more than just a teacher. An educator can be a mentor, helper, and teach students all in the same aspect. I believe educators have a stronger impact on their students lives.

I now see that I became an education major to become an educator not only a teacher. I plan to be a mentor for all of my students. I'm willing to stay after school and help any students who need extra help. Going above a beyond the usual to help your students is a great example of being an educator. I want to be that one educator who gave their students that extra push. I plan to go deeper than the surface of my students knowledge.

Don't let them take pencils home!

Tom Johnson's Don't let them take pencils home, is a blog post that is considered a must read for all teachers. This blog post was based on an argument about pencils. In the beginning my thought was what is the problem with students and pencils. The academic specialist came to Tom Johnson with an demand that students were not allowed to take pencils home anymore. According to a journal article, students who used pencils at home had lower standardized test scores.

Mr. Johnson disagreed with the need to completely stop students from using pencils at home. His argument was that many students from low income places believe that pencils are for entertainment and use them as toys. Although the students had this perception of pencils, he had a way of changing that. He planned to encourage both the students and parents to use the pencils for learning in a different way. Mr Johnson never argued with the journal article, but he wanted to change the thoughts of the article.

This blog post was very amazing to me. I understood what Mr. Johnson was trying to propose to the specialist. As teachers, I believe we should all take this attitude into our classrooms. There will be many problems with things in the classroom, but we need to focus on a solution. Instead of deleting the issue, we can find a way to solve it. Mr. Johnson was finding a way to solve the problem the classroom.

Project 14

Summary Post C4T Teacher #3

My C4T assignment was not actually for one teacher this month. The blog that I visited was created for different teachers to leave sites that they have discovered. The blog was titled iLearn Technology. It has sites for teachers to incorporate technology into the classroom.  This blog will be very helpful for me when I enter the teaching field. The first blog post was about a science website for the students to use in the classroom. The site allowed students to pretend like they had a job in the science field and they would work in that on the game. I thought this site was very interesting. It was fun for the students, but included a science lesson for the students to learn from. Science is a subject that is fun when you include hands on and labs. I commented saying how I thought this is a very good site to use with the students. Students could get a clearer understanding of science terms that may be difficult to them using this site. The second site that I discovered that was post was a site that provided pictures of different animals and their habitat. I thought this site was also a good one to incorporate into science. If the students were learning about animal and their habitat, the students could actually see what the teacher is explaining. I believe visuals are very good way to keep students attention. This blog would be great for any teacher. It provides plenty of websites that can be very helpful and fun for students. It teaches students their lesson and keep technology invlolved.

C4K Summary For March

My C4K post for the month of March was a student named Malaikah. This blog post seemed to me to be a story created by Malaikah. The story was about a girl who was having a suprise birthday party with fifty guest. In the end of the story the young girl even found a white spider. I commented telling Malaikah how I really enjoyed reading this blog post. I said that surprise parties were always fun. I have never seen a white spider but I told Malaikah that I was sure that could not have been very fun. I encouraged the student by wishing them good luck with their future blog posts.

Blog Assignment 9

After reading Mr. Joe McClung’s post I had a more positive insight on the teaching field. The first post I read was from May 2009, titledWhat I’ve learned this year. At the beginning of the post he had a picture that said “An important decision I made this year is stay positive”. I absolutely love this quote in this picture. In his post he is explaining things that he has learned in his first year of teaching. Everything that he stated was very positive and encouraging. He never stated that the job was easy; instead he explained how to communicate and be reasonable. He stated that technology is our friend, and to not become overwhelmed by it. I clearly understood what point he was making.  We have to embrace the job of teaching and take it one step at a time. It will never be perfect, in the words of Mr. McClung. This is very true in every case. The second post was from the following school year, 2010.In this post he was explaining his changes that he had to make. I found this interesting because I never actually thought about the changes of grade levels. You have to be prepared to make change every year. He explained how teachers should not be a control freak. I learned from this section also. I thought of teaching as always making sure that I was in control. After reading this I understood that this does not have to be a major factor. He explained giving students jobs in the classroom such as handing out papers. Overall  I mainly learned to go into this field with an open mind, never be discouraged, and always be open to learning new things.

Blog Assignment 8

Richard Miller- This is How We Dream

In the videos This is how we dream part 1 and 2, Richard E. Miller discusses writing and the changes it has had due to technology. Writing, publishing, and communication is all changing right before our eyes. Miller states that “we are living at the moment of the greatest change in human communication in human history”. He explains that this is the most important time for people who have the profession of reading and writing.

I strongly agree with Miller’s statements in these videos. Everything that we do is now technologically based and it is becoming global. As teachers our profession will consist of plenty of reading and writing. Not only are we learning this for ourselves, we are learning this to better our students. The future of our students strongly depends on us, therefore we must stay up to date with how technology changes. Reading and writing in the classroom will never be the same again.

I believe that I am still in the process of learning all of the technology features I will need to know as a teacher. The video explains how as educators we must be willing to not only learn new things, but share them freely also. Technology consists of so many things in education today. In the end we must learn more to teach more to our future students.

 Carly's #12 Blog Post

Carly’s #12 blog post was amazing. I could tell that there was a lot of time and effort put into this post. Her playlist by assignment consisted of many videos that she found inspirational. This was important because being an inspiration to your students is a key factor. Carly’s way of teaching meets the standards that Richard Miller was discussing in his videos. She states how videos, podcasts, and visuals can all be helpful. She has plans to use technology to benefit both herself and her students in the classroom.

The Chipper Series and EDM310 For Dummies

 After watching the two videos, The Chipper Series and EDM310 For Dummies, I thought of many ideas for my own video. These two videos were creative and funny. I believe a sense of humor always makes a video seem better. These videos had humor, but at the same time were informative.  The purposes of these videos were to catch student’s attention but to also inform them at the same time. In my opinion both videos did a great job at this. In creating my own video I would consider these factors to make the video interesting. In my video I would inform others of how important technology has become in our society.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

I agree with the points being made in the video Learn to Change, Change to Learn. The title speaks for itself. Many people have a problem with the way that technology is taking over the classrooms. We must face reality though. Our future students will not strongly depend on us for knowledge but on computers and internet sites. The video is explaining how teachers and schools are blocking out the use of technology when it is becoming a necessity in the classroom. The students were required to find information on the internet, but now they are expected to do “more” with this information. How they find information is not the factor anymore, what they are going to do with the information using technology I more important now. As teachers, we need to prepare them for this at an early age.  Technology is our future and so are our students.

Emodo

I found a social networking site that parents, teachers, and students can all use. I found this site very interesting because I did not know social sites like this existed. This site is emodo.com. This site is free for both students and teachers. It allows the teacher to post grades, assignments, and stay connected with the students. I think this site would be beneficial in my classroom. It is designed for students and teachers so the worry of outsiders is decreased. It also teaches students to use networking in a positive way for school.

My first comic strip

Here is my comic strip

My first poll

How often do you read a book?
	once a day
	once a week
	once a month
	once a year
	never
pollcode.com free polls

Book Trailer

Project #11 Short Movie

Project 10 PLN

So far my PLN was easy to create. I thought this was going to be a difficult task, but it was far from that. I included you tube, twitter, gmail. I feel like these are very important to have on my PLN because they are the main sites I have used in this class. I'm working on what other people or sites will be helpful to include.

Project 9B Timetoast Timeline

Information on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Blog Assignment 7

The Networked Student is a video displaying a student using networking frequently in the classroom. It is a change from our traditional classroom settings. Classrooms in the past and some present classrooms use the traditional setting with the teacher lecturing for an hour at a time. The students have no involvement besides listening and taking notes. They read from a text book for hours at a time, learning little to nothing sometimes. This is changing for the best of our future students.

In this video the student has a teacher, but her job is not to lecture the students and drill them to read their textbooks. Her job is to teach the students at a different level involving networking. Networking involves the students blogging, commenting, and using the web to connect to others around the world.  This reminds me a lot of what we are doing in our classroom today.

This way of teaching allows the students to become more involved. If the students are involved more there is greater chance of an increase in learning. The students are able to learn things that they have never learned before that will possibly be interesting to them. Students have a lack of interest in school and this may change that for the future in a positive way.

Seventh Graders PLE

This seventh grader’s PLE was beyond amazing. I’m in the process of learning how to do my PLN, so in comparison this student is beyond my experience in this.  This student has so many links that will always be useful for them in the future. The teacher has set this up for the students use and I’m sure it has a great impact in the classroom. I believe the PLE is great for any student. It is also very beneficial to use for other assignment or activities.

C4T #2

For this assignment I was assigned to read the blog Connected Principals. The blog actually consists of blogs being posted by principals from different schools. The first blog post I read is by Jeff Delp. He is the Assistant Principal at Willis Junior High School in Chandler, Arizona. His post was titled “Think you have arrived? Think again.” Delp was pointing out how we must prioritize, time, and lead in a positive manner not only in the classroom, but also in our daily lives. He says that we need to have certain goals in the classroom for our students. Learning how we are going to reach these goals is the factor we must accomplish. He used teaching and educating in comparison to baseball. He stated that no one hits a home run every time at bat. I agreed with this blog in my comment. I realized that some lesson plans and activities will not always work the first time. We will have to change things in the classroom every year to make it more effective.

The second blog is by Brian Nichols.  Brian Nichols is the Executive Director of School Leadership for Newport News Public Schools, located in Newport News, Virginia. His blog was titled “Leap before you look”. In this post he was explaining the phrase “look before you leap”, and how he changed this. He was stating that maybe we should leap before we look in the classroom. We should allow changes to be made in the classroom without being afraid to do so. I also agreed with this blog post. I commenting saying that we are often afraid to do things because we are told to watch out before we do them. We must think about the possible positive outcomes, and not always the negative. We have to be willing to make changes for not only ourselves but our students more importantly.

Blog Assignment 6

After watching this lecture by Randy Pausch, I grasped the concept of having faith and pushing forward. Right now at this time I’m struggling with what I actually plan to do when I finish school.  I am stuck between the military and becoming a teacher. I believe having a passion for something in life is very important. I loved the fact that Randy kept faith and pushed forward with anything he did. He had such a positive attitude, regardless of his circumstances. I took these points in his lecture and applied them to my own life.

There was one quote that he used that became a favorite of mine from that moment. He stated that “we cannot change the cards that we are dealt just how we play the hand”. This quote meant so much to me. As a teacher I believe this quote can be very helpful. Teaching most likely will not be a walk in the park. We will come across many things that we find difficult but we must deal with them. We have to learn how to “play the hand” and overcome these strategies.

As a teacher our students will look at us as a leader or hero. The students will watch our every move. It is best to have a positive attitude like Randy and lead them in the right direction. Their future can rely on us as teachers.  The world is changing dramatically, and we must prepare them for this.

Randy had goals and dreams and he tried to accomplish them all. I believe as teachers we should not only do the same, but teach our students that also. Goals for ourselves will help us make positive changes for our students. We should have students set goals and work towards them not only inside but outside the classroom. Making them feel important is a very positive factor in the classroom.

C4K Summary

C4K #1 My first child that I was assigned to was Paula. He was from a four year class Auckland, New Zealand. Paula’s blog post was titled “Someday”. This was a video that he made about what he wanted to do someday. Paula wants to travel to the Eiffel tower one day. I commented telling Paula that I was very impressed with his video. I found it amazing that at such a young age these students were blogging and making video.

C4K #2 The second student that I was assigned to was Elisa. Elisa blog was posting about a government and politics class she was in. I found that their class was similar to ours. They were using Skype and blogging in their classroom assignments. I commented telling Elisa that I was once again shocked at the use of technology in the classrooms today. She is a senior in high school and they are learning things that I am now being introduced to. I told her that her knowledge in technology will lead her to a greater future. After commenting I was so excited that Elisa commented back. Not only did she comment back, she read my blog post and left a comment on blog post assignment 4.

C4K #3 My third studentassigned to me was Raena. Reana was a student in Ms. Eppele’s class. This blog post was about Reana’s cat. Reana described how the cat drinks from the toilet and ate all of the treats once. I found this blog post very cute and funny. Reana did a good job this blog post. I commented telling Reana about my dog who also does the same thing. I received a comment back from Reana, which was another exciting moment.

C4K #4 My last comment was actually for two students, Danieland T-Jay. These students were Ferry Lane Primary School. Their last blog was about a football festival that they were participating in. I commented telling them that I could tell that they seemed to have good sportsmanship. I enjoyed reading their blog, which had other post about their football festival.

Podcast by: The Nameless

Project 9A Timetoast Timeline

Blog Assignment 5

 Scott Mcleod is a professor at the Univeristy of Kentucky. He is also the director of CASTLE, which is the nations only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators. Don’t Teach Your Kids This Stuff Please is a blog post published by Scott Mcleod. Mcleod’s blog post was very sarcastic. He is explaining that we should not allow students to use technology because it is negative in many ways. Sarcastically he is saying that technology can benefit our students regardless of the negative things that it may portray. I completely agree with Mcleod’s blog post I believe as teacher we need to balance the traditional classroom with technology. We should not strongly depend on one or the other. As teachers we need to teach our students the positive things about the internet and how they must use it to their advantage.

The iSchool Initiative is a video done by Travis Allen when he was a student in high school. He was proposing that a program named ischool should be used in all schools. This program would be used by both teachers and students. It would cut back the cost of supplies purchased by the schools. The ischool would replace the things that former teachers would struggle with. Calculators, globes, and papers would no longer need to be provided for students physically.

 I was actually amazed by this video. With Travis being a young student in high school his proposal was mature. I believe if all schools took action with this it would tremendously benefit both teachers and students. The cost of materials has been a major problem in our school systems. With this proposal schools could bundle the cost every year.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir video was outstanding. The use of internet in this production was beyond amazing. Below the video states that these people never met or practiced this in person. The choir sung this entire song via internet. I have honeslty never realized how we can accomplish so many things over the internet with ever meeting in person.

Teaching in the 21^st Century was transformed into a video by Kevin Roberts. Kevin Roberts is displaying how different it will be to teach in the 21^st century compared to before. Technology has changed dramatically, which means our teaching skill should do the same. The use of technology will strongly be in affect over a matter of time. As instructors, we must be up to date with the latest technology to teach to our students. We may need to change our teaching strategies. Catching a student’s attention in the future will be far more difficult. Students will be able to depend on internet research to answer most of their questions. Teachers will need to change their approach to remain as the “educator”.

The Reading Rockets website is full of all types of resources for reading. It has tabs for teachers, parents, librarians, and principals. The site has links that can help with most reading problems. It also has links for classroom strategies. I believe this can be helpful for teachers in many ways. There are many students with reading problems, with this site we can go and find different ways to help our students. There are videos, books, and guides that can all be reviewed on the site.

The site would help with a place for parents to look and also try to solve reading problems. Teachers can refer parents to this site for further help at home. It has definitions to explain certain reading problems that parents may not understand. The principals and librarians also have a tab located, which can help the students school wide.  

Blog Assignment 4

After reading the Langwitches’s blog post Podcasting with First Grade, I learned more about podcasting. The younger students were learning to podcast in the classroom. The students were recording an interview and acting out the part of two characters from the current book they were reading in class. Surprisingly the students were very interested in podcasting. The teacher stated that the students were cooperative and attentive with the podcast.  The students were learning new skills in podcasting such as recording and editing. I found it amazing how this caught first graders interest and the skills they were learning at a young age.

The benefits of podcasting in the classroom is a video done by Joe Dale. This video is simply describing the different ways podcasting is beneficial in the classroom. Joe Dale states that podcasting promotes creativity and innovation. After reading about podcasting, I agree with the benefits that were acknowledged in this video. Students can benefit from podcasting in ways that they will not experience in any other way.

Judy Scharf’s podcast collection was very informative. I did not know anything about podcasts before reading this collection. This page describes exactly “what is a podcast” and “tips to succeed”. These two points were the most helpful to me. I now know that for my podcast I should do research on the software I will be using. Becoming comfortable with the software for podcasting is another factor that I learned is important.

My Sentence Movie

C4T #1

I was assigned to Brian Crosby's blog, Learning is Messy. I really enjoyed reading his blog and the topics that were discussed. In the first blog post I read, he was explaining his use of technology in his classroom. His main use that I picked up on was Skype. He used Skype in his classroom to actually keep a student posted on work because they were unable to attend class. I left a comment explaining to him how amazing I thought this was. The way he used Skype with his students was diffrent from what I have seen before.

The second blog post I read was about an article that he was actually featured in. The ariticle was about students grades and that depending on if a teacher should keep their job.Brian Crosby was quoted saying: “No one says that poverty means that these kids can’t learn,” he added, “but that is the meme that is promoted. Instead, we need to recognize the problem, and like America has always been admired for, take it head on and solve the problem.” I commented on this blog post agreeing with what he was saying. Student have issues both at home and school, I believe it is completly unfair to only blame the teacher. We must look at other factors and fix them, instead of pointing the finger at one individual.

My life story

Blog Assignment 3

Technology inSpecial Education

This video shows how this teacher is using technology to enhance her students learning. The students stated themselves that computers helped them to complete their work. Although some of these students were unable to communicate with the teacher verbally, using computers helped them communicate in a tremendous way. The teacher allowed the students to use technology to help them with certain needs that they were unable to complete before. The computers helped with commutation, vision, and hearing.

After watching this video, I realized how technology can be beneficial to everyone. I never knew that computers could help students in such a major way. When I was in school I did not see computers being used to help special needs students. I believe this new use of the computers is amazing in every way. Technology is not only being used for entertainment, it is not being used to help in ways they were never used before.

EducationalApps

After searching for an app that would be helpful for use in the classroom with a special needs student, I found plenty. I did not know Apple has some many apps that teachers or parents can use to help their students. I chose the app SmartKids Picture Dictionary. This app is used for younger kids learning the English language. With teaching elementary school special needs students will be falling behind the other students. By this grade level students should be able to identify some words and pictures. This app is used to help teach words and pictures together. It increases the child’s vocabulary. I would use it to help the students with identifying words and processing them. I believe it will be beneficial to special needs students because of the involvement it requires. If the student is more involved, most likely the more they will grasp.

Gary HayesSocial Media Count

This counter done by Gary Hayes is an amazing eye-opener. The use of social networking and internet researching is growing tremendously. The networking that we as students are being introduced to will most likely be outdated when we become teachers. New updated items are being added to technology at a very fast pace.

As upcoming teachers, we must keep ourselves updated with the latest technology spree. If we keep ourselves informed then we can inform our students. Using the social media and making it beneficial to our students in a positive manner will have a great impact on their future. I believe teachers who used technology to the fullest have a better outcome with their students. We need to stay away from the traditional classrooms, and take advantage of our technology.

Michael Wesch:A Vision of Students Today

This video done by Michael Wesch is enlightening to both teachers and students. From a students’ point of view, I realized that we are not highly involved with our education in the classroom. Students are doing the minimum or just enough to get by and this is accepted. We are not being pushed or motivated to perform the maximum work in classrooms. This begins to fall upon our teachers. As a teacher, I plan to have my students involved as much as I can without overpowering them. I believe some of our teachers today do not know the difference in this. It is okay to push students, but we do not want to make them give up on their education either. Students have outside lives besides school and as teacher we need to keep this in mind. We need to have our students involved in the classroom and push for extra involvement outside the classroom.

Blog Assignment 2

Did you know

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version

This YouTube video by Dr. Strange was beyond interesting. The original video had more facts involved, but they were both amazing videos. Sitting down and actually thinking about how technology is changing our everyday lives has never dawned on me until now. The United States strongly depends on technology every day to do simple tasks. Sad to say if technology was taken away from us we would be in a world of trouble. Our younger students are now being taught to depend on technology at an early age. After leaving the elementary school level our students will know things about technology that older students would have never learned.

There was a fact in the video stating that India has more honors kids than America has kids. This fact alone is outstanding. The second fact I found amazing was that the top ten demanding jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. This shows how much our world is changing every day. As educators we must be teach our student the most recent technology or they will fall behind quickly. Our future will be based on technology highly and we must prepare our students for this early.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

Mr. Winkle Wakes The Mr. Winkle Wakes video gives you a surprisingly outlook of how the world has changed but is still the same in one important place. Mr. Winkle traveled from a typical work setting, a typical hospital, and a very typical school setting. All these places seem up to date with technology until you finish the video. Our environment has changed dramatically, but our classrooms are remaining the same. Technology needs to be enforced in all of the newer classes.

Teachers are still following the traditional school settings in our modern day. We as teachers need to embrace technology and use it not only for ourselves but for students also. I have noticed in classrooms how much technology has changed for some students. A select few of teachers are using smart boards to teach every day.

The Importance of Creativity

The Importance of Creativity. This video is focusing on the fact the schools are causing creativity in students to disappear. Subjects in school are taught by what the schools feel are most important. Dance and art aren’t taught to be as important as math and science. Children should be given the opportunity at all age levels to express themselves and be creative. In schools we are teaching students that there is one set way that something must be done and we must follow that. Students should follow what they believe is right. There should definitely be structure when teaching, but teachers don’t have to be extremely strict on one way of learning.

The story that was told about the dancer was enlightening. ADHD is commonly diagnosed in our younger students based on behavior problems.. As teachers, we need to give our students a chance to express themselves and not be quick to say they have a behavior issue. Students have different interest at different ages and we must embrace this instead of discouraging it. This video shows the contributions a teacher can add to a student's future.. It is important that we allow students to be creative in doing their school work. Teachers may have an opinion on what is important to them, but we must take our students opinions and intrest into matter.

A Vision for 21^st Century Learning

A Vision for 21st Century Learning According to this video the new way of learning will consist of using more technology and fewer lectures. Our traditional classrooms now consist of some technology, but mostly the use of lectures. Students will learn in a way that will benefit them in their future workplace. Learning will actually be more involved and fun for students. The video say it will teach them in way that they will not realize they are learning.

I believe this will be a very beneficial way of learning for students. Younger students participate more if school is enjoyable for them. Lectures are a good way of learning but I do not feel like they are necessary. Hands activities have always been an easier way of learning for me. The major idea is that with using technology only, is that all learning styles are being acknowledge in some way.

Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts

Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts

This video shows students using different aspects of technology in the classroom. The teacher is using a different approach than the paper and pencil approach. She also allows her students to teach each other instead of her being the only one to teach. I believe this is important for students to learn.  The more involvement I think the more a student will grasp.

One aspect that I liked that this teacher used was learning from her students. She allowed them to teach her new things. The technology that they were using in the classroom was new to me. I have never seen this type of technology used with students. The more that she is teaching her students, the more they will know for their future jobs.

Project 1 Wordle

My first wordle!

Blog post 1

About me!

My name is Jasmine Stevens. I am 20 years old but I will be celebrating my 21^st birthday this year! I was born in Virginia, thanks to my parents being in the navy. Even though I was born in Virginia, I have spent the majority of my life living in Mobile, Alabama. My mother is from Pennsylvania, and my father was from Mobile which lead us here. I only have one sibling, which is my younger sister Breana. My mother graduated from the University of South Alabama about 3 years ago, majoring in social work. My father died when I was 10 years old from a motorcycle accident. Since my father’s death it has been us 3 girls living at home.

 I graduated from W.P. Davidson High School in 2009. After high school graduation I went to further my education immediately. This is my second semester at South Alabama. I recently transferred here from the University of Alabama. When I left UA I honestly was forced to come to South Alabama! I am majoring in Elementary Education. My plans after graduation consist of joining the military or becoming a kindergarten teacher. My major interest are shopping, shopping, and shopping. I love anything that involves shopping or design. Something that I find interesting about myself is that I’m left-handed. I find left-handed people interesting because of the very few that are in the world.

Summary on Time Management

Randy Pausch’s video on time management was helpful in many ways. The main idea that I connected to in the video was asking yourself “why” you are completing a task.  The questions of why and what would happen if I didn’t complete these task are very important. If you ask yourself these questions I believe a person’s motivation to complete task would increase. When you know the importance of completing something you tend to want to complete it in a orderly fashion.

Practice Post

This is my practice post.