Blog Post # 15

Final Reflection Part 1:



For my last and final blog post in EDM 310 I am to go and reflect on my very first Blog Post # 1. In my first blog post, I talked about how I am going to be an Elementary Teacher, what kind of classroom that I want to create, and what kind of teacher I want to be. As I said in my first blog post I'm a kinesthetic learner. Because of that I tend to like the more creative and hands on approach to school. And this semester in EDM 310, it has taught me how I can bring that extra creative approach to my future classroom. It taught me that school isn't just paper and pencil, with the rare chance of using the computer that's in the corner of the room. The school systems have changed, and now they're making students not just use the right side of their brains anymore. They're pushing them to use their whole brain. They're letting the students learn, but at the same time the students can be creative with the information they're gaining. So when I do graduate from University of South Alabama, that is the kind of teacher I want to be.

As a teacher I feel like you need to be that spark that helps motivate your students into being excited about learning. That's the kind of teacher I want to be. Like I said in my first blog post, I feel like being an elementary teacher is a very serious job. You're getting your students coming to you during their first years of school. This is the time when they either decide they hate this institution or they love it. If a student is only in the second grade and they're already start to get a hardend heart for school, we as teachers aren't doing our jobs correctly. That second grader should still be wide eyed, excited about what he's going to be doing and learning in school that day. For my future classroom I want all my students to be excited about learning. Learning is a gift. Not every child in the world gets to wake up in the morning knowing that he or she gets to go to a building where they feel safe and cared for while still getting to expand their knowledge. I want my students to know that.

As of now technology is already a huge part of everyone's lives. I'm not even out of college yet and I'm learning how to integrate technology into the classroom. I can't even imagine what all will already be integrated into the classroom when I finally do become a teacher. My future students will already be technology whiz kids, so I want to teach with technology. What it can do for the classroom is amazing. It opens so many other doors that I didn't even have when I was in high school, and I didn't even graduate that long ago. The students now can have the WHOLE world in their hands. They'll have an endless amount of knowledge that they can find. Why deny students that privilege when you can make it happen for them.

One of the tools that my students and I are going to use is podcasting and making an audiobook. I loved when I got to listen to 1st grade students take turns reading and interpreting what they thought their character would sound like. All of the students sounded dedicated and excited about taking turns reading and making their story come to life. It's a great way for the students to learn how to read out loud and learn how to accomplish public speaking.It also let's the story come alive and who knows... maybe the podcast and audiobook might help the students learn to love to read. Another great tool I want to put in my classroom is Blogger. By blogging it helps the students actually understand what the lesson was about. The students can't just say yes I do understand or no I don't understand. They have to prove to me and to the rest of the class that they have somewhat of a grasp on the lesson. Not only does it show what the student is learning but it will also help the students learn basic grammer. In order for a blog post to make sense, you have have to have the correct punctuation and spelling.

Like I said in my first blog post "Since I'm an artsy person I want my classroom to be colorful and vibrant. A place where my students come to school and get excited about learning. I want it to be an open room that the students feel welcome in." And I still feel that way. I want my classroom to feel open. A place where students know they can trust me and I can trust them. Their classroom will kind of be there home away from home. It's a place where young minds will come together and for that year they'll work out problems together and even learn from each other.

I wouldn't want to change a lot about what I wanted in my future classroom from my first blog post. I do want to make a few little tweaks though. At the beginning of this class I had no clue what a PLN was or that teachers and their students even did blogging. I just thought that blogging was just for girls who liked fashion, so they created their own little fashion blog. That's seriously all I knew about having a blog. It's sad... I know. But for the tweaks that I would want to make, is because of EDM 310. Like I have said before I would introduce my students to the new form of teaching. I wouldn't completely drop the pencil and paper, but I will now be making technology an even bigger aspect in their lives. I want my future students to be fully prepared for what the coming years has to offer them. I don't want them left behind just because I don't want to keep up with technology because I think it's too hard to understand or because it doesn't at that time intrest me.

Final Reflection Part 2:

Project # 13 Collaborative Tools Report

Jarrod Roberts, Farrah Deese, Ciara Deese and I used Google Docs and FaceTime to work together for our number 15 project. We were able to share ideas and work on each others ideas as well. With Google Docs, we were able to write an outline on what we were wanting to film and what characters we were wanting to portray. Google Docs was a great help for us because we could help make corrections on what each other had written and did not have to wait to fix something. For our FaceTime we talked to each other about when and where we were going to meet each other. We also talked about how each of us should portray our characters. We wanted it to flow smoothly and know how we should be acting when we finally did meet together. And last but not least we met together in the Education Building three times to film our project number 15 SmartBoard presentation.

Blog Post # 14

Teacher Knows If You Have Done The E-Reading:



This week for EDM 310 we had to read an article "Teacher Knows If You Have Done Your E-Reading" by David Streitfeld. The article was about Texas A&M professors who were worried that their students weren't actually reading their textbooks. The professors know that the students are missing major pieces of information that they need to know. So a way for the professors to know that the information they want the students to read and know, the started using CourseSmart. CourseSmart is a program where students are all put into a computer system, are given their textbooks on E-Readers, and this way the professor can track whether or not the student has or has not read the passages they were suppose to have read. The professor can track to see how many times the book has been opened, and if the student isn't doing so well in the class the professor can show the student evidence as to why he or she might not being doing so well. Some of the people who are in the classes don't mind using the system, but there are others who say it's too much like "Big Brother" and that they are losing their own studying time privacy.

My thoughts on this CourseSmart program from the view as a teacher, is that this could be a great program that could work. As a teacher it would be nice to know wether or not my students actually read what they were suppose to. That way if they didn't understand something and came to ask me a question, I would at least know that they had tried to understand the subject matter themselves before they came to me. Also it would be easier to teach knowing that my students had read the assigned material so they know a little bit about what I am about to cover, compared to the students having no clue what's in for them that day.

My thoughts on this as a student are totally different. To me that is invading privacy. If a student comes to class takes notes and still passes the test without ever opening the book then thats what works for them. Not every student has to read the chapter to know what all is going on. As humans we all learn differently. Some are people who can listen and learn and understand. Others are people who actually do have to open a book and read what the professor will be talking about. So for the professor to just base his or her thoughts on a particular student just by how many time he or she opens a book is not okay. Studying time is for the student, not so the professor can see how many time one of his or her students have opened their textbook.

If I could ask the professors questions about this new program they would be:
1.How can you base a students effort by just looking at how many times he or she has opened a book?
2. Do you not think that your students can learn what they need just from your lectures?
3. Do you not think that this program is a form of invasion of privacy for your students?
4. Has the grade overall average gone up since you started this program?
5. Do you really think that the students will open their books more, just because you can see how many times they have?

If I could ask the students questions about this program they would be:
1. Do you think as a student you should have to read everything in your textbook, or only certain sections?
2. Do you think you need to read the book or can you learn and grasp everything you need to know in your professors lecture?
3. Do you think this new program is a form of invasion of privacy into the studying aspect of your life?
4. Has your grade point average gone up, down, or stayed the same since this new program has started?
5. Will you as a student open your book more because your professor can see it, or will you keep up your same study patterns and not care what the professor sees?

If I had left a comment on the article it would have been to ailun99 from Wisconsin who wrote

"And how does the software know WHO is opening the book and supposedly reading it? Just like students can buy online papers, they can pay someone to "read" their textbooks! I'm a professor and very wary of all of this technology. My best teaching happens person to person where I can see their eyes, interact with them as human beings, adjust my teaching to how they are reacting, and engage them as whole people - not just mere scores on some computer program. And how does the software know WHO is opening the book and supposedly reading it? Just like students can buy online papers, they can pay someone to "read" their textbooks!"

Comment:
I couldn't agree with your statement more! To me all this is doing is trying to make the professors feel better about themselves, seeing how much the students read the material and gives them something that they can blame on if the students don't do well in his or her class. When you have teacher and student face to face it makes it a better learning/teaching experience. You can tell on the students face if what you're saying isn't making sense or isn't getting through.

Final Project # 16

Project # 15 Smart Board Group Project

Blog Post # 13

Brian Crosby:



Brian Crosby's speech in Back To The Future was very interesting to me. He seem's like a great teacher who actually cares about his students and wants them to learn. What I loved most was how interactive he was with his class. He wants to show his students that science can be interesting. How he made them blog and create Wiki's for a science class was different, and I enjoyed it. My favorite part I think was when he made the students act like they were the balloon an describe what they thought what was going to happen to them as the ballon, then after the experiment, go back and write how they would have felt after the experiment.

What really made me like Brian Crosby was how he let his student Celeste who has leukemia, still feel like she was a part of his classroom. Instead of just letting her stay home and not meet any of her classmates, Brian put her on Skype and made her feel like she was apart of the classroom. To me that was a very moving and touching idea. Not all teachers would go out of their way, to make all students feel so special.

Paul Anderson:

In Anderson's video Blended learning Cycle, Anderson talks about how he has started Blended Learning in his classroom. Blended Learning is taking mobile, classroom, online learning and putting all three together. For Anderson's Blended Learning Cycle he created an acronym called "Quivers". For Anderson's "Quivers" he has six arrow's inside the quiver and just like the six arrow's he has six parts to his own learning cycle:



QUestion: To start the lesson Anderson asks a question that will grab hold of the class, so that they will be intrigued and want to pay attention.

Investigation: The next step is to start getting the students to ask questions. Help to get them thinking about what they will be learning.

Video: Anderson then show's visual aid to his students so they can see and gain more information about what they will be studying.

Elaboration: Elaboration is when the students actually go and find the answers out to their own investigations.

Review: For review Anderson sits down with each of his students individually and asks questions to see if student actually understands the lesson.

Summary quiz: The last step in Anderson's "Quivers" is the summery quiz. It's a little quiz that his students take online, so that they can review what they know.

I like Anderson's strategy. What I like most, is his "Review". The idea where you pull the student to the side, and make sure that he/she know's what they are talking about and doing, just one on one is a GREAT idea!I will definitely be using that in my classroom!

Progress Report On Final Project # 16

Final Project Progress Report:


Jarrod Roberts, Ciara Deese, Farrah Deese, and I planned what we will be doing in order to complete our project on time. We met Wednesday and filmed some of the our "Mythbusters" clips that will be in our project. We're meeting again this Tuesday and Wednesday, and have planned to have our Project # 16 completed by Wednesday night!

Blog Post # 12

Blog Post # 12: Music In The Classroom!

Part 1)

1. Go to Music to Manage Your Classroom and read the blog post by Brent Vasicek.

2.Write a post on your opinions about what Brent Vasicek had to say. Do you think playing music in the classroom is a good idea or do you think it could hinder the classroom? Rememebr to follow the requirements in Writing A Quality Blog Post

3. Now here comes the FUN part! Follow the rules that Mr. Vasicek mentioned in Music to Manage Your Classroom. He gave a set of times in which to play music in the classroom and what type/genere to play. What I want you to do is to create a playlist for your future classroom following those rules. Now remember this is going to be played inside your classroom. Do NOT pick songs that would be deemed inappropriate for your age group of students or songs that could reflect poorly on you and your school.

Part 2)

Music to Manage Your Classroom:
I love what Mr. Vasicek said in Music to Manage Your Classroom! I fully believe that music can change a persons attitude. Music is a way to help bring you up and also help soothe you.

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent” ― Victor Hugo

As for putting music in the classroom I AM ALL FOR IT! For my future classroom I want it to be welcoming and inviting. A place where my students want to come and learn. A place where they feel safe away from home for a few hours, five days a week. And a great way to wake my students up and to help get them perked up and ready to learn would be a great upbeat song when they come in! Music can do so much for the soul. Why not teach students the effect it can have early, so they can know that music is an art form that can help them in every possible way.

My Playlist:
Before School — "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves
To Start School — "Dynamite" by Tai Cruz
Lunch Transition- "Hey Soul Sister" by Train (Signals the students that it's time to get lunch bags and line up)
Subject Transition/Switch Classrooms- "Firework" by Katy Perry/ "Lean on Me" by Rockapella (Signals that it's time to line up to go to another classroom or switch to another subject)
As Lessons — Classical Music or Instrumental music for Writing & Testing time
End of Day — "Bye Bye Bye" by *NSYNC (Going with Mr.Vasicek's idea. Such a great way to say goodbye!!)

Blog Post # 11

Ms. Cassidy:



Technology in the classroom as been a huge issue and a debate between teachers and parents for a few years now. And Ms. Cassidy overcomes all those obstacles and proves it in her video Little Kids...Big Potential and also proves how she does all this and how it's accomplished in her Skype Interview with one of the classes in EDM 310. I think the video of her students was just adorable. The children are so enthusiastic about their blogs and how they can do their own research with Wiki's. I loved it and I think that Ms. Cassidy is showing her students a skill that they will be able to use the rest of their lives.

I love the fact that her students are already blogging at such a young age. Ms. Cassidy is helping her students to already learn how to get what they want to say across to other people, and how to correctly say it. It's also let's them shine a little bit and show off their work, and let others from all over the world tell them his or her thoughts on their projects. It helps them gain even more confidence in their own work, and be proud of what they did.

One idea that Ms. Cassidy used in her class that I loved was the use of the Wiki! For first graders to do their own research and find their own answers was awesome. For my future classroom, I will for sure be using this technique in my classroom. I love the idea of teaching children at a young age how to correctly look up information. By the time they're in high school and college they will know exactly what to do.

I think some of the problems that I will encounter I think, might be the parents. A lot of parents might not want his or her children on a networking sight. Hopefully in order to win them over, I can also make a classroom video and show the future parents the positive side of blogging in the classroom.

As for the benefits of using this in the classroom I think it'll make the students gain confidence in themselves and their work. They get to show off what they are doing and present it to the world. Technology shouldn't be shunned fromt the classroom. It's apart of what our world is coming to. There's no need to act like it's not there, or will do harm to our students when in fact it is the total opposite and will open way more doors for future students then the doors they have open for them now.

Blog Post # 10

Adventures in Pencil Integration:



This pencil cartoon reminded me a lot about the PC and Mac commercials. Just like PC's Papermate pencils might be cheaper and work for a litte bit, but you won't really be getting all your moneys worth. And in the cartoon the Ticonderoga pencils are more expensive, but they will last longer and will be a better buy with your money. The hipster part of the joke is like talking about how "hipsters" only buy Apple products because it's not what in the "mainstream".

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?:
I love John Spencer's blog Adventures in Pencil Integration ! In his blog post Why Were Your Kids Playing Games? Mr. Spencer shares a story with us on a conversation between him and his school's principal. Mr.Spencer was being questioned as to why when the principal had walked past his classroom, did it look like the children were playing games instead of doing busywork. The talk continues between the two and the principal finally gets down to the point he's trying to make. He wants Mr. Spencer to teach his students how to memorize information, so that the students will just be able to pass their standardized testing. Not so that the students can actually learn. He just wants the students to have "burp back" education.
The second blog post I read from Mr.Spencer is The Con Academy In this blog post Mr. Spencer meets with a man who wants to help "flip" his classroom. What the man was trying to provide for Spencer's classroom worksheets that students could work on outside of his or her classroom and work at their own pace. Mr. Spencer's thoughts of the "flip" is "I just don’t see the appeal of this. It’s a series of worksheets”. The salesman tries to tell Mr.Spencer that he can't give 100% to each child who doesn't understand what he's trying to teach. At the end Mr. Spencer isn't won over and describes the whole idea a "Trojan Horse".

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?:
I want to first say that Scott McLeod's blog post Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? was very funny. I loved his sarcasm throughout the whole post. It was a very creative post. And I agree with the whole thing. His class will be prepared for the future because he is preparing his students. All the other students won't be as prepared or as well rounded.

Mr. McLeod is an author as well as a professor. He also just happens to be a very hilarious blogger about technology issues in the classroom.

Project # 11 Short Green Screen Movie

Project # 14 Smartboard Instruction Part 1

Blog Post # 9

Mr. McClung's World:



This week for EDM 310 I was lucky enough to be able to read "Mr. McClung's World" a teaching blog by Mr. Joe McClung. Mr. McClung started this blog after his first year of teaching and writes about his experience with it. He names these articles "What I've Learned This Year". Mr. McClung talks about the good and bad from what he had gained in each of those school years.

In one of his first blog posts he talks about his very first year of teaching. McClung talks about:

How to read the Crowd-
In this section McClung talks about the importance of keeping his mind student focused. Being a teacher just isn't about yourself. It's about your students. The children you're trying to help teach and grow to become promising adults. You shouldn't worry about if you're the best teacher to just outside your classroom, you need to worry about your students. A great quote from McClung is "In order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction."

Be Flexible-
As everyone knows you can plan ANYTHING down to a tee and think everything will be alright. Then just one tiny thing happens, and POOF there goes all of your articulated planning. As a teacher you need to be ready for that. You also have to learn how to go with it. Or as McClung put it be flexible. As a teacher you might make lesson plans expecting your students to understand and they might not. You'll have to slow down and work with them. And not get into a tizzy because this hiccup wasn't in the lesson plan.

Communicate-
Communication is key. In any kind of relationship you must have great communication. One one can read another persons mind and another person can't expect you to. So even as communication is important outside the workplace it is also important inside the workplace.

Be Reasonable-
As a teacher you want your students to be the best. You want them to grasp everything quickly and efficiently, sometimes that doesn't happen. As McClung talked about your students are just children and they're also just human. Everyone messes up. You have to learn to accept that in your students. Not all of them will be get what you're teaching right off the bat. Be patient.

Don't Be Afraid Of Technology-
As I have learned in EDM 310 the whole World is growing and moving into almost 100% technology for everything. There is no way anyone can protest technology any longer. Technology is here to help you and be your friend. Don't be afraid of it just because it's something you're not use to or isn't the norm.

Lastly... Never Stop Learning-
What McClung wants to get across with never stop learning is that "It’s never too late to change your way of thinking, learning, or style". As humans grow, we find more and more information. Don't just let what you learned in school and college make you stop accepting the new and valuable information this world has to offer.

My second blog post I read from Mr. McClung's is his volume 4 post of "What I Learned This Year"(2011-2012). In this post Mr. McClung talks about:

You Gotta Dance With Who You Came With-
In this part Mr.McClung talks about how he knew how he was as a teacher and how his students saw him. But he never really thought about how his coworkers saw him. He says that even though it is important to get along with your coworkers, you can't please everyone. As long as his students are learning and enjoying his class he's happy. He also states that he's not working for his coworkers. He's working for his students. The students are who matter.

Challenge Yourself-
In this section Mr. McClung talks about how easy it was for him to let the lesson plan teach itself and how easy it was to start losing creativity. Don't let yourself get stuck in to a point where teaching becomes boring. Challenge yourself with new obstacles in the classroom. Be the best teacher that your students need you to be.

Project # 12 Book Trailer

Blog Post # 8

This is how we dream:



This week one of our videos we had to watch was "This Is How We Dream Part 1 and 2" by Dr. Richard Miller. Dr. Miller started off his discussion by talking about how when he was a kid, he wanted to be a writer and publish a book. So he went to college studied and looked up what he needed to look up to write his book. His dream finally came true and he accomplished what he wanted and wrote a book that was published. That would be a proud moment for anyone. But, what Dr. Miller didn't expect as a kid, was the internet. He goes on to say that now you can see his book all over the internent and you're able to buy his book for a very great deal of fifty nine cense. Dr. Miller starts talking about how the world for writing has totally changed. He says that multimedia is the "greatest change in human communication in human history". Think about that for a second. Not in any other time in history, has had what we are fortunate enough to have today. We can get onto our laptops, Iphones, Ipads, and etc and talk, and not just only talk, but SEE the other person we're talking to, and that person could be on a totally different continent! It's a luxury we're so use to today, that we don't even give it a second thought. But for us to know and see how much is out in the world, from just a piece of technology, is a truly amazing accomplishment for the human race.

What Dr. Miller also was talking about, is how easy it is now to just be able to sit at home in one spot and write a whole paper without moving. All you need is a computer and the internet and you basically have the whole world in your hands. Dr. Miller talks about writing and states that writing is "not so much with pencils, paper, and a library. But with laptops". And that statement is 100% true. The only time that I as a student even go to the school campus library is when I need to focus and need some peace and quite. I can't even remember the last time I had to go to the library to actually look up information for a test or a paper. I do all my research from my laptop. The internet has everything if not more than what a library contains. Dr. Miller called the internet the "research riches of the World", and you can't deny it. Everything that is on the internet can be updated in a matter of seconds. You can find all kinds of information. The old ways of writing and researching are out.

I loved what Dr. Miller had to say. And when I become a teacher I will teach my students the importance of how to do research on the interntet. There's so much out in this world to learn from. And as the days go by more and more new findings in technology are made. Who know's maybe the way we write research papers now, will become a way of the past. But for now we need to see the importance of showing and teaching students what technology and the multimedia can do for them. I'll use Martin luther King's speeches for example. You can Youtube ALL of Martin Luther King's speeches. You can still listen and learn from one of the most influential speakers in American history, because of technology. It's an amazing thing.

Carly Pugh's Blog Post:
First I just want to say that I loved Carly's Blog Post #12 ! She talked with such enthusiasm that it was a great post to read. And Carly is just like what Dr. Miller is talking about. She talked about communicating with her students with multimedia. And I loved the idea of making a Youtube playlist. That was such a great idea. The reason the Youtube playlist is such a great idea is because Carly talks about the visual aspect. She's correct on the fact that not everyone can just be told something, and then understand it. So to be able to create a playlist so that visual learners can also keep up and understand, is such a great idea.

EDM 310 Is Different:
I found both The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies hilarious. I found the hair pulling and going crazy totally relatable. There have been plenty of times where I was doing just that, before I got some help.

If I had to create videos I would make mine on procrastination and not asking for help. Those two are very big battles I had and have to deal with. I know Dr. Strange talked about procrastination at the beginning of the semester but the seriousness of that does not hit you until you're still up at 11:30 on a sunday night, trying to finish what needed to be done before 12am. In those moments you tell yourself "This will NOT happen again next week!" So for my video I would show how to successfully accomplish time management so that you can be successful in the future of EDM 310 and also for the rest of your life.

The second video that I would like to create is on asking questions. Asking questions so soooo important in EDM 310. Like the saying goes "no question is a dumb question." and I believe that to be true. Especially in EDM 310. This is a totally different class than any other class you'll take. That's why Dr. Strange has created so many different ways for you to get ahold of someone, inorder to ask a question. Dr. Strange wants you to pass the class, he's not making it easy because he wants you to earn it. So one way in order for you to pass this class you'll have to admit to someone that you don't know what you're doing and be humble and ask for help from someone who knows what he or she is talking about.

Learn To Change, Change To Learn:
The arguments made in the "Learn To Change, Change To Learn" video we're all validated arguments. I agreed with most if not all of the points made.I love the whole idea about teaching with technology. It needs to be incorporated into the school system. One of the best quotes from the video is "Every turned off device, is potentially a turned off child." And that's so true. If our old buildings of mortar and brick aren't efficiently teaching the students of tomorrow, then we need to learn to teach in a way that incorporates technology into the classroom. To teach the students to where they aren't just memorizing for tests, but are becoming more efficient and smarter students and actually learning.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0
1. Comic Strip
View my comic Ms. Buzz!!! Then go and make one at Make Beliefs Comix!

2.Poll
Come take my poll HERE!! Then go create one at PollEverywhere.com!

3. Video Tool
With Animoto you can make your pictures into videos! (Which is pretty cool) some of the features that Animoto has is:
1. You can use it on your mobile phone. You can share and make videos anytime and anywhere!
2. You can add captions and titles to all of your pictures and videos.
3. You can choose over 1000 songs to pair up with your video to make it even better! Who wouldn't like to make a soundtrack of their very own?

Blog Post # 7

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture:



I first want to begin my discussion about Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, is how happy Randy was. He knew everything there was to know about the situation he was in with his Pancreatic Cancer, and how he only had a few more months to live before that his doctor's said he probably would't make it much longer. Most people would be having pity partys or would be depressed. But not Randy. He was so lively and happy in this last lecture video. You would never have guessed, that he would have known that he wouldn't be living much longer. What I learned from Randy is no matter what happens in your life or what you're doing you need to have fun with it. And to me that is so true and perfect. As I've said before I am going to school with a major as Elementary Education. I'll be getting to teach little kids everyday. So the word FUN is going to be an issue with me. It's hard for kids to sit down and concentrate in the first place. They need something that grasps their attention and takes hold. If I make all my lesson plans dull and boring my class won't be having a positive outcome. But! If I can make my class interested in what we're having to study and work on and make it fun to learn in the process, my classroom will be having a very positive outcome. The students will want to participate rather than just sit and wait for the bell to ring and tell them it's time to go home.

Another lesson that I learned from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was, give feedback and listen to any received feedback. That rule will also be perfect to incorporate into my classroom. No one on Earth is perfect. We all mess up at times and we all are better at one thing while others are better at another. As a teacher, I'll be doing great in one department while I may need to work harder on another. So if another teacher comes up to me and tells me I might need to change how I teach something or how I do something, I don't need to see that as if that other teacher is out to get me. I need to be that small portion of society that takes that piece of advice and use it to my advantage to change what needs to be changed and become a better teacher from it. Now, since I am becoming a teacher I will also be giving feedback. As a teacher who will care about her students, I will want them to be the best that they can be. So when I give my feedback on a project or a test, I need to say it in a polite up-beat way. Not in a cynical make my students feel stupid way. When a person does get feedback from another it's not always what he or she wants to hear. So if I put a nice spin to it, my students will more than likely be happy to take that piece of advice and run with it. As Randy perfectly said it "Your critics tell you they love you and care." If you don't have any critics that means the people around you have given up.

A third thing I learned from Randy is to be loyal. Randy had a perfect quote from Jon Snoddy about loyalty, "Wait, and people will surprise you." Being loyal is a huge trait that everyone should want. And as a teacher I need to be loyal to my students and in return they will be loyal to me. Now as I said earlier we are all human beings and are all far from being perfect. If someone isn't doing something you think they need to be doing stick with them. Don't leave them just because you don't like it. Give them time and like Jon Snoddy said they will surprise you. As a teacher, my students will be depending on my to teach them and also make them feel safe while they're at school. If a student has a question and it's the same question that's been repeated over and over. I shouldn't become upset with him or her. They trust me enough to walk up to my desk, or raise their hand in the middle of class for me to explain something to them. They have enough trust and loyalty in me, to answer the question and not embarrass or make them feel stupid in the process.

One of the last things that really caught my attention in Randy's lecture was,
How To Get People To Help You:
1. You can't get there alone, and I believe in Karma
2. Tell the truth
3. Be earnest
4. Apologize when you screwup
5.Focus on others, not yourself
As a teacher I will be needing a lot of help from various different people, and my students will also be needing help from various different people their whole lives. I need to teach my students these five rules. For the first rule "You can't get there alone" that is completely true. My students will need to know about teamwork. Nobody was made to be able to do everything on his or her own. You need people to help you along the way. That it's okay to admit to yourself and to others that, "No. I can't do this by myself." From the time your in K5 all the way to about the day you die, you'll always be having to work with someone or a group of people. Why not teach them at a young age how to efficiently work in groups and build a stronger teamwork? For the second rule "Tell the truth". That is an extremely important trait that someone needs to have. Trust is like loyalty. Once it's broken it's hard to gain back. The third rule I want to teach my students is "Be earnest". Everyone can tell who is actually meaningful and who is not. I want to teach my students that they don't want to be one of those fake people. Life is a gift, and you need to treat people in a way that shows they actually mean something,and they're not just like an old toy they can get tired with and want to throw away. The fourth rule that's important is "Apologize when you screwup". Like I've already said multiple times, we're human. We're bound to make mistakes. If you break something in the classroom, tell me. Don't try to hide it. If you do that, you could ruin your character a little and can also lose a little trust. And last but not least is "Focus on others, not yourself". No one can stand being around someone who is full of him or herself. I need to teach my future students that caring about yourself is no where near as important as caring about others.

And to end my little discussion on Randy, I would like to end on one of my favorite quotes he said in his last lecture.
"Don't bail; the best of the gold is at the bottom of the crap."

Two Ladies And A Guy Podcast

Project # 10

Finding The Right Tool:



So as i've mentioned before I am a HUGE reader and will push anyone in the direction of reading more. So when I was asked what technology I would use in my classroom I immediately thought of the Kindle. The Kindle doesn't have to be used for just reading fiction or nonfiction books on you leisure. You can use the Kindle for multiple purposes in the classroom. A great website that talks about tips for the Kindle in the classroom is from the Getting Smart Blog The article 10 Tips for Kindle in the Classroom By Brian Friedlander are helpful in showing that ereaders help in the classroom. Mr. Friedlander talks about how students are more excited about reading on their own personal ereader than with traditional books.

Some of the tips that Mr. Friedlander talks about that I would use in my classroom would be to have students use the dictionary on their ereader to help them start understanding words and broaden their vocabulary, you can start teaching students about note taking skills, by teaching them to start using the note teaching feature on the Kindle, and another feature that's going paperless and going green, is you can send PDF’s and Word files to your Kindle from your email to your students Kindles so your students can read from their own Kindles.

Blog Post # 6

The Networked Student:



This week I watched the video The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler. It was an interesting video to watch. The video was about how teachers make their students become independently self sufficient about learning. And all the learning is based off of scholarly networking websites and the internet. Textbooks, books, and paper are all thrown out the window. Instead of students being handed a book or a worksheet, students have the responsibility of finding out the correct information on a subject themselves. If the student has a question or wants to talk in depth about a particular subject, he or she also has access to top professors all over the world. The students aren't just stuck in a room writing notes anymore. Instead students are now going in depth into subjects and truly seeing how the world works.

So you ask "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" No matter what students still need that one on one time with teachers. As humans grow they need someone to ask questions to, to get advice from, to look up to, and no matter what students will always need reinforcement. The whole point of a teacher is helping students grow and become a better person. Just because the way education is technologically changing doesn't mean the human emotion is going into that direction.

Am I ready to become a networked teacher? Yes! To me the whole point of becoming a teacher is to help push students creativity and brain power. Being a networked teacher is doing just that. Students are given a subject and he or she has to go and truly find out why that subject is the way it is. My major is Elementary Education. As a teacher I'll be teaching a variety of subjects. I'll try to teach each subject to the best of my ability, but I won't be an expert on each subject. With becoming a networked teacher and having the students talk one on one with professors who are experts on that specific subject is an amazing idea to use with my future students. They'll have an endless amount of information and knowledge to gain, and all of it will be at their own fingertips.

A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment:



Ok. Her PLE was so organized and she knew exactly what she was talking about. She was totally confident on what she was talking about and knew exactly what she had to do. She talked about how she wasn't made to do any of what she was doing, but she did it anyway. To me that shows how responsible this 7th grade girl is. She made her PLE the way she wanted it to look like and was able to use the creative side of her barin, as well as work her knowledge of learning side. She did an excellent job, and I need to learn from her PLE, and start to work to make my PLN a little better...

My Sentence Movie

Blog Post # 5

If I built A School
First I just have to say I loved reading If I Built A School by Krissy Venosdale! Ms. Venosdale spoke beautifully to me. How she described her dream school was stunning. I could picture everything she described to a tee. I'm a huge fan of coffee so when she talked about how her dream school would have "A cafeteria that looks like a seating area at a cozy, modern coffee house and could be used throughout the day as another comfy gathering space." I become 100% on board with her dream school! Coffee throughout the day without leaving the building? Yes please!What I loved most about Ms. Venosdale's dream school is how she talked about how the students would be excited to learn. Instead of making school an institution made to just push students through until they graduate, she talked with such enthusiasm about making it a institution that students couldn't wait to get to and the students couldn't wait to exercise their brains. It was a beautiful description of how a school should be. Not how school's have sadly turned out to be.

The way that Ms. Venosdale spoke about her dream school sent many ideas my way about how I would want to build my dream school. From what I could tell from Ms. Venosdale's description of her dream school, she LOVES color. And it just so happens that I also love anything that has color and love the saying "Live Colorfully", but if I could have a Willy Wonka moment and be able to build my dream school, I'd start with the front doors. The doors would have huge signs in many different languages that say "Welcome". Once you get into the hallways this is where there would be nothing but students art work plastered all over the place. Showing off all their artistic capabilities. I'd have nothing but floor to ceiling windows throughout the whole school. Letting in nothing but natural sunlight. Each room would have computers that actually work and help the students grow and see what the world has to offer beyond their classroom. Each room would would also have little nook areas where the students could relax and enjoy reading his or her assignments. In the center of the school I would have a courtyard where the students could go outside and enjoy the weather while they do homework or eat lunch. And with my love for coffee, I would have a little cafe in the center of the courtyard where students and teachers both could get there little caffeine fix towards the middle or end of the day. I would make the learning hands on and let the students actually see what they're learning. No just sitting in their seats for eight hours writing notes. I'd make the students interact with activities. Help them get excited about learning and show them why they need to know the information they're receiving.


Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
Watching Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir was stunning. It felt as though he took time and space and just stopped it for a second. How he did that with people who were in USA, Germany, Singapore, and many other places is amazing. I had no clue that a man could think of using the internet, to get a handful of people from all over the world,and compose a beautiful song with nothing but strangers voices. Mr. Whitacre is a man who knew what to do with the internet and his time by not just checking his Facebook or Twitter. He used the internet instead to create a piece of musical masterpiece.

Teaching in the 21st Century
To Robert's teaching isn't just paper, pencil, and a desk anymore. Roberts is stating that teachers need to go above and beyond. We need to start teaching students skills they can use everyday. What they learn in class isn't as hard to find now. Almost everyone can navigate Google, Wikipedia, Iphones, Ipads, and computers. The answers to questions are easy to find. But showing students how to live is different. I agree with the video. The World is dramatically changing. What once use to be the gigantic world is now not as big. You can watch anything that's across the World in a matter of seconds. The whole point of school is to be challenged. To get your head thinking of ways and ideas to solve problems. The old way of teaching isn't doing that anymore. As a teacher Robert's said it best "Our charge is to provide MEANINGFUL and POWERFUL engagement" That means getting students engaged in activities and not just sitting in a desk.

Flipped Classrooms
The flipped classroom is a new concept to me. And I'm kind of uneasy about it. I would have to test it out before I could say yes, I am going to use this concept in my classroom or no, I am not going to use this concept in my classroom. The reason I'm so uneasy, is because this is the first time I've heard of this. And I could be wrong, but as an Elementary Education Major I find it hard to believe that students in elementary school will go home and watch a video of me teaching a new concept and comprehend it. As the students become older and more responsible I could see that happening. But with students in elementary school, I could that as being a possible fail. Also in elementary school you're having to depend a lot on the parent of the student. If that parent doesn't want to or doesn't have the time to help his or her child with the video, than the video will not be watched. I like the concept of "Flipping the Classroom" but I would have to test it out before I decided wether or not it would be a good idea for my classroom.

Blog Post # 4

When I first heard about podcasting in school's I thought it was a little weird. I never thought about how much it could help students to listen to themselves in order to correct themselves. What I think I loved most about the whole podcast idea, was in the article "1st Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audiobook" she started talking about "My Thoughts"and wrote about how the students would listen to themselves then go back and add pitch and emotion. When I read that I was totally on board with podcasting. If it takes podcasting to make reading fun and enjoyable for students why not do it? Reading for children now is very scarce. If teachers can go into a classroom with a book, and show their students how each character can have his or her own voice with his or her own thoughts and feelings, that's amazing.

The first podcast I listened to was “Dinosaurs Before Dark” and I loved it! Just listening to the children getting all excited and really into telling the story was just too cute! But what I loved was how each student spoke clearly. None had a problem with having to read aloud. They all had their own personality that he or she brought to the table. But for all of the students to read clearly, blew me away. In school students always have to take turn reading stories during class. And there's always been a handful of students who can not read out loud to the class for numerous reasons. One, because he or she can't read well or two he or she has a problem with public speaking.For these students who are only in first grade taking their first steps to speaking and reading clearly in front of people is awesome.

The second article I read was "Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting" and I couldn't agree more. I listened to the students speaking Hebrew and it blew me away. I can't speak any Hebrew but it was a cool experience to listen to second grade students speaking it a little. I had to agree with her when she wrote about how when you learn a different language you have to attach that feeling to the word. You can't just memorize another language to truly learn it. You have to really listen to what you're trying to learn and let it sink in. Then you have to listen to yourself to actually hear if you had the right melody for that word. Again, I had never heard of podcasting in a teaching environment but I love the idea. The students actually get wrapped up in the words. And learn to truly understand their meaning. Who knows, maybe with podcasting students will learn to start loving the art of language.

Project # 5 Presentation

Special Blog Post # 1

WolfRamAlpha
1) To answer the question on the misinterpretation of the "Did You Know?" video
India has a population of 1.21 billion people, China has a population of 1.35 billion people, and last most certainly not least The United States has a population of 309 million people.

2) The first question I asked WolfRamAlpha was "How many people speak English?" the answer was 760 million people World wide speak English. The Second question I asked was "What is the most spoken language?" and the answer to that was Mandarin with 1.1 billion people.

3) This was my first time ever even hearing about WolfRamAlpha. And I think it's a pretty nifty website. The World use to be thought of as this HUGE planet that know one really knew about. Now with technology the World had become so small. For one website to calculate almost the percentage of anything that has to deal with population is astounding. For one person in The United States who wants to just check to see how many people live in China, and get back that information in a matter of seconds is mind blowing. For me this website is useful in so many ways. And I can see why teachers would want to use it. For my future classroom I know I will. With the help of this one website you're taking the whole World into your hands. As a teacher I can show my students what the world has to offer. I want to show them that there isn't just the city they live in that's real. They have the whole globe to discover and why not start that curiosity for it in the classroom?

4) The Social Media Counts is an interesting concept. How Mr. Hayes figured that out is pretty amazing. To sit there and be able to see how many people are getting onto Facebook, downloading an app, or even just buying an Ipad is pretty awesome. Whenever I log into Facebook I'm not thinking about how many thousands of other people are logging into it as well.

Social Media has become a huge step in our society. Since, social media is such a huge step of course it will be affecting jobs now and in the future. As a future teacher, social media will definitely be effecting my job. Social media has already changed schools. Students are now doing almost everything on computers. Students aren't just being shown pictures of far off distant people or places. Students are now getting to now watch in HD those people and the places they live. Plus, students can now even interact with them. As a future teacher I have to say I'm excited about social media. Most of the time it gets a bad rep for just being used for pointless activities. But if I can find a way to use it to broden the horizons for my future students I'm going to take that chance.

Blog Post # 3

Blog Critique
The student I was assigned to comment on was Logan Kirkland. I think Logan did an amazing job on his second blog writing. Logan was very clear as to what he was wanting to get across. Logan also had wonderful grammer throughout the whole blog entry. The reason I'm critiquing this way is because Logan did such an awesome job on his blog post. He didn't leave anything out and he also took his time and thought about what he was wanting to say. Not just throwing something up on his blog to write it in time.

Peer Editing
The two videos and the slide show about peer editing were both wonderful. I was never taught in school about peer editing and if I had the school or teacher never put much emphasis on the subject. Peer editing is such a big deal because it isn't just about critiquing someone in school to make yourself feel better. You'll be having to peer edit your whole life. Peer editing just isn't used in helping someone write a paper. It's learning how to state your opinion on a subject without hurting that other person and also using tact to accomplish it in. You'll be using peer editing in any profession some finds himself or herself in.

The video "Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes" was just adorable! I loved how their teacher let them reenact what different peer review editors are like and how he terrifically he got his point across.The children in the video portrayed each character perfectly and showed us how we should not act when we do help others when it comes time for critiquing. None of us want to be Picky Patty's or Jean the Generalizer's.

Assistive Technologies
I never knew how much technology we have to use for the blind. What the Ipad and the Mountbatten can accomplish is stunning. I've personally have never worked with a blind person before, but I have helped make Braille Bibles at my grandmother's church. I never thought how differently the literature and the math subjects are for the blind. Math is already such a hard subject for students to grasp that I couldn't imagine having to learn how to accomplish math without being able to see. What the Mountbatten can do for blind students is miraculous. How the students can feel and see how easy it is to do such simple math is amazing.

When I become a teacher I am sure I will one day come across a blind student. If so, I will want that student to excel with the rest of his or her class. Just because he or she is blind does not mean that they can't have a bright future as well. I want to be trained to know what to do to help my students along. I want each individual student to feel that they can do anything that he or she wants to do. We are at a time now where almost anything can be achieved. All you have to do now is go for it. It's like the quote “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”

Vicki Davis
"Turning school upside down." I loved how she said that. Ms. Davis looks like an amazing teacher. For her to go in and completely change how school is everyday is awesome. She connected her small school that's in the middle of nowhere to the world. She even got a chance to take her students to The Middle East. How many teachers are blessed enough to do that?

Blog Post # 2

Did you know?
Both of the "Did You Know?" videos were somewhat scary to me. What scares me the most is how America can be this great nation in almost everything we do. Just for some reason we lack motivation in education. When the statistic of "The 25% of the population of India with the highest IQ's outnumbers the entire population of the United States" and also "India has more K-12 Honors Students then all of the K-12 students on the United States" my stomach dropped, then I became a little furious. How is it that a country that has made it a LAW for a child to attend some kind of educational program from the time they're in kindergarden to the time they are sixteen years of age, lose educational value to a country that only a certain elite can attend school? Every great country and nation that has ever been has always collapsed to another. I pray that America as a nation doesn't allow this because we found other outlets other than education to become more important.

Another prediction that has scared me is the prediction by Gordon Brown about the Chinese nation. Mr. Brown stated "By 2025 the number of English speaking Chinese is likely to exceed the number of native English speakers in the rest of the world" now Mr. Brown predicted that in 2005. The date now is 2013. That means just in twelve years this prediction might become true. How can this happen? As a citizen of a native English speaking country, how can another foreign country out speak our own language? It's because America isn't putting the education of their own before anything else.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
Before I watched Mr. Winkle Wakes I've never realized how much the world has changed technology wise in businesses, shops, hospitals, and restaurants. Then you take a look at our schools, and nothings really been changed technology wise. What we've learned and what we're teaching the children now has changed and kept up with the world, but the technology aspect hasn't. The school system is trying its best to keep up with the times, but it's hard to do especially with how much technology costs and adds up to. But if there was a way for our school systems to be able to achieve goals in getting more grant money for technology our schools could become these buildings where children learn about the whole world. They would get to actually see and witness why they're having to learn what is being taught to them.

Importance of Creativity
I have never heard of Ken Robinson before I watched his video, and I have to say I loved him. He's correct on so many levels. Our school systems aren't set-up to release the creativity of individuals. School systems are all about putting children into one box and telling them that they have to behave like this to be respected in life. We teach our children to act and behave like all the rest because being ones self isn't the normal.

“Every education system on Earth has the same hierarchy of subjects: at the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and the bottom are the arts.” — Ken Robinson What's so sad about that is it's the arts that help shape a country. Look at all the different kinds of music, plays, dances, and art galleries all over the world. The arts are the one way that help express what people are feeling at whatever point they are in their life. Musicians write songs to help get across what they're feeling. When an artist paints a picture, he or she is capturing a moment that only they can feel. When children are told that, their creative side is not important they lose that beautiful passion it takes to become a musician, artist, dancer, composer, or playwright.

When Mr. Robinson started talking about education and how teachers are preparing the way for their students, even though they don't know what life will be like in five years I stopped and thought about that. Being a teacher is a gift as well as a heavy burden. What little time you have with your students, is how you're shaping them for their life. Because of that teaching is not a job to take lightly. As a teacher you have to be on your toes and constantly learning about what's new and how the world is becoming a different place everyday. You don't want your students to move on with their lives and not be able to know what all the world is going to throw at them.

As a teacher your job is to help your students grow as a whole. Not just learn to memorize answers, but also exercise the creative part of their brains as well. Being creative is just like memorization.If you don't exercise it daily you'll end up losing it, and it'll be hard to get that back.

Pinterest!!!
I am a lover of all things Pinterest!!! Pinterest is an awesome website for teachers or anyone who is aspiring to become a teacher. Ever since I've had a Pinterest account I've had a board labeled "Operation Students." I have gained so much insight and different learning aspects for my future students. I now have creative cute decoration ideas for my future classroom as well as different learning/teaching techniques.

Blog Post # 1

A few little tid bits about me:
Hello! Welcome to my first blog! My name is Nikki Rae and I am currently a full time student at the University of South Alabama, and I also work part-time at a little boutique. I was born on an army base in North Carolina with my twin sister Jessica. My family hasn't really moved all that much, but after my sister and I were born we moved to Kentucky. When I was finally in second grade my family moved to the great state of Alabama! My family and I are not fans of cold weather so moving farther down south to the white beaches of Alabama was an answer to our prayers.

I consider myself somewhat of a creative person. By somewhat I mean that I love to do anything artsy. My projects just don't always turn out how I expect them too. I love to paint and I also love photography. I would have to say my most avid past time is reading. I am a huge fan of literature! If I could choose to do so I'd spend my days lounging by the beach with my nose in a book. To me reading is one of the best things a person could do with his or her time. One of my favorite quotes about reading is "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."- George R.R. Martin

I want to be an elementary education teacher because education is a huge huge stepping stone in someones life. The best time to make an impact and get a person excited about education is when that person is young. How a child is treated when they're young helps to determine how that child will turn out as an adult. If I could make a child's life better by educating him or her and get them excited about learning would be a marvelous career for me.

My future classroom:
As a person I am a kinesthetic learner. I am very hands on and like to actually be able to see and interact with whatever I'm having to learn or study. So as a teacher, I would be teaching with a hands on approach. I would teach my students that there isn't just one way to approach a topic. When you're learning something you need to figure out a way to retain that information, so when the my students move on to their next grade level they'll be ready for what their next teacher has in store for them.

One of the tools that I want to use for my classroom would be learning through creative learning games and teaching creative learning techniques. Since I'm wanting to teach elementary education, I'll be having to teach an array of subjects. Some of the subjects will be math, english, history, and science. To children, most will find one of those subjects very easy and the other difficult. So in order to make the subject they find difficult become a little more understandable why not make it a little fun? Say I have a student who is having problems with grammer. I could find a way to help the student understand by maybe making up a rap song about grammer. That way when the student is having issues with the rule he or she couldn't understand they'll now have a song to help get them through the process.

Since I'm an artsy person I want my classroom to be colorful and vibrant. A place where my students come to school and get excited about learning. I want it to be an open room that the students feel welcome in.

Dr. Pausch on Time Management:
For me Dr. Pausch's Time Management video was great. I'm the queen of procrastination. I loved when Dr. Pausch talked about doing the right things adequately vs. doing the wrong things beautifully. The reason why is because it's true. Like most of Americans I try to just do the easy things that won't really get you anywhere compared to working a little harder and planning something that will reward you in the future.

The other point that I loved that Dr. Pausch pointed out was about to-do listes. As you grow older life becomes more complicated. You have to start thinking "Ok. If I do this, this will be the outcome." Once you have that plan in your head and it doesn't turn out how you wanted it to turn out, you tend to have a little freakout. So when Dr. Pausch talked about that you can always change your plan, but only once you have one. A light went on. That statement is 100% true. As long as you have a plan everything will turn out for the best. Even if the way to your goal changes, you're still on the right path.

Test Number One

Test Number One