Blog Post 9

Mr. McClung's Blog
I loved reading Mr. McClung's blog because as a future educator I always wonder what it is like those first couple of years as a new teacher. I can clearly remember when my mom started teaching, it was tough but she absolutely loved it. My mom is actually one reason I wanted to get into teaching. But anyways, his blog post were so encouraging and helpful. He said how it was. I don't feel like he sugar coated the message. He was very helpful and encouraging. I think that his blog posts were very helpful for upcoming teachers, and even teachers who have taught for a long time can learn something from his blog post.

In his post, he gave advice. One of the ones that I loved the most was on his very first post, "Never Stop Learning." I think this is a great point that he makes. Just because we graduate and are now teaching others, doesn't mean that it exempts us as teachers from continuing and learning. It is a wonderful thing to keep learning and not be complacent with what we have already learned.

Smart Board Project 14

C4T #3

I was assigned Caren Carrillo. The first post I commented on was titled "Awkward Classroom Silence" She posted some advice she was given about what to do when the classroom goes silent when the teacher asks a question. I am glad she posted what she learned on her blog to share with others. I think that her blog post is very encouraging, and it reassures you that if there is an awkward silence, it is natural and going to happen.

The second post I commented on was titled "No Lessons--Just Ban It." This was a very good post to read. She focused on how schools are just banning things left and right and not even explaining why they are doing it. The example she gave was of a school banning hugging. The main point was that we need to teach lessons on why the students behavior was bad or good. She also focused on saying yes more than no. It was a well thought out post that was very interesting.

C4K for March 2012

The student I received for March was a site with many post on it. I commented on Kaitlyn's post. It was a quiz she had made up. The sad thing is, I knew none of the answers. I got to check out the entire website and see many of the other kids post, and they were all really good.

Blog Post 8

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

I thought Richard Miller has a brilliant idea. The videos he showed were very interesting. He made a point to show what can be done during his talk and video. If we are going to be successful, we need to be able to express our ideas in a way that can be understandable. Richard Miller did this in his videos.

He talked about how we dream. It is interesting to see him incorporate all the uses of technology into his presentation. It is also interesting how big of a role that technology has in how we dream and come up with plans for the future. He was able to write things and make things with his computer that I would have a hard time trying to figure out.

I think this video was a very useful video for this class. It was able to show the possibilities of what technology has to offer. I also believe it showed how essential technology is in the world today. The video opened my eyes and kinda made me want to learn more about how to do some of the cool things with technology.

Carly Pugh

When I read Carly Pugh's Blog Post 12, I thought she was very creative and a fantastic writer. The way she wrote made it very interesting and lively. I could tell that she had worked hard on her blog post and that she took it very seriously. I feel as if that would have been an assignment that Dr. Strange would have assigned. I believe she really understood what Dr. Strange was going for in that project.

EDM For Dummies and The Chipper Series

I had already watched these videos before at the beginning of the semester. The main idea is to do your work on time, don't procrastinate, and if you do the work you will learn things. I think both videos get the point across very well about what this class is all about. I guess if I had to think of some videos I would want to create would be on how effective the stuff we learn in EDM310 can help us in the classroom. Maybe the video could show a teacher doing her lesson with the technology available and showing how interested the class is.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

When I watched this video, I liked some of the points that were made. I believe that we will always have the school system, but I believe it will be changed dramatically because of the use of technology. I think teachers will have to incorporate technology into their lessons or they will never keep the attention of the students. I liked when one woman in the video said, "We ave a classroom setting when we could have a community setting." I think this video implies that using technology will make it more of a community. People will learn from other people around them, not just the teacher.

"Scavenger Hunt"

The first thing I found was a video tool. I went to PhotoPeach. This was a website a teacher could use to make slideshows. Some of the special features included being able to sign up student accounts without emails, projects can be organized and presented for parents and students to see, download unlimited shows in burnable CD, create unlimited photo albums, and many more. This site seem very helpful when creating power points.

The second thing i found was how to make my poll. This was my first poll question:

Replace audience response hardware with Poll Everywhere

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The third thing I found was how to make my own comic strip. This was a very thing to do. I always liked reading the funnies when I was a kid in the newspaper so it was fun to make one of my own, (even though it wasn't technically funny).

I will be adding all three of these to my PLN, because I can see them being useful in the future.

"The Selfish Crocodile" (Project #11)

Book Trailer

PLN Progress Report

I have created my PLN. It is still a work in progress, but I can already tell this is going to be a very useful tool I learn how to use from this class.

Instructional Timeline 9b

Blog Post 7

The Networked Student


This short video was different. It had a narrator who used paper cut outs to illustrate what he was talking about. His topic was about the 21st century teacher and student. The examples were of what a student goes through in a modern day class. It gives various examples of what he is required to do for the class. It shows that it is a lot of self-learning, and it is not a lot of the teacher teaching the class like the norm.

During the video the story shows the student having to learn different techniques, like the ones we are learning in EDM310. It shows that he is having to learn how to use the Internet for his benefit. He is able to find resources about his class and is able to learn on his own. He also gets to explore what others have learned about the same topic, and he creates a blog about all that he has learned so that others can observe what he has done.

At the very end of the movie, the question was, "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" There are a few answers to this. Some of the answers consisted of the teacher is there to help them build the network and to encourage the student to take advantages of the many opportunities out there, be a guidance for the student just incase they get stuck at some points, to teach the student how to decipher good and bad sources from the Internet, and to teach them to be organized. There were more answers to the question, but these are a few of the answers. As a future teacher, I will need all of these qualities and more to be a successful teacher in the 21st century. I am eager to graduate and get started in education and be the best teacher I can be in the 21st century.

The 7th graders PLE was encouraging in a way because I thought to myself if a seventh grader can do it I can do it. I think this is a good thing for her. She was able to keep up with what is going on in classes and she had a her own personal stuff all on one page. Hopefully, once I get my PLN started, it will be as helpful to me as her PLE was to her.

Blog Post 6

Randy Pausch

Wow! This video was great! I was not looking forward to watching it because it was so long, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! There were so many things that Dr. Pausch said that really made me want to know more. When he talked about there are different ways to say something to someone, this really stuck to me. Multiple times I have had teachers say things that were very discouraging just because of the way they said it. As a future teacher, I need to be cautious of how I approach a student, and how I will have to try to keep my students encouraged and interested in what they are doing.

I plan on being a math teacher. There are a number of students who do not like math. I think one of the important things that I took from this video was "to make sure people are having fun while they are learning something hard." I know that my favorite math classes are the ones where I enjoy the teacher and what we do in the class. I know as a teacher, I will have to figure out a way to make my math class fun and interesting while I teach a difficult subject.

Another thing I really enjoyed was when he was talking about his coach was being tough on him one day at his football practice. When the assistant coach told him "When nobody tells you you are doing wrong, they've given up on you," I thought this was so true. Not only do I want to teach, I want to coach as well. But this statement can be applied to the classroom. If I go in thinking that a student is hopeless and is never going to get it, and I begin to give up on him, that student will never accomplish the goal for the class. I think I learned that I need to have different teaching methods for different students, and that I never give up on a student.

Another quote that stuck out to me was, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." I had never thought about that, and it is a completely true statement. If we did not have learning moments from something we did not succeed at or did not get, we would never learn or know better the next time the situation arises. I think that Dr. Pausch hit the nail on the head with this statement about experience.

This video had a lot of great points. I would recommend this video to others to watch and hope someone learns as much as I did from the video even if the person wasn't going into the teaching field, there is something to learn from this video for everyone.

C4K for February 2012

I was assigned Moses from Mrs. Bark's class in Auckland, New Zealand. I found it amazing that these kids have been doing this blogging stuff for so long. I was able to see all of the work Moses had posted on the internet. Although he did not have any new post for 2012, I was able to look at all his work from 2011. I thought it was awesome that I was able to look at his work while I am in America, and he is in New Zealand. I think it is a great thing that the kids are learning about this at such a young age. Moses' Blog

Lauren's video on measurement was great. The main point of my comment was that I thought it was a great thing that she was learning while hang fun. I think this is important for kids. If kids think learning is fun, they will not dread going to school and being bored. I thought this was a great video.

My second child I was assigned to comment on was Taylor. She had lots of new post on her blog. I commented on a post she did about the Super Bowl. I encouraged her by telling her how great of a writer she is. The first thing I saw when I looked at her blog was a picture of her holding her hands together as a heart for Valentines Day. Taylor's blog was very good and interesting. Taylor's Blog

The third child I was assigned to was Hana. She had many post. From what I could tell, she has been doing this a long time. I left her a comment on a post she wrote about sportsmanship and teamwork. I personally enjoyed this because I was an athlete all the way through high school and I currently coach. She had a good definition of what she thought sportsmanship and teamwork is. Hana's Blog

My last child that I commented on for the month of February, was very interesting. It was chapter one of a story. It reminded me of the story of Cinderella. I think it was suppose to. There were many stories posted by the child. I was not able to find out what the child's name is. This is a link to the blog.

Podcast Project 8

C4T #2

Kathy Cassidy's Blog

I was assigned Kathy Cassidy for my second teacher. She has an amazing blog. the post I left a comment on was about kids bringing in their Nintendo DS' and teaching from the DS. The students were able to bring in their DS' and get to play on their DS while doing classwork. My comment mainly said that it was a wonderful idea. I did not know you could use a DS to teach first graders.

The second post I was able to read and comment about was on a thing called "Unplug'd." She mentions about how a bunch of people who are passionate about education come together for a weekend and get to learn and come together. The reason it is called "Unplug'd" is because the location of the conference is where there is no cell phone service, no internet, and so forth. This was a very interesting blog and I enjoyed it very much!

My Timeline

Blog Post 5

Dr.Mcleod

I found out that Scott McLeod is a very important person when it comes to education. When I was reading his "About Me" section on his blog, I found him to be a very interesting person. It said that "he was the founding director of CASTLE," which is "the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators." A lot of information can be found at his blog. His post, "Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?" was interesting. It really pointed out that yes, there are bad things that can be found on the internet and that technology is not always used for good, but it is very beneficial! I found myself enjoying it, and was very glad we had to read it and comment on it.

Travis Allen Videos

I thought Travis Allen made excellent points in his videos. He started out so young making an impact on the education system. His iSchool is a wonderful idea. To be able to have everything that goes into school at your fingertips is a fantastic thing. He showed a power point presentation about what the benefits are for using the iSchool. The main thing was money. If people invested into the iSchool, it would cost around 150$. It would save students at least 600$. This is incredible!

Using the iSchool would also save the school money. This is very important, especially in today's economic situation. We need to learn ways to save money and still teach effectively. Using technology is a great way to gain the interest of students as well. Our generation needs some form of entertainment to keep us interested. We do not do well when we just have to sit and listen. When we get to use technology, our attention is so much better. I believe usin technology in the classroom is essential for kids today. This was an awesome video and really opened my eyes to the possibilities.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'

I actually have seen this video before. I remember it blowing my mind. It still amazes me that the people never met, and yet they are all singing together. This just shows how powerful the internet can be. If you would like to see the video you can click on the title to get there.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Watching 21st Century Students was really a video that made me think of hohw important it is that I start mastering the skills of the technology that is out NOW! If I get even more behind than what I already am, I will not be able to teach to the best of my abilities. As a young person going into the field of education, I have to realize things are different than from how I learned growing up.

I think it is essential now-a-days that people are knowledgeable about the different kinds of technology out there. I think this is especially important for teachers. If teachers are using technology in the classroom, this means the students are getting to learn about it. I think the video is a good thing for future teachers to watch and think about. I think that our generation of teachers will use technology in the classroom more than any other generation before, and technology will keep increasing in the classroom.

Reading Rockets

While exploring Reading Rocket's Website I clicked on Reading Guides under comprehension. The reason I chose to look at this one a little more closely, was because I feel as if I struggled in reading comprehension throughout school. It was never my strong subject. Because of this, I have never enjoyed reading that much. While looking at the suggestions for reading guides, I found them to be helpful. If a child is struggling, I can use the suggestions that the website offered.

The next thing I looked at was First Year Teacher information. I clicked on that because hopefully in a couple years, I will be a first year teacher. It gave very good information for people who have never taught before. This website is very useful. It has so much information and can be very helpful for teachers. If I was struggling to come up with something to help a student, this website would be a perfect place to go to help me become a better teacher.

My Sentence Video

Blog Post 4

I was so happy to see this assignment. I was excited because I did not really know what a podcast was. All of these videos were very beneficial to watch and to read about. I feel more comfortable and confident that my group will be able to put together a great podcast because of the things I learned from the information I obtained from the videos and readings.

I can not believe that children so young are podcasting. The first link that I read about was first grades creating their own read-along books. This blows my mind. I have just begun to hear about this stuff, and 1st graders are the ones producing a podcast! I think this was a good thing for us to learn more about because it is becoming more and more popular in society. If we are going to utilize blogging and other benefits of technology once we start our careers as teachers, it is very important for us to learn about this now while we still can.

The second was about the benefits of podcasting. This is what helped me the most. I am a visual learner and so seeing the benefits are more important to me than just hearing about them. I know that for my group's podcast, we will be able to utilize some of the techniques that I learned. I learned it can just be conversational or it can be many other things. I also learned that it helps teachers because if a student is absent they can out the lecture online. There were many benefits to podcasting in the classroom.

The third I watched was about what an actual podcast is. This one was very beneficial to me as well. When I first heard about the podcast assignment, I was kinda intimidated. I did not know what it was. This gave a definition and links to show useful tools to use for my own podcast.

All three links were very good. I enjoyed them, and was glad they were provided for us to learn more about podcasting.

Project #5

Blog Post 3

Technology in Special Education

I loved this video. I have never work with special needs children, and I did not know how much technology has helped them in their lives. In my mind I did not understand how long it would take a child to do their assignment before the help of technology. I think that putting the focus on technology is a great thing. Before they had technology, students were having to literally spell everything out by pointing at letters to communicate, but now they have laptops and can type quicker and communicate faster. This enables the children to be able to learn more because less time is spent on trying to communicate everything by pointing at letters to spell it out.

Technology can be used in the classroom for special needs to communicate. It can also be used in more simpler ways. One way that was shown in the video was a boy who had trouble reading small print. Because he has a computer with a special device on it, the font is enlarged, and he can enjoy reading. I think there are many possibilities when it comes to technology in the classroom and helping special need kids. This video was a great demonstration and eye opener for those who did not have a good idea of what technology can do to change someone's life.

"My App For the Classroom"

I chose an app called "Math Dictionary for Kids." I chose this application because there are so many terms when it comes to math. I could use this app in the classroom very easily. If a student had a question about a term, they could look it up with this app. Instead of me having to repeat definitions, they could look it up for themselves and have a better example than what I could give.

"Gary Hayes Social Media Count"

All I thought was "wow." Watching all of the numbers change constantly was amazing to me. The numbers mean to me as a teacher, everybody is using technology. As a teacher, I need to be able to use and teach how to use the technology that is out there. As I watched the numbers ride and rise by the second, I could not help but think "oh my goodness." For some reason the numbers just amazed me. The numbers show that the majority of people are online and using the internet. It shows how much the world has changed and relies on technology to communicate.

Facebook was at the top of the list. This number was rising quickly. Facebook has become how a lot of people communicate with former friends, classmates, and co-workers. Another number that was a high number was how many text messages that were being sent. As I was looking at the sight, I received two text. I think that the technology is going to keep improving and make our lives easier.

"A Vision of Students Today"

I absolutely loved this video. I ad to watch the video twice because the first time I watched it I thought of it as a student. It was hard not to, considering I am a student and a lot of what was going on in the video I could relate to. The video really had me thinking about each of the situations that was presented in the video. Something that stood out to me was how often they are using technology in class, but not for the class. They use it for other purposes. I think as a teacher, they should incorporate technology use for the class so that students are using technology to learn and not just blow off time.

I thought it was funny at the end of the movie when they wrote the advantages of using a chalkboard. The only advantage they showed was it "challenges the teacher to move around." The disadvantages were there were no videos, animations, etc. We are a generation who looks for the videos and animation to keep our focus and to entertain us. I think the education system will eventually be all about electronics in the classroom because people will demand for it.