FINAL PROJECT

MY PLN

My PLN hasn't changed much it has just improved more. Recently I have purchased a Mac computer which has let me use Imovie and Face time. I have also started to use Skype a whole lot more. I use Facebook practically daily and twitter maybe weekly. I use Facebook to contact friends and my twitter  is mainly for contacting classmates about assignments.





I plan on learning about more apps, and social networking sites. I really enjoy google doc presentations. Since I was introduced to it I have used it a few times for class presenations. When EDM310 is over I plan on using a blogger blog account related to my life and not the class because I do enjoy blogging.

C4T

I commented on Manaiakalani blogger site. They posted about how to have Google accounts and how they have currently added some new features to the google pages and desktop pages through out the school computers.
She went on to talk about how to sign u for them and how to use them as well as where to go to find out more about the programs that they added. They only added three at a time so that they wouldn't feel overwhelmed with learning new apps but that if they enjoy these tools then they will continue to add on more later.



They choose to add Blooger, Picassa and Google reader.
She also spoke and gave directions for everyone to transfer and redirect their user accounts.
Since I commented on the first post the teacher has not updated the blogging site further.

C4K April

C4K #6 I wrote Emily from World Of Fun blog. In her blog she wrote about being in year seven and getting to go do all sorts of outside adventures. They get to pick 3 activities to do each time they go to the water. She really enjoys surfing and wishes she could do it more than all the other sports and activities but she cant because everyone needs a chance to try it out. They also play beach games and go wave boarding and boogie boarding.

C4K#7 I visited  Mrs Phares' Fourth Period class blog. They talked about this band called  Sleigh Bells. They are a up in coming bad. They were featured on the new MTV show SKINS. This is a link to one of their videos. I really enjoyed this post because they put up a sample song of the band and pictures of the band as well. 

C4K #8

Blog 8 was a girl named Hannah. I really enjoyed Hannah's blog because she really went into detail. She told me what Seezdah-Bedar was and posted a lot of pictures showing what she did all day to celebrate it. Seezdah-Bedar is celebrated on the thirteenth day after Norouz, the Persian New Year. They go down to a country side or lake or stream to picnic with family all day and then when it is time to leave they take the Sabzeh (sprouted wheat or lentils) which had adorned the Haft Seen for thirteen days.  The Sabzeh which by now had turned yellow symbolizes sickness and problems and is thrown into a flowing stream at the end of the picnic.

This traditional painting of Seezdah Bedar is taken from the book Persian Miniature Paintings. 

Metaphors

1.) I didn't quite miss the metaphor in the speech. I thought it was a metaphor I just didn't think I had to mention that it was. I think people miss these types of things because they think to hard into it or don't think about it enough. I've missed things before similar to this and I think its because I tend to over think things instead of just going with it. My teachers have told me before that I need to stop taking things so literally and stop second guessing myself.

2.) I realized that I do use a lot of metaphors myself. The other day I was telling my son to not be such a "couch potato" and to go to the park.

3.)  I think we can help students understand what metaphors are by using them in the classroom and explaining what they are as well.


4.) Good metaphors help us think of things and understand things as well as sounding funny or being fun to say. If you'd like to know more check out this Site.

Blog post # 13

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is  done  by the Alabama Department of Education. They put the site together to help out  Alabama teachers. It has all subjects through all grades and shows what the children in that specific class should be learning.
 It also helps you by giving you multiple lesson plans to choose from
so you can teach your children the selective subject in a fun way. I like this site and will use it when I teach to help me find new lesson plans and new ways to teach so I stay fresh and this way the children and I will have a hard time getting bored. I think this site is great to help people out who love to teach but aren't very creative and also help out people who are just in a jam and need a quick lesson plan thrown together, maybe for a substitute.

There are also podcasts on Alex and numerous web links for teachers and administrators. I think that Alex will help me a lot in the classroom so I can expand further than text books because you are also able to share your lesson plans and the outcomes of it on Alex.





Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Statewide Students (ACCESS) is available to any public high school. The goal of the distance learning plan is to create equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students. I found it harder to search around this site than Alex. This site talks about Ap classes and how technology has changed the way of schooling. In some cities where classes weren't available they are now because of online classes in general. Access is technically an online learning center and it it rising in students. This is very similar to a college online class. It also has test prep, and advanced placement available.

Blog Post #12

This blog assignment was to create a blog post you think should be part of the EDM310 blog assignments.
I think we should have a assignment to discuss the ways we used technology before EDM310 and the ways in which we use it now. Also, how we planned on teaching in our classroom before EDM310 and how talking EDM310 has changed the ways we plan on teaching now.

Before I took this class I planned on using some technology in my classroom. I planned on using power points and videos. Now after talking this course I am open to so many more things. I plan on having a blog for the class as well as using a smart board if available and Skype to expand the learning experience. EDM310 has opened my eyes to many possibilities for technology in the classroom. I am so excited to show the children ways to be in touch with the world and learn through technology and all if has to offer.

Project #15 Book Trailer

Progress report on final project

Our group includes: Michael Oakwood, Christopher Clevenger, Nicole Wilson, Rachael Hurtz, and Pamela Todd. We met on Tuesday, April 12th to plan for project 16.

After some brainstorming and talking, we have two possibilities for this project.
1. Create a Wiki that would help teach a subject or a group of subjects
2. Create a movie for future EDM 310 students that would inform them what to expect before they register for the class

We are meeting next week to finalize our plans so we can begin to create the project.

Teach someone Something

Blog post #11

 Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom is the blog of interest this week. She wrote her blog about  her uses of technology in the classroom. She is a first grade teacher from Moose Jaw, SK Canada. Ms. Cassidy  and her students use blogs, wikis, videos, and Skype. They use skype to talk to many people who are proffessionals in the subject they are studying at the time. She has been using technology in her classroom for about eleven years now and didnt plan on being technology literate until the school gave her computers to work with.

She wasnt fully supported by her administrators and most of the other teachers werent using technology as she was so her main support was from the school district’s technology coordinator.

I hope to use blogging in my classroom. If im not able to have each child have their own blog then I will have a class blog. On the class blog I will post everything we have been doing in our class and assignments that are coming up. I will also post tutorials on how to help your child do the assignment. This is also great so that a child wont miss to much if they are absent.

The blog may only be open to children, parents and staff because of safety issues. I will have to stress about internet safety and the proper uses of a computer since these will be middle school children.

C4T#3

I commented on The Thinking Stick Blog. They were talking about students and the way they communicate. A student  texted a techer to talk about a assignment after she found the teachers number in a directory. They went on to discuss that children will choose the way they want to communicate with us and it seems to be more technologically advanced. That being said they wondered if counselors and teachers should have a facebook for students to communicate with them since this is what they are into these days.

I think that we should try and have student blogs and a classroom blog so that teachers and students and can what we are doing in class. This will help parents understand what we are doing and we can post assignments due and the instructions to them so that parents can help assist their children. I also think this would be great because when children miss school because of injury or illness they can see what they have missed in class that day or week.

If we are going to have a facebook for students to communicate more with us there should be a few rules. This facebook page should be private to inly parents and students of your class. Also this should be a facebook page dedicated to your class only not with your friends and family. that being said there should only be school talk and appropriate language on this site. Nothing unrelated to school or class should be talked about.

Blog Post #10

Morgan Bayda,  is a elementary teacher from Saskatchewan, Canada, she posted an article on her blog . She speaks about how she dislikes the way Universities are teaching theses days and how they havent changed the way they teach.  She winders why we arent teaching with more relevent methods. We need to keepupwith todays technology and todays exciting ways to teach. She had posted a video in her blog about a guy who says he stopped going to school because the ways they tought was getting in way of his learning.

I have been going to school for about 18 years and I have learned that I am a hands on learner and other times I have learned by listening if its a subject I am interested in.  Alot of teachers teach in different way but they are always taught to teach the standards and it sometimes get in the way of letting them teach fun and exciting lesson like they want to. Most of my professors are very intellegent and know mass amounts of material in their field but just because they know the material doessnt mean they are great at teaching it.

I have taken all sorts of classes. I have taken online, in class, and online and in class combo classes. I enjoy being in class because I love listening to the teaching and their own stories, plus I hate reading and their is a lot of that online. Online you are your own teacher for the most part. I usually take online courses because I dont have the time to o to class and sometimes it hasnt fit into my schedule of classes. Sometimes I dont learn a whole lot when I take classes online so I try not to take them if i dont have to.

John Spencer's Pencil Integration blog post talked about standardized testing and keeping the scores high. I understand that we need to be teaching the information on the tests so that they can score high and pass the tests but I feel like there is so much pressure on testing thses days. Id you give children the right tool and teach them well I believe the knowlegde the end up having and the more they retain is not measurable by test but better.