Goodbye Blog...

I don't think anyone says it better then Peter Pan! To all my fellow classmate in EDM, and to Dr. Strange and Mr. Sullivan, I couldn't have made it through with out you! Thank you for all of the amazing support, the laughs and the occasional scream! I will miss seeing your faces on a regular basis, but it's not goodbye, it's a see you later...... until next time!

My Honest Reflection

1. Throughout this semester in EDM I have learned so much valuable information. I have truly enjoyed watching all of the videos and have learned that I love to blog! Blogging is a great way for me to get all of my thoughts out in a very non confrontational, professional manor, and I adore it! The most valuable thing that I am walking away with from this class is the wonderful connections that I have made from my EDM classmates and the world wide connections that I have made. I have learned so much as an individual and as a part of the EDM group. I have enjoyed learning the wonderful tools that google offers, and find that the ACCESS and ALEX resources will be my best friend when I get into the classroom. I still to this day will say that skype, delicious, and twitter are my least favorite tools, but can understand how some enjoy them. I LOVE VIDEO CASTS! This was one of the most challenging, yet fun things that I have learned, and will use this amazing tool to teach and continue to learn with!!! One of my favorite activities was comments4kids! I loved this project. The reason that I loved it so much is because it was about kids, and that is what I am most passionate about. It gave us all an opportunity to see the creative side that students possess!

2. I cannot think of anything more that I would have liked to have learned from this class. There was an overabundance of information that we have learned, all in which I am very grateful for. This class has opened my eyes to an entirely new world, that I am loving being a part of.

3. There are not things that I learned in this class that I will try to forget. I believe any type of knowledge is power, and am grateful for what I have learned in this class. However, there are things that were required like skype, twitter, and delicious, that I found to be on my, "I don't like this" list. I think that what we have been required to learn is invaluable to all who take this class.

4. There were a few things in this class that excited me, video cast, comments4kids, and blogging, were all things that I was very excited about, and continued to get excited about. I will say that I was extremely excited about the google earth project until I encountered a ridiculous amount of issues with it, and wanted to pull my hair out and cry by the time it was over! The reason that video cast excited me so much is because it was something that you could do and get as creative with it as you wanted. Blogging excited me because it was a way for me to express myself without doing it verbally. I love to write, so any opportunity I get to do so, I highly enjoy! Comments4kids was my favorite because it was direct interaction with my favorite thing in the entire world and that was children!!!

5. I don't think that there was anything that was required in this class that was intellectually challenging to the point that I could not accomplish it. I think in any kind of learning environment you face challenges and hardships, but that is how and when you learn the most. Life is full of challenges, but its how you overcome those challenges that will make you or break you.

6. I think that some of the videos on explaining how to accomplish something got a little out of hand and boring, but I don't think that there was ever a point in my mind where I was so bored that I wanted to just lay down and take a nap.

7. The one thing that I would change in this class is the organization of things. It seems to me like it took till about the middle of the semester for all of us to really catch on to where we were to find everything and the expectation that were required of us. I think that it would be useful to require students to attend every class, even if it does get dismissed early so that way it wouldn't take as long to catch on to the way the blog is set up or the assigned work that needed to be done. I would also take out making twitter, delicious, and skype as requirements. I think they are tools you could mention, but making us open accounts with all of them is a little absurd in my opinion.

8. I think that I am a comfortable level of being technology literate. The biggest thing for me is that I now know where to find the resources that I need if I don't understand a technological problem. I feel confident in the fact that I will be able to continue to grow my PLN and properly teach my future students on creating one as well. This class has shown me a world of resources that invaluable to further educating myself and those I come in contact with.

9. I think that by continuing to grow my PLN I will continue to be challenged in a way that will force me to further my technological literacy so I can, "keep up with the Jones." By learning to use the resources that you have taught us in this class such as ACCESS, ALEX, all google docs, and so much more I think I can actively further my literacy just by continuing to keep in close contact with my PLN members and using these resources.

Teaching how to combat Stress

As a college student I'm always stressing out about making good grades and getting my work done on time, and when finals come around I really start to stress, so I decided to teach you all how to take a few moments and combat stress.

Google Earth Project.

Italy Tour

Voice Thread on my Favorite Team!

Project 15

April 25, 2010

PLE vs my PLN

Wow what an amazing, motivated, driven student! She is the ideal student! Her PLE is outstanding, and she should be very proud of herself for what she has accomplished. I'm ashamed to admit that my PLN is not nearly as advanced as hers, but it is a a continual work in progress, and I feel has come a long way from where it was in the beginning. I feel that most of my PLN has to do with my EDM and fellow education student's, which in my opinion is wonderful. Through this class, twitter (which I'm still not a fan of) and other social networking tools I have created an over abundance of educational supporters whom I am allowed to share ideas with and learn from, and I cannot wait to learn from others! This young seventh grader has developed a world of endless opportunities, and I am so proud of what she has accomplished as such a young age!

My Sentence!

This is one of my favorite video's that I have watched this year! Wow! What an amazing thought, and how true it is. I've always worked hard to achieve my goal and try to better myself, but I have never asked myself was I better then I was yesterday, but I will going forward. I also want to incorporate this question into my classroom, and this will be a fun project that I will do with all of my students! As far as my sentence goes, it was very easy for me to pick. I've always said I wanted to make a difference, even if the difference was in one persons life, that was enough for me to have lived a fulfilled successful life. I've also said, and truly believe that in order for you do make a difference you have to be the difference. Given that, my sentence would be, "made a difference, by being the difference." This is what I will live the rest of my life by, that and, being better then I was the day before!

Google Docs Form Merged Curriculum

Recently, the University of South Alabama's Education department has been making some serious changes with a merged curriculum between the Special Education curriculum and the Elementary Education curriculum. My survey asked the burning questions of do Education Majors know about the new curriculum, will it affect them, and do they think it's a good idea. This is what I found.

61% of student's knew about the new curriculum

39% of student's did not know about the new curriculum

44% of students were leaving the Education program or were very unhappy about the changes

39% were unknown on their feelings toward the changes

17% were for the change

Although most people are unhappy about the changes an overwhelming 89% felt that the changes were a good idea and would be beneficial to both teachers and students, the other 11% felt that it would not be beneficial.

My opinion on this matter varies. I am a Special Education major whom is in love with the idea of helping student's who require extra time, patience, and attention. I feel like I was born to work with special needs children; I also feel that there is only a select few people whom have this drive and passion. This is where the problem arises. Because special needs student's require more attention and patience not all people have the drive to help them, so why force someone who doesn't share the same passion that I do to major in this area. Regular Ed teachers have the passion and drive to work with a regular classroom, and they are born to do that where I am not! I do feel with the inclusion laws that regular Ed teachers are not prepared enough to properly handle special needs student's and therefore should be required to take a few extra classes, but I don't feel that either major should be forced into learning something that they are not passionate about. I think the merged curriculum should be a choice and not a requirement.

Skype April 23, 2010

Skype as you all know is not my favorite learning tool in the world for a few different reasons. The main reason I dislike skype is because of personal preference. When I'm talking to someone and there is a drastic delay, whether it's movement, voice, or the static delay I feel like you miss a lot of pertinent information. If your in the middle of an interview or a video conference the time you have is very valuable so any type of delay is a set back. I think my personal frustrations with this is what makes me stay away from this tool, however those that have a high patience for this, it can be a great learning tool, and a great way to keep in contact with friends and family. The main way that I use skype is to keep in close contact with my cousin who is a paramedic over in Kuwait. He has been over there for over a year and when your close it's hard not to see someone's face and talk to them like you do on a regular basis. I also have used skype to keep in contact with my family and friends whom live all over the USA. My most recent interaction with skype is a video conference that I partook in with Kenya and their school systems over there. This is a great way to learn in a multi-cultural way. Skype also offers a conversation or calling tool that is convenient to talk back and forth with someone without video, my personal opinion is that the phone works better and there isn't a delay. There is also a chat method that you can use on there. Overall skype is a good learning tool for students and teachers, but I think its a personal preference if you like to use it or not.

Project 14

Ryan Renyold's

April 18, 2010

EDM 310

! What a crazy semester this has been. It's been a fun yet bumpy ride. I must say that out of everything that was required for this class the one thing that I have enjoyed the most is comments for kids, especially Kindergarten Kids! I believe that the main reason this has been my favorite activity is because it is centered around the one thing we all have in common and that is students. What an amazing idea it was to create a blog that using one sentence that each student would write to document their day. This has been such a heartwarming experience to learn about these students and motivates me to do something like this with my classroom. I think that a lot of us get wrapped up in day to day activities that we call life and we forget the real reason that we partake in an activity like comments for kids. When I look at the pure innocents that each child possesses I am bewildered and enthused that I have had the privilege to join in such an event. The students that are able to partake in such an activity as social networking and embracing a world of endless possibilities to build self confidence, empowerment, embrace different learning methods, enhance creativity and acceptance of other view points! These are all qualities that are invaluable to our students and children. It is my wish that all students would have the opportunity to partake in something as wonderful as this, and that they are able to walk away with endless learning opportunities!

PLN 2

My PLN hasn't changed a lot from the last time that I've blogged. The major differences would be that I have made new connections around the world, whom have taught me that building a PLN is an ongoing process that takes a lot of time and energy. This is something that I will continue to do throughout the rest of my life, in order to grow as a person, teacher, and continuous learner. I've inquired following a lot of people on twitter whom give me new idea and insights as to what is going on in the world of technology. My PLN took off to a slow start, but I know, with time and effort it will turn into something great!

Comments for Kids April 11, 2010

Breaking News is such a great idea! Creating an app for an iPhone to follow a class blog is unbelievable to me. What a wonderful and useful tool this will be to the students! I cannot wait to see it!

April 4, 2010

The Innovative Teacher

WOW! What an amazing blog! I was amazed at all the great information that is on this blog. It has helpful hits from ways to "NOT" do something, to drawing in google docs! This blog talks about why social media is so important in the school systems, and three ways lessons taught by banning cell phones. The three reasons states are as followed.

1-It teaches them that they don’t deserve to be empowered with technology the same way adults are.
2-Tools that adults use all the time in their everyday lives to communicate are not relevant to their own communication needs.
3-They can’t be trusted (or taught, for that matter) to use phones appropriately in school.

Now, I'm not sure I fully understand how we are supposed to teach the importance of social media, yet ban cell phones from classrooms since cell phones are such a huge part of the social media network.. Empowered to me is such a touchy subject, because as teachers it is our job to "empower" our students so why would we want to take some of that empowerment away. In my opinion, banning the use of cell phones really isn't an issue of empowerment, it's a issue of entitlement, and that is something that does need to be banned. Although this is a topic I'm on the fence about, there is so much other great information on this blog that I do agree with whole heartedly. Over all this blog is filled with information that any teacher would love to know, and is something that I feel more students and teachers should learn about.

Time Toast- 311

Here is my Time Toast Time Line for most 311 albums that they have produced!!!

311

April 11, 2010

The Zax

Dr. Suess has always been one of my favorite authors because he teaches valuable lessons to people of all ages in such a positive way, that you cannot help but re-evaluate your life and what is evolving around you. When watching Dr. Seuss, The Zax, so many things ran through my mind, the biggest one is the one that I've seen this past week in our local school systems. For another class I have been in and out of elementary classrooms watching teachers struggle to keep students engaged and blowing off those whom they feel need "special attention" and failing to keep the same expectations of them, that they the teachers hold for all the other students. As a future Special Education Teacher, what I would bare witness too was very discouraging and heartbreaking, but these teachers are so set it their, "ZAX" ways that they refuse to see that they need to hold the expectations of all children to the same level, and by not doing so they are doing a huge disservice to all their students. Being a student myself I see a constant struggle between teachers and students, teachers yelling I want it done this way, students yelling back it's not working or I don't agree! In my opinion there has to be some sort of common ground compromise where we the students recognize that the teachers are here to educate us, and where the teachers recognize that we need to have our minds stimulated to learn in ways other then what they are use too. As students and future teachers, I think that it is important for us to listen to what our future students have to say. I think it is important for us to learn as much from them and they are learning from us. I think that we need to treat all students fair and hold the same expectations, and challenge our students in a way that will encourage and empower them. It's the twentieth century people, learn to compromise, engage in active learning, and always be ready and willing to change and accommodate the learning styles of all students!

Landslide

Endless opportunity!!!! That is my simple answer to the question, why is it important for students to post their work to a blog!!! The internet and the connections that you make on here are unbelievable. What a wonderful learning experience and an amazing family that you create when you open your mind to a world you are unfamiliar with. As anyone who knows me can tell you that I feel there are parts of this class that I find to be a little bit ridiculous when it comes to requirements. It's nice to know about twitter and skype and delicious, but using them, not my favorite thing! On the other hand, I feel that this class has opened my eyes to a world that I would have continued to stay away from. I would not have blogged, I would not have created amazing learning network, I would not have known about all of the amazing resources out there such as ALEX and ACESS, I would not have connected with so many amazing students from all over the world, and the ps22 class would not have had the opportunity to sing with Stevie Nicks if it weren't for all of this amazing technology and the internet! I have learned so much from this class, I have made amazing connections with teachers and students here and thousands of miles away and for that I am very grateful! It's all about endless opportunity!

A Geeky Momma's Blog

A Geeky Momma's Blog is one of the neatest blogs that I have seen. I think the reason that I like it so much is because it's a real person explaining real issues, in a very common way. Lee's post are very easy to read because they are filled with real emotion and real concerns, not a bunch of fluff! This semester I've read a lot of different post, some filled with amazing information, but so professional that they lose value in my opinion. This blog has post about all different issues that teachers face, what she means by having a "geeky" momma's blog, and Earth Day suggestions! There are video casts done with other students, and games played like, "Are you smarter then a forth grader?" One of my favorite parts of this blog is how passionate Lee is about getting your students involved with blogging! Blogging is something that I will definitely continue to do, especially when I get my classroom so I can blog with my students! A Geeky Momma's Blog was a great blog to read and connect with on a very down to earth level! I love it!

Comment for Kids April 11, 2010

This weeks comments for kids were about your favorite thing at camp! Kingston talked about sticking stick five Tim Tams in her mouth, which reminded me of playing chubby bunny! Camp is something that I never went to as a child, but it seems to be a great social networking experience. There was also a short video that went along with this blog, that had great music and gave a great visual sense of what camp was like!

Comments for Kids April 4, 2010

I commented on Taimana's video blog about swimming like a fish and how much fun it was. He said that the next time he goes he wants to swim like a whale, which should be so much better! This video cast was to practice reading, and he did an excellent job!! It was a great idea to show students progress in their reading abilities.

April 3, 2010

It's amazing to me what the internet can to do bring people together! My heart was completely warmed by watching Kaia's video pictures and her reading the book back to another fellow students daughter! I've been concerned for a while, that me following different blogs, working on a PLN, and trying to further my educational resources was a failing attempt, but reading what Mr. Raisdana wrote about his daughters blog taking off re-established my faith in what I'm trying to accomplish as a future teacher, and that is to educate myself on so many different levels using the helpful advice from those all over the world. I am bewildered by the encouragement that a few voice threads and videos can re establish in a person! This truly was an inspiring blog too read and be a part of!