Final Post :(

Well, this is my farewell to my EDM 310 class! I hope that everyone else learned just as much as I did, if not more. Good luck on finals!

-Bree

What I learned this semester!

I have learned so much this past semester in my edm class. Technology is one thing that I have never understood at all, especially when it comes to computers. However, in the class we had to deal with computers the whole time. I am now able to work blogs, podcasts, and spreadsheets. Its a good feeling knowing that I am gonna be able to apply what I learned in this class to my future career. Usually for me, I have a habit of going to class every day and getting all the information but then forgetting it as soon as the class is over. In this class, however, the information was something that I enjoyed learning about because I knew that it would help me in the future.

One thing that I learned a lot about this semester was, of course, blogs! Before edm, I had never even known what a blog really was or how it worked. In the class, however, we used blogs daily and even learned more about the different applications that it had like gadgets and layout. I have learned so much about just how useful blogs really are, especially for later on in my career. Ive learned how I could apply blogs to my teaching and use it in and out of the classroom.

Another thing that I learned a lot about was the google documents. This was another thing that, prior to the class, I had never even heard of. We learned how to do databases and even improve our spreadsheet skills, which was pretty lacking for me. We also learned how to make an address book and do a payout table, which I actually found to be kinda fun. I also learned that you could do a powerpoint presentation in google docs. This was actually pretty helpful in another class of mine because I had to give a powerpoint presentation on bikes. Using google docs to do it got rid of all the complications that could arise by using a zip drive or an email that it was sent to.

Another pretty big thing that I learned about was how much technology is used in classroomsa around the world today. We were assigned a project to get in touch with another educator from somewhere else in the world and ask how they have integrated technology into their classroom. This projet really opened my eyes to how important technology is in teaching and I learned about how I could use it later in my classroom whether it be with blogs, podcasts, ACCESS labs, or even editing tools like iMovie or Garage Band! This class taught me so much about technology here and around the world!

Classmate's Blog

As I look back at my blogs for the past semester, I can definitely see the difference in the things that I have learned. They have quickly grown through the review of different blogs, podcasts, and personal experiences. Looking at other students blogs in the class also gives great feedback about what they have learned as well. One students blog who I looked at examined was Brennan Gibson. Seeing her growth through her blogs was both motivating and pretty cool to see.

One thing that I noticed in her blogs was the lessons that she learned. An example of this was her blog about fixed and growth minds. She applied these blogs by saying that she wants to teach her students that it is okay to fail because we learn from those experiences. She said she wanted to make her students feel okay with failing sometimes because, in the long run, it can help you. She also discussed Randy Pausch's lecture and talked about his ideas of never giing up on your dreams, no matter what.

Another thing that I looked at was how the class taught her a lot of things about blogs and how to do them. She discussed how she liked the format of our blogs because they were not restricted and she felt free to talk about anything. She also said that she really enjoyed the different settings that blogger.com offers, such as gadgets. The one thing that she said bothered her about the blogs, however, was the deadline set for each blog. Brennan said that the deadlines worried her and were often hard to follow because of certain limitations like not having an available computer.

I really liked looking at Brennan's blog becaue it gave me the opportunity to see what other people in my class were learning. I know that I definitely learned quite a bit about certain things, but it was cool to see the differences between me and other students. I hope that everyone in this class learned as much as me, or maybe even more, because I know that it is gonna help in our future careers.

Electronic Contact!

For my electronic contact I emailed a teacher from the South Pacific, Raenette Taljaard. For our assignment we were supposed to get in contact with another teacher, whether it be somewhere else in the United States or somewhere else in the world. We were then supposed to find out how they integrated technology into their classrooms and what they thought the importance of technology was. I was very pleased to find out that Ms. Taljaard used technology often and used it in very creative ways.

The first thing that she said she did with her class was to use a SmartBoard for everyday use and as a data projector and video screen. She also said that she had various macbooks and eMacs on rotation for her students to use for math, literacy, and other subjects. I thought this was such a great idea because it allows students to become familiar with everyday technology like computers while also learning.

Another thing that she said she used in her classroom was podcasting. She allows her students to do podcasts of Narratives, reports her students have done, or a summary of some activity they have done. She also stated that some teachers have even used podcasts to record their students's goals or strategies for solving math problems. She also said that she uses Garage Band, iMovie, Keynote, and other interactive media. She gave a great example of how she uses all these things for one project. She explained that if they were learning to do Narratives they may start off by doing interactive activities on the SmartBoard, use ReadWrtieThink to draft the Narrative, take digital photos and use GarageBand to record audio, then use iMovie to publish it.

Raenette Taljaard gave me a lot of great ideas about how to use technology in my classrooms. I loved the idea of using things like GarageBand and iMovie! HEr project breakdown was also very helpful because it gave me a specific look at how all of the technology is used. Talking to her helped me to better realize how to integrate technology into my own classroom and how important it is for learning.

Duke University

This podcast that I listened to was put on by Duke University and their center for documentary studies. This center is responsible for putting out collaborative documentaries that focus on sharing community issues and expressing artistic ideas. The podcast tha I listened to was an interview with Nilaya, a girl who had suddenly become homeless after she ended an abusive realtionship. She lived with her daughter but found it hard to support the both of them on just one income. She moved in with a roommate which worked out well, until her roommate was laid off from her job.

Nilaya explained that becoming homeless was one of the worst feelings because she was no longer part of the regular population. She also realized that even though she had a job, that did not mean that she could not become homeless. There are a lot of working homeless people out there, and she had to learn this first hand. After she got evicted from her apartment, she started looking for shelters that her and her daughter could stay at until she found some kind of affordable housing. It was through this shelter that Nilaya became involved with project hope.

Project Hope is an shelter project that helps the homeless. Through Project Hope, Nilaya started attending meetingss for Homeless For Families, which brings together homeless families and gives them good information and avenues out of being homeless. Nilaya finally got out of her situation and the shelter after a whole year. She is now involved in educating other homeless families about what it means to be homeless, why they are, and how they can get out of it. She learned from her experiences and is now able to share with and help others out of similar situations.

I thought that this was a great podcast and I love that Duke University is using the podcasting technology to teach others. Other universities would be smart to follow in the same footsteps!

EDM Podcasts

The first podcast that I listened to was about how technology was used in classrooms here at south Alabama. The people talking were Kerrie Owens, Hannah Nowlan, and Katherine Bentley. The fisrt thing that they discussed was the use of folioteck in the college of education, which is an online portfolio that is used to complete class assignments. They also talked about usa online, which is used by both students and teachers to communicate assignments and such. The discussion of the topics was very good but I felt that they should have divided up talking time better. I thought it was very good that they also talked about the downside of some of the technology, but the podcast just seemed kind of scattered.

The second podcast that I listened to was by Adrienne Lynch, Joylyn Reese, and Brian Stevens. This topic was about how youtube could be used as an educational tool. One of the things that they talked about was how it could be used for classroom project or a presentation. This podcast also seemed kind of unorganized, however, and I felt that the subject was not developed as much as it could have been.

The next podcast that I listened to was about websites that could be used by Elementary teachers, and it was by Rosilyn Harris, Marlena MArsh, and Tomeka Washington. They discussed different websites that they found that could possibly be useful to elementary teachers. I really liked this podcast because it couls actually be helpful to me as an educator. The only downside of this podcast was that there was a lot of quiet time, but overall it was really good and very helpful!

The last podcast that I am going to discuss is actually my own. The students in my group were Brett Kittrell, Taylor Irvin, Jenny Mosley and I. Our topic was the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. We simply discussed the lecture, how it affected us, and what kind of lessons that we pulled from it. I felt that we definitely could have dug a lot deeper into our topic and that there was a lot of quiet time. Looking back on it now, I wish we would have discussed more about how we could use the lessons we learned later on in our careers.

Mathematics with Technology

This podcast was narrated by Judy Chandler. It is titled "Mathematics with Technology" and comes from the Maine Department of Education. Chandler starts off the podcast by discussing how many teachers act as if they are only teaching students for a brief amount of time and they cant wait until finals. She also discusses that technology is very important in the world of teaching mathematics and that there are various tools that are available to further students' education. Mathematics is one of the most important things that a student can learn while in school. It will help them later in life and other things will build off of their knowledge of math. In these podcasts, Chandler discusses specific ways in which teachers are using technology to teach math and why it is important.

Chandler explains that most teachers tend to teach straight from the book, which is not very helpful because it disconnects them from the students and material. One way in which teachers are starting to become more connected is by using laptops as a mean of integrating technology into the classroom. Chandler feels that by using these laptops that it enhances the students critical thinking skills and provides them with hands on skills for the future. The technology also helps the students develop math concepts and provides visual representations.

Chandler also believes that students should be engaged by asking them questions. She says that by asking questions, they are forced to think harder which helps them remember better. Students must always be challenged otherwise no growth will take place. By asking questions, you are allowing the student to be challenged and helping them better understand the thinking process.

This podcast was very helpful when it comes to integrating technology into math. I had never really even though tabout technology being present in math, but Chandler discussed ways that it was. I also learned the importance of using technology in math and the importance of math in general!

Growth vs. Fixed

This video was an interview with Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology. The interview was all about the difference between growth ad fixed learning. Dweck explained that there is a big difference between people who have a fixed mindset and a growth midset. People with a fixed midset believe that they have a certain trade and they cannot get any better. They are always concerned about how they look while doing a certain task. People with a growth midset, however, believe that they are continually learning an that they can improve their skills.

Dweck also went on to explain an experiment that they did with students. They divided up students to go through an eight session class on learning. Half the class was taught using fixed learning and the other half was taught using growth learning. The students that were taught using growth learning were taught that they are able to continually learn and that making mistakes does not make you dumb. She went on to say that there was a considerable difference between the two groups of students, with the "growth" students learning a lot more.

One of the applications that Dweck gives for us to walk away with is that it is okay to make mistakes, as long as you learn from the. She said that to be successful in the business world today you have to be able to learn from your mistakes and imrove from them. She gave an example of race car drivers and said that drivers who think that they can improve usually do, while drivers who have a fixed mindset rarely learn from their mistakes or get better.

This was a pretty good podcast, but I did find it kind of boring at times. It was informative but slow at the same time. I love the idea of fixed and growth learning, though, and I definitely agree with what Dweck was saying!

Edible School Yard and Global Village

I just finished watching the video about The Edible School Yard, which is at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in California. It was such a great video and I loved the teaching methods that were used on a day-to-day basis. At this school, the students are taught things such as math, science, responsibility, and life lessons all from a garden. The students are responsible for growing the garden themselves and they get to see the finished product at the end of each season by cooking foods using the plants that they grew naturally. This is such a cool idea for teaching students about how they can learn from anything, even a garden.

This video was not only an entertaining one, but it also provides teachers with ideas for their own classrooms and how they can use the same methods to teach. One thing that would be fun, would be for me to make my students grow their own mini gardens in the classroom. We could do this by using the typical seed-in-cup method, but it would still provide me with the tools to teach them responsibility and even how the plants grow. Gardening is a way of teaching science because the students can learn about the water cycle and how the sun helps the plants grow. I think that any way of incorporating nature into the classroom is amazing, and I will definitely be doing it when I start teaching!

The next video that I watched was a video about The Global Village located in Perryville, Arkansas. This "village" is actually an overnight experience for local middle schoolers to attend and learn about other cultures that are living in poverty. What is is great about it though is that it is a first hand experience of what poverty in other countries looks and feels like. The kids are taken to the village where they are then divided up into families and refugees. Each family is given certain supplies, but the refugees are given nothing and must either deal or beg the others for food throughout the night. This is experience is a great life lesson and a lesson about what is going on around the world. It motivates students to get involved and educated about their world and learn how they can help.

The Global village is a great teaching tool for educators to use in their classrooms. One way that I would like to utilize the same concepts into my classroom is by teaching my students about people and animals from around the world and how they are living. I would even like to create a fake community of my own for the students to help with. It would be a great way to teach my students about other cultures still make it fun for them as well.

ACCESS Lab Visit

About a week ago, I had the chance to visit a local ACCESS lab and explore the capabilities of what the lab can actually do. As I discussed in a previous blog, the ACCESS lab is designed for students to be able to connect to other local schools and take courses that may not be offered at their own school. I and another student in my class, Brett Kittrell, visited Baker High School in order to see how they are using there lab and how they plan to use it more in the future. We met up with the lab teacher, who showed us around and gave us a little explanation about how it is being utilized at their high school.

One thing that was so awesome was the fact that we got to see the equipment that they use and how they use it. When we walked into the classroom it seemed pretty average, but there was a computer station in the back, a camera on each side of the room, a large flat screen t.v on one wall, and a microphone hanging from the ceiling. The teacher explained to us that the cameras were used to record the teacher who was teaching the class and the students who were attending the class. The video was a live feed that was being viewed by another class at another school. It is a pretty awesome concept! The reason that they do this is so that the students in the second classroom are able to take a course being taught at another school because it is not offered at their own.

Another thing that was really cool about the lab was the big screen t.v in the classroom. This was used by the students in the lab class, and they are actually able to see and interact with the students at the other school through the television. I thought this was such a great concept because not only are students able to take a class that they normally would not have been, but they are also able to interact with the other class and even ask questions! The visit was an awesome and informative tour, and I am really glad that I know more about the ACCESS labs and how they actually work. The lab is a great idea and I can't wait to see it used more and more at other schools!

Videocasts

Today I watched a very interesting videocast that is provided by WGBH's Teacher's Domain, a free digital library that has many videos that could be used as great teaching tools. The video that I chose to watch was called "A Night in the Coral Reef". The whole video was dedicated to explaining what sea life is like at night and how the creatures interact with each other. One of the fish that it examined was the squirrel fish, which uses its huge eyes to see better at night. It also talked about the carnivorous squid, bottom dwelling sea urchin, and the prickly porcupine fish.

The video states that the nighttime is a time for the day fish to hide so that they are not killed by night predators. It is also a time for nocturnal fish to come out to play. One of the things that I really enjoyed learning about was the actual coral and how it functions at night. As the night and darkness arrives, the coral has little extensions called coral polyps which start to protrude once it gets dark. The polyps sway back and forth with the water, feeding on plankton with its extended tentacles. I just thought that was such an interesting bit of information, and I know that younger students would love to learn about it too.

These videos are such a great resource for teachers, especially when it comes to teaching certain topics. One way that I would love to use this video in my classroom is by allowing my students to view it and then allowing them to make their own personal sea creatures using crafts. Since I plan on being a kindergarten teacher, crafts are a good way to engage the children in learning about the ocean and having fun at the same time. They could also create their own made-up sea creature if they would like, since I know that young children have very active imaginations!

Another way that I could use this video is by actually teaching the students about the individual fish. They could learn the colors and shape of each fish, and maybe I could squeeze in a little detailed information about how the fish live. I think that carrying on the "fish" theme would also be very helpful when teaching other topics, such as counting. I could refer back to the video and use little fish figures to help my students learn numbers, counting, and even adding. It is videos like these that open up a lot of other areas that could be explored by teachers for students. I think that these videos are great tools and I will definitely use them when I start my teaching career!

Podcasts

I had the chance to listen to a few podcasts this past week, and while they were a little slow at times, they were not quite as bad as I thought they were gonna be. They had pretty unique topics and seemed like they could really assist teachers when it comes to using technology. One podcast that I listened to was the SmartBoard Lessons, which were narrated by Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger. I listened to episode #146 called "Clouds, Stars, and Saints". The portion that I listened to involved them talking about websites that they liked and didn't like, and they also read a few letters from people that asked them questions. It was a good thing for them to do, but it got pretty boring at times.

Another podcast that i listened to was the KidCast podcast. I listened to episode #51 called "Brainstorming and Planning for Podcasting Success, and the host of this one was Dan Schmit. He and two other quests discussed how to start and incorporate podcasts into their classrooms. The discussed the problem of having a great idea when it comes to podcasting but not really knowing how to get started. It was a pretty interesting discussion, especially since it involved a few people talking back and forth.

Connect Learning episode #91, which is hosted by David Warlick. This podcast was a discussion between Warlick and a group of librarians who were able to ask questions and then answer them among themselves, as well as get feedback from Warlick himself. One of the first things that they discussed was whether or not you could post pictures of students on the web after publishing a podcast that they were involved in. This was a great conversation because it is very important to know the restrictions in that area, and it was really cool to hear feedback from other librarians on the topic. They also discussed how they were gonna use podcasting in their libraries. I really liked this one!

The MacBreak Weekly podcast was another one that I listened to for a bit. This one was also a discussion between a few people about the mac book laptop. This was pretty cool because I never knew too much about macs, and it kinda gave a review about the mac book. This podcast started off pretty boring but it got better as it went on. All in all, podcasts are not such a bad thing to listen to. I could definitely see myself using podcasting in my classrooms, although it would probably be in a more interesting way such as letting the students speak on the podcast themselves.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I just finished watching Randy Pausch's Last Lecture , and it was a hilarious and moving speech about Pausch's accomplishments as a professor, childhood dreams, and various kinds of advice that he passes on to the people he leaves behind. Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was given about nine months to live because of multiple tumors on his liver. He powerfully delivers his last lecture, titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", to a packed auditorium. In his lecture, Pausch proves to be intelligible, funny, witty, creative and beloved by most who knew him.

In the beginning of his speech, Pausch lists off numerous things that he dreamed of being when he was just a child. Some of his dreams included being an imagineer at Disney World, Being Captain Kirk from Star Trek, and even being a football player. At first glance, these seem like unreachable accomplishments, but the amazing thing about Randy Pausch is that he actually accomplished these dreams, for the most part. First, he never technically became Captain Kirk for obvious reasons and restrictions. However, he was able to meet him (William Shatner) when he came to visit Pausch to look at one of his Star Trek themed labs. Pausch was also asked to be an imagineer, (after many setbacks) and he even worked on the Aladdin themed ride at Disney World. Pausch proved that a dream, no matter how big, can be accomplished!

Randy Pausch also discusses some of his projects that he gave to students in his classes. The most amazing and creative one, though, involved assigning his students the task of designing their own virtual gaming world. He gave the students the assignment, which was to be due in just a couple weeks, and he admitted that he was absolutely stunned by the projects that the students came up with. He allowed the students to build on the projects for the remainder of the semester and the had a grand revealing of the virtual worlds when it was all over. Pausch said that the day of the revealing, he had a packed classroom filled with people that he had never even seen before. The project proved to be a success and was a great opportunity for the students to showcase their talents and bond with their project groups. The project became a huge event every year and was a great idea!

Another one of Randy Puasch's programs was called the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), which he and a colleague came up with. The ETC is a two year master's program where, basically, artists and technologists team up to create projects each semester. It is strictly project-based and involves no book learning. The ETC is a great learning program and bagan reaching places overseas such as Singapore. Pausch mentions that he had even had people from businesses calling and offering jobs to his students as soon as they graduate from the program. Pausch seemed to be a great professor and a wonderful man. His last lecture was an encouraging speech about how he made his dreams come true and how to make yours come true, too.

iPods in the Classroom

It is amazing how much technology is being integrated into classrooms, especially on college campuses. One thing that still blows my mind is how classes are using everyday devices like ipods in their lesson plans. Duke University is one such example. Duke University has begun distributing ipods to all incoming freshman who are taking classes that require the ipods. Who wouldnt want a free ipod? The free ipods, however, are not just for listening to music or downloading videos. Professors at Duke are using the ipods in the classroom for portable hardrives, podcasts, music and foreign language classes. The ipods can also be used to record lectures and is an easy way to look back at certain parts of lectures for reference.

Orange County, California is another example of schools that are starting to place ipods in the classroom. However, schools in this county are not just designating the ipods to one age group. They are using them in all grade levels. Some first grade students are able to use their ipods to listen to stories and record themselves retelling them, while other students are using this newly integrated technology to count the number of calories they burn during certain activities. Students in upper level classrooms may use their ipods to publish podcasts in which they discuss the material that they recently covered in class. The uses of the ipod have become more than I ever would have imagined. It has proven to be more than just another fun gift for listening to endless amounts of music. The ipod has become a teaching device that is both fun and educational. It has also opened the door for many other unimaginable types of technology to be used in the classroom. I never would have thought that I would be allowed to bring an ipod into any of my classes, much less use them to learn. The only question I can think of now is what could possibly be next?

Dr. Alice Christie

Dr. Alice Christie's website is used by her to share what she has learned about teaching over her career. It is a great resource for teahcers to see how an experienced educator has learned from changing technology, and how new teachers can incorporate that into their classrooms. Her website has several sections which provide teachers with advice on how to use technology in the classroom. She has a collection of different resources that they can use, and she even has a section dedicated to her photography over the years.

One of the pages that I liked best was the one about using GPS in the classroom. Dr. Christie uses this page to eductate teachers about how you can incorporate GPS into your lesson to teach students in an exciting an informative way. One such teacher planned a project for her students to research and plan a vacation for their families to national parks. The students researched the parks and integrated GPS into their projects. This is a fun and educational tool for both teahers and students.

My Presentation

Click Here to view my presentation!

Wikipedia

How many times have you had to find information on a subject and gone straight to the computer to look it up on Wikipedia? I wont lie, even I am guilty of lazily looking for information on sites like Wikipedia. As I have found out, however, Wikipedia is not exactly the credible source that it may seem to be. Wikipedia is an online search engine, which sounds appealing at first. However, the kicker is that anyone at anytime can edit the information on the site. This means that the information you are relying on for a big-grade paper or project might not be completely reliable. Wikipedia allows people to edit the site to provide more information on particular subjects. This is great if the people editing the sites are actually giving factual information, but sometimes this is not the case. A lot of times, big name businesses like Wal-Mart and Exxon Mobile will edit, or even delete, information that may portray them negatively and change it to make them sound better.

This problem with Wikipedia may not be completely solved, but there are new resources that are helping people check the information that they are looking up. Virgil Griffith, a graduate student from the California Institute of Technology, developed the Wikipedia Scanner to assist in this problem. This scanner allows people to trace back information that has been edited on Wikipedia to the original IP address who did the editing. This is a great tool because it not only allows people to check where the information is coming from, but it is also causing big businesses such as Wal-Mart to rethink what they are putting on the site. It is obvious now that Wikipedia is not the most credible source for obtaining information, but hopefully with the Wikipedia Scanner it will be a lot easier to double check where the information is coming from and just how credible it may be.

Best of Fischbowl 2007 (March)

As i began looking for another blog by Karl Fisch, I ran across one of his blog topics titled "Why Wirelss?", and it immediately caught my attention. This blog that he wrote is an arguement about why schools should have wireless internet access for personally owned devices. The first reason that Fisch gives is the fact that there are tons of resources online that students can access to help them in their classess. They can access information directly from the schools website, or they can access information from the entire internet. Fisch also argues that students today are enrtering a world where they must continuously be learning if they want to be successful. If they have access to online resources, they will be able to do this. Students will be able to gather more information quickly, and will also gain experience using the internet at the ame time.

Fisch also states that students need to be engaged through media outside the walls of their high school. The internet and other technology is an excellent tool that can be used to further educate your students. Also, he makes an excellent point by saying that students need to be prepared for what life is going to be like when they are older, not how it was years ago. They need to be prepared for a technology filled future, and it all starts in the classroom. Student's futures today are very unpredictable, and they need to be continuously learning and able to teach themselves. Internet in the classrooms may not be the direct solution,but it is a great tool to do so.

Best of Fischbowl 2007 (September)

For this blog I explored another one of Karl Fisch's always entertaining blogs. This blog the he wrote actually won an Edublog Award for being the most influential post of 2007. While Fisch does not seem to be too excited about it, it seems like a great achievement and was very well deserved. In his award-winning post, Fisch explains why he believes that all teachers should be computer literate. He makes a very true statement where he says that a teacher that is technoligically illiterate by today's standards is the same as a teacher who could not read about thirty years ago. It was a very bold statement, but also very true at the same time. He goes onto explain that the students are depending on their teachers to know how to use computers, and they do not have time to just wait around for them to figure it out.

Teachers have a responsibility to teach students and prepare them for the future. How can the teachers prepare their students for a technology filled future if they are not even prepared themselves? Fisch states that it is impossible to model your students if you yourself are not even literate. He says that it has been getting harder and harder to be truly successful, and as we get further into the 21st century it will be even harder if you are not technologically literate. Fisch also says that some people argue that teachers may have too much on their plate to take up such a big task. However, when you have students and their futures depending on you, no task is too big. Karl Fisch's blog was very informative and very true. It is so important for teachers to become technologically literate, especially nowadays. Students are depending on their teachers to teach them the skills that they will need to be successful, which means that the teachers must lear and master the skills themselves if they want to be successful.

International Schools

This is a blog that I found from Motueka High School in New Zealand. This is actually a specialized high school that deals mostly with outdoor recreation. The school has used this blog to post pictures of trips that they took, such as a trip to Middle Earth Cave where students explored, learned, and had fun all at the same time. This blog is also very informative about trips that the students take, and it gives a lot of interesting facts about each place. Lastly, the blog gives posts of upcoming events that are taking place which can be used by students. It is a very interesting and unique blog that both informs and entertains.

The other International School blog that I found was from a teacher in Auckland, New Zealand . The teacher's name is Mrs. Kelso and she has a class of 11 and 12 year olds. This teacher uses her blog much like other educators do. She has given students information on previous assignments, a breakdown of what they are learning in class, and even additional resources for learning. This teacher has taken it a step further, however, by providing video posts that show different ways of learning, such as a video that she posted about learning multiplication. Her post allows students to see assignments, interactive videos, and even pictures of their adventures in the class!

School Blogs

Blogs are something that are becoming more and more popular among educators of all grades. They are a great way for teachers to communicate with students, parents, and other educators in a fun and up-to-date way. One such school that uses teacher blogs is Mabry Middl School in Marietta, Georgia. This school has blogs from each department such as Counselor's Corner, Nurse's Corner, Band, and P.E blogs. Each department uses their blog to post upcoming events, pictures, and announcements. It is a great and simple way for the school and its individual departments to let the students know what is coming up on campus and how they can get involved. If you would like to view the blogs submitted by Mabry Middle School Click Here.


Another school that has started incorporating blogs into their system of teaching is Goochland County in Virginia. The school county's website lets you choose from teachers in the elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the county. Each idividual teacher has his or her own blog in which they share information about what has been covered in class, how things are progressing, and upcoming events in the classes. Some teachers even post assignments for upcoming and previous weeks. This is a great idea that allows students to simply go online and find out what assignments they missed or even how they can get ahead in the class. The teachers also post reminders about upcoming events, such as field trips, which makes it easy for students to remember when and where the event is taking place. Blogs like these that teachers use are becoming more and more common, especially as technology increases and young people are using computers more than a regular pen and paper. It is a smart way to keep up with the changing times and adapt for students as they begin moving towards computers and new technology. If you would like to view the Goochland County School's teacher blogs Click Here.

The Fischbowl: Did You Know?

I recently wathed a video called "The Fischbowl: Did You Know?" that was developed by Karl Fisch. It was an extremely interesting and informative video that fills you in on the topic of our society's ever-increasing dependence on technology and how we must make changes to adapt. This country, and even the world, has made huge technological advances in the past years, and it is just going to continue to increase as time passes and technology develops even more. The video gave pretty informative statstics an facts about how the world is changing and how we have begun to adapt to these changes. It stated that computers in the near future will have more computing capabilities than the human brain and fifteen years from now will have more than the human race. It gave many examples of how the world is changing due to technology becoming more and more useful and common. Some examples include the fact that we now have college majors that didnt even exist ten years ago, the number of internet devices increased from 1,000 in 1984, to 600,000,000 in 2006, and that because of the number of myspace users, if myspace was a country it would be the eigth largest in the world. These are staggering facts that help to show just how much our world is becoming more and more dependant on technology.

So, with these facts in mind, one question people may have is how are we adapating to this increase in dependence on technology? Well, many changes have been occuring that will help us to adjust. First of all, the video stated that many students are being trained for jobs that dont even exist yet, in order to solve problems that have not even occured. This means that we are already training people to become informed on problems that could possibly occur years from now. They are also starting to prepare children in schools from an early age to become succesful in the 21st century. This is very necessary in a society that is starting to rely mostly on technology and will continue to more in the future. We need to train young people now so that they will be informed and prepared in the future. Another big step that is occuring is the One Laptop per Child Project (OLPC). This project was created to help students in developing countries, since nearly one in three students in these countries never even complete the fifth grade. The project's goal is to provide these students with laptops that may further their education an even connect them to the outside world. As the video so perfectly showed, we are becoming a world that that is very dependent on technology, but we have already taken steps to prepare for the future. We are aware of the change that is occuring, and we are preparing young students so that they may be informed and well-equipped to handle problems and technological advances that will occur years from now.

ACCESS

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS) is an online database that connects students to classrooms and teachers over the internet. Students are provided wth the opportunity to take online classes such as advanced placement (AP) classes, advanced diploma, and dual enrollment classes. ACCESS has up to date resources for students and teachers that are skilled in their particular field. The mission of ACCESS is "to provide an infrastructure that delivers quality learning opportunites for all citizens". It allows students in low income areas who attend schools that may not offer the courses they are interested in, to take the the classes that they want.

I think that ACCESS is a great opportunity for both students and teachers. It provides students with an online connection to teachers who have years of experience, and it allows teachers to become more well-adapted to a society that is relying more and more on technology. It seems that it will work just as well as if the students were in an actual classroom, but at the same time it enables teachers and students to interact together with more resources. It will definitely become more and more necessary and helpful as technology becomes more present in society.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is a resource for teachers of any grade level to use. You can access this very helpful resource through the internet, and it provides teachers with things such as course studies, lesson plans, and even a personal workspace in which they can layout a specific lesson plan for their students. A teacher can use the Course of Study section to see exactly what each grade level should be learning and concepts that should be taught. In the Lesson Plans section of ALEX, teachers are given specific lesson plans that are modified to fit every subject of every grade. You can look up what concept is to be learned and then are provided with a layed out plan that you can give to your students. ALEX also provides you with links to other helpful resources online, which will broaden the amount of information and activities that you are able to give to your students.

This online resource is very helpful to teachers of any grade level. It is especially helpful to new teachers who may need to find specific lesson plans for a certain subject or course of study. I know that I myself will feel overwhelmed when first thrown into my first teaching job, but ALEX is perfectly suited resource that will lessen the stress of having to figure out lesson plans for every day of class. It will help teachers in every grade level, and will in turn help their students.

About me

Hi! My name is Bree and I am a sophomore at the University of South Alabama. I am majoring in Elementary Education, and I cant wait to start working with little kids! They are truly my passion, and I am so excited to begin teaching. I am currently living with three of my sorority sisters, and I am loving it so far. I am from Fairhope, Alabama, which is a really small town but I've grown to like it. It is pretty close to my school, which is why South appealed to me so much. I didnt think that I would like it being so close to home at first, but I've really been able to get involved in a lot of really cool things like my sorority and campus outreach, and I am probably happier now than I have ever been. I have amazing friends and an amazing family. I have two older brothers, a great mom and a really funny step dad. I have gotten pretty involved with intramural sports on campus, too. Im not that great at them, but they're a lot of fun and I've always loved sports. There's not really too much to me. I'm a pretty simple person and can sum myslef up like this: I love chocalate and macaroni (but not together), I hate cats, am deathly afraid of snakes, and I love music. My favorite color is blue, I love the beach and being in my pajamas. I dont like wearing tennis shoes, but I love sports. I love being outside, I am slightly obsessed with the sky. I hate getting dressed up , but i love wearing dresses, I sometimes contradict myself, and finally I have freckles, a lot of them!

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello! My name is Bree and I would like to welcome you to my blog!