Final Project #16 (Wordle)

Progress Report on Final Prject

I have had a difficult time finding a way to meet with my group. Today we are meeting and hopefully be able to make a large amount of progress on our project.

Progress Report on My PLN

I have just posted my Final report on my PLN. I used Symbaloo, and find it very helpful in keeping up with the websites that I use frequently.

Special Meatphor Asssignment (Blog Post #14)

I must admit that I did not catch the full meaning of the metaphor in the blog. I was more concerned with the aspect of a teacher being told to manipulate test scores, rather than being concerned with the students' actual grasp of the knowledge. I guess I'm more of a tigger type, being focused on the solution and not paying much attention to the problem. I knew that the issue of children taking home pencils couldn't have been the real issue, but was more concerned with the concept of trying to manipulate tests to make themselves look good.

There are so many metaphors that we encounter in our everyday lives that one would be hard pressed to not hear or use one in a single day. Some that I have used this week with my kids are: "You are grounded FOREVER" and "If your friends jump off a bridge, are you gonna jump off a bridge". However, the one that I use the most is on my daughters; "You aren't allowed to date until you are thirty", that's not a metaphor, I'm serious. I also hear several from other people, like: "I have a ton of homework" or "I have worked my butt off today", and my personal favorite from my wife "I love you", but half the time I think she means it.

I think that best way to teach kids about metaphors is to start early in life, and make sure the kids understand the meaning behind the metaphors that we use. If educators take the time to explain what is meant in certain context, the use of metaphors is an amazing device to put more emphasis on important aspects of lessons.

The main reason that we use metaphors is to apply emphasis on the everyday monotony that comes from the common conversations that everyone in the world has to deal with. When someone uses a metaphor, it stands out in one's mind and makes this fact more of a focal point in the discussion. I think that metaphors are a major aspect of communications today.

Final report on my PLN

For my PLN I used Symbaloo as the platform to house all of my contacts and websites that I keep up with. I think that the greatest asset of this website is the convenience of having all of my relative websites in one spot so that it is easy to find the main web pages that I go to. I found this aspect of the Symbaloo very useful and plan on keeping up with my use of it even after I finish EDM 310.

C4T #4

The first blog I left my comment on was Manaia Kalani. The blog was about how at her school they were in the process of transitioning user accounts to a new service provider. I told her that I understood her frustration and told of how we had to set up a google account for this class at the beginning of the semester. After this I invited her to follow my blog and left my blog address and the class blog address.

The second blog I commented on was also for Manaia Kalani. There were no new posts since my first, so I went to the previous post. This post was about new services being offered to their school. of the ones offered they went with Blogger, Picasa, and Google Reader. I said that there were many great softwares available and mentioned that Google Docs is amazing, and almost essential when working in a group like a school. I then left my blogger address as well as the address for the class blog.

Blog Post # 13

The Alabama Learning Exchange, aka ALEX, is a website designed to help Alabama teachers. One section of this website is ALCOS, which stands for Alabama Course of Study. Once in ALCOS a teacher can choose a subject and then choose the grade level that they are teaching. Once this is done it shows the teachers the state requirements for what is to be taught during that grade level for that subject. There is a web resources resources link that is a link to other resources directed toward teachers. There are lesson plans, whichtells how to properly write and carry out lesson plans in the classroom.

Alex is an excellent tool that is available to all teachers. It is something that I could envision using in my future teaching career. I like how easy it was to use and get what I need out of it without having to spend to much time trying to find the information that I was looking for.

Access, which stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, is a website more geared toward students. It has things such as test prep, website resources and even special courses that are offered. This website is a good way to get students more involved in their own education. This is also an easy website to navigate, and would be a website that I would not hesitate to recommend to students.

C4K#3 Summary #7, #8, #9, & #10

In this C4K I was assigned to the Geeking XC tryouts section of Mr. McClung's blog. In the blog he told of the tryouts for the Cross Country running team at Woodland Jr. High School. I commented that I had at one time used to run, but that was 17 years ago. Now the only time that I run is when someone is chasing me. I told him that I was not going to make the tryouts, because I felt that they might be better off with the younger runners that are still in shape.

The student that I was assigned for my eighth comment was named Ellie. On her blog, she had what looked to be screen savers that she had posted to her blog. The latest one was what appeared to be a fish tank with several different types of fish swimming across the screen. I told her that I liked her blog and asked her if she likes fish, or if there is any significance to the post of the fish tank. I then left my blog address and told her to feel free to check out my blog.

After looking at Mrs. Yollis' blog I was excited about the possibilities that a blog can bring to the classroom. I thought that she really had the kids excited about the lessons that were being taught. I really liked the large map of Asia that they had and how the kids got to interact with the facts that they were learning. I also found it very neat how the kids were interacting with a class in Australia, while they were doing this the kids got a "headfake" lesson on the similarities and differences that the two classes had. I liked how she put the conversion chart on the blog from metric to U.S. standard so the kids were learning this while not even being taught. I also like that the children get to post some of their projects on the blog, like the "gal" that got to show everyone the proper way to take photos using a digital camera. All in all, Mrs. Yollis has a blog that any teacher can be proud of.
My comment on the "Family Blogging Month" gave me the opportunity to connect with the kids and that is one of my favorite aspects of this class. I went on their and tried to relate to them and let them know that I have two daughters in third grade, and a son that is in fifth grade. I let them know that i was a student learning how to use computers to make school more fun. I then went on to tell them how lucky they were to have Mrs. Yollis as their teacher because she was already using the things that we are just know learning to use. I told them that they were learning stuff that even I don't know how to do, and they should keep up the good work. I asked them to stop by my blog and give me some "pointers" to make it better and told them they should go by the class blog and say hi to Dr. Strange.

The student that I was assigned to for my tenth comment for kids was named Jaden form Mrs. Yollis' third grade class. In his blog he talked about an L.A. Clippers game that he had recently went to. In it he gave the score by quarter and asked how many points were scored in the third quarter. He then asked if I had been to see any Clippers games. I told him that I had been to one back in 1989 when I was living in Atlanta. In my final paragraph, I gave him a question that maybe he would answer for me, Who was the only NBA player to score 100 points in a game, and how many points did he average per quarter to reach that mark? I thought that this would make it easier to start a correspondence, if I gave him some common ground that we both shared.

Skype Interview

Blog Post # 12

Directions go to the site http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education/ and read the article 8 ways technology is improving education and write a paragraph or two about how this article is arguing the for the importance of technology's use in today's school system.

I really liked how in the first section it talks about how to use technology in the classroom for visual aides to help explain concepts to children, while making the process easier. In the second reason, I agree that it is helpful with a child learning a new language to be able to converse with someone in that native tongue, but I feel that this sells the global learning aspect a bit short of the possibilities that are there. The third reason for education taking technology in a more active role was interesting to me that the whole argument was to make it easier to manipulate statistics to make a child be able to0 understand percentages while only having to tweek certain numbers in an equation and then be able to see how this will effect the outcome of the equation. I think that the section on probes and sensors is the one that children would have the most fun working with, because children, I think, would enjoy the chance to have a more hands on role with technology and you would have a lot more interaction and this would bring the kids more into the lesson. The section on testing is of more benefit to the teacher and allows them to get more direct understanding of what the students are grasping and what needs to be explained a little bit more. The use of multi-media is one that really hits home in this class. This part explains the children's excitement over creating something that their peers will be able to see while teaching valuable lessons about the use of technology that the children will be able to use for years to comeeven after they have finished their formative education. The next idea about going to e-books is a great idea that I think should be used as soon as possible, however getting the funding so that every child has a device to read the book is something that is going tho be hard to get the money men to get behind. The last reason given in this article confused me as to the aspect it would serve in learning other than to teach students to become innovative thinkers.
All in all, this article has several good points to make about trying to get more technology to be used on the classroom. But, the main obstacle that I see in getting this change to come to fruition always comes back the bottom line. Then the only way that this will come to pass is if their is real, and detailed research done to show the benefits of any of these programs. I just don't think that it will happen in America until another country uses it full time, but by then our children will be far behind in the global market place.

Project #15 Book Trailer

Teach Someone Something

Blog Post # 11

In this video it showed a first grade class in Canada using technology in their classroom. I was thoroughly impressed with the amount that they were using the computers at such a young age. I really enjoyed how they talked about how the technology was able to help them with many aspects of their education process like reading and writing. I also was really surprised at how they were able to use their Nintendo DS's in the process of learning. I didn't even know that they were used for anything beyond Super Mario, so these kids are at least one up on me.

It really showed me how far all the different technologies can be taken in the classroom, and not just computers. But, the problem is and always will be funding. As slow as the american school system is to change their ways, getting them to fund the purchase of any new technologies,let alone gaming systems will not be in our future in the near future. However this has opened my eyes to look for other ways to make learning more of a game that the kids will enjoy and keep them interested in the process of learning new skills with technology that they will be able to use along their journey through life.

In the Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy one could really tell the great amount of care that she had for her students, and the excitement she has for the leaps that are being made with the use of technology in the classroom. I was very proud of her stance for the use of technology to help her students even when she faced opposition from some administrators, even then she could see the positive role that computers would play in her students learning process. She makes a good point about how now, while we are in school, is the time to learn the different technologies and how to use the in a classroom.

When she started talking about how we can use blogs for posting assignments, it was really eye opening. I was a bit skeptical with the idea of using Facebook with students, only because of the possible misunderstandings that usually arise and because of the recent issues that have come out in the news involving teachers/students and Facebook. However I really liked how she is coaching the children on the responsible way to use the internet, and how to stay safe and secure. The way she was being protective of the students safety and identity was great, it is one of the main fears that I would have.

Blog Post # 10

This post by Morgan Bayda was about a young man, Dan Brown, that had recently dropped out of the University of Nebraska because the school was getting in the way of his education. He went through history and discussed how information was a powerful and valuable commodity, but as society and technology improved this became less valuable. he went on to say that this is the biggest reason for his decision to leave school, because his professors only would lecture on a topic for an hour while doing a power point, and the students were just expected to sit there and remember what was said, there was no discussion, there was no asking opinions of other students, just sit listen and study. He was very discouraged by this and decided to leave school.

After the video, Morgan Bayda wrote how she agrees with everything that Dan Brown had said up until he dropped out of college. There is a need for the education system to change the ways that things are taught. I know in my own personal experience that there have been classes that "needed" a textbook. I would get this book and only open it for ONE assignment, usually an unnecessary one at that, the entire semester just so that there would be justified reason for us to purchase this book. Morgan Bayda thinks that the system needs to change how the students get the information that is needed, and I couldn't agree with her more.



This blog was funny and informative and discussed the importance of teachers working towards a solution and not focusing on the problem. It is a short story about two teachers talking and one not wanting the students to take their pencils home with them because studies show lower standardized test scores with those students. The other teacher then responds and discusses possible solutions to this "study", rather than just give up and make the kids leave their pencils at school. After a little more of the back and forth between the two educators the first teacher gives up and says fine but it's your head on the line.

I am wondering how I will respond to these same pressures if they come up once I become a teacher, or will there even be studies done that are as asinine as this one in the story. I want to think that this is all just a humorous story, but if this is some of the stuff that is looked into I hope to be the type of teacher that will be focused on the solutions and not the problems.