My Final Reflection on EDM 310

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.

C4T#1 Comments 3 and 4

My teacher that was assigned to me was Joe Dale. His blog this week was about an education conference that he had gone to and how he was able to use technology to teach Language.  There were several different links on this blog, the one that I found most interesting was an AudioBoo that Mr. Dale and a Mr. David Muir did on some of the things covered in the conference.  Mr. Muir talked about how he is getting his students to use a computer for giving a speech, and how the computer will help with pronunciations of the different words and help them practice their speech.  In this same clip they seemed a bit down on Macintosh and seemed more in favor of PC's, I questioned this and told them the personal preference of certain people in EDM 310.

My second blog that I commented on for Mr. Dale was a conference he gave about how to use Posterous as a platform for teachers to blog.  His blog post went through every step, from how to set up your blog, to edit and make posts from your phone, to how to involve students with the content and share their assignments.  He went onto show teachers the different audio and visual clips that could be posted by simply sending an e-mail.  I told him that I was very grateful for his in depth lesson on how to use the forum and invited him to follow my blog and the one for the class. 

Blog Post # 9

Mr. McClung is recapping his first year in teaching in an elementary school in Noel, Missouri.  I was surprised to hear some of his comments that he found to be ground breaking, such as listen to your students.  I thought about this and then realized how easy it is to talk "at" someone and not to them.  This I think, is more of a problem than I had at first realized.  When you can truly communicate your lessons to the students, they can grasp the information and both the student and teacher get more out of the situation.  

I also found it funny how he felt it necessary to complete a lesson as if he were still being judged by an instructor or an administrator.  He's right that teachers must bring the lessons down to the level of the students.  It doesn't matter how well the principle thinks that a teacher is doing, if the students aren't comprehending the lesson then we as educators aren't accomplishing anything.

I think that many of the points that Mr. McClung went over in this blog are very important.  But, I felt that these were things that all teachers should already know, but perhaps I'm not quite close enough to the teaching part of my career to make such a judgement call.

C4K#2Summary #4, #5, & #6

The first student assigned to me this time is a little girl in year 8 at the Pt England school named Racheal. In her blog post she just gave general background information about herself.  This didn't give me a lot to comment on, so I just told her a little bit about myself.  Telling her that I have three kids close to her own age. I also told her that I like sports also, especially basketball. She said that she enjoys writing, so I tried to encourage her to keep working hard in school and on her writing and hopefully someday I would be able to but her book.

The second student that was assigned to me was a little girl at Pt England School in Ms. Janine Tito's Room 22, named Rose. Her blog post was a bit hard to comment on, as it consisted of three pictures with no captions. So, I started by introducing myself and telling her that I have three kids her age. I then went on to ask about the two of the three pictures. The first picture was a religious Drawing of either Jesus or God, and not knowing this child's parent's religious views I declined to comment on this picture. The second photo was what looked to be a christmas photo of a baby, so I asked her who was the baby and asked if it was one of her younger sisters( she has five sisters). The last photo was that of a church that had one corner leveled and in ruins. I had learned from my first kid that there had recently been an earthquake in that area and asked her if this was damaged during that earthquake.

My third student made a video slideshow that showed his school, friends, and activities that they participated in this year while at school.  I said how I liked the video and asked how they liked school, and told them to keep on blogging because of the excellent job that they were doing.

Blog Post # 8

In the videos "This is How We Dream" by Richard E. Miller he makes the points that there is an ever expanding base of knowledge at the fingertips of students, and the public in general.  He points out how these new tools can be used to do more collaborative projects with people from around the world.

If these tools are available then we as educators need to be able to use the different forms of multi-media that are out there to help prepare our students to succeed in the ever-changing world of  technology.  I personally think that I would be able to implement the use of multi-media into a Paper/Project, and that I would be able to use it effectively(whether that true or not I'm not sure).

I hope that if it becomes necessary for me teach kindergarten- third graders how to use multi-media in researching and writing a paper that I would be able to help them do the job.  I think that the way all of these technologies are changing that there is a possibility that some day the system will catch up with it and then these tools will be available to the students.  Then as teachers these tools will be available to us to help our students expand their horizons.  I think that the biggest problem with using multi-media would be getting the school systems to change and use the technology.  Once this happens the way we view school and teaching will be forever changed.


In the two videos "The Chipper Series" and "EDM 310 for Dummies" the videos were presented in a humorous way.  The main thing that I would like to do in any video that I produce is keep it funny and entertaining.  In the videos that I would make I would like to also make the videos more geared toward children and their interests.  Maybe an art project with paper mache, something to gather their interest and something that I could use to connect with the kids.  This would get the kids interested and allow me to entertain the children while they are learning something, anything.

In the video "Learn to Change, Change to Learn" presented by the Pearson Foundation, the arguments that were presented in the video were persuasive because they were given by educators.  There is a real need for society to change the way kids are being taught in schools today.  There was one teacher (around the four minute mark) that stated kids need to know how to find information and be able to authenticate it.  I could not agree with him more, today I can find out anything I want to know from my phone, so why are we trying to get our children to learn these facts when they can look them up in the same amount of time.

 
In the two videos , "The Secret Powers of Time" by Philip Zambardo and "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us "

by David Pink the ideas given to us in them were really surprising and interesting to say the least.

In "The Secret Powers of Time"  we learned about the different ways that people look at the world today, and how that effects the way we veiw our world. I thought that this was fascinating, to see how we view our own measure of time and how it effects the outcome of our own daily lives.  In the future I will try to be a more future oriented thinker.

In the video "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" there have been studies shown that money is not the biggest motivating factor for most people in the world.  It shows that to truly motivate people they need autonomy, mastery, and purpose.  Autonomy simply states that  people generally want to be self directed. Mastery is the need to work on a skill for the sole purpose of improving that skill.  Purpose is the idea that people want to be working on something that will matter.  I think that all of these points are true, but my boss has not, nor will he ever see this video.  So, I will have to wait until I'm out of svhool to see if any of these motivations are true.

SMARTboard Lesson

Blog Post # 7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

In this video of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, Dr. Pausch first let's us know that he has cancer and has less than six months left to live, but he takes this opportunity to give a valuable lesson on life and how to live. I enjoyed it, and his insight on the lessons that are taught by just being involved in certain exercises, he referred to these as "head-fake" lessons. An example he uses is learning sportsmanship and teamwork from the simple act of playing football as a child. Sometimes these lessons are the most valuable knowledge that anyone can gain in life.

Dr. Pausch spent the first part of his lecture discussing his childhood, and the dreams that he had always hoped to realize. He delivered the discussion with enough humor and charisma that the listeners were entertained and were kept interested and involved. Dr. Pausch talked of "brickwalls" or barriers, obstacles that are put in our way to keep "others" from reaching your dreams. He learned his "head fake", strong work ethic from his football coach, who also taught him that people that don't correct you when you make a mistake have given up on you.

The next portion of Dr. Pausch's speech, hemoves on to telling that the greater gift in his life was not realizing his own dream, but rather helping others realize their own dreams. His students were the ones that he helped realize their dreams. His background in Virtual Reality and his the contacts that he made in the private sector helped many of his students get a leg up on the competition for those positions. But, I find the most important thing he mentioned in reference to his students was not only to set the bar to low, don't set the bar at all. He found that his students went well beyond all of his expectations.

I feel that Dr. Randy Pausch was a great contributor to his students life and his loss is a loss for all those that had the privelage to have him as a teacher. He spent the last segment of his speech trying to show the "head-fakes" in this lecture. The one that hit home for me was the fact that the lecture was not for us, it was for his two young children.

Project #11 "Reading to kids"

C4T#2 comment post summary

In this first post my teacher started off by saying that her new classroom was designed to not need air-conditioning, but would rely on fresh air ventilation. In theory this is a good thing, but when the ambient temperature is close to 100 degrees with 90% humidity that makes the ventilation seem more like a "sauna". She went on to say that she was thankful for the opportunities she does have to teach children who are eager to learn, starting a new term, and learning new ways to incorporate technology into her classroom.
I commented by saying that I sympathized with her situation, noting that it regularly reaches those same temperatures here. I was also proud of her bright attitude, she seemed to only be looking on the bright side of the situation.

The second teacher I was assigned to was Henrietta Miller, a year 5 teacher in Sydney, Australia.  She blogged  about a show that is airing in Australia that follows students through their years in school.  She had some interesting points that were made during the show that she shared concerning student success rates, the one that I found most interesting was a child's persistence. I commented about the troubles I have with my own son and his persistence, and asked if she had any tips on how to encourage him in his academic endeavors.

C4K Summary #1, #2, & #3

My first kid that was assigned to me was Jasmin6 in Grade 6 at Comox Valley school in Vancouver Island, Canada  I was a little unsure as to which entry I was to  respond to, so since there were only two I responded to both. The first post asked which was my favorite super hero and if I had a sidekick which one would I want. Since I have three kids very  close to Jasmin's age I was able to answer this pretty easily, and was able to sound like I knew a little what I was talking about.  The other post was just a little information about her that I was able to comment on again because of my own children. Things like her favorite youtube clips and favorite activities that I am current with because my own children like the same ones.

My second kid assigned to me was Lisa S. in Miss Helen King's class at Pt England School. according to her latest blog, and the one I posted on everyone on her class was getting a new netbook and they were all getting very excited about them. Again I was able to relate to her because of my own children. I told her how much fun the netbooks are, and how well my children all like theirs. I congratulated her on her new netbook and told her to take good care of it.

My  third kid assigned to me was Zion T. in Mr Kent's Grade 6  class at Pt England School.  This one was a little more tricky than the other two.  His blog post was about an  earthquake that had hit locally there in New Zealand. I wasn't sure exactly what to say, so I told him that this was a horrible thing, but I was proud of him for posting it on the internet so that people from around the world would know about it and want to help. I told him to keep up with his good deeds in the community, and keep on working in the classroom.

Blog Post # 6

The Networked Student

I found this video to be interesting and informative. It demonstrates the power of technology on the learning of todays student. It also tells of the many steps and tools a student can use and take to become well informed on the subject that one is researching. It also tells how a student can provide links to the research that they have done so that their research can be used by others.

The question was posed "Are you prepared to teach a networked student". To this any one of the students in school today should answer "I had better learn to be".  Because it is becoming more and more necessary for teachers to be current on todays technologies and current research on the subjects that they are going to be teaching. a teacher today must have a vast "PLN".

However, I think that the video takes away the importance of what a teacher should be. According to this video a teacher is a person that gives the student tools to find the answers for himself, but I think a teacher should also be readily available to give the students more guidance than this video leads us to believe is being given. Granted one tends to retain knowledge that one has to earn (research), but some students learn from the knowledge of their teachers also. Once I become a teacher, I will try to tread the fine line between giving my students the tools to learn and learning the subjects for them.

A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment 


In this video I learned many new things about organizing my tools that I will need to use while expanding my PLN.  I found it interesting how she was able to set up her personal network with all of her sources easily accessible and able to give credit to all sources to avoid plagiarism.  This will be a helpful video for making my own PLN more professional looking, and still be able to keep up with my social networks like Facebook.


Critiques of Smartboards

In these two blogs both men feel that smartboards are a waste of money and are of no benefit to the children or teachers.  Given the points that are made I can't see any fault in their arguments, but I have not had the opportunity to use one let alone in a classroom setting.  Once I have the chance to use one I will better be able to determine my own feelings on their usefulness in todays schools.  They also both make the point that it is just something for administrators can spend money on without knowing if they are even helping a child or teacher in the process of learning.
  
http://teacherslovesmartboards.com
   

Timetoast Timeline Project 9b

Timetoast Timeline Project 9a

Blog Post # 5

Eagle's Nest Radio and Class Blog

This was a very interesting and entertaining Class Blog. I would not be opposed to implementing this in the classroom. This is a very good way to get the children more interested in the subjects that we would cover, and give them a sense of accomplishment and pride in the knowledge that they have gained. I think that this would also make the kids more active learners and more likely to retain what they have learned.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

I like the idea of Podcasting in the classroom for a couple of reasons. First, this gives children
the ability to stay up to date with things going on in the classroom when they are ill and unable to come to class. This makes it easier for these students to be prepared with the rest of their classmates when it is time to be tested on these lessons. Secondly, students would be able to review these podcast to help review for a test, and find links to other sites that could have beneficial information. I was also surprised to see all of the children interviewed liked podcasts.

100 Ways to Use Your I Pod to Learn and Study Better

I was completely shocked to find out some of the different ways you can use your I Pod in studying. the most interesting part for me was to learn that you can install spark notes on it as a quick reference while writing a paper. And also a way that you can get a tutorial on your I Pod as well. The only reservation that I would have is the quick and easy access to these spark notes makes it easier for students to avoid actually reading an assigned book.

No Burp Back Education

Blog Post # 4

1. In Dr. McLeod's post he makes a valid point about kids that are not taught how to use the internet being further behind in the job market. That being said he seems to gloss over the point of the  very real dangers out there in cyberspace.  My kids go on the internet all the time, but only after they ask me(they even ask when the T.V. says "kids, get your parents permission").  Also, they are monitored at what they get to do on the computer.  I feel that as long as children are monitored  they should be exposed to the tools available to them on the internet.  But, if parents aren't willing to monitor their kids then they should not allow them to use the internet, because there are things on the net that children should be protected from.
   Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Educational Administrative program at Iowa State University.  He is also the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE).
2.   In "The ischool Initiative" video this young man makes some very interesting points about how to use the itouch platform in today's public education system.  If his figures are correct this will be an excellent way to save the taxpayers money and keep both the teachers and parents up to date on the progress of the students. This is also a great interactive tool that can be used for research on any number of subjects that will now be easily accessed by the student.
      I think that the only way that this will be able to take effect is if there is some corporate sponsorship, and if there is, it will have to be done on some sort of experimental basis before the nation would even consider this as a valid option.  But, that doesn't mean that it won't happen, it just means that people and society are all resistant to change.
3.  The video "The Lost Generation" was really very well done, it was well thought out and done professionally.  I think that the person responsible for the video did a very good job on making the video give a powerful message and making a bit of a twist ending without changing any of the script except for reading it in reverse.
4.  In "Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir" I was amazed at how well that everyone's voices mixed together so well from all over the world without ever actually meeting.  How much time went into finding the talent for this. this was an amazing video, and goes to show that now nearly anything is possible. I never would have even thought to try to do something as inventive and clever as this.
5.  In the video "Teaching in the 21st Century"  the idea expressed in this video is that teachers are not the only purveyors of knowledge in a child's life anymore.  But just because today's teacher is not the only one with the answers for students, teachers are now expected to be "filters" for the student. Also' teachers are to focus the student's attention in the direction that is moat beneficial to the student.

This is My Sentence

Google Presentation

C4T#1 Comments 1 and 2

My assigned teacher was Russ Goerend, his post was about how his students were writing poems. First they were writing a poem for just a few minutes and they were done. After seeing this he would talk to the students and begin critiquing the poem they had just written, and go over the process of first drafts and whittling down the content to reduce redundancy. Then on the next class meeting he had the students write in silence for thirty minutes and use the techniques of first drafts and cutting down. Later he went on to ask if there was a better process for teaching poetic writing.

I then went to introduce myself and edm310. As far as his question went I felt that I was unqualified to respond with advice. I did however comment that the process he was teaching would be of immense help to his students as they continue their academic careers.

In my second comment for Mr. Goerend his post was about a new way he was going to get his students to get excited about reading, and book reports. His idea was to have a way to have other student write about what they thought of the book, so that students would have a virtual peer review of the book, and then be able to see if this book is one that would interest them.

I posted that I thought that this was an excellent idea, stating that I can't get my kids excited about a book, but if their friends like it, they MUST read that book. I went on to say if there was a way to get my kids friends to review the books that i grew up with so that my kids would be able to enjoy those as well.

Blog Post # 3

1. These all seem like common for todays common College student. But, I am not the average college student of today. I am thirty-four years old, have a wife and three children, and work forty-fifty hours a week. So to say that I have any similarities with the students in the video is not really representing me or other students in my situation. I know that there are other people that have gone to school later in life, like I am doing right now, but this video is focusing on the eighteen-twenty-two year old crowd.
That being said, i am in the same boat as them when it comes to text books that we have to buy and never use. Also how I will be in debt after I have finished my degree. If I were to make this video I would have tried to show the life of a student that has started school after they have started their life.
2.Hello Ms.Hines my name is Jordan Sellers and I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. This course is devoted to show prospective teachers how new technology can be used in the classroom, so everything in your article is not falling on deaf ears. I think that the main problem will be with teachers that have established their careers, it is hard to "teach an old dog new tricks", but I do agree that we must change the way we teach our students to keep up with the world's technologies, if only to keep student's attention. I will be posting this comment on my class blog my blog URL is http://SellersJordamedm310.blogspot.com
3. Hello Mr Fisch, My name is Jordan Sellers and I am commenting on your post as part of a required assignment for Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I think that for the most part teachers need to have at least a basic knowledge of technologies that are available to student so that the students will have us as a resource to learn more about these and be prepared for their future in the world. I will be posting this on my class blog, the URL is http://SellersJordanedm310.blogspot.com
4. When this link is shown it shows us the amount of people going on and using the computer every moment of the day, some of them have to be students of some teacher. This just goes to show us that our students are going to be tech savvy and we as prospective teachers need to be able to keep up with them on their educational journey.

Blog Post #2

1. In the youtube video "Did You Know" by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, they made alot of interesting points about the growth of the internet. I had thought the internet and computer technologies were growing at a fast rate, but I had no idea at how quickly the amount of knowledge gained and transferred between the people of the world was growing as well.
I think that it is about time that everyone quits putting their head in the dirt trying to hide from their fear of computers. I'm not really one to talk about others, because as of a few years ago I was one of them.
2. I the youtube video "Mr. Winkle Wakes" by Matthew Needleman, he makes an interesting point about how much the world has changed, while at the same time we are still trying to teach our children in the same fashion. Once it is layed out in this way we start to realize that we are doing a disservice to our next generation in preparing them for their futures.
This new way of teaching should be made more use of in todays schools. I think that this would better prepare our youth for tomorrow's job market. Hopefully, by the time I get to my own classroom there will be more computer based classes, and our students will be better prepared for the world that we are preparing them for.
3. In the video "The Importance of Creativity" Ken Robinson let the audience know throughout the speech that there is more that one way to reach children in their educational lives. He went on to tell the story of a dancer that was misunderstood in grade school and thought to have a learning disability. We as a society are so concerned about fitting all children in the same box that we often try to weed out what makes children individuals.
I also found it interesting that Mr. Robinson felt that our society was to quick to label children as different (ADHD), and that this often would destroy the future of more creative children. Personally, I feel that this generation is being stifled by this new way of thinking, and that it will end up being a detriment to our society in the future. However, I believe there are some children that are really in need of the help that comes with ADHD, but I think that some children are placed on these drugs when they really are just being cheated out of their full potential.
4. This video shows that the educational system in this country isn't creating an environment for our students to be successful on the world stage. I hope to be the type of teacher that can make my kids be more successful in the world to come.
5. In this video Vicki Davis has brought the EDM 310 idea to a rural High School in southern Georgia. I think that the students in the class were getting a leg up on their competition when trying to go on to college, or even the work force. in today's worldd you need to have some sort of computer skills to be able to find a decent job.
This would be a great class to make mandatory for all Middle Schools, or at the very least High Schools. But, the problem that always seems to arise is funding for such programs that are becoming more necesary in the grand scheme of things.

Wordle Post

this is a wordle project about me

Blog post # 1 about me

      Hello, my name is Jordan Sellers and I am married with three children.  I took the long way to get into college and establishing a career, most try to start a career and be established before starting a family, but  I felt that would be far to easy.  I am now training to be a teacher and look forward to working with elementary school students.

      My  wife is an RNworking at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. She works in the NICU(the small premature or sick babies) and I am truly amazed at the work she does.  I have a son, Donovan, that is eleven and in fifth grade.  Also, I have twin daughters, Ryann and Quinn, who are nine years old (they were born 9/11/01).
     I am coming to school so late in life because I had to wait for the amount of vacation time that I have availableto me. I am a shift supervisor for  an oil company here in mobile, NOT BP, I have to clarify that all the time now. Every class that I go to is another vacation day that I have to use, so people that say they can't go to college because they have to work or they don't have the time aren't getting any sympathy from me.