Blog Assignment #10

An Open Letter To Educators
I was taken back by the fact that Morgan had just finished school this last Spring. She has accomplished a lot and has a lot to be proud of already. She claims we are still using the same teaching methods as one hundred years ago. We should all stop to think about whether we want to change the system. Since everything else in the world is progressing and changing rapidly then it is only normal to expect the same with the way that teachers teach their students. I can definately relate to Morgan when she talks about how hard it is to stay awake in class. I just don't think there is anyone who finds lecture classes intriguing ALL the time. I know I'm not the only person I know who has trouble staying awake and paying attention. Another reason I loved this was because I feel as though I can relate to her because of the work we have done in EDM310 such as using a PLN.
Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home
Instead of dwelling on our problems we should spend more time finding and fixing a solution. This was a great and entertaining example. It is important to demonstrate solutions to problems as well. I also thought this was an example of how sometimes educators focus so negatively on some things instead of finding the positive. I think in order to effect students the right way we must all be positive. No one is going to be drawn to a negative person.
Two Questions That Can Change Your Life
The first question was "what is my sentence?". To me this means, what does my life mean to me. How will I be remembered? Everyone wants to be remembered for doing good things. My sentence is: "I want to be the best person and teacher that I can be. I will encourage my student to want to learn and make them excited about it everyday. My students will learn through many different techniques. Learning can be fun".
"Was I better today than I was today?" This is a great question to ask because it is an evaluation of yourself. By asking his question we can improve ourselves each and every day. It can keep us aware of not only what we are doing wrong, but what we are doing right as well.

Additional Assignment #3

Sir Ken Robinson-
1. When he asks the question "how do we educate our children to take their place in economies of the 21st century?" I think this is very important because the economy is changing all of the time. Children must be able to adapt to situations in order to take their place in the changing economy.
2. Honestly there is nothing that I disagree with in this presentation. Everything Mr. Robinson states is well supported statements and he gives reason to believe. Everything he speaks about are things that I have been encountering lately.
3. The agreement and disagreement is that technology is being utilized however there are still many areas that do not utilize technology. For example the College of Education is doing a pretty good job of using technology in the classroom and also educating us on the technology. However we are still being taught like students were taught a hundred years ago which is not as beneficial to our learning.
4. You can educate people on these issues. If people knew what was going on they would probably be more willing to try and work together to make education a thing of the future. If people were educated on some of the issues discussed they would understand more on what is going on in the education system today.
5.I loved how a cartoon was used to illustrate the issues. I also thought the sharpie noise was a good touch. I would like to be the speaker of this kind of presentation, although I do think I'm a pretty good artist. I also believe I could probably play the role of the designer because I think I could be pretty creative.

Smart Board Project 13

Blog Assignment #9

"What I've learned in EDM310"
I have thoroughly enjoyed being apart of this class this Fall semester. I feel as though I have discovered so many new things about the internet and technology that I did not already know. I am very excited and passionate about being a teacher one day and this class has provided me with so much useful information and new tools that I plan to incorporate into my classroom. I have also used many different networks that are available on the internet that I have never used before such as twitter and skype. I find them enjoyable and plan to continue to use them even after I am done with EDM310. These different networks are used for many different things, but also can be so useful in teaching education. The most important thing I think I have learned from this class is that technology is growing everyday and as teachers, we have to keep up with the world around us in order to affectively teach. We also should always explore the new ideas and tools available to us so that we can continue to learn and grown along with out students.

Additional Assignment #2

Directly off the bat, my favorite quote of this video is "Children will learn to do what they want to do". I believe that kids can teach themselves. Anything that kids find interesting will motivate them to learn. Not a lot of people want to learn about something they are not interested in, especially kids. This stnads for kids and adults alike. Computers and internet are the source of interest for anybody. There are all kinds of people using the internet everyday to explore their personal interests. We have explored some of the serch engines that are available in EDM310, but there are more. But we always have to remember that when using the internet we will run into problems. It is also easy to get distracted on the computer with all that is available through internet. In order to motivate someone to learn, you must learn how the person learns best which is something that teachers should be best at. As a future teacher I am definately motivated to learn so I can better teach my students. I have to be motivated to learn in order for me to expect my students to be motivated to learn. I have discovered as a student I have to teach myself in order to effectively learn, not just in the classroom but also outside of the classroom. I'm not motivated everyday even if I want to be. In order to learn new things in the future I will have to Teachers are there to help and encourage their students. Teachers are sucha big influence on their students so Ihope to be motivated in order to motivate my students. I also plan to do things that spark their interest.

Blog Assignment #8

"This is How We Dream"-I, persosnally, thought this video was very confusing. I had some trouble understanding what in the world he was talking about. I think it is interesting how Miller talks about how we are at a very important time of change in human history. The change is how we communicate. Instead of the original pencil and paper we use media writing now. We depend on computers noe instead of our desks. Some really important changes are talked about in this video.
In the second video he states, "we begin to realize that ideas do not belong to us individually but as a culture". I think it is true when Miller says "educators must share ideas freely." IT was interesting to see all the different tools people use. I am not ready for this multimedia writing if it is anything like he shows us in the video, but I know I will have to learn how to do this. EDM310 has been quite helpful in this area. Also, I know that I will have to continue learning about technology once I leave EDM310 and start teaching for myself one day. Multimedia writing is something that my students will be doing and I definately need to know how to teach them.
"The Chipper Series" and "EDM310 for Dummies"
The Chipper Series was an awesome video that really caught my attention. The present and future stuff as the beginning was very confusing. This video was an encouragement to not turn in things late which I needed to watch. Edm310 has also helped me with the importance of turning things in on time. It can primarily effect your future. It is just a means of responsibility that anyone can be judged upon. EDM310 for Dummies would have been the first book bought for the semester. It pretty much states how I feel about this class. I am finally getting the hang of everything and how the class works half way through the semester although I could have used it earlier.
"Smartboards"-I think Smartboards are a great for the classroom. I am a big fan of the smartboards because my high school used them and I just thought they were great. I remember being in high school and wanting to always use the smartboard. It could do all sorts of cool things. All students can benefit from this great technological tool that provides great visual learning aids. Its possibilities seem endless.

My PLN

I have learned a great amount of information in this class. I have learned more about the internet than I knew before and can now I feel I can effectively use more technology in my classroom as a teacher. I have learned how to use TimeToast and I have also learned how to use and make podcasts for a better learning experience. I think that blogging has been the biggest part of this class and has been very useful. I think we can all learn through everything we have done in this class, but to also read how others view and think of what we have done can be very interesting. It can also help you discover things you may have missed before. Children of all ages, which I have seen with my own eyes now, can blog and make podcasts. These are great learning tools that I plan to use in my own classroom in the future.

TimeToast Project

Check out my Timeline at this link:



http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/80512

C4T Summary #2

For my C4T Assignment #2 I commented on teachernz's latest post on her blog, What Now? What Next? So What? Her post was a video that discussed Web 3.0 and all the things that will be made possible through it. Web 3.0 is going to basically make our lives a lot easier and a lot more personal. Music sites will apparently be able to already know what type of music we like and suggest music to us based on information about us on other sites. Different sites will all be linked together and using information to perform at better, faster, and more convenient rates. Another feature of web 3.0 that was discussed was that websites are going to be able to offer you products to buy based on other people buying the same product that have your same interests. This is all just unbelievable and extreme. It makes me wonder what is to come after web 3.0. This technology will be incredible for all people and I know that as an educator I will find ways to use web 3.0 in the classroom to better educate my students.

Blog Post #7

"Randy Pausch: The Last Lesture"
At the biginning of the lecture Pausch tells us about the ten tumors he has in his liver. He also tells us that this is not what the lecture will be based on. The basis of the video was accomplishing everything you set out to do as a child. Pausch shows us his list of childhood dreams. This particular list looked difficult to achieve, but I was wrong. One of his first goals was to be in zero gravity. The opportunity actually opened up for this to happen. He said that everything was going great until he hit the first brick wall. A lot of people would have given up or sure, but not Pausch. He said that "brick walls are not to keep us out, but to show us how bad we want something." This really got to me because it can be so useful in life in all kinds of situations. In most cases people do not give up, but try to find a way around it. As he continues down his list, one of them was to be Captain Kirk. Obviously this couldn't happen so he just decided to change it to meeting him instead. Pausch tells us that it is okay for dreams to change because you do realize some of them cannot be achieved or you might just want something different. I also thought it was good to hear that dreams can change, but you should still never give up on achieving those dreams, even if they are alternated a bit. I had no trouble staying in tune to the video. I can honestly say I enjoyed the video and am inspired by his message. He was also very happy throughout the video. We can all use that happiness as a model in our own lives. I can take away with me the belief that no dream is impossible to achieve as long as we set out to make it happen. Do not let brick walls hold you back from anything. After working with Disney Imagineers for a while, Paush realized that was something he was not wanting to do, so he stopped and there is nothing wrong with that. After all this, Pausch mentioned how none of this would have been possible without his parents and it made me smile. Parents play such a huge role in most of our lives. Pausch has probably inspired many people through this lecture in cluding myself. He talks about one student who wanted to work on Star Wars movies, and he was able to work on three of them. I think there should be more people and professors like Randy Pausch and I hope to be like him as well in my classroom one day.

Blog Post #6

The Networked Student- After watching the first video, we can see more clearly how the world around us has changed. He described two types of change, a incremental and fundamental change. One point that he made and that I more than agree with is that as teachers we should always be willing and open to share any and all information. If we really think about it, it is so easy to get any information we want through the internet. Its capabilities are unimaginable. This video was very eye-opening to me.

A 7th grader's Personal Learning Environment- This was, yet again, another video that shows us how accesible the web is to anything and everything we could ask for. She expressed to us how her PLE was set up and how we can benefit from it. I think that as a teacher one day I could definately set up my classwork online like this and it can make things a lot easier for me as a teacher and to my students.

The Machine is Changing Us- I couldn't state the truth better myself. Fifteen years ago, the next generation was labeled materialistic. Very similar to what we say about today's generation! I definately think that we are allmaterialistic whether we want to be or not. He says, society does not give recognition, you have to create your own. Youtube is way we can communicate by creating our own expressions in different ways. Youtube can express a true personality because anyone on youtube does not have to fear being infront of a person, but just in front of a camera.Youtube shows everybody anything and if someone is willing to post something on there then they need to be ready for all that will come as consequences. The "Free Hugs" video shows people coming together. This really touched me. It just goes to show that we can all be connected through youtube. Actually, the now famour, Justin Bieber was discovered on youtube. Just a fun fact for you.

C4K #1 and #2 Summary

I really enjoyed my C4K assignments with Noel Elementary Class 2011. My students name was Colby and he seemed like a very bright young boy. He has some very ambitious goals and seems to enjoy lots of fun outdoor activities. He really enjoyed a drama class that he once took and he now wants to be an actor. His Learning Manifesto also shows that he is serious about his school work and has some great standards that he holds himself to. I'm sure he is a great boy and I can see him doing great things in the future. I left him comments really supporting his ideas in a positive way and I hope that they keep him striving forward.