February 28 (Week 7)

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2 sees the use Internet as a way of "instant communication" and way a to communicate globally. This is true! Gone are the days of having to wait days for documents to arrive for your signature or waiting for a written response from someone. The response is now received within minutes if not seconds. The world (whether is the business world or everyday life) is moving at a rapid pace. The use of the Internet enables us to stay up to date.

Even though some books may be out of print, these books may be kept and "shared infinitely" thanks to the technology and the Internet. Having works in print is very one dimensional. When you are able to add visual images and sound to the print, the work comes "to life". The example of Dr. King's, "I Have a Dream Speech" is perfect. Dr. King's speech in print is profound, but adding the visual of him and the sound of his voice as he gave the speech makes his words more personal and memorable. It is real! Educators need to remember that children learn more when they have a real-life connection or experience with what is being taught.

The digital environment allows instant updates and instant publication. Educators can share ideas freely and without the delay of waiting for a publication of a work in print. Am I prepared to write with multimedia? I can honestly say, "NO". Do I think I should be preparing to write with multimedia? "Yes, I should be preparing." Our students will be using the laptop more and more as their form of communication with teachers. Oh sure, I can use a laptop and I could write all of my lesson plans on the web. Would it be as powerful and moving as if it were done in person? It could be with the use of added visual images and sound.

The Networked Student,by Wendy Drexler asked "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?". Ms. Drexler lists several reasons as to why students still need teachers: guidance, teaching proper communication skills, organizational skills and the excitement of learning. These are examples of great teaching skills. These are traits that cannot be taught/learned through communication with technology alone.
I agree that global communication does provide new opportunities, but it cannot replace human interaction.

The using tools of technology like podcasts can help students connect with others globally and provide new opportunities. I agree with Ms. Drexler that our MP3 players are not just for music. I like the term connectivism....allowing one to connect with other to gather and research (Itunes U for example). However, let's not forget that human interaction is very effective, as well.

The use of animation as the visual of Ms. Drexler's movie was genious. It maintained interest and moved so quickly that I was anticipating what example would be displayed next. As teachers we are challenged to keep our students' interest and attention. Ms. Drexler displayed all of these components in her movie. Am I prepared to teach the networked student? I cannot say, "yes, definitely", but I can say that I am able to working toward providing guidance, teaching proper communication skills/etiquette, organizational skills, and striving to make learning exciting for my students.

Michael Wesch, Toward a New Future of Whatever, examines the catch phrase of "whatever" and how it has evolved from the past to the present. His class study of YouTube was interesting in that his own students were "opening up" to millions of people on . Because of the sense of anonymity, people were more willing to expose feelings of embarrassment, self-conscientiousness, fears, and other emotions. I appreciated Mr. Wesch's last comment about how people, young and old, have evolved from a community of a sarcastic "whatever" with little hope to an attitude of "whatever" it takes to make things better. As a teacher, I hope my students will have the attitude of let's make the world and our life better by doing whatever it takes. I hope that as a teacher I can teach them to use technology to do whatever it takes to communicate their message of "good" to others around the globe.

Comments for Kids
This week I got to visit the work completed by the students from Mrs. Quam's 2/3 and 7/8 English blocks. "I Will Always Know To Shine Bright!"by Shriver C. and "Life" by Mallory P. were the two poems that I read. It is wonderful to be able to read the
creative talents of students.


Project 6 Developing A Personal Learning Network
My PLN is centered on learning ideas that will provide me with new ideas for teaching my Kindergartners. Please click on the right side of my blog for links. My PLN begins here:

http://www.theeducationcenter.com/tec/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
http://edhelper.com/
http://www.abcteach.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com
http://www.kinderteacher.com/
http://atozteacherstuff.com/Lesson_Plans/lessonplans-kindergarten.shtml
http://www.eduhound.com/
http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten.htm
http://www.readwritethink.org

Comments for Teachers Week 7-9 Following Mr. Anderson's Blog for 3 weeks

My Comments on Blog from Feb. 10....
Why Do We Have To Learn This?
I am thankful that my professor, Dr. Strange, at the Univ. of South Alabama recommended your blog for my reading assignment over the next few weeks. I really enjoyed your last line of your blog on Feb. 10, Why do we have to learn this? Not because we have to, but because we want to... I hope that we as teachers can inspire our children to learn and apply what they have learned to their own lives and experiences. What our students have learned will make so much more sense!

My Comments from Blog from February 25....
Cultivating The Passion
I hope your student achieves great things in his life. He has the passion and drive that many of our young students have today because they "bow down" to peer pressure. I wish we could convince our students to ignore peer pressure. It would make life so much simpler! I strive to be a passionate teacher and hope that my students strive daily to be passionate learners. Well, some days that is wishful thinking, but we have to keep trying.

My Comments from Blog from March 4,
Morale...Get Some
I wish I could have read your comments 16 years ago when I moved to California. On the first day of teaching at my new school, I met a co-worker who was the mirror image of your colleague. I could feel my blood pressure going up the minute she walked into my classroom. Her negativity was unbelievable. My colleagues and I did just what you suggested..."we surrounded ourselves with positive others with good sense of humor", and we shut our doors and tried to avoid her at all costs whenever possible. Unfortunately, tenure outweighed the control of our administrator and we suffered for 10 more years until "Mrs. Negative" retired! It was a lesson worth learning...Positive people can have a lasting positive effect on people. That is the impact I hope to have on my children!

Assignment for February 21 (Week 6)

Dr. Christie's Presentation on the pitfall, perils, and POTENTIALS of using the Internet in K-12 education in a Web 2.0 world, was great! I have been reading for 6 weeks now, about how wonderful technology and the use of the Internet is for our children, and finally someone addresses the issue of Internet safety. Although technology is a valuable tool, educators cannot be naive to think that it is only used for "the good" of our students/children.

I would love to see the Netsmartz program implemented in schools around our area. We may teaching our children how to use technology, but are we teaching our children technology safety? It is scary (yet understandable) that many parents do not know the lingo that many of the children use today when texting, etc. I like the "Challenge" steps that Dr. Christie used. The easiest step perhaps to me is "Be Observant". Our children may think we are overprotective....maybe, but parents need to keep their eyes and ears open. We need to listen to our children!
iTunes University has a wealth of information that would offer insight into topics that students from elementary school through college. The links are easy to assess and follow. My students are allowed (usually) two Internet sources for their research projects. iTunes University would be a great asset in the classroom and beyond. It is estimated that over 100 millions iPods, iTouch, etc. have been sold worldwide.

I was amazed to discover that universities across the world are connected to iTunes University. iTunes University has thousands and thousands of topics featured on the website and the topics are ever changing. The thought that there is no limit to the topics is true. The various perspectives that are offered can provide great debate for students. I consider iTunes University to be a very valuable tool as a student and a teacher.

Duke University's introduction of the Duke Digital Initiative (DDI) is cutting edge in incorporating technology into instructional methods. The fact that the DDI had quadrupled in 2 years is fabulous. Wow, they actually gave free iPods to first year students in 2004! I wonder how many students actually took the iPod. The figure offered by the Kaiser Family Fund Foundation in the post, Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds found that of all 8-18 year olds, 76% own an iPod or other MP3 player.

In the post,Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, the narrator states that Ms. Davis uses every kind of technology in her classroom. I agree with Ms. Davis that if a teacher uses only paper and pencil in the classroom then only certain types of students will succeed. Teachers need to reach students who use many and varied learning processes.

I admire Ms. Cassidy's approach to using the Nintendo DS to iPods to Skype in her classroom of First Graders. As stated in one of my earlier posts, I am still trying to devise a plan to use my students' Nintendo DS' in my classroom. The biggest hurdle is convincing my administrators and my parents!


Comments for Kids
This week for Comments for Kids I was connected to Room 8 at Pt England School. I had the chance to hear about Toma and why he is a good brother. I also had the chance to view Toma's artwork titled, Snap! Snap! The wicked witch snapped off Rapunzel’s long hair. By Toma It was a wonderful piece of art. I think Toma did a great job!

February 14 Assignment (Week 5)

Wikipedia is a source of information. I know my children have used Wikipedia as a source for gathering information on school projects. Wikipedia is just one source, however. My children usually have to use at least 5 sources, and only 2 of those sources can be Internet-based. I would compare gathering information for projects to using various assessments used in grading our children. One source/ one test doesn't give you all the information you need whether it be for gathering information for a project or gathering information on a student.

The NPR article stated that the practices are not illegal. The Wikipedia website specifically states "anyone can edit" that information on the website. Educators need to make sure that we encourage children to compare and contrast information from various sources. If there is a discrepancy, then that will lead the student(s) into more research, and create an interest to finding the actual facts. Is Wikipedia a trusted source? Well maybe not for "the whole truth", but it is a source of information to get you started on your research journey.


"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung was a refreshing post. It sounds like Mr. McClung had his challenges during his first year of teaching, but learned some valuable lessons along the way. He chose to use those lessons to help make him a stronger teacher. Yes, we learn and grow from our mistakes. I wonder if he learned more from his accomplishments or his mistakes.

The topics that Mr. McClung chose to comment on in his post are experiences that all teachers have sometime in their teaching career. I believe Mr. McClung will continue to use his experiences during his first year will help make him a stronger and more productive teacher. Every year will offer another set of challenges and those hurdles will offer more solutions from which to grow. I especially liked his comments about remembering to set attainable goals for yourself, as a teacher, and your students. Most importantly, we should never stop learning!


Comments for Kids
This week I was connected to Mr. Lamshed's class blog. The boys were celebrating participating in Tie Tuesday Hall of Fame. The boys were brave to wear their dashing ties in 38 C weather!

A Link to EDM310 Spring 2010 Class Blog

Click here to go to EDM310 Spring 2010 Class Blog

Project 2 (Life in Wales)

Assignment for February 7 (Week 4 )

To help prepare for my group's podcast, I chose to review Langwitches blog, It’s Not About the Tools. It’s About the Skills.

It is interesting how no matter where you teach or what grade level you teach, parents always fear the unknown. The blog suggests that parents began to feel uncomfortable when unfamiliar topics (innovative teaching styles) are presented. Parents are so intimidated and begin to question, "What are you teaching my child?". I realize that I need to approach my innovative ideas differently when discussing my approach to teaching in the classroom.
I like the term "Teaching Across the Curriculum. I have found it to be a very effective term that sounds very professional and less intimidating to parents. Consider the phrase, it is all inclusive. Yes, you are teaching all of the basics and more when you use technology. Parents immediately shut down when you throw words like "Skype and Delicious" at them creating the fear of the unknown. These terms do not sound very educational to me and a bit scary. Terminology is key. Once you have captured their attention using "Teaching Across the Curriculum", parents are intrigued in learning how you plan on approaching this concept. Peak their curiosity and they will be curious to learn more. Hopefully, as teachers, we can achieve the same goal with our students. I hope my group's podcast will capture the interest of others and help them see the positive benefits of using technology in the classroom.

Comments For Kids
This week I commented on AshlieMKSblog. Ashlie is in Mr. C's Class. Ashlie had a cartoon image for her blog titled, My Charlie: Snowie Nhit. It was an interesting cartoon.