Final Attempt for Project Google Earth Tour

All else has failed.....after 10 attempts to upload my Google Earth Tour, Castles of Pembrokeshire, I am going to follow Dr. Strange's advise and just insert a link to my tour....Castles of Pembrokeshire

Many Thanks to Mr. Sullivan and Class H

Mr. Sullivan,
Many thanks for all of your help with EDM310 this semester. Best of luck to you as you finish your graduate work. To Class H....Just listening to all of your college stories made me smile...thanks for all the laughs! Thanks for not making me feel like the "old lady" even though I am 20 years older than most of you! Have a great summer and good luck!

An Honest Reflection of EDM310 (Final Exam Part 1)

1 What have we covered in class? The question is what did we not cover? The vast amount of websites and tools that we used for EDM310 was overwhelming at times. Some of the information was useful and very interesting. Some of the information and tasks were just that...task...chores really. Some of the tasks I became really good at and some tasks still give me nightmares. I better tackle this question with 3 lists. I will title them, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Each title should give you an idea of my thoughts and feelings....

The Good
*Posts I read gave interesting perspectives and new outlooks on teaching
*Comments4teachers for great teaching ideas
*Comments4Kids for encouragement that kids are still enjoying school
*Google Forms, Docs, and Spreadsheets boosted my confidence level because they were very easy to use!
*ALEX offers great new ideas
*Other teachers and students outside our region...Hallelujah! Fresh new ideas!
*Blogging was new and different and I think maybe I was a little too honest, but blogging helped to share my ideas....whether you agreed or not!
*Wikis and presentations made me explore with technology more. Teachers should be lifetime learners.
*Picasa was great for photos although I still like to order my prints from Snapfish and Shutterfly.
iTunes and iTunes U are great for subject offerings via the Internet...great for long distance learning.
*Videocasts were fun to work on with others. It took teamwork which is something we have to learn if we are going to work with # children and # other teachers in a school.
*I think I am very professional. My very first principal stated in one of the very first faculty meetings..."If you want to be treated like a professional, you have to dress and act like one." That is a great statement!

The Bad (These were a chore!)
*Movie Making should be left to the professionals! I am too anal and tried to make it perfect and I was never going to make a perfect movie, but at least I did make 3! I was proud of myself!
*Podcasts were just too boring! I must be ADD...
*The future of our schools is a debate that no one will ever win. I don't have the time, energy, or patience to argue (debate) the issue. There will never be enough money for schools. Teachers will never be paid enough. Facilities will never be efficient enough....it goes on and on and on!
ACCESS is not for me...I am certified PK-3

The Ugly (These things should be deleted forever!)
*YouTube (do you really want to get me started with "my overprotectiveness" (is that even a word?).
*PLN's for me because I am just not that organized!
*Twitter
*Skype- just call!
*GET RID OF Comments4Classmates because these people are so late with their posts! Just do it! I can't do my work if you don't do yours...
*Google Earth didn't work most of the time....one of the most frustrating websites to make a tour! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Technological Literacy...a terrific term for how to make someone's self-esteem go down the drain! Some tasks would build up my confidence and others made me feel so dumb!

2 Was there something else?
Seriously, I think we covered it all, didn't we? I don't think my brain can absorb one more technological task!

3 My Ugly List above should give you insight into my thoughts about things/tasks we had in EDM310 that were dreadful. Of my list, I have to say comments4classmates was the biggest waste of time!

4 EDM310 did not excite me. I took the class because I had to for ALSDE. I thought I would learn something that I could use with my Kindergartners. I learned things about technology, but it's not useful. Maybe I can use the SmartBoard concepts that we talked about in my classroom, but that is just about it!

5 & 7 I don't think I was intellectually challenged. The class had more "opinion based" concepts. I was more challenged by the Google Earth Tour Project. That was not intellectually challenging, just frustrating! I still don't think I did it right. I could handle every task and solve every glitch except for this project! ARGH!!!!!I wasn't bored with the class, just frustrated with some of the tasks.

8 & 9 Am I technologically literate? I honestly don't know! I have to rank myself as being SOMEWHAT technologically literate? I am more aware of technology tools at the end of EDM310 than I was in the beginning of the semester. I hope that was one of the goals or objectives. I cannot honestly answer your question on how I will maintain or improve my tech literacy? I am going to rest my eyes and take a break from this monitor, keyboard, and mouse for a while.

My "teaching ideas and resource" PLN began 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

Here are some additions for the books and classroom items I will need to implement my teaching ideas:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
http://www.amazon.com/
http://www.half.ebay.com/
http://www.ebay.com/
http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/home/home.jsp
http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/default.aspx
http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/
http://www.schoolbox.com/
http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/

Week 15 (April 25)

After viewing the video,7th Grader's PLE, I was amazed at this student's organization, focus, and dedication to her work. It was interesting to hear the student talk about how much freedom she had at school when dealing with her PLE. Her large amount of freedom gave her the "inclination to be responsible". I wonder... how many 7th Grade students are this responsible? Would the number of students who used their freedom to work on their PLE outnumber those students who used their freedom to "surf" the web for leisure? Think about it....
My PLE is an absolute "wreck" compared to this student's PLE or PLN. Yes, I could definitely learn a great deal from her. It's great to see teachers learning from their students. Our students have a great deal to share...teachers are (or at least should be) lifelong learners.


Two Questions That Can Change Your Life was a very thought provoking video. What's my sentence? I hope my sentence is "She was my favorite teacher. She made learning so much fun." Was I better today than yesterday? Well, the answer to that question is "yes" on some days and "no" on other days. Life can affect the answer to that question...whether it be in my personal life, professional life, or my students' lives. Each day presents a new and unique challenge.

Project 8 (Teach Something Using Technology)

I teach Kindergartners. One of the hardest skills for 4-6 year old children to learn is how to tie their shoes. I find the "bunny ear" method to be the easiest approach. How To Tie A Shoe

Project 14 How Do Students Use Technology at Home and at School

This video was created using Window Movie Maker

YouTube

Project 15 How is Technology Used in Schools Today

This video was created using a Mac (Photo Booth and iMovie)

Project 7 Voice Thread

My VoiceThread project was a response for my Comments 4Classmates assignment by adding an audio comment on Kayla Daughtry's blog post for Week 13.

Project 13 (Videocast)

Challenges for the Class of 2022 was based on the Kansas State University experience which was the video we watched for our first blog post for EDM310.

Project 10 (A Timetoast Timeline)

We bought our first digital camera in 2004. Taking pictures has never been easier!
Kids...They Grow So Fast!

Do You Skype? (Project 6)

Well I have tried Skype, but I do not use Skype on a regular basis. My school has blocked Internet sites like Skype, Twitter, Facebook, etc. for security reasons according to our computer teacher at my private school. My former school in CA does allow Skype access so I did Skype my former colleagues while they were at school and I was home. Thank goodness they are in a time zone that is 2 hours behind me. It was great to see their classrooms and the children's work. It was a great way to get some ideas from a great group of talented teachers, and I was 2500 miles away. Yes, you can take pictures, but there is something to be said about hearing a friendly voice. It really made me smile to hear a voice that I haven't heard in so long. The best part of Skype.....it is FREE!

Week 14 (April 18) Is Being Overprotective about Internet Use Really Bad?

•Conflicted over Safety: Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse reported that most teens surveyed are aware and concerned about the risks of putting personal information out in the open. Fifty-nine percent say having personal information or photos on a public site is unsafe, and 26 percent say they know someone who has had something bad happen to them because of this. Still, 62 percent of teens post photos of themselves on blogs or social networking sites and greater than 40 percent name their school or the city in which they live.
•Prevalent Cyberbullying: More than one-third of teens surveyed have been cyberbullied, perpetrated cyberbullying or know of friends who have experienced or perpetrated it, and 68 percent think it is a serious problem. About 4 in 5 teens (81 percent) think that bullying online is easier to get away with or to hide from their parents than bullying in person.
•Engaging in Sexting: Nineteen percent of teens surveyed have engaged in sexting -- sending, receiving or forwarding sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude photos through text message or email. Sixty percent of teens who sent sexts say they send photos to their boyfriend/girlfriend, but 11 percent say they have sent sexts(1) to someone they don’t even know. Eighty-one percent of teen sexters are under 18.

Teach Children to Remember the 4 R’s …

•Recognize techniques used by online predators to deceive their victims.
•Refuse requests for personal information.
•Respond assertively if you are ever in an uncomfortable situation while online. Exit the program,log off or turn off the computer…
•Report, to law enforcement authorities, any suspicious or dangerous contact that makes you uncomfortable.


Larry Magid's post, Child Safety on the Information Highway was written in 1993 and revised several times until 2003. In his post he listed these risks about the "Information Highway":

•Exposure to Inappropriate Material
A child may be exposed to inappropriate material that is sexual, hateful, or violent in nature, or encourages activities that are dangerous or illegal. Children could seek out such material but may also come across it on the web via chat areas, social networking sites, E-mail, or even instant messaging if they’re not looking for it.

•Physical Molestation
A child might provide information or arrange an encounter that could risk his or her safety or the safety of other family members. In some cases child molesters have used chat areas, E-mail, and instant messages to gain a child’s confidence and then arrange a face-to-face meeting.

•Harassment and Bullying
A child might encounter messages via chat, E-mail, on their social networking site or their cellular telephones that are belligerent, demeaning, or harassing. “Bullies,” typically other young people, often use the Internet to bother their victims.

•Viruses and Hackers
A child could download a file containing a virus that could damage the computer or increase the risk of a “hacker” gaining remote access to the computer; jeopardizing the family’s privacy; and, perhaps, jeopardizing the family’s safety.

•Legal and Financial
A child could do something that has negative legal or financial consequences such as giving out a parent’s credit-card number or doing something that could get them in trouble with the law or school officials. Legal issues aside, children should be taught good “netiquette” which means to avoid being inconsiderate, mean, or rude.

In January, 2010, Mr. Magid's post, We need to rethink online safety, agrees that it’s true that there are criminals who use to the net try to exploit people and find children to abuse. But that’s also true in our communities and — sadly — even in some homes. What’s also true about the Internet is that you can’t sexually abuse someone through a screen. You can try to lure them, you can shock them, you can upset them but you can’t enact any physical harm — that has to be done in person.


The debate of pros and cons about Internet Safety will continue forever. The most important aspect is that parents should be parenting....teaching their children about the proper uses of the Internet. Overprotective, yes, Dr. Strange, I admit that I am an overprotective parent. I teach 13 Kindergarten children who have protective parents, as well. Thanks to the Internet, I can find thousands of documents to support both sides of this issue. God bless the freedom of speech!

Project 5 (Survey and Survey Results)

Project 5 Survey
Survey Results

My "Future Plans Survey" was of interest to me because most of the students in my EDM310 class are 20 years younger than me. I wanted to see what their plans were for the future. I was surprised that many of the students who responded cannot speak a second language, many plan on teaching in Mobile, and many plan on going to graduate school. Why did I choose these questions? I received my BS in Early Childhood Education at South Alabama in 1988, taught in the Mobile County Public Schools System for 5 years, moved to San Francisco Bay Area and taught for 11 years in a public school and lived in a foreign country (Wales) for 2 1/2 years. I never thought I would have all of those experiences, but each one has had a major impact on my family, me, and the way I teach. I sent my survey to 63 people, but only 27 responded. I thought the number of responses was poor.

Comments For Teachers (Week 13-14)

Jeff Utecht's post, What's Your Container?, provided excellent organizational ideas for finding/storing/locating resources on the web. Sometimes our biggest challenge is “where did I put that…?”.

Jeff Utecht's post, Games and Bugs, gave a summary of what the teachers at the International School Bangkok have been working on in the first Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy program (COETAIL). The teachers involved in (COETAIL) are actually learning something that they are able to put into practice in the classroom. The teachers have been working in the program for 4 weeks and during the fifth week they were able to put into practice in the classroom what they had been learning. I bet the first graders loved that Cotton Strainer video!I was most impressed with the P.E. teachers...they were using technology and sharing with their colleagues! Great job! Being able to use technology in every classroom is an amazing task! Kudos to you, Jeff, Kim and Dennis!

Comments 4Kids (Week 14) Final Assignment

Comments 4Kids
This week I read a post by Mr. McClung, a middle school teacher at Woodland Jr. High in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In the post, Lesson Three: Eggs Are Not People, Mr. McClung writes about being "bombarded with the “egg babies” that his female students received in their home economics class. I can imagine that Mr. McClung is a very patient teacher. I think that is a "must" for any middle school teacher, but he certainly had reached his limit of patience with these "egg babies" judging by the tone of his blog post. His closing statement sums up his feelings: "I’m so done with hearing about these egg babies…and I see another egg baby in my room I just might crush it." This was probably one of the funniest blogs I have read this semester. Thank you Mr. McClung for making me smile! I left an audio comment for Mr. McClung on his post.

Week 13 (April 11)

I loved The Zax video! Dr. Seuss was and always will be a genius! Unfortunately, some teachers will "never budge from their tracks", but we have to if we are keep up with the world around us. Change is not easy and I will be the first one to admit it!

WOW! The PS 22 video was amazing! Kudos to the teachers and students at PS22. I think is important for students to post their work to blogs so students, teachers, parents, administrators (anyone interested in learning) can learn from and teach each other. Mr. Chamberlain's blog post allows parents to view the activities in class via the class stream link on his class blog. I feel it helps the parents to see and better understand what is being taught in the classroom. It adds consistency for children when parents use the same teaching techniques at home (especially for my Kindergarten students). Kaia's blog is another excellent example for children to interact with other children around the globe. Students/children are communicating and sharing ideas using technology. The world is at their fingertips and only a click away.A Vision of Students Today
was one of my favorite videos for an EDM310 blog post assignment. The reflections and questions posed by these students were very profound and made me, as a teacher, really think about how I teach my students.



Comments 4Kids
Tracey's favorite thing at the Pt. England School camp was going down the slide. She was very descriptive about her feelings of being scared, but then she saw the light at the bottom and "SPLASH!" into the cold water. My Kindergarten students would love to have a school camp with such a cool slide.

Week 12 March 28- April 4

Mr. Raisdana, the Year 7, 8, 9 English, History, and Geography teacher at the Compass International School in Doha, Qatar,and Mr. Chamberlain, a teacher in Noel, Missouri, were introduced to each other by Mr. Raisdana's 3-yr old daughter, Kaia. They did not meet in person. They were introduced via technology, YouTube and Twitter. Mr. Chamberlain's students and Kaia are learning from each other, but not in the classroom next door. These students are thousands of miles apart on different continents. Mr. Chamberlain's "transparent walls" theory makes this interaction possible.

"Is the risk of exposing ourselves and our children online worth the connections that will be made and the lessons that will be learned?" asks Mr. Raisdana. I must admit that I am still very cautious about exposing my own children (and my students) on the web. Mr. Chamberlain is correct, however, when he said that he can always turn off the computer. Kudos to Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Raisdana for their insight into learning in the future. I am going to have to read,
Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder.


Comments 4Kids
Lucy at Pt. England School in New Zealand learned how to play Simon Says. She said it was tricky.Lucy seemed very excited about the new game. This was her first movie this year and she seemed a bit nervous, but she did a great job! It is wonderful to see children discovering that learning and playing new games can be great fun!

Comments for Teachers (Week 10-12)

Caren Carrillo's post, "Checking for Understanding: Assume There Will Be Questions",
offers a new approach to rephrasing the old addage of "are there any questions?". I taught Third Grade last year and there certainly was a "stigma" in the beginning of the year about asking questions. I wish I had Ms. Carrillo's idea of "What questions do you have?" last year.

Caren Carrillo's post,"Review Activity: What's the Word" discusses the use of games as a classroom activity to help her review concepts that have been taught. I love the idea of review games. The wonderful part of these games is that the children are really learning from each other while they are having fun, and they do not realize it. My students are so involved when they are playing learnning games. "Top-It" (a math game like "War" or "Battle") is one my students' favorite games. Learning can be fun! Learning while you are playing and having fun is a winning combination in my classroom. I agree with Ms. Carrillo regarding the idea of not keeping score...it does defeat the purpose.

March 22 (Week 10)

In Morgan Bayda's post, An Open Letter To Educators, she compares her college learning experiences in class lectures vs. her Computer Ed classes. Her experiences of not being allowed to talk except to her professor vs. open communication with others seems to have had a dramatic impact. As teachers, we need to learn from our experiences. Do we let our children interact with each other or do we treat them like robots who only respond when spoken to? Teachers need to realize that children learn so much more through interaction with their peers and others. Now having said that...we have to keep a balance of that interaction inside the classroom focused on the classroom discussion vs. idle chit chat.

My first two years of college classes at USA were similar to Morgan's experiences. A big difference, however, was that the internet wasn't really an option when I started or finished my ECE degree (1984-88). During my last two years (Field work and ECE specific courses)my professors did know my name. I truly felt they were interested in how I felt about my field experiences and what I found to be helpful and maybe not so helpful. Kudos to my professors, Dr. Mary Jo Harris (retired) and Dr. Shaw (who is still at USA). I did use my textbooks. It was all we had for our information. I feel like a dinosaur!


Comments 4Kids
Eric in Mrs. Kolbert's class had a link on his blog about An Animal That Can Live Forever. The article about this "immortal jellyfish" was really cool. We live along the Gulf of Mexico and we have seen many jellyfish, but I don’t think we have seen the turritopsis nutricula species along our shore of the Gulf. Sounds like this amazing creature may be coming our way.

March 8-21 (Week 9)

Alabama Learning Exchange or ALEX is a project of the Alabama Department of Education, and designed to index and share many types of educational materials and information." As a teacher, I like having the Alabama State Board of Education's courses of study link available online so that I can share it with my parents. I teach at a private school and we do not have courses of study "printed in manuals" readily available to pull from a shelf, but ALEX allows me to have access 24/7. ALEX provides courses of study for all subjects and grade levels as well as a few lesson plans for each standard.

The lesson plans can prove to be useful for beginning teachers. The Web Links offer great ideas for teachers. I really enjoyed looking through the Book Units section. The thematic listing of events, holidays, and topics could prove to be a time saver for new and experienced teachers. Teachers should always strive to find new ideas to help supplement our course of study. I realize that many of us still have to teach the text, but there are many, exciting, and hands-on activities that we can use in our classroom to accomplish our goal. We need to take advantage of our resources that are at our fingertips and are only a "click" away.

Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Students Statewide or ACCESS has a vision statement: "The State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning." This program is directed toward high school students and educators. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education. I teach Kindergarten and did not feel that this website would be beneficial to me as a teacher. It may be useful to me as a parent who may be exploring options for my own children.

Comments 4Kids
This week I viewed Mr. McClung's Science video, "Making Noise". A student, Patrick, used a pitch fork to make a wave. This experiment was an excellent example of "hands-on learning". Yes, learning can be fun!

March 7 (Week 8)

Randy Pausch in Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams displayed such a positive attitude. It was simply amazing that his enthusiasm was just overflowing despite the fact that he was faced with a very difficult time in his life, the reality that he was dying. Randy Pausch was/is truly an inspiration to all of us who are trying to be have a positive influence on the world. We, as teachers, should learn from him about the power of a positive attitude.

According to Mr. Pausch, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." As a teacher, this is so profound! Every lesson that we teach can be a learning experience for our students and ourselves. Even a perfectly planned lesson, can take an unexpected turn...positive or negative. We cannot predict what our children might say or interpret in the things that we present to them during a lesson. One thing we should remember is that we learn from our experiences. "Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly." Think about it! How true it this statement by Randy Pausch? "We do learn from our students." It is so true!

Mr. Pausch states,"Brick walls are there for a reason- not to keep us out, but to let us prove how badly we want something." Are these brick walls our challenging students? Teachers strive to reach every child, but sometimes there are obstacles (learning abilities, behavior issues, family issues) that are difficult to overcome. Do we give up or do we try to tear down that brick wall? I hope that as teachers, we can honestly say that we tried our best to jump over that wall and keep on going because seeing our students learn is worth the hard work we put into our jobs every day.

Mr. Pausch asked, "How can I enable the childhood dreams of others?" I can honestly say that being a teacher gives me the opportunity to help my students achieve their dreams (or at least give them a foundation on which they can build for the future). I teach Kindergarten so I feel it is my job to give my students a strong foundation on which to build their future (hopefully in education, as well as how to work with others). Mr. Pausch asked, "What let's you get to achieve your goals?" Wouldn't it be great if our students could say, "Mr./Mrs. ? helped me achieve my goal." That would be one of the greatest compliments for a teacher. I hope that everyday I can encourage my students to think of learning as fun and as Mr. Pausch said, "never lose the child-like wonder".

Comments 4 Kids (Week 8)
This week I got to read about all the happenings in Mrs. Voigt and Mrs. Farrington's Kindergarten class. It was Day 109 of their school year. Boy, were they busy! It had snowed and the children were very excited. I asked the children about how they celebrated the 100th day of school. I am anxious to hear back from them.

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.

Assignment for January 31, 2010 (Week 3)

I viewed Kathy Cassidy's presentation, Media Literacy In the First Grade, for a course, EDM 310, at the University of South Alabama. I was impressed with the children's ability to understand blogging and navigate through the Internet to find their class blog. Kudos to Ms. Cassidy for including Character Education into her presentation. She is teaching the children at a very early age to be respectful in their comments when blogging. Teaching computer literacy is important, but teaching children to be respectful and kind to others is a life skill that all children should learn early in life. Am I ready for these children? I have 15 Kindergartners this year....I better be ready for them!

Wow! Letting your students use their in class....that is genius! I just wonder how the administration in Moose Jaw view this approach. I am pretty sure that my administrators and parents would frown upon this method. Maybe I should try it to see their reaction. No, I am not that brave!

In the video, ,IPhone Used by 1 yr old baby the parents are very proud of their child. I was not impressed. The child is precious and no doubt the pride and joy of the parents, but the whole idea was a bit much. I see Dr. Strange's point that teachers need to be ready for a technologically advanced generation of children. The whole concept of keeping up with our students' ability to use technology in the classroom is very important. I get it, but I would rather see that baby holding a board book of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? or Goodnight Moon.

I listened to the 6 suggested podcasts found in the Blog Assignments. Most of the topics were interesting although I was very happy to have access to the "player head". I have to say that I am a visual learner so I found the Teaching with SmartBoard Lesson on Pre-Algebra the most interesting. I am not a huge math fan, but the lesson was interesting to me because of the visual component. As a student, I see how this teacher can effectively reach her students who learn in many varied ways.


Dan Schmit in the KidCast podcast #62 brought up many logistical questions that may have been overlooked in the planning of webcasts, podcasts, etc. How does an entire class share one camera or one microphone? There are simple solutions, but you have to plan ahead. I found one discussion point that I think we have forgotten about in our EDM 310 class, Teacher Monitoring. Mr. Schmit used the term, "Gatekeeper". I'm not sure about the wording, but it got my attention. As we introduce technology to our students, we need to make sure we teach them how to use them appropriately. I am not referring to "the use of the equipment", but explaining the "risks" involved in the use of technology. Our students need to be taught what is acceptable or at least appropriate behavior when using technology. Gatekeeper is better than Cyber- Police!

Teachers Teaching Teachers podcast, although it was all audio, caught my attention with an interesting topic- Gaming. I realize that when you make a podcast, having a "catchy" title will peak someone's interest. As I was using the "player head" (yes, I've found a new toy), I found myself learning and "playing" at the same time while using technology. I teach Kindergartners so I realize the importance of my students "playing" while they are learning. I think offering the concept of older students "playing games" while learning through the use of technology should be more readily embarrassed. We are never to old to learn or to play. As teachers, we just need to have balance in our classrooms.

In the EdTalk podcast of Instructional Design Live the phrase of students building a teaching and learning community is great! Students take ownership of their learning because they are "owner's and creators of a product". I love that! The podcaster must choose words and phrases that catch the audiences attention. Capturing the attention of such a vast audience has to be very challenging. Creating a podcast and teaching in the classroom share many similarities. You must be creative in your approach and capture the attention of your audience, whether your audience is on the web or in the classroom.

Assignments for January 24, 2010 (Week 2)

Mr. Hayes' "little Flash app" is amazing! The number of times recorded for all of these various social media outlets is a bit frightening to me as a teacher. It presents the challenge to me as a teacher to start preparing my Kindergarten students to use keyboards, a mouse, etc. while engaging in age-appropriate technology material in my classroom. Technology is a powerful tool, however, I do see the negative aspects of these numbers. I have to stop and ask the question, "Is all the information being sent or received important or necessary?"

The number of children and teenagers who have unlimited use of text messaging on their cell phones today is shocking. The number of hours spent surfing You Tube is shocking. The number of students who defy school rules and regulations regarding cell phones, text messages, etc. is astronomical. How do you monitor the use of social media? It is moving so quickly how do you keep up? Social media outlets can offer our children and students technology that can be counterproductive to their lives and society, as well. Perhaps the first step is in educating our students on how to use these social media outlets for necessary communication, learning, and entertaining purposes.

I viewed Michael Wesch's movie, A Vision of Students Today, for EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I shared some of the same experiences as the students in the video, but my perspective is different now than it was in Spring 1988 when I earned my B.S. in Early Childhood Education at USA. One of the most profound topics that flashed in the movie was after calculating all the time spent studying, eating, going to class, etc. we needed 26.5 hours in the day. It is nice to see the old adage, there are not enough hours in the day, still holds true today. It is one of life's important lessons.

It is refreshing to see students take an active role in realizing that although "I did not create the problems, but they are my problems". We can take an active role in dealing with problems with poverty and job security or we can stand idly by and blame others for our problems. Poverty will not go away any time soon unfortunately. Learning to be charitable in today's world is a lesson that is a valuable lesson for everyone. I hope my students and my own children learn from my examples of being charitable.

I read, It's Not About the Technology, by Kelly Hines for EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. The article was short, but powerful in the message. I agree that as teachers we continue to learn with our children or we are obsolete, like the old computers that sit in some classrooms across our country. Our students are learning so much from using technology, teachers should be ready to meet the needs of children. I am a teacher and I realize that "learning and teaching are not the same thing". Our students come into our classroom with varied learning styles. It is truly an exhausting task to meet the learning needs of our students, but we must keep trying.

I attended an Open House for a private school in my area in January 2010. It was impressive to see the 21st century technology in each classroom. Our guide who was a teacher at the school, was unable to demonstrate the technology to the group of parents who attended. Why? Why? Why? Thank you for the bold statement, Technology is useless without good teaching. We expect our children to adapt to different ways of learning. Teachers must also learn to adapt to different ways of teaching and learning.

Mr. Fisch wrote in his post, Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?, "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." I wish every member of every state Board of Education would think about this statement. Board members across our country set guidelines for our students yearly or periodically (3-5 years). How about guidelines for teachers? Teachers become creatures of habit. Some teachers, and yes I have worked with quite a few from AL to CA, believe that if teaching methods worked for children 20 years ago, then they will work for today's students. School system guidelines protect these teachers (using tenure), but does it protect the students who are being taught by some of these teachers who are just counting days until retirement? You will hear some say, "I'm just too old to understand how this machine works".

We, as teachers, should be continually learning even from our students. Our students are growing up in a world today that demands technological literacy in order to succeed. Job security for the future may not be totally dependent upon technology, but teachers need to strive to ensure that our students are prepared. There will be occasions when technology will be the one tool needed and relied upon to complete a presentation, report, or means of communication necessary to ensure job security. I did not perceive Mr. Fisch's post as being harsh. I thought it restated the hard truth that all educators need to examine themselves and their teaching practices in order to help prepare students for the future.

Assignments for January 17, 2010 (Week 1)

After viewing the movie, Did You Know? , for my EDM 310 course at the University of South Alabama, I must admit that I did not know most of the staggering figures. A remarkable aspect of the movie to me was how readily available and quickly accessible the information was to the writers of the film on the Internet. To think that less than 20 years it would have taken someone years to calculate all of the figures presented, and by the time the findings were presented the information would have been incorrect. I did learn something that I did not know from watching the movie. I saw the word "exabytes" in the film, I didn't even know that was a word! I had to go and look it up.

"So what does it all mean?" is a very profound question. Knowing that my children will have so much information at their fingertips is impressive and a bit troubling. Although the information is readily available for today's children as they grow, are we prepared as teachers to help our students use the technology and the information for the betterment of society? I often wonder if libraries will become necessary. I am afraid my students will become so accustomed to googling information on the Internet that they will not even consider going to the library and looking at reference books to find beneficial information. Technology is a wonderful tool, but I have a fear of the unknown. What does it mean? I hope it means that we, as teachers, are able to help our students prepare for the unknown, their future.

After watching Mr. Winkie Wakes for my EDM 310 course at the Univ. of South Alabama, I had to laugh about the fact that in some ways schools have not changed in the past 100 years. It is nice to know my daughter, who aspires to become a teacher, will have job security. The animated content of the film helps lighten a serious concern that our schools are not keeping up with the technological advances needed in the real world. I haven't been asleep for 100 years and it is amazes me to the point of being ill, how quickly technology is evolving. I do feel safe and secure in my classroom just like Mr. Winkie.

Businesses and hospitals spends millions of dollars to stay technologically updated. Schools rely on too many outside sources of revenue to keep up with the every changing outside world. Like the teachers described in the movie, I do have my students' attention while they are sitting in neat little rows, but my Kindergartners are exposed to many facets of the world through literature and personal experiences that are provided to them from hands-on activities in the classroom. I can't imagine the changes that will occur in the next 100 years. Hopefully schools will still need teachers although they will not be in the same room as the students.

Ken Robinson Says School Kills Creativity was a very entertaining and enjoyable presentation. His background in education allows him to use examples of how schools, not just in America, but around the world can stifle a child's ability to learn by not being to express themselves creatively. Sadly, but true, the stress of performing well on a test is all consuming to some parents, teachers, and schools. My Kindergarten students in the private school where I teach must take an entrance exam and an exit exam. As teachers, we know that children learn in many different ways. Educators must use all of those modalities to reach students.

Mr. Robinson did not, however, address how we manage to incorporate every one's creativity in today's mainstream classroom. We are not to label our children because that could be considered discrimination or biased. Public school systems do not always offer magnet schools that focus on certain learning styles or interests. I believe Sir Robinson would be impressed with the quality of our magnet schools offered in Mobile County. I agree with Mr Robinson that "all children are born artists". Allowing my Kindergarten children to show their creative talents is easy when they are 5 and 6 years old, but it becomes increasingly difficult in the older grades. Teachers do not have the resources.

Vicki Davis is a true teaching pioneer. She deserves credit in admitting to her children that they have taught her many things. Children need to know that no matter your age, people are still learning whether you are 9 or 90! Teachers try to give students real life experiences in education. Research shows that children use those real life experiences to help them learn.

I was so intrigued by the school, I searched for more information on Westwood Schools. This is a private college preparatory school for grades K3-Grade 12. Do all the children in the school have access to the computer technology that is used in Ms. Davis' class? It would be much easier to harness your students' digital smarts if you have the funding. Money can provide many useful resources in education. This article would make a good comparison for private school vs. public school, but that would be another course.