Blog Post #11

Ms. Cassidy's First Grade Class

        In these videos, there were a lot of great points made about technology and its' future in schools both Elementary and Secondary. Ms. Cassidy's class of first graders are doing things with technology that I just learned in my 3rd year of college.
         I think that all of the different tools Ms. Cassidy uses are extremely helpful and will benefit her students tremendously in their future classrooms. I think Mr. Cassidy is not afraid of any technology and will use any and everything she finds to help her students learn and succeed.
        I believe all of her techniques are great and would be beneficial in my classroom but I would most likely use  a web page, have the students do blogs, and use wikis. I am just not so sure about the Nintendo DS. I know that most students know how to use one, but I am just not sure what all you can teach students or what programs you could use that most principles would not consider games. I would love some feed back on this if anyone has some because I am just not familiar with them myself.
           I  know that using ms. Cassidy's approaches would benefit my future classroom greatly by having no fear in trying new things and being the "guinea pig" for a new idea for classrooms. I know just from being in EDM 310 how useful and wonderful Blogs are and I will keep one forever now and show my students them as well. Using the approaches she give will help get my future classroom off to a great start.

Project #14 Teaching How to Create A Time Toast

Comments for Kids 3-7

C4K #3

        For this assignment the class was from Pt. England School in Auckland, N.Z. For this C4K I was assigned a group of students instead of just one. Their post was entitled, "Diggin' Up Loot" and it was a short excerpt for a pirate story they were working on together about a hunt for buried treasure. The student's who wrote it were: Ashlee, Frankie, Isara, Jonita, Kaylee, and Robert. I told them that I thought they did a great job and that I could not wait for them to post the rest of the story.

C4K#4

      In this C4K, I read a student named Ryan's blog and came across his post about skate boarding. I he said that he love to skate board and really like the skate park down the road. I told him that I use to skate board and I knew how hard it was so to keep up the good work. He thought it was really cool that a girl could skate board.

C4K#5

        This assignment was for Mrs. W's class in Australia and was for a student named Lucy. In one of her post she mentioned that her class had been watching the movie 'Cars" and that they had been talking about friendship, since that was the main idea of the movie. She mentioned that to be her friend you would have to be: kind, loyal, and have a good sense of humor. I told her that those are great qualities to look for in a friend and that I knew me and her would be good friends because that is also what I look for in a friend.

C4K#6

        In this post we were responding to students post in Mr. Goerend and Mrs. Quam's classes. I commented on Caitlin C.'s Blog on her post called, "My Awesome Blog". IN this post she describes a scary creature who has slimy gray skin, no eyes, and walks like a bear. She ends the excerpt with her looking out of her window and the night was "peaceful". I told her that she could really turn this into a great scary story and to keep up the great writing.

C4K#7

        This assignment was for Mrs. Gilbert's 5th Grade class and the student I commented on was Daniel. The post of his that I loved the most was his "Red Ribbon Week" post. He talked about how his school was discussing how to stay off of drugs and he said that he was pledging to never take any drugs for all of his life. I told him that was great and that the only things drugs do is kill your brain and harm your body. I also encouraged him to keep up the good work.

These were just 5 of the great C4K's I got to comment on. There are a lot of great kids all over the world and I hope to keep in touch with all if them as they continue to go through school.

C4T #3 Mathew Needleman

During these past few weeks I have been assigned to read and comment on Mr. Mathew Needleman's Blog and now I am going to tell you about just two of the very informative post that I read on his blog.

Six Ways Teachers can Improve Education This Year

In the first post that I read entitled, "Six Ways Teachers Can Improve Education This Year", Mr. Needleman give six different ways teachers could and should improve their school for not only the students but the faculty as well. His first point was to say hello at the door as the students come in because this maybe the only kind thing they hear all day from teachers or anyone. second was to eat in the teacher cafeteria with the rest of the faculty even if they are being negative, maybe you could be the light of positivity and bring the "faculty family" together. His third idea was to teach the students authentic writing and make them define the purpose for their writing and teach them to write for themselves and not for their teacher. His fourth point was to incorporate Multi-Media into every lesson whether it be photos, videos, or CDs. The students would find this more entertaining and you could teacher them some about technology everyday. In his fifth point he talks about using art and a way to help you students find discipline and control and a way to use it further other subjects like using drums to learn rhythms. Lastly he says that teaching test prep for at least two minutes a day will prepare them for the game the school system like to call standardized test and says if they have to take it anyway, we might as well make sure they can play the game great.
I think that Mr. Needleman makes some great points and gives a ton of great ideas and think that this would defiantly change and help improve education.

3 Ways to Download Movies from Youtube

In this post Mr.Needleman give 3 different ways to download movies from Youtube and the ideas behind using each one. In the first way which he calls "the low-tech way", he suggest just downloading it at home and not closing the window but closing the computer and taking it to school and he says this is the best way if you only need to download one video. The second way is to use Zamar.com. This way allows you to put in a little work but to have a few movies downloaded at the same time. The last way is to use Download Helper for Firefox or Download Youtube for Safari. These two allow you to download a high volume of movies and work very well.
I want to thank Mr. Needleman for all of his great tips, tools and ideas and think that more people should follow his blog for more that I am sure is soon to come.

SMART Board Interview- Project #13

Blog Post #10

Morgan Bayda and Dan Brown's Views On Education

In this Blog Post assignment, we were assigned to read Ms. Morgan Bayda's post on "An Open Letter To Educators" and also watch Mr. Dan Brown's video An Open Letter to Educators where they both come to the conclusion that if schooling does not change with the world, then the people will decide they don't need or want it. To be completely honest, I have to agree. As they said, the world is changing and is in full swing of the Information Age. The schools are still stuck in the old industrial idea of "get them in and get them out". I can personally attest to this and hate that schooling is such bad shape. We are taught that things and people change and evolve. Well the world is changing, but the public school system has not changed at all. Like Dan says, they have added some tools but that is not change and change is what the people and the Information Age need.
In my high school, the teachers didn't really care how we did our work but just that we followed the steps and got to some answer. We can't talk to our neighbors because then we get our work taken away for cheating. I can remember when thinking outside the box was encouraged and as you go up through high school for some reason we are now in the box and it is shrinking. I thought once I got to college things would be so different to the point I was scared to come but when I got here, it was just like high school except I didn't have to go all day. The only class that has challenged the way I think and the way I use to do things is this EDM310 that I am in. I have always been taught and now I am learning and doing everything myself. I still get help and instruction when needed but I am doing something I have not done in a long time, think for myself and actually learn something that will not be on the test.

Tom Johnson's "Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home"

In this post Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home  I love the fact that during the entire post, Mr. Johnson does not focus on the what could happen, rather on the solutions to the what is happening. If they take their pencils home and play word games, then they are still learning words. So what if their parents work in a factory and the children think they are toy, the school has set up a program for the parents to get involved and that should defiantly help. This post should tell us as teachers, we need to look at the fact that students are learning and we should encourage learning all the time.


Two Questions That Will Change Your Life

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

This Vimeo is very inspiring and I have to say it is very motivating as well. Well this is My Sentence, "I will and am ever striving to make a difference in students lives and I will make time for my students to have FUN while LEARNING." School should never be too busy for students not to enjoy it. How else can we expect them to want to come to school and better yet want to come to learn if we don't make it fun and interesting for them. Answer: We cant't.

Additional Assignment #3

In Sir Ken Robinson's Video: Changing Educational Paradigms ,I think the most important point he makes is the one about the growing trend to medicate children with ADHD. Like Mr. Robinson says, I also believe there is so much going on in the world around us today that children cannot help but be distracted. Now also I am not say there is not this disorder but most of the children who are diagnosed with ADHD are just children who are artistic and are being starved of the creative outlet. The first thing to go in schools now if money gets tight is the art programs. This is horrible because the great thinkers of our time are not going to have anyone to construct their great inventions and ideas if we do not have creative tinkers to look outside the box to make things work. This will eventually be utterly devastating.
There is nothing in this presentation that I can disagree with that would not have great reason of rebuttal behind it. He makes great sense and points all throughout the presentation. Sir Ken Robinson's positions in this video run pretty congruent with what I am being taught in the college of education. The only major difference I see is the ADHD aspect, because the college of education just wants us to learn how to deal with it and not actually find a way to help them learn and express themselves. I feel the only things I can do to address the issues that Sir Ken Robinson raises is to try my best not to get caught up the 'get them in and get them out" craze and just make sure they learn and enjoy it. School is something we have to do for at least 13 years and I strongly believe that students can learn and have fun with it at the same time.
I thought the way in which the video was presented was very amazing and eye catching. I think it keeps your attention the entire time. I would however slowed it down just a little bit, because it was a little hard to keep up at times. If were to create a video like this, I would have to say that my job would have been Idea Generator or Author because I am not that great at the artsy stuff. I am way more right brain, as my fiance often reminds me.

Project #12 Skype Interview

Blog Post # 9 What I Learned This Year

 In this blog post we were assigned to read Mr. McClung's post entitled, "What I've Learned This Year". In this post Mr. McClung talks about the experiences he went through and observed during his first year as an elementary school teacher. He tells of him learning that school is for the students and not for the teachers. In his paragraph, "How to Read the Crowd" he says that "...I was so worried about how I was being assed by my superiors, that I lost touch with my audience when I delivered a lesson". I think we as teachers get this way sometimes and we have to step back and remember we are here for the students and no one else. The students and their future are what we need to focus on and not how perfect the lesson we made is going. Which transfers into his next paragraph, "Be Flexible" where he speaks about him trying to be aware of the fact that we are teaching students who " struggle remembering what they brought for lunch" and so we should not get upset and if a lesson doesn't go exactly the way we want it to. He gives us the advice that, "When things go wrong, simply work with it and try to better the situation... and make sure you do it with a smile on your face." I believe this is great advice because without being flexible, we are just being uptight and thus making the students miserable too. We just need to roll with the punches. Moving on through the post he comes to his thoughts on how important it is to, "Communicate". In this paragraph he expresses the importance of communication among our peers and students. He says without communication, the work place can become very volatile and work against the betterment of the students. He also says that communication is one of the hardest skills to develop and so we should practice all the time and I could not agree with him more on this. There is so much drama in schools and as teachers we should set en example for communicating and working out problems with others. In the next paragraph Mr. McClung talks about how to "Be Reasonable". In this he tells us how to not get upset when our students don't reach our expectations because at the end of the day, they are still children. I agree that we should not get upset but I will not lower my expectation because I want my students to know that I will never stop expecting greatness from them. In his paragraph on "Don't Be Afraid of Technology", he hilariously jokes about the fact that so many people are afraid of technology, but reassures them that, "... the water feel fine:)." I have to completely agree with him because I was afraid when I started this class but now I love it and I have learned so much.  In what I believe is a very touching paragraph, "Listen to Your Students", he tells of the absolute great importance of listening to our students because how can we teach them if we do not listen and get to know them. Lastly he talks about the fact that we should "Never Stop Learning". He puts it best when he says, "It is never too late to change your way of thinking, learning, or style." We as educators should be sponges and soak up all of the knowledge available so that we are better equipped to help and teach our students, they deserve it. I want to thank Mr. McClung for sharing his great insights into his first year of teaching because I know this has helped me feel a little less scared of my first year that is fast approaching.

Educational Time Toast

Blog Post # 8

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2


       I thought this video was very forward thinking. I had no idea that there was so much that we a teachers could do and produce on the internet. I believe that our students will benefit so much from all of the new technologies that are available and as teachers we should learn everything we can to make use we are as technologically advanced as possible.
        I believe that I am ready to write and help my students write great lectures and papers using Youtube and other videos sources thanks to this EDM class and all of the great material, such as these videos. There has been so much to learn and I am so glad that I am learning it and not running away from the future of teaching. Technology is amazing and as an educator, i will use everything I learn from all of the assignments to help better my students education.
        I know that if I do my job as a teacher then my students will be able to write and use any and all technology that I and the world will throw at them. Students now a days are so well versed in the internet that I know they will pick up on a lot of if not all of the material and technology. I have no doubt that since being in this class, I know how to find and look for new technology and information for my students and if I can't find something, I know who to look up and ask on Twitter.


The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies

        In the chipper series I thought it was about how most students feel when we get overwhelmed. We just quit and move on to something we think will be easier but nothing in this world will be easy if we don't get our education. I think these guys did a great job showing an bringing this message home.
       In the video EDM 310 for Dummies, I thought they did a great job portraying how every EDM student has felt at one point taking this class. I know that thanks to the Instruction Manual this class is a lot easier and with the help of the lab assistants, I know I will make an A in this class.
        If I created a video for EDM I would have to include everything about embedding and movie making because these are the two most difficult activities that I struggled with. I would asure students that once you get the hang of it, it is no problem. Also I would go step by step through each process and make sure I have written directions as well.

Critiques of Smart Boards 


       Why Smart Boards are a Dumb Initiative
             In this post by Michael Staton, he discusses reasons as to why spending so much money on Smart Boards is a dumb idea. He says that all they really do is make a white look more attractive. He gives several ways to which the things done on a Smart Board can be done also without one and for a lot less money. He also comes to the realization that the Smart Boards are just the way people higher up can ask for money because they are something specific. He believes instead of adding more Smart Boards, the schools should come up with new ways of helping the students learn and not just memorize thing for the SATs.


      Why I Hate Interactive White Boards
           In this article, Mr. Bill Ferriter states that he believes that Smart Boards are useless gizmos and that after a year he gave his away. In the article he would not even call them Smart Boards but called the useless interactive white boards. He was very passionate about the face that he did not want to own one and that no one else should either.


Mr. Wilson's Post

         In this post, Mr. Wilson discusses the positive side of Smart Boards and the benefits they bring to the classrooms and the the students who get to learn from them and use them. He uses the fact that everything can be enlarged as to help with students who can not see well and also the fact that it is interactive can help the students with disabilities. Also he talks about the massive amount of teacher communication that goes on these website about exchanging new and cutting edge ideas to help improve learning in the classroom.


While I think that all 3 of these men present valid point as to the pros and cons of the Smart Boards, I am still not sure my self where I stand and mostly because I have never used one. I think with every invention and new technique tried there are going to be some problems at first but with time it will be come more clear as to wether or not these Smart Boards are a good idea or not.

Movie Project # 11

Additional Assignment #2

How Kids Teach Themselves

1. What do you think? If learners are motivated, can they teach themselves?
              Yes, I believe if there is motivation then there is a willingness to learn. If you want to learn then the possibilities are endless as what you can accomplish. There is so much information and so many exciting tools on the internet and in everyday life that we can't help but learn.

2.If those motivated learners are kids, can they teach themselves?
           I would defiantly say yes, because children have a natural curiosity about how things work and why and if you give a child a chance to something they want to do, then motivation is there and they will run with it. If you give a child a chance they can and will always surprise you.

3. What conditions are necessary for kids to teach themselves? For anyone to teach him/herself?
            I believe the children or anyone who wants to learn only needs motivation and the tools required to do so. If you put a group of children together with a computer, the possibilities are endless, as we saw in the video. I believe the same would be true for anyone else as well.

4. What role do computers and internet access play in the process?
           They play a very large role in the process of learning, especially when it is done without a teacher. Student and children have, as I have said, a natural curiosity and they will figure anything out given enough time. The internet and computers just give them a faster way to access the information and open it up for them to find information that may not have been obtainable without the internet.

5. What role does motivation, a desire to learn?
          It plays the biggest role because without motivation there is no need or want found and so no one goes looking for anything such as information or in the case of kids, video games.

6. What roles do a problem, a question, or multiple problems or questions play in the process?
           Questions and problems are like the the enticers for the children's motivation. They will do anything and everything to find the answer and if you get a group of student together then they will race to beat the others.

7. How do you motivate someone to learn?
          You find something they would find interesting, or make a game out of it, or anything that would taylor the learning to that age group and they would consider the topic interesting or intriguing.

8. How are you motivated to learn?
       I am motivated to learn because the more I know, then the more knowledge I have to share and pass on to my students. The more techniques I can find for motivating my students and new ways of teaching the same old hum drum stuff that will excite the students about even the smallest lesson.

9. Can anyone who is not motivated to learn learn?
         I would have to say yes still, because even if you are not motivated or even in school to learn, students can't help but listen to some of what you teach and who knows you may find something that sparks their interest and in turn help them find something they like and thus motivation will find itself.

10. Do you teach yourself? When? Why?
        Yes I teach myself sometimes because I may not have fully grasped what the teacher was saying in the allotted class time or the teacher just may not have made it clear or I could just think they're wrong and want to prove it.

11. What role does a teacher (either answer generally or use a specific example) play in your learning?
       I would have to say that it depends on the teacher and the class. I have some teachers that without them I would fail because that is just how the class is set up like in Math 112 or in some classes I already have to teach myself because that is how that class is set up( blended or hybrid classes) like EDM 310. So this question just depends on the variables.

12. What is the most important idea, question, or emotional response you can take away with you as a result of watching this video?
           I would have to say the most important emotional response I got fro this video was the excitement the children seemed to have in the Italy class as they were learning and answering questions in another language. I hope that the students I have will be just as enthusiastic as those students were.

13. What other questions or issues are raised by this video that should be considered and discussed by aspiring teachers?
          As an aspiring teacher, I would like to know how students in the U.S. would do if faced with the same situations and questions. These studies were all done in other countries. I would like to do this to see if we could maybe figure out how American students would do if asked questions in other languages and see if our school system has a chance to revitalize the love this country once had for learning. We need to stop taking away the curiosity students have and instead nurture it and see where it takes them.

Blog Post # 7

I think this is absolutely amazing and I loved this video. It is so inspiring and I learned so much from this video and so much about how to just enjoy your students and encourage them. Randy Pausch's take on Childhood Dreams is awe inspiring and so moving. He absolutely had me laughing the whole time and everything he said you could relate to. As far as his teaching techniques, I think they are brilliant.

I loved him talking about wanting to be in the NFL but getting more out of it by not being in it than he would have from making it. His Quote, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." This is so true because like Dr. Pausch said, he got more out of trying and practicing than he believed he would have if he tried for the pros. He found out that your critics are the one who ride you because they haven't given up on you. This is a great piece of wisdom to give to our students and to let them know that if we are hard on them it is because we know they can succeed and we have not and will not give up on them.

When he talks about there being brick walls in front us and only the ones who really want it will figure out a way around it. Like Dr. Pausch did when he resined as the space group's faculty leader and became there local journalist so that he could go up in the Zero Gravity flight with his team, because NASA would not allow faculty to go on the flight. this could be used as a great example to show students how they can do anything they want as long as they want it bad enough and are willing to work for it.

Lastly but certainly not the least greatest technique he gave us was when he had started the new course of 50 students who were to create web worlds in groups every two weeks and when they came back for the first project they blew him away. Then he was stuck wondering what to do next and called his mentor Andy and Andy told him to go back and say they "did good" but "they could do better". This was so they would not get complacent but try harder to create even better projects than the last time and see where they could end up. If he had gone back in there and just praised them that would have been the topping point of them trying and why stop when there is always more to learn.

He was one of the best professors I sure and I would have loved to taken his class. I know he touched so many people with this video and everyone in the world should watch it because he was a great man and an even better teacher. Even with everything he had going on there was still so much he was willing to give so that others could recognize their dreams as well. He was an inspiration to aspiring teachers everywhere and all he did was give students an opportunity to follow there dreams and find something they are passionate about and share it with the world.

Podcast Project- Madison Group

Project #10 Progress Report

     In my PLN I am using Symbaloo to create my personal learning network. Since I started creating my PLN I have added a ton of blocks and links that I use on a regular basis and some new tools that I have been finding through the EDM class assignments and different types of looking around. This is so easy to use and is a lot of fun, which surprised me but I will defiantly keep this up after I am done with EDM.

C4T #2 Ann Carnevale

During this C4T I had the pleasure of reading and following Ms. Ann Carnevale's Blog. In her the first post of hers I read, "What I Learned on Summer Vacation". In this blog post she tells about her new technological discoveries when it comes to PDF Files and opening new tabs with the touch of one button. She recently discovered how to book mark pages of a PDF Document and gives instructions for you to do as well. She also figured out how to push the apple button and click on a like and it would open in a new tab so you would not lose your place. She also threw in a like to her presentation about ice breakers for classroom teachers to use to get the know the students, help the students get to know each other and to learn the names of everyone.

I think her post is very informative and give lots of neat tricks and tools that are helpful and her presentation is very helpful and cute and I believe it would be very beneficial for teachers to look at and get some ideas for ice breakers.

In her second post that I commented on, she was giving a website that is for free photo fixing program you can download and gave two pictures, a before and after, to demonstrate how it works. The Website is called Webinpaint and you can click here http://www.webinpaint.com/ to download it or just look around. I think this is very helpful and especially for the example she gives like when you take a class photo and hen one child's parent will not give permission for it to be published or put the class website, you can simply use this so that the other students do not have to be left out. I think this is a great tool and everyone should download it. Especially if you have some pictures you like but they need just a little tweaking.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Carnevale's Blog and will be keeping up with her for more great tools and information that are always popping up. If you would also like to follow Ms. Carnevale, just click here http://anncarnevale.edublogs.org/ and see all the great tips and tool she offers.

Time Toast

Comments for Kids # 1 and #2

In my comments for kids I was assigned to comment on Elio's "About Me" and his "Learning Manifesto". From his "About Me", I learned that he has 4 sisters and does not like math. Also his friends call him Elmo and he is Mexican. In his "Learning Manifesto", Elmo talks about what he will do to become a better student. He talks of making sure he listens to the directions so he does his assignments on time and the correct way. Also he will behave better to help him and the teacher have a better relationship and to not disrupt his fellow classmates. He is a very sweet and interesting student.

Blog Post #6

The Networked Student


In this assignment I was asked to watch, The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler. This video boggles my mind to think of all that information out there and it is all available with the click of a mouse. This class is the first class where I have been required to do most of the learning by myself. To do this I have had to make friends with some of the people in my class and we have gotten together to do our work and learn these new applications and learning tools together. It makes it easier when you have people to talk trough ideas with and get feed back. This is just like the student in this video who had to network with other classmates and people around the world to find information and share the information found connectively.
This idea of connectively finding and sharing information is absolutely brilliant. I think this will change the way school as we know it, will run. There are so many different search engines that are now available and ready for us to use as we expand our minds to the technology that is ever growing. These search engines make it so much easier to find specific data we need and Google is now one of my favorite. There is so much information available and all we have to do is reach out and grab it.
Now in this post I was also asked, "Why does a networked student even need a teacher?" Well my answer is that we as students do not know everything and need someone to guide us when we get stuck or are just not getting something. Teachers are there to help us understand and give us all the advantages of their years of experience.I hope to a networked student when I am done with this class and I know that with the help of Dr. Strange and the whole EDM 310 team, I will be.


A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLE)


To be honest I do not see a difference in her PLE and my PLN. I know that I use mine for learning how to use technology and communicate with people and she uses hers for mostly it looked like her science class but we both use them for learning. I wish I would have learned how to use these tool and programs when I was in the 7th grade so that I would have some idea of how to use one for this class but I know no matter what I will use this for the rest of my teaching career and my social life. My PLN make learning and organizing easy and from looking at her PLE I know she will use hers for a long time too.


The Machine is Changing Us


WOW is what comes to mind. This video is amazing and exceptional inspiring. The way he presents YouTube and our generations idea of the meaning of "whatever" is jaw dropping. This video makes me think about how I act and react to the world around me. I can't believe that people see themselves as a spec with no identity but they are somebody and the way television and the media have make young people today believe that they are not important unless they are on either MTV or some silly get rich show like "I Love Money" or "Deal or No Deal" is stomach turning. I do not feel comfortable talking to a camera and would almost never consider post or even making a video of myself because that is just not me. I am too private.
Although in my college life I have come to see how helpful these videos are in teaching and networking with others in the same profession to get new ideas and to continue my learning. This video was a lot to take in, but it was fascinating to me how connected people are on YouTube. I do not get on there a lot but I have seen many of the video he used in his presentation. I guess I am part of the Media generation. The idea of self before the whole however is foreign to me. I was raised to put others feelings and needs before my own. I will admit that I struggled with being selfish but in my heart if someone needs something, I will go without for them. I have never been inconvenienced because somebody needed me or something from me.
As far as this applying to my teaching career, I am not sure how to use this. I know that YouTube is a great apparently social networking site and has tons of information but I just wonder if it is a little too much to handle. I know I could find videos to use in class as visual aids but I'm just not use how else to use it.