C4K Summary 4/25

I have learned so much from the kids in my past months C4K. These kids have all gotten a little deeper into using their blogs. I especially love to see how well they are doing using their three point steps. They all seem very excited to have really accomplished quality comments. On this weeks blog, I got to see an interaction between a mother and her child. I found it very inspiring how involved this parent was in her student's learnings. If only we could encourage all parents to be this motivating! I have learned how to make more quality comments by reading this months C4K. What are some of your favorite aspects to our C4K assignments and how could this help you in your future classrooms? For me, I feel that it will help me to stay on key with my students, and will keep the class excited about learning. I hope that you all have gotten as much out of these assignments as I have.

Blog Post 13

ALEX was absolutely amazing to me! It would be incredibly helpful to teachers. I especially liked the section of lesson plans. You can choose the subject, grade, and other areas. It allows teachers to use quality lessons with out the time consumption of making them. Just from being in college I have learned how time consuming lesson plans can be.

I also liked the link to the course of study. In Alabama, there are certain standards that an educator must meet for every grade level. This places those standards right at the teachers' fingertips. There is also a section that gives web links to help the students and teachers. Overall, I can definitely see how ALEX can be very beneficial to educators.

Access learning is another web tool available in Alabama. Access allows more courses to be offered to more schools. It's similar to an online class, but more interactive. At many sites students get to join classes from across the country. It is a huge step in learning.

Blog Post 12

I would like to find a way to make facebook more useful for an educator. I am not sure how we could do this so maybe we could create an assignment for students to experiment with facebook and give feedback.
This week I am posting my status as "How is facebook educationally beneficial to you?" The assignment would be to make this your status and give a blogpost based on the feedback you received. This would help future educators see different opinions of educators all over facebook. I know I have personally used facebook as a great tool in many of my classes as the students will form a group and have discussions about class. I am currently posting this as my status and will give feedback as the week goes on.

Progress Report on Final Project

My final project is a collaborative project using Glogster. I will be working with Carol Perez. We are going to use Screenr to record us making a Glogster. I am very excited to see the results.

Blog Post 11

Ms. Cassidy has such as fun approach to technology in her classroom. Her students must really enjoy learning in this environment. She seems to really care about her students and wants them to be the best they can be. She in very adamant in them being up to date and never left behind. She even refers to anything less as "handicapping" the children. How true that is! Why give your students less than the best!? She understands that you must change with the times.
I think that like most of the teacher's blogs we have read in this class, she is a great example as to how a teacher should be. She wants her class to be updated and their absolute best. I hope that as an educator I can use these same approaches to create a fun learning environment. Kids today are so different than kids ten years ago. Therefore education must also be different. I plan to be the teacher who keeps my classroom engaged, much like Ms. Cassidy.

Special Assignment Mr. McClung

1. By viewing Mr. Clung's blog, I feel that he really likes to "put the ball in the student's hands" so to speak. They really have a lot of control as to how they manipulate the blog. He is also very organized.
2. As an educator, he seems that he really wants his students to stay updated. He seems to push them harder than most teachers would. He is very modern.
3. His rules aren't necessarily your typical grade school rules. He gives his students a lot of trust and credit. I think this is a pretty smart classroom management. He doesn't pour rules over them; he just ask that they listen carefully. What a great idea!
4.  The day planner was the first thing listed. This is such an important tool because it teaches organization!
5. Mr. Clung is pretty strict on his students. This is actually pretty similar to Dr. Strange on a smaller scale. It definitely keeps his class in line.
6. He obviously is in his career for the right reason. While I couldn't get my comment on his blog to submit, I would like to tell him that his love for his students is to be admired. He is very organized and keeps his class updated.
7.  I first chose the plagiarism checker. I have actually heard of a similar tool before. It is neat and important because it teaches the class how serious it is to steal someone else's work.
I also investigated the twitter link. I think this was more of a fun link, but also very useful. It made a type of newspaper from the twitter account.
8. I thought his rules were pretty thorough. He pointed out some serious points to the children without scaring them. I would leave his rules as is.
9. I read the post on Egypt. I loved how the students were staying so involved in current events.
10.  To be honest, I had a hard time finding some things on his blog even though it was so organized. It was so detailed and more advanced than blogger. It would take me some time to learn to use his blog.
11. He made it useful to his parents by adding polls and such to answer questions about whether or not they are coming to events and such. It also keeps everyone updated on what's going on in the classroom.
12.  It is so advanced. I never felt like I was reading a child's blog. I honestly felt behind while looking through their webpage.

Blog Post 10

 I actually agree with many of the comments in this video. The price for institutionalized learning is outrageous! I have many books that I pay hundreds of dollars for and never even open. And what makes that even worse is that just like he said, I could find better information about that same subject online for free. I also agree that some lectures and facts poured into our minds in class are useless. I often feel as though I am wasting my time and not actually learning beneficial things.

Saying that, I must now add that I think he is a little extreme. I would never drop out of school simply because in today's world you have to be certified in order to have certain careers. I admire him for taking a stand, but it would be hard for many to do this.

I agree that the world is changing whether we like it or not. We might as well change with it so we aren't left in the past. I do like being in college because it informs me of different things offered. For example, there are lots of pieces of technology I wouldn't have known existed if it wasn't for EDM 310.



As for the article on the pencils, I found it rather amusing. It actually had a good message. As teachers, we should focus on finding a solution rather that meditating on a problem. I also liked the message it had on standardized testing. So many teachers are worried about test scores rather than the actual learning of a child. In today's school system that is easy to do. Many teachers' jobs depend on their ability to "teach the test". This is a sad but realistic system. This makes educators jobs a little harder. In the end, we must focus on the child and not the test.

C4T Summary 4/3

I have been commenting on a man named Jabiz's blog. It has definitely been the most unique blog I've read. 

My reaction to the first blog was what an inspirational blog! I loved the quote “Because this feeling of terror when allowed to simmer resembles joy. This bubbling anxiety is a fine reminder that you are alive.” It is such a deep yet simple thought. Sometimes you have to risk being embarrassed in order to reach your fullest capability. What a great message! He is very talented.

I have to say of all of the blogs I have read this semester this one caught my attention. I am very new to so many aspects of technology. I just started blogging and tweeting, so there’s not much to be found about me online yet. I’m trying to work on that now though so don’t worry. I find his openness very different and interesting. It is such a great way to help people learn. I have to admit that I personally am not totally open to exposing a lot about me online, however once again I am working on that as well.