Blog Post #14

Final Project #16

C4T#4

Kathy Cassidy
Primary Preoccupation has been developed by a grade one teacher, Kathy Cassidy. This week her classroom developed a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) day. This day was very successful and based on her children's enthusiasm, she knew that they would have to do it again. Mrs. Cassidy, mentioned that one half to two thirds of her class has a nintendo DS. I'll have to admit, I had know idea that this device supported educational apps. Four of my nieces and nephews own a nintendo ds. I ignorantly assumed that all you could do with it is play video games. Fifteen or so years ago the first handheld nintendo, was predominantly video games. I don't recall ever seeing an educational game for it. As hard as it is to admit, nintendo and other gaming brands, are trying to educate our children's future.
Mrs. Cassidy's students were each able to use their own DS, log into a private chatroom, and learn spelling or math lessons. Over all this experiment has been a success and tunes in to student's hobbies. This increases interest and, I would say, improves understanding of the concept.

One lucky teacher in Canada, Ms. Kathy Cassidy recently won a $20,000 spending spree from Best Buy! The contest was for her to purchase technology for the classroom. In doing so, she purchased iPads for every student in the class. Now, I don't no about you, but being 1:1 with any device, let alone an iPad, is a huge deal. This grade one teacher in Canada already had a few apps for the students to learn. One of them being Letter Reflex. This apps allows students having difficulties with the letters such as b's and d's or p's and q's another form of interactive practice. They also learned how to take pictures for a special project that they are doing with another class. Ms. Cassidy commented that her favorite comment from the day was "I guess we really like the iPads". I would say that is a definite understatement.

Blog Post #13

Twenty-four hours without technology might seem like an everyday issue but for others, well, they would rather have a stroke then put their iPhone down for fifteen minutes let alone twenty-four hours. I must admit that I was never able to go the full twenty-four hours without technology, as required for this assignment. However, the problems that I faced were work and school related. Being self-employed I couldn't let my phone sit idol. The instructions did allow phones for work purposes but I would rather have been able to commit 100% regardless. The second issue that I faced is that it is finals time. Keeping up with classes is a must have during the end of the semester. Other than these two slip ups, I did well. No radio, on the drive the school. No TV during down times. Perhaps I will try this assignment at a later date. I almost feel like it would be somewhat relaxing to be able to turn off every form of technology and focus on yourself and the others around you.
I was intrigued by this assignment, so I did a Google search on other peoples no technology projects. This was one article that I found relatively interesting and I wanted to share this with all of you. A college student did an Amish Project with no cell phone, email or social media for 90 days. His story really makes you think about all of the ways that we no longer communicate with people and how we only communicate with people.

Project #13

For project 15 and project 16 it was very important for us to say in contact with one another. We began by emailing, then we met at the lab to bounce ideas off one another. We had a difficult time coming up with, what we thought, would be the best topic for our project. Once we decided on a topic, often times we found flaws. So, we would switch to something else. We found that texting was the fastest method for an immediate response. It is quick and easy to send then the other person can respond whenever they have a chance. Instead of meeting at the lab, we used Skype for one of our conference sessions. It was a little tricky since we couldn't all look at the same computer screen but we made it work. Above all, I would say that we used a variety of communication methods in order to work together.

Final Report on PLN

My personal learning network is slowing increasing, although not too much has changed. I have begun to fill up my Symbaloo as well as my network of Twitter users. I spend a lot of time on Edmodo, I haven't been approved as a teacher yet, so I can't comment but I can still view what others have added to their pages. I also visit Pinterest on a regular basis, to get new ideas for projects and classroom activities. I also still remain in contact with a few educators that I know locally. So far I would say that my PLN is moving right along.

This is my Sentence Project 6

Blog Post #15

Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post #12A.

1.) I believe that schools in the United States are inhibiting the curiosity and creativity of students. Schools are trying to use innovative ways of teaching but its not allowing the students to use their creativity. In a way the schools are still being led by the old school way of teaching. This is a problem.
2.) From my point of view, I'm not even sure how to stimulate a child's curiosity. My experience maxes out with my toddler who is still curious about everything. Getting a 5th grader to become curious about math or learning plant and animal cells, well I just am at a blank. There are the old tricks that simply don't work such as pretending that you, the teacher, is interested but kids are smarter now: they know better.
3.) I absolutely think that a teacher's actions can increase the curiosity of students. What are these actions? Well, honestly, answering these questions makes me feel ill prepared for running a classroom. I hope that between now and then, I find some amazing mentors. I think that the best way, is for the students to teach each other. If teachers give them access to all of the tools they need plus whatever they may come up with, teachers could stay up-to-date on what kids are using for technology. Plus, the students are now learning about technology and using it to teach their peers.
4.)I feel like a creative person already. I must admit that I would better with physical objects and mixed media but technology is slowing working its way up there. Teachers and schools could help with the creative process by searching for a new and improved way to keep everyone informed. Students often have an immediate question that simply can not wait until morning. What about assigning students to be "on call" for homework help? That would encourage students to work together and give one more way to students to learn the material.

Progress Report on Final Project

Our group shuffled through several ideas before we came to, what we think, is the best one. We have been meeting at the lab, emailing and texting for a couple of weeks, pulling our ideas into one. Since EDM310 is a technology class, we think that it is important to get, first hand what teachers are lacking in the classroom. By interviewing students, teachers and parents we can hear their thoughts and better prepare ourselves for what we, as educators, are about to walk into following this class. Classrooms are well equipped with computers, Smartboards and even iPads but what else can we do to help the parents stay connected to the class? Are we utilizing these products to the best of our ability to teach our students? Do teachers have knowledge on these products that are provided for them to use?

Blog Post #12

I am an elementary/special education major and my original goal for this assignment was to show how technology could be used even in a special education classroom at an early age. As soon as I read this assignment, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. For a couple of weeks now, I have been working on Smartboard lessons for my daughter. She now has numbers, shapes, animals and the alphabet. Each one allows her to interact with the lesson via the Smartboard by drawing out the shape, number or letter. The animal one allows her to click on the picture of the animal and hear its sound as well as see the name of the animal. As I practiced and practiced with her to make sure she knew all of the animals before we made the video, I made one mistake: we never practiced on the Smartboard. This afternoon we took our trip to the lab to show off how smart she is. Everything she had learned prior to this trip was erased. Her fascination of the Smartboard took over and she found it necessary to learn how to use the pens and eraser. I must admit, I have learned first hand that a lesson will never go the way it is planned. This incident forced me to take a new direction with my assignment. Did I mention that my daughter is not even two yet and she was capable of learning how to use the pens and eraser within a matter of minutes. Had we spent a day or two on what I had planned for us to do, I know she would have master it. I realize that teaching a toddler to use a Smartboard is not the same as teaching special education but for some students, their attention span and mental capacity is similar.
My assignment is to share a lesson in your area(special education/elementary education) to the Smart Exchange. Students learn from one another and I feel that it is important for teachers to do so as well. By sharing lessons to the Smart Exchange we are helping our community of colleagues.

Directions
1.) Watch these videos on Special Education and Technology for Special Education. I also suggest watching this video on a the day of a special education teacher. Think about how technology could help her in her everyday teaching and lessons.
2.) Create a lesson that would be used to teach special education students using the Smartboard.
3.) Sign into SmartExchange or signup if you haven't already done so.
4.) Click on Share a resource.
5.) Upload your lesson to the appropriate location.
6.) After sharing to the Exchange, please include a link on your blog so that others can find your lesson.
7.) Also, leave summary explaining why you chose this particular lesson to share.

My SmartExchange Lesson
I chose to share a lesson on animals to the Exchange. My thought behind this was to teach simple animal sounds for a special education class that my not yet be distinguishable. If you notice that some slides are not animals- I know. I wanted to mix in some things that were not living to inspire creativity of the children. When you ask a child "what sound a balloon makes?" or "what sound a banana makes?" it will stimulate the brain to come up with what sound a balloon really does make. I think that at such a young age, like my toddler, the attention span is hard to control, so I mix it up a bit.

C4K#-April

Megan
Not Your Blog, My Blog has been produced by Megan. Her first post was about her favorite animals and subjects. She has a love for animals and insects as well as science. Hopefully, the Blogging Challenge will give her some motivation about blogging and we will see many posts from her in the future.
Megan
This week Megan has posted about how excited she is for her upcoming spring break. Its great to see her enthusiasm. I commented to ask if she had any exciting plans for the week so we'll see what she has to say.
Jake
I received a different student this week, Jake. This week Jake, posted about pollution. Many people are unaware of the pollution problems that we face today, he noted about the amount of gasoline that we consume and the damage it does to the air. Jake is very knowledgeable on the subject of pollution. I mentioned a few things that we were doing around the house such as recycling, composting and shopping local. I asked if they were doing anything to help, so we will see what his response is.
Mubashshir
Room 9 @ Pt. England School is the main site for Mubashshir's class. This week it was his turn to blog and he chose to do an animation. During Mubashshir's presentation he told us a little about himself. He enjoys reading and he also hopes to be a great swimmer. I suggested that make a book trailer about his favorite book since he enjoys reading and animation.

Blog Post #11

I love how Ms. Cassidy incorporates technology into the classroom. Honestly, I would like to use technology in every way she does.  The first thing that I would like to include in my class is blogging. As many of the children said, it helps them write better. In my ideal classroom, I would have a class blog website. It would include my blog and an individual blog page for each student. The children's parents and the rest of the community could see all the great things that we are doing in my classroom. I have also, begun to play with the idea of a QR code. Qurify is a simple way to add just text. There are other sites that will allow you to link to a website or your class blog. I have tons of ideas of how we could use this for class but I'll save that for another post.

As I stated earlier, I see the techniques Ms. Cassidy uses to be very beneficial to her classroom. For this reason, I think it would be beneficial to my classroom. I already discussed this a bit, but blogging helps children write better. I expect students to work hard, but I don't expect them to be perfect. Blogging allows children to get positive feedback. Their parents, peers, or I could say how they could have written the sentence better. The techniques Ms. Cassidy uses also teach valuable life skills, like sharing, communication, and collaboration.

Blog Post #10

Do You Teach or Do You Educate?
After watching this video, Do You Teach or Do You Educate?,  I can see that there is a big difference between being a teacher and being an educator. I fully intend on being an educator. This video compares and contrasts a teacher and an educator. It talks about the teacher first and gives a few simple definitions: to show or explain how to do something, encourage someone to accept as a fact or principle, give information about or instruction in, cause someone to learn or understand something, and to induce by example or punishment to do or not do something.  I plan on leading my students to their future and do everything within me to help them succeed not only in the classroom but also in their lives. Educators are people that you can trust and confide in and I want my students to see me in that light. I want my future students to know that with the power of knowledge they can achieve anything. I want my future students to know that even if no one else believes in them, I will be there to support them. The way that I see it is, I will be a stepping stone for my students. My job as an educator is to help my students succeed in life so they may help me in life as well, because like they all say our children are our future. 
Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home
This post, "Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home", was entertaining, yet it is sad to know that this stuff really happens. Gertrude, the "School Curriculum Instructional Interventionist Academic Specialist" storms into Tom's classroom ranting about PENCILS. How we go about doing that is where things get fun. Not all students can just come in and listen to you lecture and understand, but everybody has a way to learn. It might be tough at first to figure it out but once they do things start clicking and they feel good about themselves and want to continue learning. It is important that we keep our students entertained while teaching them. I believe it’s time for teachers, parents, and administrators to stop viewing technology as a source of distraction. We must realize that in our society of ever evolving technology, it will be and already is a norm in our classrooms.

Blog Post #9

Mr. Joe McClung
After reading his first post "What I've learned this year" (2008-2009), I couldn't help but read the next two,"What I've learned this year" (2009-2010) and "What I've learned this year" (2010-2011). It was such a great idea for him to reflect on the past year and share all of the knowledge that he has gained from the experience. One particular thing that I will definitely steal, is to find a "schoolmom". I know that in my first few years I am going to need a lot of guidance. Mr. Joe Mcclung began his first year as an elementary teacher. Quickly moving up, he began his second year as a jr. high  teacher. He commented on changing his teaching style to match the jr. high way of thinking. Many teachers may not think about such thing but it is a good thing to do. McClung mentioned that teachers don't need to hold high expectations for their students, they just need to keep encouraging them. Another point he made was "Don't Be Afraid Of Technology." Technology is here to stay and don't be afraid using it. An important lesson to adopt is to "Listen To Your Students." He says to listen to your students and take interest in their lives. Finally, McClung says he learned was "Never Stop Learning." He says to never stop being open to learning new things. There was one thing that I feel that I am really going to have to work on when I begin teaching- "Don't Expect Others To Be As Excited About Change As You Are." McClung talks about how to not expect your students to be as excited about the changes as you are. Don't let that influence you and keep teaching. I really enjoyed his blog post and plan on following his words of advice when I start teaching.

C4T#3

Guhlin
Around the corner is an interesting blog supporting the Texas TEE. Guhlin makes a very compelling argument about "Glamornormous" which Guhlin defines as an enormous project, full of glamour; an exorbitantly expensive project--usually involving some magical technology--that is charmingly or fascinatingly attractive to school administrators looking to score points with the community, allowing the casual disregard of "purchasing rules" and "common sense."" 
In another post, Vicki "coolcatteacher" Davis posted on Why Schools shouldn't use GoogleDocs for anything Private. Vicki is actually a woman that I was previously following; she makes very good points in her blog and on twitter. Sharing personal information online can be dangerous-period. Both Vicki and my assigned blog, Guhlin, received a message from Teresa with the google community, assuring everyone that google docs is safe to use due to the fact that they scan primarily for information that can be used in identity theft, such as user IDs, social security numbers, ect. 

C4K#2

Umar
Umar is a student at the Bradford school and they are participating in a 100 word challenge. Like many other students, Umar is a great writer. He has a very creative imagination that allows his to come up with amazing stories. One particular story involved abominable snowmen and dragons on top of Mt. Everest! I just hope these dragons don't turn out to be fire breathing. Umar did a great job with this story and many others that he has written.

Project #14

Blog Post #8

This is How We Dream
The two videos "This is How We Dream" by Dr. Richard Miller was very informational. It shows that books are both online and in print. Dr. Miller was able to complete a writing assignment without ever going to a library. This is not surprising to me but to those who are used to having to search for material manually in a library it may take some getting used to. He spoke about how some documents are both written and online. That things in print will eventually make its way online and how some online things are or are not in print. He continues on to say that this is "a incremental change not a fundamental change."  
It is amazing how our learning lifestyles have changed. Now days we don’t just use pencil and paper for writing. We have computers that allow us to create word documents that express what we are trying to say. Dr. Miller shows us how to make word documents into web documents and showed us how a print document can be made into a web document. 
When I think about technology, I get excited. As a future educator, I want to use technology as much as I can because I believe it is a great tool. Since technology is always changing, I will have to keep up with these changes. I am willing to do that because I believe in the benefits of technology in the classroom. I have to admit though, I sometimes feel confused, overwhelmed or stressed when working with technology because it can be challenging. After saying that, I still think it is worth all the stress and confusion. I always end up figuring it out!  



Carly's Post
Carly and Dr. Miller definitely have similar thoughts and ideas using the multi-media learning system. As for me, I agree with both of them. Carly's project idea was great and I hope that in the future we can use her idea or ourselves, in our own classrooms. 


EDM310 is Different
The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies were both very inspiring. After coming up with and then rejecting several ideas, I believe that I have finally found one. In EDM310 we do many projects using technology for creative projects but they are all done using movie makers or smarts boards. Many of my fellow classmates, including myself, still like the original scissor and glue projects. For my video, I would have students record themselves demonstrating a project that could be used in classrooms following the Mobile County Public School curriculum. 


Learn to Change, Change to Learn
The video, Learn to Change, Change to Learn featured educators who focused on how schools are growing technologically and how we need to provide teachers with the permission and resources necessary to educate children in this ever-changing world we live in. They mentioned how important it is for teachers around the world to connect and share with each other. One of the main points of the video is that the world around us is developing and it is up to us to make sure our students are developing along with it. They need to be able to find answers and solve problems on their own, know how to be sure they are finding accurate information and know how to share information with the rest of the world.  


Scavenger Hunt 2.0
1. I chose to use Edmodo. This is exactly what I was hoping to find! I would best describe Edmodo as a facebook for teachers. Except your page is like a little online classroom. This could be compared to online classes that universities use. As the teacher I am able to post assignments, updates, reminders, grades, quizzes and so much more. I have to option to receive any updates from students sent directly to my phone or email. This site also allows students to ask questions or comment to me or other students. I will definitely keep this in mind (adds to symbaloo)!
4. I chose to research Animoto. This appeared to be a fun use for short videos, perhaps of a vacation. One thing that I did not care for was that you had to purchase the program and then pay monthly to use it. It does have its convenience. You can use a iPhone app or instagram to link with the program. 
5. 

Make your own poll voting question with Poll Everywhere

Project #11

The Rainbow Fish

Project #12

Google SketchUp

I just wanted to share this with everyone.


Google SketchUp is a program that I just recently came across but immediately saw the potential that it holds. Having the ability to see any building in the world in 3D form, can be a great tool for teachers and students.

Time Toast Project

This is a re-post of my time toast. For some reason the HTML broke on the first one.

PLN Progress Report Project #10

My personal learning network is starting off a little slow. I am currently connected with a few local teachers and not to many elsewhere. I have come across several all over the world who I read up on frequently but none of them do I personally know. My favorites have become twitter and Facebook for networking. I have been using Facebook for several years now but I am new to twitter. I try to use it more often now that I have people to follow. I use Facebook mostly for those who are local for business purposes. I have discovered Symbaloo for a type of PLE. It helps mostly in keeping me organized. So far my PLN is serving its purpose but could use a few more resources. This semester isn't over yet, so we'll see.

Project 9b- Prezi

Copy of Instructional on Prezi

C4T#2

Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?: A blog hosted by Scott Elias. On February 8, 2012, Scott Elias, posted a blog on Convening a Professional Study Group. Mrs. Elias made some very compelling points about schools going into panic mode when their state test scores are not high enough. Based on his research about 65% of students are proficient in reading and writing and less then 40% are proficient in math. She argument over schools entering the panic mode, is that they are ultimately not changing anything. Once they make the quota, they will return back to the same teaching methods. Mrs. Elias has formed a group at his school that will change and improve the way the students are taught. Hopefully, to avoid any more complications in the future.

Recently, Mrs. Elias, has posted that she finds herself questioning her choice to return to school for a PhD. Like many of us we will question the choices that we make in life. She makes a valid point; regardless of what we have going on in our lives, there will always be something. I find myself questioning this regularly, 'why am I back in school? I already have a degree, just do that.' However, it is nice to know that when and if the times comes, I will have the option to do something else.

Blog Post #7

The Networked Student
I really enjoyed watching this video by Wendy Drexler. I found this project to be such a neat idea and will hopefully use this in future classes. Her video specifically speaks to the new age generation. With all of the technology and new ways of learning, you can virtually listen to professors all around the world as they lecture.
A question is suggested "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" The reason is that you can never truly take away what both students and teachers will gain from the one on one learning. Students can easily post as question online but it may take some time to receive a response. Other students may have asked questions but you still don't understand. You might even be thinking so far outside of the box that no one else has even considered it. As much as technology will simplify our lives human interaction, in my opinion, is still the simplest method.
The idea of networking with students and teachers who are clear around the world is amazing. Lets face it, not everyone can travel to another country to get a first hand look at other cultures. As a networked student, you can.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
I recently viewed a young girl's tour of her personal learning environment (PLE), Welcome to my PLE!
My first response was, YES! This is exactly what I need and I'm sure may other students do too. Symbaloo is the perfect PLE for students and even teachers. This useful tool allows students to have access to dozens of websites, all at once, without having them all open. The plus side is that you can arrange the sites in categories or add and delete, as needed. I must admit that I googled and signed up for this PLE before I could write this post. I highly recommend this for everyone!

Podcast

Blog Post #6

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

WOW! This video was absolutely amazing. Randy Pausch was an outstanding man who dedicated his last few years to his series "Last Lecture". One particuar lecture was Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. In the 
very beginning he says not to pity him, but how could you not? He begins his lecture to talk about his childhood dreams and continues on to enabling the dreams of others.
Mr. Pausch achieved all of his childhood dreams. When he talks about enabling childhood dreams he seems to be really sincere. His way of teaching is very inspirational, the work that he gave students was incredible and their responses were even better. They were given big tasks and they performed greatly. He saw his students as brilliant, which I honestly do not think that most teachers do. He was able to excite the school as a whole. He described the brick walls we face in life, as ways to show ourselves how badly we want something. I could not agree more, it is about pushing yourself to the fullest and pushing through the walls. The walls are also ways of keeping people out who do not really want this.
One way of learning he describes was, indirect learning. Indirect learning, or "head fake", is making people think they are doing one thing, while actually teaching them another thing. He introduced a class called, Building Virtual Worlds. It was amazing to see what his students could do. He used a project based curriculum. One project that this class created, was Project Alice.
At the end of the video he tells us his two "head fakes" about his speech. The first one was that people need to lead their life the right way, and dream will find you. The second one was that this speech was not for the audience, it was for his three children. He gave this speech, so that his kids could go back after he is gone, and get advice from him. 

C4K Summary for February

Tyrone
I was assigned a student from Pt. England School in New Zealand, Tyrone S. Tyrone is a year 5 student in Mrs. Barks class. His class will frequently post assignments to the class blog. They have recently come back from their summer break so he had not posted recently. I reviewed his older posts and learned a lot about him. He had several video presentations of a mini cartoon that he drew. Tyrone was excited about returning to school and learning his times tables this year.
Hannah
Hannah is a student in 2KM at Leopold Primary School in Australia. Even at such a young age the kids in her class, as well as her, love to blog. Hannah's last post was a Halloween story that she wrote in class. The story itself showed a lot of creativity and promise in her writing. Unlike many of the children that we leave comments for, Hannah started her blog this past October and she is already blogging like a pro.
Jaehwan
Jaehwan is a young student in Ms. Eppele's class in Canada. From what I have gathered by reading his blog, is that he is originally from Korea. In many of his posts he will often refer to Korea and make comments about the bullying that is done or how he fines Canadian education easier than Korean education. His class often takes field trips and will later return to blog about them. Above all, Jaehwan enjoys writing creative stories but still needs to work on his spelling and grammar.

Amina, Charlene, and Jessica

Ferry Lane year 6's blog has collaborative blogs. I found this to be a great way for students to work together on projects and really learn team work. The three girls, Amina, Charlene and Jessica have several posts on creative stories that they have written. One particular story is their version of "The Three Little Pigs". In their story the wolf tries to blow down the pigs homes but in the end he climbs up to the roof and falls down the chimney into a pot of boiling water. Although simple, I found this to be a very creative twist to the original story. The girls have also included their own individual writings as well.

Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Dr. Scott Mcleod, is very insightful on his post Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?. I feel as though he had a sarcastic attitude throughout the whole post. I loved it. I still feel as though we should keep the classic pen and paper in schools but at the same time, we need to focus on technology. As our students grow older more and more technology is going to be developed and it is our job to insure that they are prepared for this. Still learning to use paper and pencils for math is essential. Developing countries do not yet have the technology that we do and it is important for our students to learn "old fashion" methods as well.

The iSchool Initiative

Travis Allen, at the time of his YouTube video, was a young high school student. First of all I have to give him credit that, even though he was just short of graduation, he believes in providing this technology and way of learning to future high school students. Secondly, I love the idea. The more and more I become involved with EDM310, the more I want to learn about new technology that is available for students. But, I secretly don't want my students to know more about technology than I do. The iTouch seems like a great and resourceful tool, however, I feel as though the iPad might be sightly more useful due to the size.

Travis Allen, suggested removing paper, pencils, copy machines and textbooks. As I stated in the previous post, I still think that we should keep those items around, well maybe dispose of the copy machine but we need to have a back up method in case a student looses their iSchool or perhaps it breaks. 

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
The virtual choir by Eric Whitacre. All I can say at this point is "wow". The idea behind this blows my mind. Now to be fair I'm sure the recording and blending of voices and sounds over the internet has been done for many years now but seeing it in this format makes it feel completely different. This presentation was so simple yet completely complex. After I learned that the students had never met, made me appreciate this even more.

Teaching in the 21st Century

I agree with Kevin Roberts views in his video, Teaching in the 21st Century. Teachers are steadily becoming less of a source for information, and more of a "filter" for information. Wikipedia is a widely used source for students to gather information. Due to the fact that anyone can post anything on it, however, makes it to where it is not allowed to be used in a works cited page. That is where we come in. Our new role is to teach the children to take the "facts" and cross reference them with other sites to determine the validity of the information.
It used to be that we were the publishers for children's minds. They entered our classroom with little knowledge to no knowledge of what we were teaching them. Somewhat of a blank slate for us to imprint what we felt was important for them to know at a certain age. Now it seems as though we are taking on more of an editorial role in their lives. Proofing the information they have obtained via technological means.

Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets has a lot of resources that can be used by parents and educators. I have to small children that will begin preschool this coming school year, so I mostly looked at the preschool section. In my search I found several ways to teach preschoolers the fundamentals of reading. This website offers games, suggestions and books specialized for your child's specific area. I would highly recommend this site to parents and teachers; I know I will use it in the future.

Blog Post #4

Podcast

After reading and listening to Langwhiches' blog on her class podcast, I have suddenly fallen in love with the idea. By involving students in creating their own podcast, they will have a hands on way to learn the material. If students can upload their podcasts to their iPods, they can use them to review for tests later on. From a teachers stand point, you can share previous year's classes for your students to benefit from as well.

Blog Post #3

Technology in Special Education

In Stephanie Tyler's suggestion, Technology in Special Education, technology is viewed as a tool to assist in the teaching of special needs children.  I agree that modern conveniences of ipads, laptops, and projectors are great tools to help those with learning disabilities.  Growing up I can recall hearing, "reading, writing, arithmetic", however, now it seems as though we should change it to, "listening, typing, and Texas Instruments".  At what point does technology inhibit our learning ability?
Penmanship used to be something to be proud of, whereas now it's how many words per minute you can type. More recent advances in technology have made it so you don't even have to type.  You can speak to text.  Making carpal tunnel a thing of the past.  My husband won't even read novels.  Harry Potter, Da Vinci Code, and Twilight, he wouldn't think to read.  If someone recommends a "great" book to him, he responds with, "if it's that great of a book, then they will make a movie out of it and I'll watch it then".  Technology is fine and good, but let's not forget the basics.

How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism
After watching the video "How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism" and visiting apple.education.apps.com I have become very interested  by the process of special education teaching. While all of the apps are great, I think mathboard and math bingo would be my favorites. Math is one of my favorite subjects. I like the fact that mathboard has a chalkboard look as well which kinda gives it a retro feel. Some math equations require a lot of paper. With the children having the ability to write out the equations on the ipad, they save on supplies. With math bingo, math is turned into a game. The winner probably gets bells and whistles with confetti.
The majority of children these days seem to be diagnosed with one learning disability or another. The most popular being ADHD. The ipad allows for individual paced learning. With different programs to allow for different methods of capturing learner's attention. This is important because what works for one child may not work for the next one.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count



Gary Hayes has put together a social media count to show how much technology people are using worldwide every second of the day. Using these tools in a class room will benefit students by giving them the skills to build off of every year. As rapidly as technology changes it is important to keep up or it will be even more difficult to relearn technology and social media. As a teacher you will not only benefit yourself but your students by preparing them for their futures.

A Vision of Today's Students
After watching the video produced by Kansas State University "A Vision of Today's Students", it has made me view education in a different way. Previously, I was focused from a students point of view. Spending hundreds of dollars on books and never wanting to attend classes because there may have been something more interesting to do. From a teachers stand point, encouraging your students to come to class should not have to be difficult. If students are interested in searching the web, Facebook and twitter; then as teachers it will benefit our class and our societies future to adapt to this.

Google Presentation

C4T Post #1

After reading Ramsey Musallam's post on "Quick Tutorials"  he comments on two out of the five iPad whiteboard recording apps, include an online hosting service, where your video can be viewed online. There are several different sites that all support the same type of recording application. Mr. Musallam chose educreations.
This week Mr. Musallam posted a tutorial of educreations. Watching this screencast helped to explain several questions I had. Google allows you to create a webpage; this is different from our blog, but I suppose you could add this to the blog as well. Educreations is what I would consider a blend between paint and powerpoint. You have the opportunity to draw on each slide or add things to it, to create a demonstration of your choice. This would be an excellent way to demonstration a math problem.
Once you have finished your educreation, it will automatically post to wherever you have a link posted. i.e. Your blog or google webpage. This is where an ipad comes in handy. Teachers can use this program to demonstrate problems and it will automatically update for all students to see. At first I almost felt like this method takes away from the personal one on one with students but I now see the benefits. Students will have this example to look at later and it will save time on the teacher, 'if one student has a question, chances are that several students have the same question'.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis has produced a short video called "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts". In this video she has showcased her classroom and teaching, which is all done on computers. Using trends and the newest technology for her class, she provides a modern and educational way of learning. The way of the world, now, is through blogging, software and even social networking.
When her classroom begins software that Ms. Davis is unfamiliar with, they teach themselves-a sense of accomplishment then fills these students. Steering away from the traditional setting, empowers her students. This in return, provides for a better classroom and learning environment.

A Vision For 21st Century Learning

Kenesha Brown's suggestion "A Vision for 21st Century Learning", is an ambitious goal for educators, but not an impossible one. Thanks to new developments in technology, formats for games have been made for us to experience life as a Roman or take a wagon ride along the Oregon trail. I remember when I was younger and my family had our first computer, a game called Where in the World is Carmen San Diego used a similar idea to teach. Carmen was a thief who traveled back in time and stole documents, inventions, etc. To receive clues, you would have to answer historical facts or perform mathematical equations. By having the information presented to me in a entertaining fashion, I was able to retain the knowledge.
I can even see technology being used still today to enhance learning. For Christmas, my one year old daughter got a leap frog laptop. She presses the letter p and it asks "what animal eats bamboo"; then she is instructed to press a paw and receives the answer and a celebratory noise when she does so. And this is just the beginning...

Time Management

Randy Pausch's lecture on "Time Management" had many valuable suggestions to better organize one's life. Among his suggestions were goals, priorities and planning. To me, these three things are at the top of my importance list. When setting goals, one sets them self up for life. By this I mean, you cannot plan or prioritize correctly unless you have set goals for you self. Once a goal is set, anything that will get you closer, makes the priorities list. If not, then that task moves directly to the bottom. Creating a plan and sticking to it will get you closer to your ultimate goal. Plans are designed to be changed. If they are, make sure it is changing for the better.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

In Matthew Needleman's YouTube video, Mr. Winkle Wakes, an old Mr. Winkle wakes after a hundred years of sleeping to an excitingly fast paced new world. Mr. Winkle doesn't like the new world because it is filled with many things in which he does not understand. After roaming through a business center and a hospital, Mr. Winkle ends up at a school, where not much has changed. In Mr. Winkle's revelatory journey, an instructor stills stands before a class dropping the knowledge, and technology is used very little. I have two issues with Needleman's portrayal of modern education.
First of all, his depiction is inaccurate. Technology is becoming a huge part of the learning process. If the modern conveniences used in the workplace were not taught to young learners, then there would be no hope for them in the working world after school. Some classes there is no physical interaction at all. Online courses have steadily increased in attendance in the last few years. For him to say that classes have remained the same, is false.
Secondly, Needleman gives the impression that if you can't conform to the modern conveniences, that you can find comfort in the world. Part of the high unemployment rate in our country is due to laborers being replaced by machines, and not having the training of new software. Computer skills are a requirement for jobs these days and if Mr. Winkle can't suffer through learning all the new advances in technology, then he will have come to terms to the realization that he may not make it.

The Importance of Creativity

 Sir Ken Robinson makes a compelling argument on "The Importance of Creativity". In today's society educators have become so focused on right vs. wrong, that children are not preparing themselves to be wrong. Being wrong not only allows one to develop problem solving strategies but is also an important factor in creativity. 
With the education structure designed to push the importance of math, english and humanities, any form of creative classes are then pushed to the bottom. Sir Ken Robinson makes a valuable point, "many highly talented, brilliant creative people think their not, because the thing that they were actually good at wasn't valued or was actually stigmatized." Adapting your teaching to individuals style of learning can be one of the best things to do for a child. Ways of learning can very in ways such as dancing, teaching others or just listening to a teacher lecture. I have found that public schools who crush creativity are setting the country up for life by the book. However, the future has not been written yet; we need creativity to write it.

Did you know?

Beginning with John Strange's video "Did you know? 3.0" and ending with the original version of "Did you know? 3.0" by  Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, both videos share many interesting facts about technology today. For example, China and India's K-12 students in honors program and who are English speaking, greatly outnumber those in the United States.
Websites such as Google, YouTube and Facebook are accessed by the millions per minute. Roughly two years ago 93% of the population had access to a computer in their home. Technology spreads further than just the computer. SMS text messages are sent daily, averaging around 150 messages sent daily by one person. Students preparing for careers are studying for technology and problems that do not even exist yet.

Wordle

I have recently learned about a fun new project to do with kids or maybe just for yourself. It's called wordle. I have taken a few descriptive words about myself to share with you all. Enjoy!

Just a few tidbits on me...

For those of you who have never met me and maybe a few that have, my name is Kaylan Shepherd. I transferred to the University of South Alabama this semester and so far, I have enjoyed every minute of it. I am currently in the undergraduate program for K-6 elementary education. Hopefully, I will finish up in about five semesters and finally make my teaching dream a reality.

I was born in Pensacola, FL; after a few moves my parents and I made it to Fairhope, AL where I attended kindergarten through tenth grade. My junior year of high school, we moved to to Spanish Fort, AL where I graduated from Daphne High school.

Afterwards, I spent a few semesters at Faulkner State Community College before I transfered to Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando, FL. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that, it is a culinary school which originated in France. I graduated from there with a degree in Patisserie and Baking. While attending school I worked for Walt Disney World. Above all that was the most enjoyable time in my young adult life.

After becoming a sous chef and pastry chef for a few restaurants, I ended up back in Daphne, where I met my amazing husband. He is a full time banquet chef and part time caterer from our recently opened catering business, Sack Lunch Catering. Together we have two beautiful little girls, Taryn and Tristan.

Well, after all this, I am left with an extremely busy life as a full time wife, mother and student and a part time pastry chef, caterer and entrepreneur. I am looking forward to sharing more, with all of you, on my new blog.