Final Post

I feel like I have learned so much this semester in this class. There were many things that I was unaware that I believe will be very useful in the classroom. I now understand the importance of technology and how it is necessary to stay up to date with new technology since it is rapidly changing daily. Also it is important for students to be extremely familiar with computers and finding information on the internet due to the fact that their future relies mostly on technology.

A few things I found useful were blogs, podcasts, and Google Docs. These three things I knew probably the least about. Blogs will be a tool I will use probably the most in my classroom. I believe it will be a very useful tool to make sure all students are on the same page and have an understanding of the topic. Podcasts will be a great way to summarize a unit and use as a project. Students could break up into groups and discuss things they learned in the chapter or unit. The last thing I believe will be very helpful is Google Docs. Google Docs will be helpful simply because of the fact that some students have older versions of Microsoft Word or have another word processor or whatever the problem may be. Students can turn in their work in a universal manner that will make it stress free for teachers.

As far as things that were not covered, I believe this course did a good job of covering things that were beneficial to teachers. There are many things I will be able to take with me and use to supplement learning in my classroom.

iTunes Store

The iTunes Store is not just good for finding the lastest songs and movies, but can be used to find many options for classroom ideas. It would not be hard to find a video to incorporate into a lesson you may have for the day. You can search by grade level or subject area. What is so great about the videos are most of them are very short which helps students who have a short attention span, especially for younger children.

I watched "Total Solar Eclipse Animation." This would be neat to show if this were something that was being studied or even if it may be occurring at the time. This video explains what a Solar Eclipse is and also shows the process. It was only a little over a minute long.

I believe these videos would be great to use in the classroom, especially for visual and auditory learners. The videos are good to reinforce material that is covered in class. Most of the videos are sponsored by prominent groups such as PBS and WGBH These are both great educational websites that reach all ages.

iTunes University

iTunes University can be used in classrooms to look movie clips and other material for teaching tools. Teachers are setting up programs called iLife and iWork which allows them to provide customized lessons for the students. This allows the students to listen to the lesson wherever they may be. You can find iTunes U located in the iTunes store. It includes over 100,000 audio and video clips.

iTunes allows you to set up accounts for schools. You can have an opened or closed site. If it's protected you must have a password. On your own iTunes site, you can have information about the school and what's offered. (audio/video) As far as the classroom, you could have podcasts on how to do something, lessons, and other assignments. Also you can include videos on the site as well.

This site would be beneficiary if as a teacher you posted everything on the site from your class. For example, if someone missed class they could go to the site and listen to the lesson they missed. Also if you showed a video in class you could upload it so students can view it again. If a student is struggling and needs reinforcment on an area they could use this site. I would think this would be neat to use in the classroom. It would be great for visual and audio learners. It would be a great study tool for students to prepare for tests.

Edutopia is a site for teachers to get different ideas to use in their classroom. There are also downloads on iTunes to help teachers. "The Edible Classroom" was so interesting. During 1st period this school uses gardening to teach different subjects. It is used, along with cooking, to teach all ares of learning, math, science, social studies, etc. This is a great hands on experience for children. This would be a wonderful idea for bodily learners. Not only is this a great idea for teaching school material, but they also learn the fundamentals of cooking. The next video, "A Night in a Global Village" was also a really neat idea. I believe it taught students the importance of teamwork and also gave them a great perspective of what it would be like with essentially nothing. I think it is important to stress the idea of community service and having projects to help out around the community.

Wikipedia

I'm sure like most people, I have always used Wikipedia to get background information on a topic before writing a paper. These blogs were interesting to read. I knew people edited this site, but I didn't know there was a way to check to see who is changing the articles.

Wikiscanner is a website anyone can go to in order to see who edits articles on Wikipedia. It was very interesting to see how many big name organizations were editing the articles. Some of the corporations included The New York Times, Fox News, and Walmart. This could be both, good and bad.

On the positive side this could be a great tool to have these articles edited by these companies because they may have a little bit more information on a topic or oould give an inside perspective, which could be really neat. On the otherhand, it could be negative, by being biased or having a political slant on the issue. Encyclopedias are supposed to be nonbiased, stating facts for both sides. Negative examples given in the blogs included the voting centers from a few years ago. There was an article written and the Diebold voting machine company cut out numerous paragraphs.

As far as in the classroom, I would not allow students to use this as a resource, however it may be a starting point. Maybe it could even be used to compare. For example, present to the class, "this is what Wikipedia says let's do reasearch to see what we can find." Then you could teach about reliable sources and how to find them.

Randy Pausch Lecture

I watched this lecture when it first came out over a year ago. It is amazing to me how he can be in such high spirits during a situation like what he is in. Anyone can learn a great deal from him by watching this lecture. Teachers can especially learn a lot from him.

First of all, enjoy what you do and never give up. Dr Pausch obviously loved what he did. He accomplished every childhood dream he had. He never gave up or believed that he could not accomplish his dreams. He worked hard and enjoyed every minute of it. You could tell by his lecture that he loved teaching as well. Another thing that was easy to tell is that he had a close relationship with his students.

Make learning fun. Looking at his classes you can see how interesting he made learning. He had fun and exciting projects. This is something that needs to be incorporated into the classroom. When you make learning fun, students will understand and comprehend the material much quicker.

Don't be selfish. Throughout the lecture, Dr. Pausch did not pity himself one time. He focused on the lesson at hand. There is always going to be struggles in our lives however keeping a positive attitude and keeping focus is important.

Also always believe in your students. It was not hard to see that he had a close relationship with his students. He could call out scenarios that occured in the classroom with the student by name. He always gave his students the benefit of the doubt. He respected them and they respected him. He never stopped challenging them and always reminded them to follow their dreams.

Randy Pausch lived an amazing life. He accomplished anything he set his mind to. One thing that was still in the works when he become sick was a program called Alice, which is a program that teaches high school students how to do computerprogramming.

Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

We all know that computers are needed everyday. They are an important asset to everyone in the workplace and in the classroom. In the Fischbowl blog,"Is It Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?" it talks about the importance of being technologically savvy. The author talks about how we live in a technically advanced world and how computers are needed in every day life. He also finds it interesting that many teachers just blow it off like it's no big deal to not know how to do things on the computer. I know that people get comfortable and do not want to step up, but if teachers don't then the students will struggle. It will then become a cycle and students will not grow up strong in technology.

A quote from the blog I found interesting was, "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." This is so true. Computers are becoming more involved in school work. The learning has to start somewhere.

I know before this class I only used a blog once for a school project, never listened to a podcast, never heard of Google Docs, and few other things. And I thought I was literate in computers. There will always be something new to learn. There will always be an updated version. So it is important to know the basics and build on it.

I don't know if there is something set up like this already, but it may be a good idea to have certain standards that must be reached at each grade level. I know when I was in elementary school all we did was play games in computer class. I'm sure now things have changed, but maybe they could be a little bit more orderly so students can be taught a wide range things.

Podcasts

The first one I listened to was Smartboard Lessons.It was hard to follow at first, but as I listened I realized what they were saying. They were giving information to teachers about how to teach different topics, such as data. The example they used for this was Feltron 8.This is a guy who has recorded everything from the steps he takes in a day to data in the news. This website can be used to teach math lessons such as ratios, percentages, fractions, etc. They also provided links that are helpful to teachers. One of the links I thought would be helpful is Teachers Connecting. This website allows teachers to connect with other teachers across the country. They can look for help, support, and ideas to better their classrooms.



The next podcast I listened to was KidsCast. This was a really cute idea. It allowed students to create their own podcasts, something I don't even know how to do and elementary students are posting them. The students are not only expanding their knowledge through technology, but also with whatever topic they are reporting about. I think this is a great way for students to learn, just another method of teaching that isn't out of the book.


EdTechTalk gives an example of how you can go live and talk to someone across the country or even internationally. One of the guests gave a neat link for creating Comic Strips. This would be really neat for creative writing or grammar lessons. It can help build creativity, reading, and writing.

All the podcasts were informal and conversational. Obviously one of the characteristics of a podcasts. I believe it is an important. No one wants to listen to a dull cast. It is important to incorporate humor and creativity in the podcasts.

Blogs in the Classroom

Here is Mrs. Wells' class in San Antonio, Texas. She has a fourth grade class where it looks like each week, one of her students creates a blog on a different topic, ranging from science to history and so on. It is also a place to leave announcements for the class. Also it shows where her class worked on podcasts.

I'm not sure exactly where this one was originated, but I thought it was a really great idea. A teacher by the name of Mrs. Young has a blog for summer reading. A great way to help students stay on top of things in the summer. It has a schedule that students can follow to balance out the reading load in the summer. Also it has a reading discusion board so the students can discuss and ask questions on the assigned books.


Here is an example of Mr. Lietze's classroom in New Zealand. He used the blog to post projects created by the students as well as linking other websites to his blog for supplemental help in each subject. Also the children were able to place their own posts up on the site.




In Mrs McNamara's classroom, in Australia, she uses her blog as a detailed message board. It would be a great way to show parents what is going on in class and keeping them informed. It shows what is covered in class and includes pictures of projects that have been done. It also gives the students expectations that are to be met for the semester.



I believe that incorporating blogs in the classroom is a great idea. It is something that will keep a child's attention by having a fun learning experience. I believe they will learn so much more in this way because it is hands on, especially if the students are allowed to help out with page. This will definitely be something I will use in my classroom.

ACCESS

ACCESS uses technology to provide top of the line courses and teachers. This helps out with schools that may not have as much money to ensure everyone gets the same quality education. Especially schools that do not provide extra programs like advance programs or any other extra courses.

These classes are delivered through a website or video conferences. This gives students the chance to take classes that are not offered at their school or even finish early by taking classes in the summer. This allows students to work at their own pace and makes them responsible for their actions.

I believe this could and could not be a good method of teaching. I think it would depend on the student and their learning style. Videoconferences may not get through to some students because of the lack of one on one like you would with a teacher in the classroom. It could however be good to use as reinforcement. If a student is not doing well in a class, they could use the online activities such as the lab, which was mentioned, to make sure the student grasps the idea.

I think we have a long way to go before we could rely completely on technology for teaching. Besides the errors that may be involved, I believe the social skills like communication may lack in classrooms such as these.

Movie Thoughts

I thought the movie clip was very informational. It showed the importance of being educated, especially with technology. This clip showed how well off the United States is in every possible way. I believe this means there should be no excuse for anyone in this country should struggle in computer skills.

The film discussed how important technology is every day life especially jobs. It showed the effort that is being made to get other less fortunate countries involved and supply them with the things they need to make them more successful.

I believe we should help other countries by updating their technology. I know right now may not be the best of times as far as our economy, but I believe it is important for these countries to be familiar with computers. When I went to Costa Rica that was one thing I noticed. I went on a mission trip and we helped with the schools. All the rooms had minimal electricity let alone a computer. When we went in town they would have computer labs crammed with people because they did not have them in their homes. Here in the U.S., it's not uncommon to have 4 in one home.

Also, I believe it is important to keep material updated in the classroom. Like the video was saying, as a parent, stay involved with school to make sure what is being taught is useful information. Make sure what they are learning will help them in the long run.

ALEX & ACCESS

Alabama Learning Exchange(ALEX) is a guideline to ensure that teachers across the state are on the same page as they teach. This site provides lesson plans for each subject. Within the lesson plans there are additional links that help reinfore the lesson being taught. ALEX also provides other websites that include information about practically anything you need to know while teaching. There is a search engine provided so you can search the site for things such as lesson plan ideas. To learn more information on ALEX, Click Here

About Me

My name is Megan Stokley. I am a junior at South this year, majoring in Elementary Education. I am originally from Mobile and attended high school at St. Paul's Episcopal. Throughout high school I wanted to attend Auburn University. My parents, however, convinced me to stay home my first semester and said I could then transfer. By the end of my first semester, I had found a house that I had remodeled and put a lot of work into so I decided to stay home.



My family would say I am a "Daddy's Girl." I have gone hunting with my dad since I could barely walk and also enjoy fishing. My favorite, by far, would be deep sea fishing. Summer is definitely my favorite time of year. I enjoy going to the beach or fishing with my dad. Another thing I find interesting is fashion. I love shopping and I love studying the history of fashion. One of my favorite icons I like to study is Jacqueline Kennedy My favorite store is Anthropologie
Originally I wanted to major in fashion merchandising, but that changed during my senior year in high school.



I decided I wanted to be a teacher my last year in high school. I took a community service class that made me realize how much I loved being around children. We did many projects in this class. A weekly project we had was a tutoring/mentoring program we had with Bessie C. Fondeville, which is a low income school located in the projects. We were each assigned a child, once a week we visit their school and tutor them in reading, another day they would come to our school where we would do fun activities. That was definitely a life changing experience for me. I didn't realize how much some eight year olds had to face. Another weekly project we did was Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts at Augusta Evans. Augusta Evans is a school for special education. For me, this was a trying project. It was hard to keep control, but I enjoyed it. We also led the Special Olympics, which was a lot of fun. That year I realized how much I got out of helping others, especially children, which led me to a degree in teaching.



I have 2 other younger siblings. A sister, Lindsay, who just started South this fall. I also have a brother, Ethan, who is a sophomore at St. Pauls. My sister just moved in with me, which has been a big change since I have lived alone for two years. She is majoring in Radiologic Sciences. My brother plays football and baseball.

First post

I think the blog is a neat idea. It was really easy to set up using the step by step instructions. This is going to be a great tool to use not only in this class, but in the classroom. I used a blog once before in high school for an English project, but am not too familiar with how they work. So I'm looking forward to becoming more comfortable with it.